14092026-JTR-01.qxd 13-09-2026 23:03 Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune FARMER REPLACES UREA WITH DAIRY SLURRY IN PADDY FIELDS UPGRADE RURAL GRID, EXPAND SOLAR POWER & RECRUIT STAFF CELEBS SHARE WHAT MAKES GANPATI FESTIVAL SPECIAL The farm has a ‘gobar’ gas plant, which generates energy used to meet the electricity requirements of his farm. P2 Restrict subsidies to needy households, increase power generation capacity to improve situation. P3 For these celebrities, the festival is about cherished childhood memories, lovedones & lessons that they will never forget. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 35°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET MONDAY 6.35 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:11 AM MONDAY | 14 SEPTEMBER 2026 | JALANDHAR HEALTH & WELLNESS The Tribune is starting a Q and A column to address your health-related queries. Please mail your questions (not exceeding 40 words) at healthandwellness@tribunemail.com. The Tribune’s panel of doctors will answer all your healthrelated concerns. INBRIEF WOMAN AMONG TWO BOOKED FOR VISA FRAUD Phagwara: The Nurmahal police have booked two travel agents, including a woman, for allegedly duping a Nurmahal resident of Rs 8.30 lakh on the pretext of sending him abroad. Nakodar DSP Onkar Singh Brar, who is the investigating officer in this case, said the accused have been identified as Joti Mehra of Nawan Nangal and Mohit Khan of Jol Nangal village in Rupnagar. Harbajan Singh of Mohalla Kohlian, Nurmahal, complained to the police that he paid Rs 8.30 lakh to the accused for facilitating his migration abroad, but he was neither sent abroad, nor got back the money. OC WOMAN DUPED OF ~7.40 LAKH Phagwara: The Nakodar police have arrested a woman travel agent for duping a Nurmahal village woman of Rs 7.40 lakh on the pretext of sending her family abroad. The accused have been identified as Parveen of Golden Colony, Nakodar. Gita Rani of Fatehpur village had complained to the police that she had paid Rs 7.40 lakh to the accused for facilitating her family’s migration to England, but the accused neither sent her family abroad, and nor paid the money. OC Ward 21 residents queue for hours to receive ration tokens Ex-cop duped of ~76 lakh in plot deal, 8 booked Beneficiaries allege poor arrangements, repeated visits due to technical glitches Our Correspondent Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 13 Residents of Ward No. 21 in Jalandhar have complained of long queues and mismanagement in the distribution of ration tokens for blue card beneficiaries, with many claiming they have had to wait for hours over several days to obtain tokens. They said despite reaching the area councillor’s office early in the morning, many were unable to get tokens and were asked to return the next day. They claimed the situation has worsened over the past month after the introduction of the token system. A resident of Guru Nanakpura alleged that people were being made to wait for long hours in the heat. “A woman fainted in front of me due to the long wait. Sometimes the server is down, sometimes the machines do not work and residents are asked to return the next morning. I visited for three consecutive days before finally receiving a token today. Even at 7 am, queues of 100 to 150 people form outside the office,” the resident claimed. The resident further alleged that some people were misbehaved by the staff and that fans were switched on only after those waiting raised objections. BJP leader and local resi- Beneficiaries sit in a queue for ration tokens in Jalandhar on Sunday. dent Barinder Singh Bitta said he had been receiving complaints about the token distribution process for several days. He alleged that beneficiaries were being made to stand on the roadside outside the councillor’s office without adequate shelter, drinking water or toilet facilities. “The ration token distribution system is chaotic. The nearby community hall could be utilised as it has fans and washroom facilities. Instead, people are being forced to wait in difficult conditions merely ORDEAL FOR RESIDENTS woman fainted in front me ❝ASometimes the server isofdown,due to the long wait. sometimes the machines do not work and residents are asked to return the next morning. I visited for three consecutive days before finally receiving a token. Even at 7 am, queues of 100 to 150 people form outside the office. A resident ❞ to obtain a token,” he said. Responding to the allegations, Jaswinder Singh Billa, husband of area councillor Rain’s aftermath 82,911 applications filed for inclusion of names in voter roll revision drive VILLAGER HELD FOR MURDER BID Phagwara: The Lohian Khas police have arrested a villager