18032025-ATR-01.qxd 3/17/2025 11:20 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 26°C | MIN 12°C YESTERDAY MAX 26°C | MIN 12°C PLAY DEPICTS PLIGHT OF ELDERLY IN TODAY’S SOCIETY LADY GAGA'S MAYHEM TOPS CHART AYUSHMANN KHURRANA IS OFFICIAL FIT INDIA ICON The 25th edition of National Theatre Festival being held at Virsa Vihar by Manch-Rangmanch. P2 Lady Gaga's seventh studio album Mayhem debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. P4 Ayushmann is determined to inspire millions of Indians to embrace fitness with enthusiasm and dedication. P4 » » » SUNSET TUESDAY 6.31 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6.26 AM TUESDAY | 18 MARCH 2025 | AMRITSAR AUCT delegation seeks early resolution of demands Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 17 A delegation of the Association of the United College Teachers, Punjab and Chandigarh (AUCT), met Prof Karamjeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, here on Monday. Prof Jaspal Singh, general secretary, and Prof Tarun Ghai, spokesperson for the association, said they have submitted a demand letter to the VC seeking resolution of the long-pending issues of the teachers in the higher education institutions affiliated to the university. “There are so many longpending issues, including implementation of the 7th Pay Scale, for the teachers working on the unaided posts in the colleges affiliated to GNDU,” said Prof Ghai said. “We have implored the VC to get the unaided teachers paid their salary as per the 7th P Commission without any further delay.” Prof Jaspal said it was brought to the notice of the VC that despite repeated reminders by the university in the past two years, a large number of colleges have not shared the record regarding the award of the provident fund to the teachers as they are not awarding the same as per the UGC/university guidelines. The delegation appealed for a strict and exemplary action against such colleges and requested for the issuance of the orders to award of the PF in sync with the UGC/university guidelines in a time-bound manner. “Post retirement, the teachers have only the PF to rely on. We also raised the issue of the long wait of the teachers for the promotion under the CAS. It was requested to make the process time bound to keep the teachers motivated,” added Prof Jaspal. Says people belonging to OBC getting only 12% reservation benefit in state Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 17 Even as the AAP leaders are celebrating their three years in power, visiting All India Congress Committee OBC wing president Capt Ajay Yadav said the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government had failed to provide a safe and secure environment to the common people and development remained a far cry. Addressing media persons here on Monday after holding a meeting with OBC leaders of Punjab, he said the law and situation has been deteriorating and the state government never bothered to find out those responsible for it. Punjabis belonging to the OBC category are getting reservation benefit of only 12 per cent instead of 27 per cent. No development took place all these years and employees are not getting Punjab ministers Dhaliwal, ETO were present Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 17 The newly appointed Chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), Karamjit Singh Rintu, officially assumed his position in the presence of Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Harbhajan Singh ETO. During the ceremony, both Cabinet Ministers seated Rintu and congratulated him. They expressed the confidence that Karamjit Singh Rintu, with his dedication and strategic approach, would accelerate the development initiatives in the city and enhance transparency in its operations. The event was attended by prominent citizens, including MLAs Inderbir Singh Nijjar, Dr Jasbir Singh Sandhu and Jeevanjot Kaur along with a number of AAP workers. In his address, Rintu expressed gratitude to the government for entrusting him with the responsibility. He assured that he would carry out his duties with sincerity. Thanking the ministers and MLAs present, he reaffirmed his commitment to Congress OBC cell national chairman Capt Ajay Singh Yadav addresses a gathering in Amritsar on Monday. salaries on time, he alleged. Capt Yadav informed that the Congress was initiating ‘Jai Bhim Jai Bapu Jai Samvidhan’ campaign as his party wanted to save the Constitution in its true spirit, stating that all are equal. Congress national spokesperson Alok Sharma slammed the AAP government for spending money on advertisements to mislead people while the reality was the opposite. He asked CM Bhagwant Mann to bring in a white paper to inform people how much money was spent during the Delhi elections. He reminded AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal of his promises made to people of Punjab of providing sand at low rate and increasing earnings from sand mining to Rs 20,000 crore. Among others, Rajpaksh, head of OBC wing of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and Ravinder Dalvi were also present. Rlys to ply special Beas-Saharanpur train on March 21 March 21. A special train (04565) will depart from Saharanpur for Beas on March 21 (single trip) at 20.50 pm and will reach Beas at 2.15 am the next day. In the return journey, another pair (04566) will depart from the Beas station Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 17 The Railways has decided to ply a pair of special train between Beas and Saharanpur for the convenience of followers of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas sect on on March 23 at 3 pm and will reach Saharanpur at 8.20 pm the next day. On the way, the trains will halt at the Yamunanagar, Jagadhri, Jagadhri Workshop, Ambala Cantonment, Ludhiana and Jalandhar City railway stations. Karamjit Singh Rintu (in while turban) during the installation ceremony in Amritsar on Monday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR ensuring that all operations of the Amritsar Improvement Trust would be executed with transparency and efficiency. Sr Dy Mayor Priyanka, Dy Mayor Anita assume office Senior Deputy Mayor Priyanka Sharma and Deputy Mayor Anita Rani officially took charge of their respective positions on Monday. It is worth mentioning here that both councillors were elected as Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor on January 27. Today, the ceremony was attended by Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO, Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, MLA Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, MLA Jasbir Singh Sandhu, MLA Jeevanjot Kaur, Mayor Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia and newly appointed AIT Chairman