Usmeet Kaur
Usmeet Kaur is a staff correspondent in Amritsar. She covers district administration, education and civic issues, besides writing for HT City.
Articles by Usmeet Kaur
Golden chapter in the history of 36 Sikh Platoon to be unfolded
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON SEP 10, 2017 03:51 PM IST
Special gallery for Saragarhi martyrs to give tribute to 21 Sikh martyrs.
Golden Temple will have high-tech lighting by October 7
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON SEP 08, 2017 10:55 AM IST
The illumination by digitally-controlled, multi-coloured LED lights would bedazzle visitors this Diwali
Hoisted at 170 ft, national flag ‘disappears’ 14th time in 2 years in Amritsar
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON AUG 31, 2017 12:44 AM IST
The flag is hoisted with great pomp and show, but is either damaged or just flies away very so often; strong winds, fabric quality, even pollution are cited as possible reasons. Amritsar Improvement Trust has spent around Rs 10 lakh on the flags since 2015.
India’s flag of pride on Pakistan border becomes flag of embarrassment
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON JUL 31, 2017 10:05 PM IST
The 360-ft high flag near Indo-Pak border at Attari, repeatedly damaged due to wind, was taken off by Amritsar admn in April and has not been hoisted again ever since.
UK’s first turbaned Sikh MP motivates Punjab youth to serve mankind
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
PUBLISHED ON JUL 29, 2017 02:22 PM IST
Ouoting a Sikh prayer, he said, “Live by the ideology Sarbat da bhala (welfare ,peace and prosperity for all).
2 years on, Punjab’s first drug rehab centre struggles for patients
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON JUL 13, 2017 09:59 AM IST
Experts running the centre said patients who get detoxified in the OPD are reluctant to stay in the rehab for the longer period as their livelihood gets affected due to being confined.
Langar consumption doubles at Golden Temple as pilgrim count goes up in vacation time
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON JUL 05, 2017 07:46 PM IST
“It’s been over 400 years that this langar tradition is on. This being among the world’s biggest community kitchens, we now have plans to expand it.”
After Centre’s aid, restoration work on colonial-era Amritsar building takes off
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON JUN 12, 2017 08:15 AM IST
Renovation work on the building, which once housed the office of the Amritsar deputy commissioner, has been started. The state government is planning to convert it into a museum or a heritage restaurant.
Op Bluestar anniversary: Amritsar witnesses complete shutdown after ‘bandh’ call by Dal Khalsa
Hindustan Times | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON JUN 06, 2017 09:09 PM IST
134 academicians in race for GNDU’s V-C post, 90 meet criteria
Hindustan Times | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON JUN 04, 2017 12:33 AM IST
Daggers drawn: Amritsar’s kirpan industry losing its cutting edge to China
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON JUN 03, 2017 09:00 PM IST
Cheaper machine-made Chinese daggers have flooded the market, rendering local units out of business. Though the quality of the Amritsari kirpan is arguably better, the impact can be seen as the city that once housed hundreds of manufacturing units can today boast of only 30 to 40.
UPSC results: Amritsar’s Anmol Sher Singh bags second spot, wants to join IFS
By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON JUN 01, 2017 09:58 AM IST
Anmol said he will go for the Indian Foreign Services. ”India is growing by leaps and bounds. I want to play a pivotal role in it,” he added.
PSEB Class 10 results 2017: Majha region records highest pass percentage, Gurdaspur leads with 89.97%
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON JUL 11, 2017 05:29 PM IST
The Majha region of Punjab recorded the highest pass percentage in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Class 10 board examinations, the results of which were declared on Monday, even though the state toppers do not belong to the 4 districts in the area.
Amritsar Class 12 girl hangs herself with dupatta in classroom
Hindustan Times | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON MAY 19, 2017 11:59 PM IST
Work on permanent campus of IIM-Amritsar takes off
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON MAY 19, 2017 10:44 AM IST
Even though construction has taken off, but deadlock between the government and IIM committee continues over campus land
Gurdaspur girl bags third state rank in PSEB Class 12 board exams, wants to be an IAS officer
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON MAY 13, 2017 03:30 PM IST
A student of non-medical stream, Riya scored 441 marks out of 450.
