06042024-ATR-01.qxd 4/6/2024 12:50 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 32°C | MIN 18°C YESTERDAY MAX 32°C | MIN 17°C BKU (U) CONTINUES TO HOLD PROTEST OUTSIDE DC OFFICE AMRITSAR CIVIC BODY STARTS AREA-SPECIFIC DRIVES ALFIA JAFRY OPENS UP ON HER DEBUT ROLE Bharatiya Kisan Union’s (Ekta-Ugrahan) indefinite dharna continued for the second day today in Bathinda. P3 To tackle the problem of garbage lifting, the MC Commissioner has initiated area-specific drives. P3 Alfia Jafry is all set for her debut role in The Tribe, which will soon premiere on Amazon Prime Video. P4 » » » SUNSET SATURDAY 6.53 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6.11 AM SATURDAY | 6 APRIL 2024 | AMRITSAR Counselling to begin soon for giving students skill-based edu PAU experts conduct health check of ‘ber’ trees at Golden Temple Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 5 With Punjab Education Minister Harjot Bains announcing the setting up of ‘School of Applied Learning’ to make students skilled in vocations other than core subjects, several government schools in the district, including the four Schools of Eminence, will soon be conducting counselling of students to be enrolled for training in different vocations. Forty schools in the state have been selected for the pilot project and around 2,000 students will be admitted in the first batch. These Schools of Applied Learning will be set up as an upgrade in select senior secondary schools, which will be equipped with hi-tech training vocational labs. Students of Class 11 to Class 12 will be trained and imparted application-based skill education in vocations including digital literacy, design, healthcare, wellness and many more. Schools of Eminence in district will also be included in the project, as continued on page 2 PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Punjab Agriculture University experts observe health of three-century-old Dukhbhanjni ‘Beri’ in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 5 The over three centuries old ‘ber’ (jujube) trees in the Golden Temple complex — Dukhbhanjani Beri, Ber Baba Budha Sahib and Lachi Ber — have become a centre of attraction these days. Reason: plant pathologists and horticulture experts from Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) have come to check the health of these ancient beris and are undertaking pruning to prolong their life. These trees bore fruit. Though plucking the fruit is strictly not allowed, there’s no restriction on collecting the ones that fall down Police take action against trouble-makers after ‘vulnerability’ mapping LOK SABHA POLL PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 5 In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the district administration and police – city as well as rural unit – have identified nearly 450 persons ‘causing vulnerability’, meaning those who could foment trouble or influence voters by threatening in one or the other way during polls. Of these, ‘appropriate action’ has been taken against around 350 persons by the police department, said Deputy Commissionercum-District Electoral Officer Ghanshyam Thori. The maximum number of trouble-makers (108) was identified in Attari assembly constituency followed Doc’s arrest: Health Dept raids hospital,practicedespitebeingdebarred seizes record Claims to find doc continuing with by Baba Bakala which has 60 rabble-rousers. As per information, around 100 persons were detained under preventive action while a number of them were asked to report to the police stations concerned at regular intervals. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that the men in khaki have been keeping a close eye on historysheeters and trouble-mongers. “We have bound down many by asking them to appear at respective police station at regular intervals while those who could potentially create law and order problem during elections were detained and put behind bars,” he said, while adding that the police was committed to conducting free and fair polls. He said nobody continued on page 2 Amritsar, April 5 Despite suspension of the licence to practice and debarring from practice, Dr Parveen Devgan, owner of a private hospital at Ranjit Avenue, continued to practice. This was alleged by Gokul Chand Aneja of Airport road area while seeking seizure of records of surgeries, CCTV footage, account of financial transactions of the hospital and of Dr Devgan and his wife Dr Navrattan Devgan. Dr Devgan was arrested on Thursday in the three-yearold case of cheating and forgery registered against him by the Ranjit Avenue police after two-year-old investigations by a Deputy Commissioner of Police-rank official. While urging for a highlevel probe into the case, Aneja handed over an application to the district administration and Assistant Civil Surgeon Dr Rajinderpal on their own as ‘parshad’. The devotees stand under these trees to collect the fruit, considered as ‘parshad’, which may fall during the pruning process. Normally, a ber tree is known to have a healthy life between 70-100 years, yet with the efforts of PAU experts, all the three ancient trees have borne good quantum of fruits this season too. Devotees were upbeat over the growth of Dukhbhanjani Beri. The devotees sit under it only to expect that the fruit may fall on them. Though there’s no concrete scientific reason to justify their age, the Dukhbhanjani Beri and Baba Budha Sahib Beri are understood to be over 