22102024-ATR-01.qxd 10/21/2024 11:18 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 32°C | MIN 20°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 21°C 2 FARM UNIONS CALL OFF STIR AFTER ADMN'S ASSURANCE GOVT TO LIFT 120 LMT GRAIN TO MAKE SPACE FOR FRESH ARRIVAL TRADITION SCORES BIG ON KARWA CHAUTH BKU (Doaba) leaders remain adamant on protest until procurement of paddy is started at the grain market. P2 Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had raised the problem of storage of paddy with the Central Government. P3 As the nation celebrated Karwa Chauth with great excitement, B-town wives also joined the festivities. P4 » » » SUNSET TUESDAY 5.50 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6.39 AM TUESDAY | 22 OCTOBER 2024 | AMRITSAR 1 nabbed with heroin from border area Amritsar, October 21 The Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police nabbed a drug smuggler in a joint operation from the border belt of Amritsar today. In another instance, a drone and a packet of heroin was recovered from the border village of Tarn Taran. In Amritsar, BSF intelligence wing and Punjab Police placed a joint ambush after getting a tip about a smuggling activity. At about 2.10 pm, as they noticed a suspected person, chased and caught hold of him. On search, one packet (530 gram) of suspected heroin was recovered from his possession. The packet was wrapped in a yellow coloured adhesive tape and a steel ring was found attached with the packet. Besides, a mobile phone in broken condition and Indian currency worth ~750 were also recovered from his possession on further frisking. The apprehended smuggler is a resident of Village- Kaholi, in Amritsar. The smuggler, presently, is in the custody of local Police and a detailed questioning is being carried out to find his linkages with Pak based narco-smugglers. In Tarn Taran’s farm field in village Kalia, at around 4.05 pm the BSF has recovered one small drone, one packet gross weight 567 grams of suspected heroin. The drone is presumed to have fallen due to technical interference by technical counter measures. The recovered drone has been identified as China made DJI Air 3. — TNS BASMATI PRICE ISSUE Farmers start 3-day dharna outside Dhaliwal’s house Say will continue to protest if govt fails to fulfil their demands Tribune News Service Police personnel pay homage to martyrs on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day in Amritsar on Monday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Tributes paid to police martyrs Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 21 The city as well as rural police paid rich tributes to the cops and paramilitary personnel, who sacrificed their lives in line of duty, at the Police Commemoration Day functions held separately at the city and rural Police Lines here on Monday. The city police was led by Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar while Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney and veteran BJP leader Lakshmi Kanta Chawla were among others who participated in the programme and laid wreaths at the martyrs’ memorial in the Police Lines. Besides, bereaved family members also paid tributes to the martyrs. Assistant Commissioner of Police Maninderpal Singh led the police guard which presented a guard of honour. Police personnel also read out the names of 213 personnel of the Army, paramilitary and Punjab Police, who laid down their lives in line of duty this year. The Police Commissioner said the day is celebrated after 10 jawans of the CRPF laid down their lives on October 21, 1959, in Ladakh while on patrol at the Indo-China border. He said 119 officials and jawans of the Amritsar Police Commissionerate were martyred during the black days of terrorism. He also heard the grievances of martyrs’ family members. He said he was very proud that he comes from a police family, which had fought terrorism in the state with bravery and eradicated militancy from the land of Punjab. Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said the district administration stood by fami- ly members of the martyrs who made supreme sacrifices for the country. Former cabinet minister of Punjab and senior leader of the BJP Laxmi Kanta Chawla said besides the cops, thousands of civilians had also sacrificed their lives during the days of militancy in Punjab and people should also pay respects to them on the occasion. Meanwhile, DIG, Border Range, Satinder Singh led the rural police in laying a wreath and paying tributes to the martyrs at the Daburji Police Lines memorial here. Besides SSP Charanjit Singh, Additional Sessions Judge Amit Malhan, Chief Judicial Magistrate Parminder Kaur Bains and other police and administrative officials were present on the occasion. They also paid tributes to the martyrs. Meanwhile, the Tarn Taran continued on page 2 Amritsar, October 21 On the call of the Kirti Kisan Union, a three-day dharna was started in front of the house of Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal at Jagdev Kalan village here on Monday. When the farmers gathered at the protest site, they observed that the administration and the minister were ignoring them. They got angry and marched towards the Cabinet Minister’s house and started a protest in front of the minister’s gate. However, union held a protest for three hours in front of the gate and then returned to the designated protest site. Addressing a gathering of hundreds of