06112024-ATR-01.qxd 11/5/2024 11:22 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY VILLAGERS STAGE DHARNA, DEMAND ACTION IN ASSAULT CASE THE CAST OF FILM HEY SIRI, VE SIRI IS UPBEAT ABOUT PLOT IFFI TO CELEBRATE CENTENARIES OF RAJ KAPOOR, MOHD RAFI Ambedkar Sena & BSP activists protest against the police for sheltering an accused who attacked govt employee. P2 Hey Siri, Ve Siri, an upcoming Punjabi film, though shot largely in the UK, has a strong connect with Punjab. P4 The IFFI will mark centenary of Indian cinema icons — Raj Kapoor, Akkineni Nageswara Rao & Mohammed Rafi .P4 » » » MAX 31°C | MIN 17°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 17°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 5.36 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6.52 AM WEDNESDAY | 6 NOVEMBER 2024 | AMRITSAR SGPC for strict laws to check sacrilege cases Two arrested for trespassing on Canada-based NRI’s property Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 5 Two persons have been arrested for allegedly attempting to trespass on property owned by an NRI. Canada-based Amandeep Singh and his wife Urvashi Sandhu have filed a complaint against the miscreants who attempted to grab their ancestral property where a private school has been running for the past four decades. Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar confirmed that two of the miscreants, who attempted to enter the premises, have been arrested. The police launched a manhunt after registering a case and more arrests are likely in the case. The miscreants damaged the CCTV cameras installed on school premises before demolishing the boundary Amritsar, November 5 Taking note of a Sikh youth Gurjit Singh Khalsa who climbed atop a tower demanding enactment of a law to curb sacrilege incidents for the past 26 days at Samana, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami has asked the state government to consider it seriously. The SGPC has expressed its support for Khalsa. Meanwhile, former junior vicepresident of SGPC Buta Singh also participated in his stir to express solidarity with the cause. Dhami said the SGPC has been demanding stern action against the culprits for blasphemy. “The matter of sacrilege commands serious view and strict action under the provision of law and the law has to be enacted as it pertains to Sikh sentiments. At the general house meetings conducted by the SGPC, many a time resolution was passed but the government never bothered. The accused caught in the case of desecration of religious scriptures often get away due to lack of strict law for the offence,” said Dhami. Farmers are not getting a fair price for their produce: Ranike Tribune News Service Two accused in custody of the Amritsar police on Tuesday. wall yesterday. Property owner Urvashi Sandhu said, “MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh responded to my telephone call at 6:30 am in the morning, he took immediate action. He spoke to the Police Commissioner and he immediately sent DSP Shiv Darshan Singh to the school along with his team. The damaged wall has been constructed in the presence of police. It was with the support of Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh and immediate action by Police Commissioner GS Bhullar that the situation was brought under control,” said Urvashi Sandhu, complainant in the case. — TNS Gangsters fire at factory gate over ‘extortion’ Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, October 5 Two motorcycle-borne armed and masked gangsters fired at the gate of the factory of an entrepreneur in the local Focal Point area on Tuesday morning. The industrialist refused to disclose his identity for want of security. Inspector Harpeet Singh, Station House Officer, Tarn Taran city, said the industrialist had received an extortion call on his mobile last night but he immediately cut the mobile call out of fear. The Station House Officer, referring to the footage from nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, said that two gangsters fired at the gate of his factory and managed to escape from the spot. The Station House Officer said a case would be registered if the industrialist demanded. Seepage in Nehru Shopping Complex as no provision for draining out wastewater Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 5 Absence of proper disposal of rainwater and wastewater in the drains and allowing individual owners to install water tanks are wreaking havoc on the building of Nehru Shopping Complex. Widespread dampness is visible in all portions of the structure while green vegetation has sprouted in its different parts. Vikas Narang, president of Nehru Shopping Complex Welfare Association, said there was no efficient provision for draining out rainwater from the rooftop and ground floor which is two to three feet below the road level. Consequently, water seeps underneath the building. He said there is a narrow service lane, right from SCO number 