400 years old here due to the historical fact that these were there during the 16th century Guru Ram Das era. Earlier, the PAU team got thick layers of concrete and marble removed so that it may not squeeze the required space, air and root zone. Experts said utmost care is taken when it comes to use of pesticides as mostly ‘neem’ extract is being used to control the lac insect attack. Devotees are advised not to touch the trees as their hands could get smeared with ‘ghee’. They would be discouraged to adorn the trees with flowers or floral garlands as these would attract insects after getting decomposed. Gold haul for Customs Dept at city airport, ICP Attari MP Aujla wants EC to prepare report on drug addicts at booth level Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 5 The Customs Department seized 794 grams of gold at Shri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport today. According to the information received, the gold was worth Rs 48,12,208 in the market. Customs officials said the gold was being smuggled from Dubai. Officers of Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Amritsar, intercepted a passenger who had arrived at the city airport on April 4 from Sharjah by an Indigo flight No. 6E-1428. The passenger was acting suspiciously following which a personal search was conducted. The search and interrogation resulted in the recovery of four capsules of continued on page 2 Amritsar, April 5 Member of Parliament from Amritsar Gurjeet Singh Aujla has appealed to the Election Commission to prepare reports on drug addicts at booth level to curb drug addiction in the state. Aujla expressed grief over the incident in which a drug addict killed three members of his family in Kaddowali village of Ajnala in Amritsar district. To eliminate drug addiction, Aujla appealed to the Election Commission to prepare a report on the people affected by drug addiction at the booth level along with the electoral rolls. The MP claimed that he has raised the issue of drug abuse in Lok Sabha too. He had then emphasised that when a person gets addicted to drugs, he first targets his family. An intoxicated man does not die alone, his entire family dies. In 2022, he demanded that an anti-drug education curriculum should be prepared for schoolchildren. “The Ajnala incident is highly condemnable. It is tragic that a son of a family killed his mother, sister-inlaw and nephew. The incident has shaken entire Punjab. I have been working at the ground level against drug addiction. From time to time, I have shared the ground reality with the Chief Minister and officials through letters, but to no avail,” said Aujla. He said that he now wants to appeal to the Election Commission to take cognisance of the incident and prepare a report of drug addicts at the booth level. Gokul Chand Aneja (C) submits an application to Assistant Civil Surgeon Rajinderpal Kaur seeking a probe against Dr Parveen Devgan in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Kaur in this connection. Following the complaint, the health authorities led by Dr Rajinderpal Kaur raided the hospital and seized the record. She said during the raid it was found that Dr Devgan was continuing with the practice in the hospital despite the suspension of his licence and being debarred from practicing and conducting surgeries. He was booked following a complaint filed by Aneja after his wife Sunita Aneja (46), a lawyer, died due to his alleged post-operative negligence at the hospital in October 2018. Besides lodging a police complaint, he had also submitted a complaint with the Health Department for a high-level probe while accusing Dr Devgan and his staff of gross negligence during the post-operative treatment that led to his wife’s untimely death. A probe was carried out by a medical board constituted by the then Civil Surgeon which found tampering of the attendance register and the claims of the presence of two MBBS doctors in the ICU recovery room false. The board also found that the signature of the complainant in the hospital treatment file was forged. In December 2023, the Punjab Medical Council (PMC) had suspended his registration for six months and debarred him from practice. Aneja has also urged the police to add Section 304 (death by negligence) of the IPC against the doctor and his other staff members to the FIR. Meanwhile, the police have deputed Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Dr Darpan Ahluwalia to supervise the investigations. Ex-Cong leader says politics of freebies harming people Amritsar, April 5 Former Congress leader and social worker Mandeep Singh Manna has opposed freebies and distribution of intoxicants and money to lure the voters in elections. A series of programmes is being held by him to make the voters aware. In an awareness programme at Rajputan Chowk, Islamabad, Manna appealed to the residents to fight for their rights by giving up freebies like flour, pulses and free electricity. “These political leaders have not only made people slaves of drugs but have also made children and youth slaves of freebies. We just think about 20 kg of flour, 5 kg pulses and free units of electricity. I am not asking people to vote for the Congress, Akali Dal, AAP or BJP in these awareness programmes. They must cast their vote, but ask questions Social activist Mandeep Singh Manna during a public meeting in Islamabad area in Amritsar. TRIBUNE PHOTO about the future of children to the leaders