27092020-JTR-01.qxd 9/26/2020 11:13 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar TRIBUNE AT 76, THIS HOCKEY OLYMPIAN IS WORKING ON ANOTHER BOOK PAGE 2 76-year-old Olympian Col Balbir Singh Kular says fond memories of his career keep him going, FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY KARAN JOHAR FINALLY BREAKS HIS SILENCE OVER VIRAL VIDEO PAGE 3 VILLAIN SPECIAL SUNDAY WITH GULSHAN GROVER & SHAKTI He issued a statement denying use of any narcotics substance during the party, which he had hosted in 2019. MAX 36°C | MIN 22°C | YESTERDAY MAX 35°C | MIN 23°C SUNSET SUNDAY 6:17 PM PAGE 4 Popular show India’s Best Dancer will celebrate Villain Special and felicitate the on-screen baddies of Bollywood. SUNRISE MONDAY 6:19 AM SUNDAY | 27 SEPTEMBER 2020 | JALANDHAR 166 new cases, 8 deaths in dist Women, youth come out in support of farmers Tribune News Service IN UNISON Assisted males in their families, so that their voices could be heard Jalandhar, September 26 With 166 new cases reported on Saturday, the district tally reached 12,484. The health authorities also reported eight deaths, taking the toll to 365. The number of active cases is 1,958 while 10,161 have recovered from the infection and 1,522 are in home isolation. The district had reported over 300 cases on some days in the past one month, but since the beginning of this week, the daily count has been witnessing a steady reduction. With hospital admission rising, the number of those in home isolation has also come down, however, the mortality rate still remains high. The recoveries have also seen an increase, which is an encouraging development. Meanwhile, 90 persons tested positive for Covid in Kapurthala on Saturday and one person succumbed to the disease. The deceased is an 82-year-old man from Model Town, Kapurthala, and he breathed his last at Military Hospital in Jalandhar. DIST ROUND-UP POSITIVE COUNT 12,484 DEATH TOLL 365 ACTIVE CASES 1,958 NO DEATH REPORTED IN HOSHIARPUR, 64 TEST +VE While no Covid death was reported on Saturday, total 64 patients tested positive, taking the tally of patients to 4,228. Civil Surgeon Dr Jasvir Singh said 17 cases were from Hoshiarpur city, while 47 were related to other health blocks. The number of active cases was 751, while 3,340 have recovered. On Saturday, 2,150 new samples of people with suspected flu-like symptoms were taken. With it, the total number of samples has become 98,209. As per the reports received from the lab, 92,309 were negative, while the report of 2,075 were awaited, 127 were invalid and the death toll was 137. OC Ajay Joshi Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 26 The agitation against the three “controversial” farm Bills is in high gear in the region, but what’s more amusing is the support extended to farmers from women, children and the youth in large numbers. Unlike any other day, the women, mostly belonging to the marginal farming groups, had different chores to do on Saturday. They had to support the males in their families, so that their voices could be heard more loudly. With the same enthusiasm, children, too, joined the protest today that was organised by the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (Lohian), at Jalandhar Cantt railway station. The farmers were continuing with the third day of their “Rail Roko Andolan”. Having little knowledge about farm ordinances introduced by the Modi government, a group of women said: “We certainly don’t know the terms introduced in the Parliament, but we know that when a Bill is passed arbitrarily in the houses of Parliament, it impacts the kitchens in our homes. We have already been producing less crops and couldn’t grow enough to sell in the market, but whatever we sell should be sold at a fairly good price.” “Through the discussions, we learnt that the Bills are against the gains of producers. Even if we don’t quote well on the Bills, we know that if the ‘mandi’s’ will disappear, we won’t be able to sustain for long. Complete privatisation is wrong in every way. I remember most of the farmers in our village haven’t received their pending dues from the private mills. Thus we can’t accept the bills at any cost and will continue lending support to farmers,” said Jagirat Kaur. Likewise from carrying tractor rallies to ferrying elderly farmers to the protest venues, youth have become the muchneeded strength for farmers at this time. While the elderly are seen standing in front of the mike and creating more clarity on farm Bills, the youth make arrangements for food and water. They ensure that a large number on people gets ‘Farmers’ interests ignored to benefit corporate houses’ Our Correspondent Farmers, under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, block the railway track during a protest against the Centre at the Jalandhar Cantonement railway station on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH Farmers block Jalandhar-Pathankot rail track in Tanda Urmar Our Correspondent Tanda Urmar, September 26 Members