1 to 30 and their toilets are raised over it. Water tanks are also installed over this stretch on the rooftop. Overflowing water from plastic receptacles and rainwater keep flowing Amritsar, November 5 The Shiromani Akali Dal staged a protest at the District Administrative Complex here on Tuesday. The party accused the state government of tardy procurement and lifting and black marketing of DAP (di-ammonia phosphate) fertiliser. Leading the protest, former Cabinet minister and senior SAD leader Gulzar Singh Ranike accused the Central Government of unnecessarily harassing farmers of the state. “There is no problem in procurement of paddy in other states. There is also no shortage of DAP fertiliser elsewhere except for in Punjab. It seems that the Central Government is meting out step-motherly treatment to state farmers and trying to punish them,” he said. Ranike said farmers are not getting a fair price for their produce and in most cases, they have sold their parmal crop at less than the minimum support price (MSP). The procurement process of agricultural produce was always conducted smoothly during the Sikh jatha to leave for Nankana Sahib on Nov 14 Tribune News Service A narrow passage that has been turned into a garbage dump at Nehru Shopping Complex in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR down from the area. As a result, backside balconies on all the floors and raised concrete wall on the rooftop have become structurally weak. They could collapse anytime, he cautioned. There are about 400 SCOs in the complex and about half of them are operational. The structure has developed cracks and fissures which are visible at several places, allowing water to seep deep inside it. Mumties on the rooftop are without doors and windows allowing any person access to the rooftop. Balconies at the back of the shops developed cracks. Leakage in water and drainpipes besides rainwater resulted in con- Huge rush at rly station as migrants leave for Bihar for Chhath Puja Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 5 With a spurt in the number of rail passengers due to Chhath Puja, travellers, other than those bound for Bihar, are at the receiving end as most long-route trains are more than packed to capacity. Even tickets in the waiting list cannot be booked due to ‘no room’ (waiting list exhausted) in many trains bound for various destinations in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. There was a huge rush of passengers on the local railway station. Though additional current ticket windows and reservation counters were set up, they were of little use. SAD protests tardy procurement, black marketing of DAP fertiliser densation dampness over several walls in the complex. Fibre sheets placed over a framework on a rooftop stretch of the Nehru Shopping Complex has been damaged but no attempt has been made to repair it. Ashok Talwar, Chairman, Improvement Trust, said a whitewash of the building was on. SAD workers booked for assaulting AAP worker Our Correspondent A large crowd of migrants at the Amritsar railway station on Tuesday. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR To facilitate the rush of passengers for Chhath Puja, the Railways will operate two special trains from the Amritsar railway station tomorrow. The Amritsar-Jaynagar will depart at 10.55 am and another from Amritsar to New Jalpaiguri from 8.40 pm. Both will proceed continued on page 2 Tarn Taran, November 5 Police have booked seven SAD workers, residents of Failoke village, for assaulting an AAP worker Hardeep Singh of the same village on Sunday. Rivalry in the panchayat elections is said to be the reason behind the incident. Subinspector Baljinder Singh, SHO, Goindwal Sahib, said that five of the seven accused SAD workers have been identified as Rajwinder Singh Raju, Gurbir Singh, Kanwaljit Singh, Gurjinder continued on page 2 c m y b Amritsar, November 5 To celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, a jatha of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) will leave for Gurdwara Sri Janam Asthan, Sri Nankana Sahib, in Pakistan on November 14. The birth anniversary falls on November 15 and devotees from all over the globe attend a series of programmes organized by the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee at Gurdwara Sri Nankana Sahib. SGPC secretary Partap Singh said the SGPC-sponsored jatha will leave for Nankana Sahib via AttariWagah Joint Check Post. “After visiting various Sikh shrines in Pakistan, the jatha will return on November 23,” he added. SAD leaders and workers during a protest at the DAC in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: previous governments. “It is an administrative failure on the part of the AAP government, especially Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann,” said Ranike, adding that making fertilisers available is the equal responsibility of Central Government and the state government and both