02022025-ATR-01.qxd 2/1/2025 11:32 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune TOURISM, INFRASTRUCTURE OUR PRIORITY AREAS: MAYOR FINANCE MINISTER’S SAREE HONOURS MADHUBANI ARTIST New Mayor Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia assumed office on Thursday. He pledged to work for the city’s development. P2 Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is often known for making statements with her sarees on Budget Day.P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 22°C | MIN 9°C YESTERDAY MAX 21°C | MIN 11°C IN LUDHIANA, URMILA IMPRESSED ONE AND ALL WITH HER PERSONA SUNSET SUNDAY 6.05 PM The charm of Rangeela girl Urmila Matondkar remains the same, as it was when this film was shot in 1995. P4 SUNRISE MONDAY 7.22 AM » SUNDAY | 2 FEBRUARY 2025 | AMRITSAR Govt’s push for Artificial Intelligence, researcheducationkeepshopeshigh Union Budget evokes mixed response from MSME operators, traders, farmers Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Students of DAV College discuss Union Budget 2025 in Amritsar on Saturday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 1 Presenting her eighth Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several upgrades for the education sector with five new IITs, 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs in government schools in the next five years and five National Centre of Excellence for Skilling. The total Budget allocation for the education sector is more than Rs 1.28 lakh crore. The focus is on AIfocused initiatives as the government announced the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for Education with a total investment of Rs 500 crore. Academicians and students weigh in the “push” towards technology-driven education, research and outcomebased incentives in the Union Budget 2025. ‘Right time to invest in ethical AI-based innovation’ Guru Nanak Dev University Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr Karamjeet Singh said the focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven research in education was a must now. He said, “The time is right, but ethical AI-based research is the key word here. The scope of the AI in education is endless. We have to push for HIGHLIGHTS FOR EDUCATION SECTOR ■ Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme announced. It will provide digital-format books in Indian languages for school and higher education. ■ Five National Centre of Excellence for Skilling will be set up with global expertise and partnerships to equip youth with skills required for "Make for India, Make for the World" initiative. ■ Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for Education to be established. This centre will facilitate the integration of AI in educational methodologies and research. ■ 1.1 lakh UG and PG medical education seats to be added in 10 years. Next year, 10,000 additional seats will be added to medical colleges and hospitals. The goal is to add a total of 75,000 seats in next five years. ■ Five additional IITs to be set up. ■ 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs to be opened in government schools across the country. Aim is to build scientific temperament and push towards innovation in education. valuebased AI tools that merge global concepts with Dr Karamjeet Singh, Indian Vice Chancellor, Guru educaNanak Dev University tion system. Also, these steps will increase the scope of employment for students.” District Education Officer Harbhagwant Singh said, “Atal Tinkering Labs are access points for students for research and innovation-based education. We already have three labs in government schools of the district. These labs give a push to practical and innovationbased learning of science and technology. This is a step towards making quality school education accessible to all.” Tanveer, an undergraduate student of DAV College, said, “Technical education and skill development must go hand in hand. The government has given an encouraging sign towards job generation with the MSME and skill development incentives. Incentives for start- ups will encourage young people to become selfreliant rather than look for jobs. Also, the increase in number of technical education institutions like IITs and IIMs is a welcome step.” Sanjh, another student of DAV College, said, “AI-based courses will be now introduced on a large scale giving students better options and scope in technical education. Amritsar, February 1 The Union Budget evoked a mixed response from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) operators, traders while middle class and salaried individuals got a reprieve from tax rebate. Dr Satnam Ajnala, president, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, Punjab, said, “The corporatisation of the Budget will weaken the rural economy leading to unemployment, poverty and addiction.” He further said, “The Budget is an eyewash in which agriculture has been completely ignored as its Rs 1.52 lakh crore outlay of the last year remains similar this year too. This amount is only 3.2 per cent of the entire Budget whereas the share of agriculture is around 27 per cent of the GDP Burning demand of . the MSP did not find any mention in the Budget.” He said, “The PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, which offers an amount of Rs 6,000, should have been increased to Rs 60,000 per year to support those