of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti, Hoshiarpur unit, led by district head Kuldeep Singh Begowal, held a one-day sit-in (dharna) on the railway track in Tanda against the Modi government on Saturday. They protested against the farm Bills and raised slogans against the Centre by blocking the Jalandhar-Pathankot rail track near the Darapur gate. Meanwhile, rail movement on this track has been suspended by the Railways till September 29. While addressing the protesters, various speakers said the Central government wanted to eliminate farmers of Punjab and provide benefit to their corporate friends. The Modi government was forcing farmers of Punjab to live a life of corporate slaves, which would not be tolerated at any cost. They said they have started a struggle across the state to protest against the Bills and their struggle would con- associated with them. Vikram Singh (24) said: “With the implementation of the farm Bills, we are fearful that the Agricultural Market Produce Committee (APMC) would lose it existence and we won’t get fair price for our crops. Therefore, it’s necessary that we support the agitating farmers, who are protecting the future of farming in the state, as eventually, we Members of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti, Hoshiarpur unit, stage a sit-in at the railway track in Tanda against the Central government on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO tinue till the government withdraws these Bills. During this, Kuldeep Singh Begowal, Kashmir Singh Fatta Kulla, Paramjit Singh Bhulla Bath, Daler Singh, Sodhi Shahbazpur, Yodha have to hold the batons. With the minimum support price set to be abolished and multinational companies set to take over our lands, we can’t see the farmers deep down in debts. Therefore, it’s a wakeup call to the government to pay heed to the needs and demands of farmers.” Meanwhile, Salwinder Singh Janiyan, zonal president of the committee, Singh Gandhuwal and large number of farmers were present. Youth Congress leaders hold tractor march against Central govt Page 2 while warning the Centre said: “This is just the trailer of the protest. An intensified version of Jail Bharo Andolan. The Modi government should be prepared for our protest in Delhi. We will block all roads leading to Delhi if the Bills won’t be rolled back.” Jagtar Singh, Kang Khurd, Manpreet Singh, Jagtar Singh Chakk, Mohan Singh, Jogin- der Singh, Kishan Dev, Malkit Singh Janian, Paramjit Singh Sardarala, Tarlok Singh Gatti Peer Bucks, Sukhpreet Singh Hakim Singh, Baljinder Dhillon, Baljinder Singh Sherpur, Tarsem Singh Jabbowal, Bhajan Singh, Mukhtiar Singh, Jaswant Singh, were among the hundreds of farmers, who remain seated on the railway tracks on Saturday from 12:30 to 5 pm. Hoshiarpur, September 26 Terming the newly-passed farm Bills as ‘black Bills’ for the farmers and the agrarian economy of the country, Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora on Saturday accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government of ignoring the interests of farmers on one hand and securing benefits for ‘corporate houses’ on the other. Reiterating the commitment of Punjab Government to safeguard the interests of farmers at all costs, the Minister said the Centre would not succeed in its nefarious designs to destroy the agrarian sector. The Punjab Government will stand by the farmers against the apathetic attitude of Centre at the behest of ‘corporate houses’ and will work shoulder-toshoulder in future too as the farmers of the state had been producing grains for the entire country since long, said Arora. Demanding immediate revocation of ‘anti-farmer’, ‘antiarthiyas’ and ‘anti-labourers’ Bills, the Minister pointed out that these Bills would ruin several sections of the society. The Minister said the recent exclusion of cereals, pulses, onion-potatoes etc. from the list of essential commodities would further lead to hoarding and blackmarketing across the country as the rates of foodgrains were skyrocketing. He said these bills would never benefit the farming Cong dares Som Parkash to clear stand on farm Bills Phagwara: Thousands of farmers led by MLA Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal and Chairman of Punjab Agro Industries Corporation Joginder Singh Mann marched towards the residence of Union Minister of State Som Parkash on Saturday to offer him a bottle of blood as a mark of protest ❝ Industries & Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora says exclusion of cereals, pulses, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities will result in hoarding community but will only be beneficial for the corporate houses. The Centre is conspiring to tinker with the Minimum Support Price, which will not be tolerated at any cost in the larger interests of farmers, said the minister, adding that the newly-passed farm Bills were aimed at devastating the rural development across Punjab as the state would be bereft of Rs 4,000 crore annual fund being collected by