farmers, state vice-president of the union Jatinder Singh Chhina, district president Satnam Singh Jhandir, and state committee member Hardeep Kaur Kotla said in the current paddy season, private traders are looting the farmers by not paying an appropriate price for basmati. The 1121, 1718, 1885 varieties are being sold for ~2,800-3,000. He said the ministers of the AAP government have been saying on public stages that more and more basmati should be cultivated so that the serious crisis of Farmers, along with women, during a protest at a place near the residence of Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal in Amritsar on Monday. underground water can be avoided. They also assured the farmers that they would give them a good price. Jatinder Singh Chinna said basmati consumes less water and brings dollars. If its trade of 5.88 billion dollars is done through the Wagah border, then Punjab can earn at least ~40,000 crore and youth of the state will benefit to a large extent as employment opportunities would be there. Therefore, the minimum support price of 1121 type of basmati should be fixed at ~6,000 and the MSP of 1509 types fixed at ~5,000. He further said if Cabinet Minister Dhaliwal adopts an apathetic attitude towards the farmers, then the protest may continue for a long time. Farmer leaders Major Singh Karyal, Avtar Singh Jassar, Sukhwinder Singh Kiampur, Kulwinder Singh Rakh Othian, Balwinder Singh Panjgrain, Jasbir Singh Othian, Davinder Singh Gaggomahal, Nambardar Dilbag Singh Makowal, Satnam Singh Talle, Sarpanch Nachhatar Singh Khusu Pur, Baldev Singh Sahansra, Manjit Singh Tera, Sukhdev Singh Bath, Savinder Singh Nanoke were present. Tarn Taran: On the call given by the state leadership of the Kirti Kisan Union, farmers launched a three-day dharna here on Monday. On the first day of the protest, farmers from different villages held a sitin in front of the residence of Tarn Taran MLA Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal. The farmers were pushing for fulfilling their demands, including the commencement of procurement of paddy without delay. In his address, Nachhattar Singh, district president of continued on page 2 Kin of traders from Fourth Sikh Guru’s era ‘ignored’ by SGPC Firing in Sundar Teachers flay govt move to merge Nagar locality: Police identify middle schools and high schools Say proposal will impact both students and teachers suspects Say were not invited to Guru Ram Das’ birth anniversary celebrations Tribune News Service GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 21 A handful of shopkeepers who carried on with the legacy of their ancestors’ business around the Golden Temple and within the Walled City since the era of fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das, were a dejected lot as the SGPC allegedly overlooked them by not inviting them to the Guru’s birth anniversary celebrations held recently. Though the SGPC had extended invitations to some of the traders, many of them were ‘ignored’. As per the sequences related to the occasion, Guru Ram Das had brought people from 52 trades and asked them to settle here with a view to establishing the base of the holy city. In 2018, the SGPC had accorded special recognition to these traders, artisans and craftsmen whose ancestors were originally invited here by Amritsar’s founder and fourth Sikh Guru Ram Das. The SGPC’s research team had then identified carpenters, potters, thathehaars (utensil makers), tailors, sweet makers, dyers, gardeners, masons, painters, cloth merchants, cobblers, pansaaris, goldsmiths, washers, etc, but the practice was discontinued. Ravinder Singh, who has been into the business of Ravinder Singh Satpal Danish GOT SPECIAL RECOGNITION IN 2018 In 2018, the SGPC had accorded special recognition to these traders, artisans and craftsmen whose ancestors were originally invited here by Amritsar's founder and fourth Sikh Guru Ram Das. The SGPC's research team had then identified carpenters, potters, thathehaars (utensil makers), tailors, sweet makers, dyers, gardeners, masons, painters, cloth merchants, cobblers, pansaaris, goldsmiths, washers, etc, but the practice was discontinued. world famous ‘papad’ and ‘wadiyan’, said this time, the SGPC did not even bother to invite them. “In 2018, we were specially invited, but later on this practice was discontinued. This time, we felt bad when we did not even get an invitation, which we used to get earlier,” he said. Ravinder’s 13th generation is now into the same profession today. He said his grandfather used to tell that Guru Sahib had engaged two persons, Kalu and Nikka, who were proficient in making ‘papad’ and ‘wadian’. “We were told that when the Parikrama of the Golden Temple was being constructed under the super- vision of Guru Sahib, various volunteers performed ‘sewa’. In the food department, the ‘aalu’ (potato) vegetable was being prepared when Kalu and Nikka approached with the ‘wadian’ they had prepared. They had suggested to mix ‘wadian’ in the ‘aalu’ dish which made it sumptuous and Guru Sahib had honoured them. Since then, ‘wadian’ has remained popular among people,” he said. Similarly, Sarbjeet Singh, who also deals in papad-wadian, is the 10th generation which have continued with the ancestral profession. He said his father Ajinder Singh was invited once in 2018 only. The next generations of Bhai Gyan Singh Nakash, who does engraving and etching work at the Golden Temple complex, also could