farmers who are grappling with falling income and farm stagnation.” Piara Lal Seth, president, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM), rued that Punjab was ignored in the Union Budget as neither any financial assistance nor special package was allocated to the border state to accelerate development. While welcoming the move to give tax relief to the salaried class with annual income up to Rs 12 lakh, he said this would increase their People watch the telecast of the Union Budget 2025 in Amritsar on Saturday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR citizens too ignored in ❝Seniorlimit up from have got relief with enhanceddidn’t ❝Punjab has beenassistancethe Union Budget as threshold ~50,000 to ~1 lakh, but they neither any financial nor special package find anything much needed in railway and air fare. New income tax bill will help in compliance with norms. ❞ Anil Vinayak, SENIOR CITIZEN purchasing power. He said a special credit card scheme for small industries in which 10 lakh cards would be issued in the first year along with the loan guarantee cover for the MSMEs to be increased from Rs 4 crore to Rs 10 crore, enabling them to take loans of up to Rs 1.5 lakh crore, had a potential to push the small-scale sector, which forms the backbone of the industry in Punjab, especially in this border district. Increasing the loan limit for start-ups from Rs 10 crore to Rs 20 crore and earmarking of an Urban Challenge fund of Rs 1 lakh crore for redevelopment of cities and improvement of water and sanitation facilities would infuse more liquidity in these sectors. The two accused in custody of the police in Amritsar. Two peddlers arrested with 372gm of ‘Ice’ drug PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 1 Busting a cross-border drug module, the city police have nabbed two alleged drug peddlers and recovered 372 gram of Methamphetamine, popularly known as “Ice’, from their possession. The arrested accused were identified as Gurpreet Singh and Paramjit Singh of Vaniyeke village falling under Ajnala tehsil here. One of their accomplices, Nihal Singh, was lodged in Ambala jail reportedly on similar charges. The module used to contact their Pakistan-based accomplices on virtual numbers and smuggled “Ice” into the Indian territory. They were currently in police remand and further investigations were in progress to smash the entire nexus. Sharing details, Vaneet Ahlawat, Assistant Commis- sioner of Police (East), said the Division B police team first arrested Gurpreet Singh with 19 gram of “Ice” yesterday. He was produced in a court and brought on police remand for probe. Following his disclosure, the police recovered another 102 gram of “Ice” from his rented accommodation in Gobind Nagar, Himmatpura locality near Gilwali Gate. His interrogation revealed that he works with Paramjit Singh and Nihal Singh who had links with Pakistan-based drug smugglers. He said the module was active for the past three months. Immediately, police teams were dispatched and Paramjit Singh was arrested. His arrest led to the seizure of another 251 gram of “Ice”. He said Nihal Singh was currently lodged in Ambala jail and would be brought on production warrant for further investigations. ❞ Piara Lal Seth, president, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal economy in motion. Now, knocking yet again on India’s door is the need for renewed energy and openness in its stride to a brilliant century for the nation.” A senior citizen Anil Vinayak said, “Senior citizens too have got relief with enhanced threshold limit up from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, but they didn’t find anything much needed in railway and air fare.” He said, “New income tax bill will help compliance with norms and increase the number of tax payers. It will likely hike direct tax collection.” He said, “Financial sectors, both banking and non-banking, will be pegged with deposit portfolio resulting in cheaper loans for housing, MSME, pharma and new in-demand sectors like AI and semiconductor chip production.” Senior BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna, while hailing the Union Budget, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing the biggest ever relief to the salaried class. He said the budgetary focus was on defence, infrastructure, industry and agriculture. Proposal to add over 75,000 seats in the country’s medical colleges within the next few years was the need of the hour, he said. The Union Budget also focused on farmers as their credit card limit was raised to Rs 5 lakh, he said. He said crop diversification and digital mapping of the crops, apart from crop insurance, were welcome steps. Property of 6 drug smugglers worth ~4.55 cr frozen in Tarn Taran district Man shot dead by 3 armed assailants Amritsar, February 1 An employee of the Water Supply Department deputed at an overhead water tank at Chananke village was shot dead by three armed assailants here on Friday. The suspects fled from the spot on a bike after gunning him down. The deceased was identified as Shamsher Singh (39) of Ghanshampura village. The Mehta police have registered a case in this connection following complaint by victim’s wife Bhupinder Kaur. She told the police that her husband went to duty around 9 am. Bhupinder Kaur said she had an appointment with a doctor at Mehta so she reached her