the Mandi Board once these Bills were converted into laws. The minister demanded the Centre to immediate rollback these Bills, which are being strongly opposed by the farmers, arthiyas and farm labourers in the country. over farm legislations passed by the Centre. "The hands of the Central government are drenched with the murder of agrarian economy of the country in general and farmers in particular, due to which we were presenting the unit of blood to him," said Dr Chabbewal and Mann while addressing farmers. He dared Som Parkash to clear his stand on the Bill. — TNS It is no joke! Hurdles were only stepping stones for this comedian WAY TO GO! STORIES THAT INSPIRE Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 26 He was six, when he lost his mother and nine when he lost his father. Brought up by his paternal uncle amid financial crisis, he had to drop his studies after school education. The story of popular Jalandhar-based comedian Balraj Syal is actually quite a serious one. Before stepping into the TV world and getting popular through his shows including ‘Entertainment ki Raat’ , ‘Mujhse shadi karoge’ and ‘Khatron ke Khiladi’, Balraj even had to do a lot many odd jobs here to support his family. “I worked in a pharmaceutical store. I was a salesman Loss of his parents in childhood & financial issues propelled this 37-year-old popular artiste to fame at a shop in Wholesale Clothes Market near Company Bagh here. I even sold inverters of Microtek Company. I even remained employed for a company selling engine oil. I took up a job at a general store till my friend Ravish convinced me to at least pursue graduation from a college to get any better employment opportunity. He paid for my fee and got me enrolled at St Soldier College here,” Syal shared. Balraj shared, “We had to deal with the loss of both the parents early in life. The loss caught us off guard. We did not even know how to react. But my uncle brought us up like his own kids. Most of my friends did not even know that they were not my real parents till I shared it in my interviews few years ago.” Sharing his early life in the city, the comedian said, “I studied at Devi Sahai Sanatan Dharam School in Basti Nau and did my class XII from Parvati Jain School. He also admitted my sister (just a year younger) to HMV College here. Though he never dissuaded me from pursuing higher studies, I could sense that he was financially burdened. He suffered losses in his factory and was alone bearing the burden of raising five children including three of his own.” Balraj then went on to share anecdotes from his college life, “That is where my theatre life began. One of my friends Jassi Kochar pioneered to form a new ❝ We had to deal with the loss of both parents early in life. The loss caught us off guard. We did not even know how to react. But my uncle brought us up like his own kids. Most of my friends did not even know that they were not my real parents till I shared it in my interviews a few years ago. I worked at a pharmaceutical store. I was a salesman at a shop in wholesale clothes market near Company Bagh here. I even sold inverters. I also remained employed for a company selling engine oil. I took up a job at a general store till my friend Ravish convinced me to at least pursue graduation from a college to get a better employment opportunity. He paid for my fee and got me enrolled at St Soldier College here. Balraj Syal, JALANDHAR-BASED COMEDIAN theatre group in the college. We got a prize at the inter-college level and c m y b went on for the inter-zonals. The victory came as a big incentive as I became ❞ eligible for fee waiver. I worked hard aned partcipate4d in several extra- curricular activities. Belonging to a relatively lower middle class family, I faced a lot of inferiority complex when I went to participate for the intercollege event at Apeejay College riding with another friend on the same bicycle. Since I was active in theatrical activities, I managed to take admission in Apeejay College in MSc Computer Applications.” The 37-year-old artiste added, “I even met other comedians Kapil Sharma and Bharti in inter-university competitions as we became part of one team of Guru Nanak Dev University. But they were senior to me as I had a gap in my studies. The TV break came my way when I accompanied my friend for MH1 auditions. I was sitting in the waiting lounge when my friend convinced even me to go in for the auditions as there were fewer candidates and I could expect a chance. Days later, I got a call that I had been selected for comedy show ‘Hasde hasande ravo’.” Balraj says that the project that he enjoyed working for was ‘Entertainment ki raat’. “I spent nights along with the creative team for planning each show of it. Another project which is close to my heart was a music video ‘Shukar kar’ on problems of commoners in pandemic in which we featured Sonu Sood and Prince Narula. The project came on my label ‘Realise Music’ and the female voice in this is of my singer wife Deepti Tuli,” he said.