on the charge of attempting to kill a policeman. The accused has been identified as Lakhwindar Singh of Yusafpur Darewal village. Constable Rajindar Partap Singh of Lohian Khas said the accused attacked him on the head with a brick with the intention to kill. He fell to the ground and raised the alarm. His colleagues rushed him to the Civil Hospital. OC Rishika Kriti Tribune News Service MAN BOOKED FOR RASH DRIVING Phagwara: The Nurmahal police have booked an unidentified vehicle driver on the charges of rash driving and mischief. Jatindar Kumar of Bajuha Khurd village in Nakodar complained to the police that the accused was driving his vehicle very fast and hit his brother Vijay Kumar riding two-wheeler on the Phillaur-Nurmahal road and seriously injuring him and damaged the vehicle. oc 6 NABBED FOR DRUG PEDDLING Phagwara: The Shahkot police have arrested a man on the charge of selling heroin. Fifteen gram of heroin was recovered from Gourav of Saidpur Jhirri village. The police also arrested Tirath Singh and Satnam Singh with 60 intoxicating tablets. The Mehatpur police arrested woman Surjito with 48 tablets. The Nakodar police arrested Gora with 52 intoxicating tablets. The Nakodar police arrested Raj Pal of Mudh village with 24 tablets. oc Pinderjit Kaur, said arrangements had been made at multiple locations, including the councillor’s office, a commu- nity hall and a Hari Mandir, for token distribution. “We have devised a foolproof system for issuing tokens. Some inconvenience may have occurred when the server went down. I have repeatedly directed depot holders to call beneficiaries in batches of 10. We are committed to ensuring proper facilities, including fans and drinking water, for residents. If anyone has fainted or if any depot holder has misbehaved with beneficiaries, strict action will be taken,” he said. Phagwara, September 13 A case of alleged financial fraud involving a retired Punjab Police inspector has come to light, with the Phillaur police registering a case against eight persons, including two women, for allegedly duping him of ~76.81 lakh on the pretext of arranging a 3,200-square-yard plot in an upscale area of Delhi. Complainant Amarjit Singh Malhi has also alleged that the accused had threatened him. According to Malhi, the matter dates back to 2024 when his maternal uncle’s son and nine of his associates allegedly approached him with an offer to arrange the Delhi property, which they claimed was worth several crores of rupees. He alleged that the accused gradually convinced him into making payments at different times, ultimately taking ~76.81 lakh from him. During the process, he was allegedly called to Delhi repeatedly and made around 66 trips in connection with the proposed property transaction. Malhi told reporters on Saturday that he arranged the money from several sources, including approximately ~54 lakh received at the time of his retirement, ~24 lakh obtained by selling his house in village Jahangirwala and additional funds borrowed from a private finance com- pany. He alleged that after receiving the money, the accused failed to complete the promised transaction or return the amount and instead allegedly began threatening him. The retired police officer, who said he is suffering from cancer, further alleged that his family faced severe financial difficulties because of the incident. He claimed that his mother was also suffering from cancer and required nearly ~5 lakh for treatment, but he could not arrange the treatment because of the financial strain caused by the alleged fraud. Malhi also levelled allegations against a police official, posted in Ludhiana, claiming that Amandeep Singh had allegedly been assigned to keep a watch on him. He said he had submitted a complaint to the police regarding the surveillance. However, Amandeep Singh denied the allegations, stating that he is a resident of Phillaur and frequently visits the area. Following an inquiry into Malhi’s complaint, the Phillaur police registered a case against Bhupinder Singh of Moti Nagar, New Delhi; Gurcharan Singh of Harchandpura, Samana; Manjit Singh Aulakh of New Delhi; Man Singh of Haryana; Rajni of Panipat; Amarjit Kaur of village Lohara, Ludhiana; Taranpal Singh alias Rimpi; and Mandeep Singh of Ajit Nagar, Jalandhar. A waterlogged road and slow-moving traffic mark a rainy Sunday in Jalandhar. SARABJIT SINGH Jalandhar, September 13 The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Jalandhar district has seen more than 1.54 lakh applications for addition, deletion and correction of voter details between June 1 and September 12, according to data from the district election office. The data shows that 1,54,788 applications were received under Forms 6, 7 and 8 