12082024-ATR-01.qxd 8/11/2024 10:33 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY FIRE BREAKS OUT AT COSMETIC PRODUCTS SHOP IN IDH MARKET SHAH RUKH KHAN TALKS ABOUT THE UNIVERSAL NATURE OF ART NANDINI & KAGAZI NAAV SET TO PREMIERE AT MELBOURNE IFFM A fire broke out at a cosmetic shop located in the IDH Market adjacent to the bus stand at 1 pm on Sunday. P2 Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan was conferred a career achievement honour at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.P4 MAX 33°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 28°C | MIN 24°C Filmmaker Onir is on a high as his films — Nandiniand Kagazi Naav— are set to premiere at Melbourne (IFFM) 2024. P4 » » SUNSET MONDAY 7.16 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:53 AM » MONDAY | 12 AUGUST 2024 | AMRITSAR One booked for molesting woman Heavy rain in Tarn Taran dist Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, August 11 The Chohla Sahib police have booked Daljit Singh, alias Bhatij, a resident of Jauneke village, on the charge of molesting a woman, a resident of Chohla Sahib, around two months ago. The victim in her complaint to the police alleged that the suspect trespassed her house on June 3 and molested her. When the victim objected over his act, the suspect threatened her of dire consequences and said he would make her vulgar photos viral on the social media. The complaint was investigated by DSP, PBI, Special Crime. The DSP in his inquiry report stated that the allegations levelled by the victim were true. On the basis of the DSP’s report a case was registered against the suspect under Sections 354-A and 506 of the BNS on Saturday by the Chohla Sahib police. Tribune News Service Rainwater accumulated at the grain market in Tarn Taran on Sunday. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, August 11 The district witnessed heavy rain on Sunday. Residents got a respite from hot and humid climate. Sarai Amanat Khan, Khalra, Khemkaran, Valtoha, Bhikhiwind, Harike, Khadoor Sahib, Goindwal Sahib, Gohalwar and other parts of the district received showers today. Dr Bharat Bhushan, Civil Surgeon, said the temperature and humidity had decreased. Tajinderpal Singh Rasulpur, a farmer, said the pleasant weather would benefit cattle and milk production would increase. Harpal Singh Pannun, Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), confirmed that all parts of the district received heavy downpour. Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer from border Rattoke village, said the rain would increase crop yield. Meanwhile, officials of the Tarn Taran market committee failed to make arrangements to drain rainwater from the local grain market (dana mandi). This resulted in waterlogging in and around the market. Waterlogging created hurdles in storing maize which was arriving in the market. 336 power theft cases detected in border zone, ~95.27 lakh penalty imposed on defaulters Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 11 In order to curb the menace of power theft, various teams of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) in a drive today carried out simultaneous raids in districts falling under the jurisdiction of the border zone here. As many as 9,566 connections were checked in the border zone comprising of Amritsar city and its suburbs, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur. During checking, 336 cases of power theft/unauthorised connections were detected following which a penalty of Rs 95.27 lakh was imposed on defaulters. Out of 336 cases, Rs 88.93 lakh fine was imposed on defaulters in 288 cases while a penalty of Rs 6.34 lakh was levied in 48 cases of UUE (unauthorised use of electricity). Maximum power theft cases were detected in Amritsar suburban circle followed by Tarn Taran district. Desraj Bangar, Chief Engineer, PSPCL, said during checking of 3,638 connections in Amritsar suburban circle, 204 consumers were caught stealing power/drawing electricity through unauthorised connections for which a penalty of Rs 64.03 lakh was imposed. Widespread showers lower mercury, humidity in dist Powercom officials with seized cables during checking of electricity connections in Amritsar. He said out of 204 cases, 182 were of power theft for which Rs 59.96 lakh fine was imposed on defaulters. Besides, the PSPCL teams also caught 22 persons drawing electricity through unauthorised connections for which a penalty of over Rs 4 lakh was imposed on them. In the Amritsar city circle, while checking 1,949 connections under different divisions, 15 cases of power theft were detected and Rs 5.93 lakh fine was imposed on defaulters. Similarly, Rs 1.35 lakh penalty was awarded in 21 cases of the UUE in the city circle. While checking 1,848 connections in Tarn Taran circle, 80 cases of electricity theft and the UUE were detected for which a total fine of Rs 19.09 lakh was imposed on defaulters. Bangar said 76 electricity theft cases were detected and a penalty of 18.47 lakh was imposed on violators. In four cases of UUE, Rs 62,000 was charged as penalty from violators in divisions under the Tarn Taran circle. In Gurdaspur circle, a total of 2,131 connections were checked out of which 15 consumers were caught stealing power and a fine of Rs 4.57 lakh was imposed on them. In a division under Gurdaspur circle, one case of UUE was detected for which a penalty of Rs 30,000 was imposed on defaulter. In all, 16 consumers were caught stealing electricity/drawing power through unauthorised connections in Gurdaspur constituency. A total fine of Rs 4.87 lakh was imposed on them. Amritsar, August 11 With nearly 48 mm rainfall in the district on Sunday, a substantial fall in temperature was noticed which cheered residents as they got respite from hot and humid weather. Unlike the previous downpour this week, when it rained in a smaller area, the rain on Sunday morning was widespread. It rained in almost all areas of the district. The mercury could touch only 30°C on Sunday. With waterlogging on most roads in the city during the early morning hours, residents faced inconvenience while commuting. In the rural areas, the rain reduced paddy growers’ dependency on tubewells to irrigate their fields. Farmers said the morning showers washed off eggs of pests and Rise in extortion incidents in Tarn Taran district Tarn Taran, August 11 Incidents of firing outside houses of innocent people, who refuse to pay extortion to gangsters, are increasing in the district with each passing day. Hardev Singh, a resident of Dadehar Sahib village, in his complaint to the Sarhali police stated that two masked armed persons opened fire at his house on the intervening night of August 9-10. He said