15052025-ATR-01.qxd 5/14/2025 10:12 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 41°C | MIN 23°C YESTERDAY MAX 40°C | MIN 22°C QADIAN: THE HOME OF AHMADIYYA COMMUNITY INDIAN STARS ALL SET TO SHINE AT THE FESTIVAL DE CANNES ROBERT CALLS FOR PROTEST AGAINST ‘PHILISTINE’ TRUMP Ahmadiyya movement differs from mainstream Islam with a belief that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was promised Messiah.P3 As the Cannes Film Festival unfurls its carpet, our celebrities gear up to represent India at this global extravaganza. P4 Hollywood icon Robert De Niro lambasted ‘philistine’ US President Donald Trump and his proposed film tariff. P4 » » » SUNSET THURSDAY 7.20 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:32 AM THURSDAY | 15 MAY 2025 | AMRITSAR Take action against ASI for negligence in duty: Court to SSP Tarn Taran, May 14 The court of Pankaj Verma, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC), in a judgment passed recently in a case registered by an ASI posted at the Chabal police station on the basis of fake evidence has ordered the Tarn Taran SSP to take departmental action against him for his negligence in duty. Investigation officer (IO) ASI Satpal Singh on the complaint of Tejinder Singh, a resident of Lalu Ghuman village, registered a case against Paramjit Singh and others on May 2, 2014. The court in a judgment passed on the basis of the evidence on the record noticed that during 11 years of proceeding, IO Satpal Singh failed to perform his duty fairly due to which the accused had to face harassment. The court stated that at the time of occurrence of the incident there was no fight between the two parties. Rather it was just a matter of property dispute between both the parties. Advocate Rakesh Raman Arora, who appeared on behalf of Paramjit Singh, confirmed that the court had ordered the SSP to take departmental action against ASI Satpal Singh and others. As per the judgement, the SSP was asked to submit a copy of the action report within one month in the court. — OC PSEB CLASS XII RESULTS OUT At 96.29%, Amritsar achieves highest pass percentage in state Girls bag top spots | 16 students from district in state merit list Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 14 The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) declared its Class XII results today. A total of 2, 65,388 students appeared for the Class XII exama this year, of which 2, 41,506 passed successfully, bringing the overall pass percentage to 91 per cent. Repeating last year’s success, Amritsar, this year too, topped the district wise pass percentage list, with highest pass percentage of 96.29 per cent. Barnala scored the least pass percentage with 86.07 per cent. In the district-wise result last year, Amritsar secured top position in the state with 97.27 per cent students passing the exams. Sri Muktsar Sahib had the lowest pass percentage of 87.86 per cent last year. Sixteen students made it to the state merit list this year. Five students from Amritsar registered their names in the state merit list of top 10. Pari, a student of Government Pari (98.80%) Prachi Rana (98.60%) Gauravi Sharma (98.60%) Senior Secondary School, Kot Baba Deep Singh, bagged the top position in the district by securing 98.80 per cent marks and was ranked sixth in the state merit list. With 98.60 per cent marks, Prachi Rana, a student of DAV Senior Secondary School, secured second spot in the district and seventh in state along with Gauravi Sharma, a student of PunjAab Public Senior Secondary School, Sohian Kalan. Simranjot Kaur, of Amber Public Senior Secondary School, Baba Bakala, stood ninth in the state by securing 98.20 per cent marks. Ranjana, a student of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Tapiala, with 98 per cent marks was placed at 10th spot in the state merit list. Expressing happiness over the results of the district, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney congratulated students and teachers for their hard work. She wished all students for a better future. District Education Officer (Secondary) Harbhagwant Singh Waraich said, “It is commendable that 16 students from different schools of the district have registered their names in the state merit list. This accounts for 20 top performing students as per their marks. Out of students, who bagged spots in the merit list, six are from government, two from semi-government and eight students are from private schools.” Overall, the pass percentage of girls (94.32 per cent) was higher than boys (88.08 per cent) this year. The pass percentage in the rural area schools (91.20 per cent) was better than schools in the urban belt (90.74 per cent). Gangster’s operative injured in encounter Pawan K Jaiswar Tribune News Service Students at a school in Amritsar on Wednesday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR After spending days at home amid uncertainty, students return to schools Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 14 After days of uncertainty, all government and private schools reopened in Amritsar. Students attended their classes as usual. The changed timings of the schools, from 10.30 am to 2.30 pm, meant students had late morning rush, with parents dropping them off amid traffic congestion. The buzz returned to schools after recent declaration of the CBSE Class X and XII results. Impending term exams in most schools preoccupied students mind. The teacher bodies were calling for opening of schools amid the ceasefire and consequent peace reached between India and Pakistan. While schools and colleges in other districts opened on May 12 onwards, in border districts of Punjab including Amritsar, educational institutions bore the impact of the tense situation that arose between India and Pakistan after May 7. “It is a positive news that schools have reopened as education of students is suffering due to an atmosphere of fear and panic, despite announcement of ceasefire. Such developments have a negative impact on child’s mind,” said Ashwani Awasthi, a government schoolteacher and district head of the Democratic Teachers Front. Parents