cannot run away from it. The SAD leaders also submitted a memorandum addressed to the Governor to local officials. Party leaders stated that SAD is a party which represents the interests of poor people. They stated that fight against the Centre and the state government on the issues of general public would continue. Meanwhile, SAD workers staged a dharna in front of the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) at Khadoor Sahib on Tuesday. The protest was led by Ravinder Singh Brahampura, former MLA. Speaking on the occasion, Brahampura said that farmers in Punjab are currently grappling with a shortage of DAP fertiliser and inadequate paddy procurement. He VISHAL KUMAR blamed the Centre and AAP govt for the problems. Brahampura highlighted the deteriorating state of affairs under the current government, noting a lack of control and administration, particularly in addressing the dominance of gangsters in Punjab. He emphasised the growing sense of insecurity among citizens due to threats and extortion calls by criminal elements, signalling a failure on the part of the state government to ensure public safety. Water sprinkling operations to curb dust pollution continue Amritsar, November 5 To tackle the rising pollution, a drive by the Amritsar Municipal Corporation to sprinkle water in the air to settle dust has been underway with dust separation machines pressed into service. However, the city has got a slight relief from pollution as the air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 225, which had reached 368 on Diwali night. Owing to the increasing pollution, MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh has ordered the MC officials to continue to use one big and two small dust separation machines. Today, the dust separation machines were used in the Lawrence Road, Mall Road and Kachhari Road areas. MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh said the Health Department of the MC will continue with the drive to settle dust for the next few days. He said the sprinklers has been able to control pollu- A water sprinkler spray water in the air in Amritsar on Tuesday. tion to some extent. MC Health Officer Dr Kiran Kumar said a schedule has been prepared to keep all three machines running continuously. The machines will continue to spray water continuously on main roads of the city. MC officials claimed that with water sprinkling, dust and other particles spread in the air settle on the ground. The MC Commissioner laid empha- sis on the effectiveness of these measures in controlling pollution as water sprinkling will help settle the dust and other particles. The city’s pollution levels had spiked alarmingly, prompting flight diversions due to poor visibility. The city’s AQI had reached hazardous levels, posing health risks to residents. The move is a part of larger efforts to address pollution concerns in the city. 19-year-old city student Ronak bags silver medal at 2024 Climate Science Olympiad Tribune News Service Amritsar, November 5 Ronak Mahajan, 19, a young aspiring technology developer from Amritsar has secured the 14th position globally in 2024 Climate Science Olympiad, an international competition supported by the United Nations, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge, with over 100,000 participants from 190 countries. It invites young innovators every year to compete by presenting innovation-based, tech-driven solutions to real world problems that are a direct result of climate change. Ronak, who did his class 12 Ronak Mahajan from Spring Dale Senior Secondary School this year, is a self-confessed climate change activist. A JEE aspirant, he emerged among the top 3,000 contestants selected globally for the semi-finals in July this year and presented a comprehensive, researchbacked solution within a strict three-hour time-frame, regarding climate change issues shortlisted by them. “I presented a technologybased solution for saving islands that have been predicted to be submerged by 2050, if the climate change crisis continues. The idea was to set up solar desalination systems for potable water, back it up with existing research studies and present a model which provides a realistic solution and not concepts and theories,” he shared. For this, he cited 40 research papers that he studied in detail, earning him the 14th position globally out of 100,000 participants and a silver medal. Parallel to this, his passion towards what he calls his ‘mission’ made him develop Climate Harbor, an innovative non-profit initiative that converts hard-to-access environmental data into free, easily accessible resources. “The platform, active since August this year, has 11,000 users with a diverse user base including farmers, environmentalists and climate researchers. It provides estimates of fuel emission for 125 types of hydrocarbon-based fuels, calculated along with a customised visual map that is easy to use and provides continued on page 2