earlier, gangsters had fired at his house for ransom two months ago. The victim said gunshots crossed the gate of his house when gangsters fired into the air. The victim said he had been avoiding mobile phone calls from suspected numbers as callers often demanded ransom. In another incident, armed suspects fired outside houses in front of the Government Elementary School in Piddi village on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. After the firing incident, panic gripped the village. The police visited the spot and registered a case in this connection. In the third incident, gangsters demanded extortion from a Valtoha-based reporter. In many cases, victims hesitate to report the ransom calls and threats to the police and make efforts to settle things with gangsters on their own. — OC Commuters drive through a waterlogged road in Amritsar on Sunday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR insects which breed on leaves of plants. Farmers said they would not have to irrigate their fields for at least three days. Weatherman has predicted more showers in the coming days. Chief Agriculture Officer Tajinder Singh said, “The showers are beneficial for crops at this stage. Apart from paddy, the rain is also good for orchards and other plants.” He suggested that those farmers, who want to plant any variety of tree, could do so as saplings planted during this time would have a greater chance of survival. ActivistswritetoMPoverstraycanine menace,demandamendmentinAct Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 11 Though the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) has been running a project to sterilise 20,000 stray dogs in the city, local activists claimed that this practice is ineffective as population growth of strays is quite high as compared to the pace of sterilisation. They demanded strong laws to prevent the population growth of canines. Office-bearers of the Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) have requested local Member of Parliament Gurjeet Singh Aujla to raise the issue of stray dogs in the Lok Sabha. Patrons Kulwant Singh Ankhi, Charanjit Singh Gumtala, Manmohan Singh Brar, and president Harjap Singh Aujla and general secretary Surinderjit Singh Bittu of the AVM have written a letter to Aujla in this connection and apprised him about sufferings of the people who face the menace of the growing canine population. The AVM office- bearers demanded that the Animal Welfare Act should be amended. “Since there is no check on the growth of stray dogs, their population has increased manifold. The A pack of stray dogs roams freely in Amritsar. sterilisation of dogs is never successful because their birth rate is much higher than the natural death rate. Dogs regularly attack children and severely maul, injure and kill them too. Not only children, adults, especially elderly, often become their victims. The number of people, who die of rabies in the country, is more than 20,000 per year,” said Kulwant Singh Ankhi. He further said, “Besides, the paved and cleaned roads of the city remain dirty due to dog excreta. The MC can no longer deal with the issue as the current Animal Welfare Act restricts officials from culling strays. In the absence of proper law, the money and efforts of the MC go in vain.” “The amendment in the Animal Welfare Act is the need of the hour. We have asked our Member of Parliament to bring this problem into the notice of Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition. We hope he would raise the matter in Parliament,” said Gumtala. One held with 500gm Underage driving: Steep hike in applications for learning licence at RTO heroin, 1.16kg opium PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, August 11 The Amritsar (Rural) police have arrested Joban Singh, alias Dhillon, a resident of Dalleke border village, for allegedly possessing 500 gm of heroin and 1.16 kg of opium. The police got a tip-off about Dhillon was in the illegal trade of smuggling and selling contraband on a large scale. Officials in the Police Department said the informer told that Dhillon was going from Gharinda village to Padri village for delivering the drug consignment to someone. Following the tip-off, a raid was conducted and the suspect was arrested. During search, the police recovered the contraband from him. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against him. The suspect was produced in a court and brought on police remand for further investigation. The police was ascertaining his backward and forward links to expose the entire drug supply nexus. In another incident, the police arrested Pawan Kumar, a resident of Meerakot Kalan village, and recovered 280 intoxicant tablets from his possession. Amritsar, August 11 After the Punjab Police decided to tighten the noose around underage drivers, the number of applications for obtaining learning licence at the Regional Transport Office (RTO) has increased manifold. The RTO authorities said in August alone, over 3,100 applicants had submitted applications with the department for the learning licence while over 7,200 applications were received in July which was much higher than the previous months. Arshdeep Singh, secretary, RTO, confirmed that there had been a substantial PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Tribune News Service Residents submit applications for a learning licence at the Regional Transport Office in Amritsar. c m y b increase in the applications for the learning licence. He said the department had initiated the process to clear files after completing the necessary formalities. The Punjab Police had recently extended the deadline for enforcing stringent rules of the Motor Vehicles Act regarding underage driving by August 20. Under the rules, parents of underage children allowing their kids to drive two or four-wheelers would be fined Rs 25,000 or they could face jail term of three years. Earlier, the rules were to be implemented on August 1, but following requests by parents the date was extended by 20 days. The RTO authorities said earlier on an average, they used to receive 140 applications for the learning licence every day. They said this figure had now jumped to around 520 applications per day. “From January to June this year, 4,600 applications have been received on an average. In July the number increased to just over 7,200 while in August it is likely to surpass this figure as in the first six days of this month 3,100 applications have already been received for learning licence,” said an official at the RTO wishing not to be named. Last month, around 5,600 applications for the learning licence were approved by the RTO while in August 1,600 applicant got their learning licence.