husband’s office in the afternoon. Bhupinder Kaur said her husband told her that they would go home after he finished his work. Bhupinder Kaur said she went inside tubewell room of the water tank and her husband was working outside. She said around 1.30 pm, three persons arrived there and one of them shot at her husband. Shamsher fell down on the ground while the other two accused attacked him with sharp weapons. Bhupinder Kaur said she raised an alarm following which attackers fled from the spot. Bhupinder Kaur said she rushed her husband to Guru Ram Das hospital at Vallah where he died. The police said probe was initiated to identify the accused. — TNS Gunbir Singh, former Chairman, CII, Punjab, observed that the trust deficit between citizens and arms of governance need to be addressed. He said the Union and the state governments had to deregulate to a hands-off approach for doubling the present six per cent plus growth as also to face the global headwinds. With flailing exports and rising imports these were essential, he said. He said, “Standing out is a reiteration for boosting production of pulses and edible oils that constitute a large part of our import bill. Boosting agriculture incomes by supporting what the nation desperately needs will benefit farmers. Two decades ago, radical reforms set a robust was allocated to the border state. Tax relief to the salaried class will increase their purchasing power. Tarn Taran, February 1 The district police have frozen the property of six drug smugglers estimated to be worth Rs 4.55 crore on Saturday. Notices in this regard have been pasted at the gates of residences of drug smugglers. Giving more details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abhimanyu Rana said here today that the smugglers whose property had been frozen, include Gurdev Singh, a resident of Maluwal (Chabal), Pisaura Singh, a resident of Boparai Madal (Patti Sadar), Kirpal Singh and Malkit Singh, both residents of Naushehra Dhala (Sarai Amanat Khan), Jjagrup Singh and Sher Singh, both residents of Manochahal Kalan village. The SSP said that the step taken by the police was proving to be successful in delivering a message to tsmugglers to avoid illegal activities and join the mainstream of society. — TNS Two Glock pistols and magazines seized from accused in Amritsar. Man held with 2 pistols MC cracks whip on tax defaulters smuggled from Pakistan Amritsar, February 1 The counter intelligence (CI) wing has confiscated two 9mm Glock pistols along with magazines from Varinder Singh, a resident of Mugalchak village in Tarn Taran. The police said he was arrested near Chatiwind Canal in Sultanwind village following a tip-off yesterday evening. Varinder was travelling in an Alto car bearing registration number PB-02-BB-4935 when he was intercepted by the CI team. The police also recovered a laptop from him. Shivraj Singh, investigating officer (IO), said a case under Section 25 of the Arms Act and Section 61 (2) of the BNS was registered against Varinder c m y b and further probe initiated into the matter. He said as per preliminary probe, the weapons were apparently smuggled from Pakistan through drone. The IO said Varinder belonged to a marginal farmer family and did not have any previous criminal or smuggling record. Preliminary investigation hinted towards his jail links. A crossborder smuggler lodged in the Amritsar Central Jail called him to retrieve the weapons consignment near the international border, he said. Varinder was going to deliver the consignment at a designated place when the police team intercepted him, the IO added. “We are trying to identify his accomplice in jail for further investigation,” the IO said. — TNS Amritsar, February 1 In a move to enhance property tax recovery, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has intensified its crackdown on tax defaulters on the directions of newly elected Mayor Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia and Corporation Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh. As part of this drive, MC Secretary Sushant Bhatia led a team that sealed five buildings belonging to tax defaulters in the Central constituency. The action comes as part of the MC’s stringent efforts to ensure timely tax payments and enforce financial discipline among property owners. According to reports, three buildings were sealed as their owners failed to clear their tax dues. One defaulter made a payment via cheque when his building was sealed after The office of the Municipal Corporation in Amritsar. which civic body officials opened his property. Meanwhile, two other tax defaulters, fearing similar action, submitted their cheques in advance to avoid action. Despite these measures, a building in the Sultanwind area remains sealed as its owner has yet to clear outstanding tax. Sushant Bhatia instructed defaulters to submit copies of their tax assessments spanning from 2013 to 2024-25 fiscal, along with rent deeds where applicable. He warned that the drive would continue indefinitely. “If any defaulter is found to have paid less tax, or if issued notices are ignored, his property will be sealed without warning,” said the MC Secretary. The sealing drive was carried out under the supervision of Inspector Tarsem Sahota, Superintendent Rajkumar and other civic body staff. — TNS
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