not be ignored. Among his present generation, Satpal Singh Danish owns his shop, near the Golden Temple, which showcases painting, photography and calligraphy. His father GS Sohan Singh, too, was a known painter. He has painted portraits of Gurus, many of which were enshrined at the Central Sikh Museum in the Golden Temple. Satpal said his late brother Surinder Singh was into graphics whereas his son Hardeep Singh is a Punjabi calligraphy expert. “Bhai Gyan Singh had done etching and engraving at the Golden Temple during the era of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was engaged for the Golden Temple for three decades then,” he said. Satpal said in 2018, the initiative of giving honour to the present generation was taken by the SGPC’s former chief secretary Dr Roop Singh. “After that, no one took any interest in this direction. We own a shop located just at the gate of the SGPC headquarters. SGPC officials did come and gave us an invitation just for namesake only. Otherwise, they never bothered about being in touch with us,” he said. c m y b Amritsar, October 21 The city police have identified the three miscreants who had fired at the residence of a Soda maker in Sundar Nagar locality on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday here. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said a hunt was launched to nab the suspects who are evading arrest. A day after the incident, Portugal-based gangster Mann Ghanshampuria had taken the responsibility of the attack due to the victim’s alleged links with his rival gang of Jaggu Bhagwanpuria. However, the police had claimed that they were working on different theories, including personal enmity of the victim. The police said as per an initial probe, Jasdeep Singh, alias Sajan, the victim also had monetary disputes over gambling. He had a couple of cases of gambling registered against him. After the firing, Manpreet Singh, alias Mann Ghanshampuria, uploaded a video post of the firing while threatening that it was an outcome of him (Jasdeep) talking to Jaggu Bhagwanpuria on video call. Three armed persons fired several gunshots at the gate of the residence of Jasdeep Singh on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. The family was sleeping in the house. The accused fled the scene on a scooter. The entire instance was captured on CCTV cameras. A delegation of the Democratic Teachers’ Front with the letter objecting to the proposal in Amritsar. Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 21 Education Minister Harjot Bains had recently said that middle schools in the state will be merged with high schools with the consent of the MLA of the constituency concerned and the sarpanch of the village. While the proposal is still in its early stage, Education Department officials have been asked to prepare ground report on the middle schools in their respective areas for implementation. While the minister had cited the shortage of students in middle schools as one of main reasons for merger, teachers’ body Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) has raised objection to the move, saying that it will directly impact students studying in middle schools. “It is clearly unfair to the poor, backward and disadvantaged students and unemployed teachers. Merging middle schools will throw commute challenges for students of these schools, who will then have to travel to high schools situated relatively five to seven kilome- tres away from their current schools. Since middle schools run classes fifth to class eight, the students will be dependent on school commute of personal commute, while currently many come to school by walking. Also, this move will also eliminate posts of teachers, as middle schools already have vacancies that need to be filled,” said Ashwani Awasthi, district unit head of DTF . Citing that currently, most middle schools are located in rural belt as there was a need to provide easy access to education for students from underprivileged background, the move might just discourage parents from sending their wards to high schools, located at a long distance. While Bains in his announcement had shared that school buses would be provided to students, who would have difficulty in commute, this would be done as a minimal fee. Also, it is yet unclear whether the high schools with which the middle schools would be merged with, have the required staff and faculty to support the additional student intake. “There is already a high num- ber of vacancies at various primary, middle, high and senior secondary schools across the state. Instead of hiring specialized subject teachers in middle schools to improve education, the merger would only be a short sighted decision,” said Awasthi. With roughly 270 middle schools in Amritsar, with each school having student strength of 40-80 students. Several middle schools face a huge gap in teachers’ strength vis-a-vis student strength that’s waiting to be filled. Most of the schools also require non-teaching staff, including helpers and sweepers. The middle schools falling under the rural/border belt including in villages of Chogawan II block, Tarsikka, Rayya, in villages like Cheema, Rajatal etc have a lower enrolment of students with a combined strength of 40-50 in Classes 6-8. Due to lack of teachers in some of the schools, students of Classes VI, VII and VIII are made to sit in a single classroom and a single teacher is deputed for all the subjects.