Give peace a chance, say Amritsar theatre artistes
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON MAY 08, 2017 07:11 PM IST
Appealing in favour of maintaining bilateral cultural ties between India and Pakistan, theatre activist Jatinder Brar, theatre personality Kewal Dhaliwal and actor Anita Devgan said “Cinema and theatre are the only channels left which can revive amicable relations between the two countries.
Punjab CM Amarinder seeks ‘more time’ to eradicate drug menace
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON MAY 08, 2017 08:44 AM IST
The CM also reiterated his government’s commitment to waiving off farmers’ debts, saying the State Farmers’ Commission would work out the modalities and give viable recommendations on the issue within two months.
A first: Govt seeks applications for GNDU V-C’s post
Hindustant Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON MAY 06, 2017 09:47 AM IST
The move was necessitated after Prof AS Brar resigned after the formation of the Congress government in the state. Prof Brar, who joined the GNDU as the vice-chancellor in 2009, had two extensions during his tenure.
Amritsar BRTS comes to halt, new regime to review viability
Hindustan Times | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON MAY 06, 2017 09:08 AM IST
15 buses operational since December pulled out of road last week; Sidhu says project not shelved
Khalsa College suicide row: Majithia cries political conspiracy, appeals to Punjab govt
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON MAY 01, 2017 08:08 PM IST
“The students must realise that people who are backing them are doing that for their political and personal interests.”
Student suicide: Exams postponed as protests continue at Amritsar’s Khalsa College
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON MAY 01, 2017 08:08 PM IST
KCC president Satyajit Singh Majithia reached Amritsar on Monday and declared the postponement of examinations “until normalcy returns”.
Land allocated 3 years ago, not a brick laid for IIM Amritsar
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON APR 27, 2017 09:24 AM IST
The deadlock is due to the approach road to the proposed campus. Currently the approach road is from NH-1 (Amritsar-Delhi highway) side, but the IIM authorities want another one from the NH-15 side.
Don’t be great like me, be great like yourself : Sajjan to Pingalwara inmates
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON APR 20, 2017 02:27 PM IST
After paying obeisance at the Golden temple on Thursday morning, Canadian defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan reached Pingalwara at Manawala, Amritsar, where he spent time with inmates, encouraging them to be “goal-oriented”.
Khalsa University mgmt looking for legal options to save it
By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON APR 20, 2017 10:11 AM IST
Security beefed up in Amritsar ahead of Canadian minister Sajjan’s visit
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON APR 19, 2017 04:34 PM IST
As high profile visit of the Canadian defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan starts today (on Wednesday) evening, the Amritsar police have made elaborate security arrangements to ensure safety of the dignitary during his visit to the holy city.
Rs 44-crore ‘Saragarhi Sarai’ opens near Golden Temple
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur and Surjit Singh
UPDATED ON APR 19, 2017 10:24 AM IST
The much-awaited ‘Saragarhi Sarai’, a luxurious inn for pilgrims, was inaugurated along the Heritage Street near Golden Temple on Tuesday. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had laid the foundation stone of the Rs 44-crore project in December 2011 to provide better facilities to devotees.
Tallest Tricolour still out of sight in Amritsar, admn awaits response from govt
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON APR 16, 2017 03:06 PM IST
Bamboozled by the regular damage to the tallest national flags hoisted in Amritsar, the district administration wrote to the state home department seeking expert advise on how to tackle the problem. But more than a week later, the department is yet to respond.
Upsetting that Pakistan misjudged Begum Jaan, says Mahesh Bhatt
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Aseem Bassi and Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON APR 15, 2017 10:59 AM IST
He said that Pakistan was not a market for him. “It is a ladder that can connect the cultures. I would make it very clear that the ban on one movie cannot jeopardise the long efforts made to bring peace between two nations,” he added.
Amritsar revisits Partition with Begum Jaan team
Hindustan Times, Amritsar | By Usmeet Kaur
UPDATED ON APR 14, 2017 06:41 PM IST
Time has not healed this Partition. Seven decades on, India still hasn’t come to terms with the trauma ordinary people go through after the extraordinary divide of 1947 that created Pakistan but united the two Punjabs in grief.