25012025-ATR-01.qxd 24-01-2025 23:37 Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR R-DAY: HEARING IMPAIRED KIDS TO PERFORM NATIONAL ANTHEM THE CAST OF FILM SHUKRANA BELIEVES CONTENT IS KING NOW PRIYANKA & GUNEET HAIL OSCAR NOD FOR SHORT FILM ANUJA Bhagat Puran Singh School students will perform the national anthem in sign language for the first time. P2 Punjabi film Shukrana, streaming on OTT platform Chaupal, reflects the continuous evolution of the industry. P4 Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Mindy Kaling and Guneet Monga celebrated award nomination of their film Anuja. P4 » » MAX 21°C | MIN 4°C YESTERDAY MAX 21°C | MIN 5°C SUNSET SATURDAY 5.58 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 7:26 AM » SATURDAY | 25 JANUARY 2025 | AMRITSAR Admn cancels licences of IELTS coaching centres The police personnel led by ADCP Harpal Singh remove encroachments from the Mall road in Amritsar on Friday. Policeremoveencroachments, challan owners of wrongly parked vehicles on Mall Road Amritsar, January 24 In order to smoothen the flow of traffic on Mall Road, the traffic police today removed encroachments and took stern against owners of wrongly parked vehicles on Friday. Police teams headed by Harpal Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Traffic, have been making efforts to regulate the traffic movement on various roads in the city. On Friday, police teams removed encroachments of shopkeep- ers and hawkers on the road. Apart from this, wrongly parked vehicles on the road were also challaned (fined). The ADCP said people should cooperate with the police and the district administration for making city roads snarls free. He said wrongly parked vehicles were also one of the reasons for frequent traffic jams in the city. He said people should park their vehicles at designated places so that the movement of traffic was not disrupted. — TNS Amritsar, January 24 The district administration has cancelled licences of several IELTS coaching centres and immigration consultancy centres in the city. The action was taken under the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act, 2012, and Punjab Travel Professions Regulation Act. “Owners of centres have failed to apply for renewal of licences. So, they have to wind up their operations. Several agencies have expressed their unwillingness to continue with their businesses,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADCP) Jyoti Bala. The licences of Visionar Overseas Consultancy, Baba Budha Ji Avenue, New Amritsar Gate, Fasttrack, Ranjit Avenue, RS Travels, Khalsa Avenue, near Khalsa College for Women, Khehra Education Services, Ranjit Avenue, Mustafabad Consultant Services, Chatiwind Chowk, Filewell, Rani Ka Bagh, and Global Iris Private Limited, RR Tower, Ranjit Avenue, were cancelled with immediate effect. — TNS Concrete structure to replace Nabipur drain, Gurdaspur heaves a sigh of relief Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, January 24 The entire city heaved a sigh of relief after the Punjab Government decided to make the all-important Nabipur drain a concrete structure following which storm water will not overflow into the city as has been happening for the past several years. The drain was constructed in 1960. After making its way from Gurdaspur, it finally flows into the Kiran Saiki nullah in Amritsar district. Sixty-three years after it was built, the drain had become infamous for flooding several areas, including some posh ones, in Gurdaspur city. Several delegations of residents had met senior AAP leader and Raman Bahl, Chairman, Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC), to apprise him of the problems they faced during the rainy season The final design of the Nabipur drain, which passes through Gurdaspur city, will look like this. when the drain overflowed. Sources reveal that the drain has been desilted on many occasions, but problems persisted. In the run-up to the 2024 General Elections, Chief Min- ister (CM) Bhagwant Mann held a rally at Hanuman Chowk and during the course of his speech he asked Raman Bahl what were the main problems the city was encounter- ing. Bahl, in turn, informed the CM that if the Nabipur drain was given a concrete shape, the main problem of the city would be solved. The CM promised to look into the matter. The state government has now kept its word by releasing Rs 5.70 crore to convert the drain into a concrete structure. Tenders have been called and work would be completed by March 31 this year. Raman Bahl said, “Now, there will be no soil erosion. Excess rainwater will be collected for reuse and the chances of floods will minimise, effectively channelling water away from the residential areas. A longlasting and durable drainage system will be provided to the people of Gurdaspur. This venture has the potential to change the face of the city.” The drain is considered to be the lifeline of the city. An Irrigation Department official said, “Concrete pillars will be constructed after every 20 feet. Soil erosion will be prevented in a big way.” “The entire 3.5 km stretch of the drain which criss-crosses the city will be converted into a concrete structure,” he said. ADGP conducts surprise checking during night domination op Man who stole ~2 lakh from trader Cabinet Minister Tarunpreet Singh Saundh to unfurl national flag at district-level programme injured in road accident arrested Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 24 Ahead of the Republic Day celebrations, AS Rai, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Traffic and road safety, along with Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar carried out surprise checking of various police establishments and checkpoints installed at various vital locations in three zones apart from entry and exit points of the holy city on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. He reviewed the security arrangements at police stations and chowkis in view of the recent attacks on police establishments by Pakistan’s ISI-backed foreignbased terror modules and