Karamjit Singh Rintu. A large number of councillors, MC officials and volunteers from the Aam Aadmi Party were also present at the event, making it a significant political gathering. Cabinet Minister Aman Arora’s 2 peddlers held, 2 hurt in police encounter stern warning to drug traffickers Our Correspondent Amritsar, March 17 Punjab Cabinet Minister and Aam Aadmi Party president Aman Arora has issued a stern warning to drug traffickers and their masterminds, saying that strict action will be taken against anyone involved in the drug trade, regardless of their social or political standing. The Punjab Government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, has adopted a zero-tolerance policy to eradicate the drug trade. The ‘War against Drugs’ campaign, launched on March 1, has gained significant momentum, with people actively sharing information with the police about drugs. He said 1,651 cases have been registered and 2,575 drug traffickers arrested since March 1 and 1,322 kg of drugs seized and 64.26 lakh of drug money Cabinet Minister Aman Arora (C) along with other AAP leaders during a meeting held with officials in Amritsar on Monday. recovered so far. He said the palatial houses built by drug traffickers during the tenure of previous governments would face demolition. He said the Employment Bureau is providing training to rehabilitate drug addicts. Panchayats, social service organisations, and educational insti- tutions would be involved in the anti-drug campaign. Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal emphasized the need to continuously check medical stores and RMPs, while Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO stressed the importance of monitoring OAT centres. — TNS Tarn Taran, March 17 In a fierce encounter occurred with the Tarn Taran police in border area Baghiari village on Monday late evening two members of the interstate group involved in smuggling of drugs and weapons from across the border through drones were arrested and other two of the gang were injured in return of police firing. SSP Abhimanyu Rana informed that the police have the information regarding movement of the suspected persons with their links with smugglers of drugs and arms across the Indo-Pak border. SSP said that under the supervision of Ajaraj Singh SP (Investigation) the police conducted raid to arrest them and the gang members fired at the police party. SSP said on the PHOTO: GURBAXPURI Amritsar, March 17 The AAP government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, has made significant strides in the state’s development over the past three years. This was stated by Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal adding that the government has provided numerous facilities to residents. Dhaliwal said during the period, nearly ~475 crore has been spent in Ajnala assembly segment for various development projects. He said there is no shortage of funds for development works and the remaining works in the area would be initiated soon. The minister stated that the funds have been spent on repairing of roads, upgrade of veterinary hospital and pond cleaning. The minister assured that the government will continue to work towards providing basic facilities to the people of the state. He said the government has fulfilled most of the guarantees made during the elections and will work to fulfil the remaining ones in the coming two years. He said over 50,000 jobs have been created for youngsters and 300 units of free electricity is being provided to residents. Additionally, more than 3 crore people have received free treatment at Aam Aadmi Clinics, he said. — TNS Rintu takes charge as AIT Chairman Cong OBC wing chief condemns Mann govt PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR ‘Govt spent ~475 cr on Ajnala’s dev’ The SSP at the encounter site collecting information and the arrested drug smugglers in Tarn Taran. policy of fire in the return of fire (goli da jvab goli vich) the police in the return of fire injured two and other two who made bid to escape from the spot apprehended them. SSP said that the arrested smugglers have been identified as Varinder Singh Vijay and Gurjant Singh of Bharopal (Police station Gharinda) and the other two injured Satnam Singh Sagar resident of Basarke Gillan Sunn Sahib (Amritsar) and Jashanpreet Singh Jashan of Gharinda (Amritsar) have been admitted at the local Civil Hospital. They sustained injuries at their legs. The police have recovered three illegal sophisticated weapons, several live cartridges, 7 kg opium, one lakh drug money and two motorcycles. The Chabal police have registered a case under relevant sections of the NDPS and Arms act today. KMSC flays police action against farmers, War against drugs: 20 booked seeks compensation for crop damage under NDPS Act in Tarn Taran Our Correspondent Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, March 17 The district unit of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), Punjab, has expressed its resentment over the alleged repression committed by the Punjab Police on farmers in Gurdaspur recently, opposing the move to take possession of the land acquired under the Bharatmala Project. Satnam Singh Manochahal, district president, KMSC, led the delegation which submitted a memorandum in this regard to Deputy Commissioner Rahul at his office in the District Administrative Complex on Monday. Manochahal, after submitting the memorandum to DC, said that the KMSC con- Tarn Taran, March 17 On the 16th day of the ‘War against drugs” drive launched by the state government, the Tarn Taran police booked 20 persons for indulging in the drug trade here on Sunday. SSP Abhimanyu Rana stated here on Monday that 19 out of the 20 booked have been arrested, including a woman, Jinder Kaur, of Mohalla Guru-Ka-Khooh, Tarn Taran. Jinder Kaur was arrested with 10 gm of heroin and ~1.5 lakh as drug money. Teams of respective police stations recovered 109.45 gm of heroin and 492 intoxicating tablets. The police also impounded two motorcycles Leaders of the KMSC submit a memorandum to the DC in Tarn Taran. PHOTO: GURBAXPURI demned the police action in which seven farmers were injured and the crop in two villages was damaged to take possession of the land. The KMSC demanded com- pensation for the farmers who were injured and also for the crops damaged by the police. The KMSC has demanded the cancellation of notification issued to acquire the land of c m y b the farmers and seek rate under the set norms, including 30 per cent uprooting (Ujarrara Bhatta) compensation. Their other demands too were highlighted in the memorandum. Two suspects in the custody of the police in Tarn Taran. belonging to accused. There were four persons who have been arrested with 4 continued on page 2