said normal timings of schools should be resumed. “The new timings are such that day temperature soars by the time children reach school. Students return home during peak afternoon hours which is physically exhausting for them. An early morning start gives students some respite from harsh sun,” said Rashleen Kaur, a mother of two schoolchildren. Also, several parents pick and drop their wards from schools, which clashed with their office timings. “The school time of children clashes with our office timing. It’s going to be difficult for parents, who do not avail school transport service for their wards. We will be forced to spend more to send our children to school via other means of transport,” said Harsh Sharma, a private employee. All schools complied with orders for opening from 10.30 am to 2.30 pm, but Government Elementary School, Islamabad, Amritsar, opened at 9 am, forcing parents to drop their children ahead of the given time. One parent said, "We tried to raise our concern with the school management, but they said school will begin at 9 am. We were given no reason for it." Several students, who were not aware of the opening time at 9 am, reached the school at 10.30 am, only to be told that they were late. The school management shut doors of the school after 9 am. One of the teachers at the school, on the condition of anonymity, said the school was conducting special classes for students of Class III to V. Fresh orders issued by Amritsar District Magistrate Sakshi Sawhney state: “Keeping in mind the current situation, all government/private-aided schools coming within the limits of Amritsar will open as usual from May 15 onwards. These orders will come into effect immediately. The District Education Officer Secondary/Elementary, Amritsar, will ensure compliance with these orders.” Amritsar, May 14 Days after three unknown persons fired several gunshots outside a garment shop in the Jandiala Guru area over extortion bid that left a girl injured, the police arrested a shooter after brief encounter at Dharad village canal here today. He was identified as Daljit Singh, alias Billa, of Mehnia Kohara village. DIG Satinder Singh and SSP Maninder Singh said the police got information about the movement of Billa in the area and a trap was laid to arrest him. However, he fired at the police party and in self-defence, the police retaliated the fire in which he was injured. He suffered a bullet injury on the leg, the DIG said, while adding that the police had already arrested his two accomplices identified as Vinay, alias Joban, of Verka, and Jashanpreet Singh of Fatehgarh Churian Road here. On their interrogation the police nominated seven more suspects. They were identified as Banipal, Arjan, Aman and Sahil of Teshan Vehra in Verka, and Akash, Happy and Jashan, alias Asha, of Mehnia village. Raids were on to nab them, the DIG said. SSP Maninder Singh said on May 3, Sunil Kumar, a garment shop owner along with his brother and other employees were present at the shop when three unknown bike-borne persons fired several gunshots at his shop leaving a girl worker injured. Sunil told the police that he had received several calls from Billa Mange wala, a Dubaibased notorious gangster, who had demanded Rs 50 lakh extortion from him. Billa Mange wale originally hailed from Arjanmanga village falling under the Mehta police station here. c m y b Border district limps back to normalcy after 5-night blackout Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 14 With no blackout last night, the border district is limping back to normalcy. Earlier, blackout was imposed in the district for the last five nights after neighbouring Pakistan launched aggressive drone and missile attacks. Rajpreet Singh, a farmer from Lopoke, said yesterday was the first night after five days that the power supply was not snapped. With paddy sowing period round the corner, farmers had to make arrangements for irrigating their fields. All proposed plans were held up keeping in view the uncertainty of the situation. A day after the announcement of the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, drones were sighted in the border district, prompting the administration to impose blackout. Last night the administration asked people to self-impose a blackout. Officials said power supply would not be discontinued. Everything went smoothly thereafter. Hospitality players rued that tourists continue to remain elusive and it would take several weeks for them to return. Tourism, the backbone of the local industry, Visitors at the Heritage Street in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR offers employment in hotels and to tour and travel guides and other stakeholders. Gurinder Singh Johal, chairman of the India Association of Tour Operators, anticipates that the domestic tourists would arrive in June and July, when the region had summer vacation in educational institutions. He said international tourists would arrive here in October and thereafter. He said tourists from the southern peninsula, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, used to visit this part of the country during the corresponding period in previous years. Since Amritsar falls in the tourist circuit spanning across both northern mountainous states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the loss was similar across the region, he said. He said visitors from Europe and the USA visiting the tourist sites of the North India were overlooking Amritsar and Chandigarh. He said they were winding up their tours after visiting Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Ranthambore and Rishikesh. He expressed his disappointment with the Punjab Government not paying any attention to the hospitality industry which was passing through a rough phase. Harjit Singh, a hotelier, said, “Hundreds of hotels have not received any customers all these days, while their expenditure continues to rise.” He demanded financial aid from the government to get hotel owners out of the morass. He said it would take several weeks for tourists to regain their confidence to return to this part of the country.