their local operatives. Rai instructed all officials to remain vigilant and keep a close eye on the criminal elements and miscreants in their respective areas. He also supervised the night domina- Full Dress Rehearsal carried out, DC presides over Punjab Police personnel take part in a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade at Guru Nanak Stadium in Amritsar on Friday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR tion operation being conducted by the city police in order to thwart any untoward instance during January 26 Republic Day celebrations. Police Commissioner (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar informed the ADGP that senior police officials, including Deputy Commissioners of Police, Additional Deputy Commissioners of Police and Assistant Commissioners of the Police, were leading the night domination operation. All suspicious vehicles and their credentials were being verified, he said. Meanwhile, full dress rehearsal for the 76th Republic Day celebrations was conducted at Guru Nanak Stadium here. Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney presided over the parade and unfurled the national flag on the occasion. She said Cabinet Minister Tarunpreet Singh Saundh would be the chief guest and unfurl the Tricolour during the district-level programme here. She took salute from the participating contingents in the march past including the Punjab Police jawans, Punjab Police mahila platoon, Punjab Home Guards, NCC Scouts and the Punjab Police band. Later, a colourful cultural programme was presented by students from various educational institutes. Among others, who were present on the occasion, included Deputy Commissioner of Police Jagjit Singh Walia, Additional Deputy Commissioners Jyoti Bala and Paramjit Kaur, and Major Amit Sareen. Charitable hospital in dist faces severe financial crunch Started in 1907 as a modest dispensary, it catered to the needs of only outdoor patients Gurbaxpuri Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, January 24 The Central Khalsa Hospital famously known as Vidayala Hospital, managed by the Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society, Amritsar, under its local committee, is one of the oldest hospitals in the district. This hospital is facing serious financial crunch to maintain its rich traditions to serve society with the present ultramodern medical treatment. The health institution was started in the year 1907 as a modest dispensary catering to the needs of outdoor patients (OPD) only. The dispensary provided satisfactory medical services with the association of local residents. This dispensary with its present imposing dimension and best efforts of the donors of the area started health services as a 30-bed hospital in the year 1917. The foundation stone of the building was laid The Central Khalsa Hospital in Tarn Taran. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI by Sant Sangat Singh of Kamalia. As the hospital was situated on the outskirts of the then small town of Tarn Taran, it was surrounded by lush green fields. In the year 1920, this health facility started working as a residential hospital. Well-qualified resident doctors and other staff attended to all categories of patients arriving at the hospital. Around 1940, unique world famous medico Sardar Bahadur Dr Sohal Singh patronised the hospital by rendering free services as a visiting eye surgeon. Eye patients from forflung areas came at the hospital for treatment where all health services, including boarding and lodging facilities, were provided free to them. Patients underwent surgeries free of cost at the hospital. Services rendered by Dr Sohan Singh, including those through his active association with this hospital for so many years, prompted the British Government to honour him with the Sardar Bahadur (SB) title. Later, SB Dr Sohan Singh was also honoured by the President of India. He continued to provide his services at the Vidayala Hospital for the next coming 25 years. His son Dr Ranbir Singh, who too was an eye specialist, c m y b offered free medical services at the same hospital till the year 1995. The operation theatre, open rooms and other facilities at the hospital bear testimony to rich traditions of the health institution. Late Dr Manohar Singh Gill, during his tenure as the Union Minister of State, released a grant of Rs 10 lakhs for the hospital. Gurinder Singh Lohewala and Manjit Singh Dhillon, office-bearers of the Chief Khalsa Diwan local committee, said despite their best efforts, the hospital was not able to provide ultra-modern free medical facilities to patients due to paucity of funds. They said donation given by the committee to the hospital was negligible, while expenditure for running the health facility had gone up manifold. The general people of the area were of the view that the hospital, which had a heritage status, must be kept running at all costs by society. Amritsar, January 24 The police have arrested an accused, who had stolen Rs 2 lakh, from pocket of an accident victim lying on a stretcher in a hospital complex a week ago. He was identified as Sunil Saini, alias Gori Shankar, a resident of Guru Nanak Pura locality in the Islamabad area here. The police recovered Rs 70,000 cash, besides a scooter from him. The accused was identified with the help of the CCTV footage of the incident that had gone viral on social media. According to the police, Ravi Mahajan, a trader, was injured after a Nano car hit his scooter on Albert Road. Onlookers picked him up and put him on a stretcher of the nearby diagnostic centre. The accused was also one of them. After the victim was rushed to a hospital, his family members found the cash missing. During probe, the CCTV camera footage of the diagnostic centre was also scanned in which the accused was found taking out cash from pocket of Ravi Mahajan. Following this, the police registered an FIR in this connection. The police said further investigation was in progress and efforts were on to recover the remaining amount from the accused. — TNS