who come asking for votes,” said Manna. He said today people stand in queues and ask for flour, do they want that in future their children too should stand in queues and ask for flour and pulses? He questioned the people as to how politicians become rich after two years of winning elections. “There is no education in schools, no medicines in hospitals and the youth have no employment. In such a situation, people who have money are sending their children abroad, those who do not have money, turn to drugs. The youth in 18-25 years of age-group do not want to reside in Punjab. They are all running away to foreign countries,” said Manna. Batala cops nab couple engaged With population of 12 lakh, city has only 4 fire stations FIRE SAFETY in printing fake currency notes PART - II Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Charanjit Singh Teja Batala, April 5 The Batala police today arrested an Amritsar-based couple and recovered fake currency notes worth Rs 30 lakh. Police sources claimed the cops had been working on the case for the last several weeks and today they followed a concrete lead which led to the arrests. SSP Ashwini Gotyal said the forward and backward linkages of the case are being probed. “In all probability, we have stumbled on something big. It is just the tip of the iceberg. In the next few days, we intend to make more arrests. We have already identified one of the couple’s accomplice who at present is lodged in Goindwal jail. He will be brought to Batala on a production warrant in the next Tribune News Service Fake currency notes seized by the Batala police. TRIBUNE PHOTO few days,” she said. The husband-wife duo has been identified as Sukhbir Singh and Gurinderjit Kaur, both residents of Tarsikka village of Amritsar district. The SSP said that earlier, Sukhbir used to work in a bank. “He was involved in a Rs 2.50 crore fraud and has already served time in jail. However, old habits die hard and once out of prison, he was back to his old ways. Subsequently, he and his wife started producing counterfeit currency notes. Today, I constituted a special team which raided the couple’s Amritsar house and recovered 10 bundles of high quality white paper, a lamination machine, a coloured printer, continued on page 2 Amritsar, April 5 There are only four fire stations that cater to the 12 lakh population of Amritsar. In the past 50 years, the city has expanded but the number of fire stations has not increased. These fire stations exist in the interior areas of the city, but most of the time, the fire incidents are reported in city’s outer areas. The fire stations of Town Hall, Beri Gate and Gilwali Gate are based in congested areas where fire tenders find it difficult to get enough space to pass swiftly and reach their destination on time while attending fire calls from areas in the outer city. A new fire station opened in the Focal Point area a few months back but additional staff and c m y b The fire station near Beri Gate in Amritsar on Friday. SUNIL KUMAR infrastructure is yet to materialise. As per the Standing Fire Advisory Committee (SFAC), constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, there should be a fire station for a population of 50,000. As the city has a population of over 12 lakh, it requires at least 24 fire stations to tackle fire incidents efficiently. However, there are only four fire stations, including three within the walled city area. All these fire stations were established by 1970. With the extension of the jurisdiction of Amritsar Municipal Corporation and development of new residential colonies and industrial areas in the city’s periphery, the MC’s Fire Department proposed to set up four new fire stations to effectively tackle fire incidents some years back. In December 2020, the Fire Department wrote to the government for setting up four fire stations in the outer areas of the city. As per the proposal, the MC asked to establish a fire station in Zone No. 6 to cover Batala Road and Majitha Road and MC Head Office to cover the Ranjit Avenue and areas around the bypass road. A fire station along GT Road would cover the area from Ram Talai to the Jalandhar-Pathankot bypass. As per the estimate of officials, they need to outsource 48 firemen and 16 drivers to make four more fire stations functional. The MC already has sites for the establishment of the fire stations. Following this, the General House of the MC had unanimously passed the proposal and sent it to the Punjab Government in 2021 but nothing happened in this direction. The firemen of MC claim that they have to attend calls regarding fire outbreak in industrial areas and farms in the city’s periphery. But all the fire tenders and infrastructure are stationed inside the city. On September 16, 2023, after a meeting with the local industrialists, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann issued instructions to set up a fire station at the old Focal Point on Mehta Road for the safety of the industrial area. Now, two fire tenders have been permanently stationed at Focal Point on Mehta Road. Dilbagh Singh, Additional Divisional Fire Officer (ADFO), said, “An estimate of Rs 2.50 crore was prepared for the construction of fire station building and the tender process had started. The fire tenders and other infrastructure have been provided from the existing fire stations. No additional staff has been recruited yet.”
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