during the period, with applications seeking inclu- sion of names accounting for the largest share. As many as 82,911 Form 6 applications were received for inclusion of names in the electoral rolls. Form 6 is used by eligible residents, seeking registration as voters in the electoral roll. The election office also received 6,824 Form 7 applications, which relate to objections or requests for deletion of names from the electoral roll, including cases involving death, change of residence and duplicate entries. Another 65,053 Form 8 applications were received for correction or updating of voter details, including inaccuracies in names, age, address, date of birth, gender, details of relative, etc. The figures assume significance as the district is undertaking the SIR exercise to verify and update electoral rolls based on the 2003 voter data. As part of the exercise, boothlevel officers (BLOs) conducted the door-to-door verification of voter details across 1,926 polling booths in Jalandhar’s nine Assembly constituencies. During these visits, every elector was required to submit an enumeration form containing detailed family information to assist in the verification process. The forms include details such as their EPIC number, Assembly constituency, along with details of the their father or guardian, mother and spouse, wherever applicable. DC-cum-District Election Officer Varjeet Walia said, “All forms will be processed as per the ECI guidelines.” From DD to social media, Hindi marches on Nitin Kohli re-elected Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 13 From Doordarshan (DD) bulletins to YouTube videos, podcasts and social media posts, Hindi has travelled far beyond the pages of textbooks and literature. For Jalandhar-based Dr Krishna Kumar Rattu, who has spent nearly five-and-ahalf decades studying and writing the language, this transformation is not a dilution of Hindi but evidence of its ability to evolve with society. As Hindi Diwas was observed today, Rattu, a senior Hindi and Punjabi writer and media analyst, recalls how his interest in the practical use of Hindi began in 1994, when television was rapidly becoming part of Indian homes. During this period, he researched Prayojanmulak Hindi ke Vividh Prayog: Ek Anusheelan (Diverse uses of Functional Hindi), a study of how Hindi could be used for different purposes beyond traditional literature. According to Rattu, the challenge was to make Hindi useful and easy to understand for a growing television audience. He believed the language could not remain limited to its literary form and had to change with the needs of communication. This approach later found expression in his book ‘Doordarshan: Hindi ke Prayojanmulak Vividh Prayog’ (Doordarshan: Diverse uses of Functional Hindi), which examined the use of language on television. The same change can now be seen on digital platforms, he says. Hindi used on YouTube, podcasts, Instagram and digital news platforms often includes English words, technical terms, local dialects and everyday expressions. “The primary duty of a language is to reach the people of its time and be understood by them,” Rattu says. His work has also moved from television to newer forms of communication. A writer of Hindi and Punjabi, Rattu has published more than 100 books in Hindi, Punjabi, English and Urdu and over 25,000 articles in newspapers and magazines. For him, the changes in Hindi are closely linked to changes in the media through which people communicate. From television to smartphones, he says, the medium has changed, but the basic purpose of language remains the same which is connecting people. “To keep Hindi alive, it must walk with life,” he says. c m y b Hindi Diwas Hockey Punjab chief Tribune News Service Jalandhar scholar Dr Krishna Kumar Rattu presents his book to former President Ram Nath Kovind. FILE Jalandhar, September 13 Nitin Kohli was unanimously re-elected president of Hockey Punjab. The elections were held at Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women, Jalandhar. Other office-bearers are secretary general Amrik Singh Powar; vice-presidents Olympian Harpreet Singh Mander, Olympian Baljit Singh Dhillon, and Dr Sarabjit Kaur Rai; treasurer Olympian Sanjeev Kumar; joint secretaries Jaswinder Singh and Renu Bala; and executive members Kulbir Singh, Meenakshi and Kulwant Rai. Additionally, outstanding players — Olympian Hardeep Singh Neeta, Olympian Gurjit Kaur, and internation- Nitin Kohli (right) al players Ripudaman Kumar Singh and Amandeep Kaur — were appointed as executive members. Kohli and Powar welcomed the members and urged them to extend their cooperation for the Asian Champions Trophy being organised in Jalandhar by Hockey Punjab and the government.