30112020-JTR-01.qxd 11/29/2020 10:22 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar TRIBUNE IT’S HIGH TIME TO SHUN LAXITY & BEING AWARE OF GUIDELINES PAGE 2 With vaccine still out of reach, city residents feel the only cure is a mask and not being complacent. FORECAST YEH RISHTA KYA KEHLATA HAI GETS A NEW STORYLINE The love and family values in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has held the audience’s attention for over 11 years. PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 24°C | MIN 9°C | YESTERDAY MAX 23°C | MIN 8°C INBRIEF FIVE FALL PREY, 143 NEW CASES IN DIST Jalandhar: With a surge in infection, the Covid-19 scenario has changed drastically in the district. With 143 new cases reported in Jalandhar on Sunday, total number of positive cases reached 17,869. With five deaths, the toll increased to 555. The active cases in district have reached 1,340 and 15,974 people have been discharged. As many as 857 people are under home isolation in the district. In Kapurthala, 10 people tested positive. TNS 200 PARTICIPATE IN SCIENCE FEST Jalandhar: Pushpa Gujral Science City jointly with Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network, organised Science Fest 2020 to promote innovation and creativity among the school students through development of working models in the various fields of science and technology. More than 200 students from different schools of Punjab participated with their interactive innovative models. The fest was organised online. Namia Joshi of Satpal Mital School, Ludhiana, got the first prize, Ritash Kapur from BCM Sector 32,Chandigarh, got the second position and Nimrat Kaur of Government Senior Secondary School, 3-B Mohali, secured the third position. TNS PAGE 4 SUNSET MONDAY 5:25 PM ANEESHA MADHOK HAS A SPECIAL ADVICE FOR FANS The Indian-American actress, who is making her Hollywood debut, feels people should connect with God. SUNRISE TUESDAY 7:09 AM Profit & loss: City girl Palak qualifies for Tokyo Games PAGE 4 MONDAY | 30 NOVEMBER 2020 | JALANDHAR Lights of celebrations & hope Differently-abled chooses badminton over Class XII board exams Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 29 Palak Kohli was confronted with a tough situation last year when her Class XII board exams dates clashed with a qualifying tournament that was, at the time, scheduled to be held in Peru. But it was not the first the circumstances had threatened to get the better of her – she is differently-abled, has a deformed left hand since birth. She’s been through such tight spots many times before in her life. The picture was clear: exams or badminton. And choice she made that day has yielded more than a satisfying result. The city-based girl has qualified for the para badminton category of Tokyo Olympics, postponed for next year due to the outbreak, and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). “I had to choose between the two and obviously I pursued my bigger aim. My parents were pressurising me to somehow skip a match, manage to return in time and appear for at least three subjects and take the rest as compartment examination. But I told them that I could not take so much pressure as it could affect my performance. So, I missed my exams,” she shared. The 18-year-old is the only The 18-year-old is the only one from Punjab and the youngest player to qualify for the para badminton category of Tokyo Olympics. one from Punjab and the youngest player to qualify for the game. Having started the game just three years back, she quickly managed success. In 2019 National Para Badminton Championships, she won three gold medals in the women’s singles, women’s doubles and the under-19 singles (girls). The 2019 was a year to remember for her as she had a great run at the international stage. She won gold in the women’s doubles in Uganda Para Badminton International, took home a bronze in Japan Para Badminton International apart from participating in the Para Badminton World Championships. This year, she bagged a silver in the women’s doubles in Peru Para Badminton International. Palak said, “Everyone in my family is pursuing a professional degree. My elder sister is a doctor. My elder brother is an engineer and when I told my parents that I want to take humanities so that I could focus on my game, they couldn’t come take it for quite some time. To pacify them, I took difficult subjects like history, political science and psychology and told them that I would prepare for the UPSC exam to become an IAS. But after I missed my examination, I straightaway opted for Open Schooling and have now taken easy subjects to clear Class XII and keep focus on my game as well.” However, she never knew till her board exams last year that the virus would put off the Games for so long and that she still could catch up with other international tournaments to qualify for the same. Having started practising at Hansraj Stadium here, Palak has been training in Lucknow under her coach Gaurav Khanna for past two years. “I live in a PG there which is just about 500m from my academy. My coach runs the only academy for para badminton in the entire country and we practise with able-bodied players. I stayed at home for a few days this year,” she said. Her entire year has been spent practicing and honing my skills, besides maintaining form and stamina. On her achievement, she owes it all to her coach, “He’s been very good in maintaining data and statistics of each player and we already knew about our points and ranking. I stand fifth internationally and top-6 players are picked.” About qualifying for TOPS, she explains, “This certainly gives me a lot of confidence and a good back up from the government side for getting the best training and facilities.” To celebrate the 551st birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev, colourful lights drape Gurdwara Guru Nanak Mission Chowk on Gurpurb eve in Jalandhar. SARABJIT SINGH Snatching victim Doaba farmers head to Delhi in hordes Industrialists meet dies, three arrested Say prepared for long haul as it is question of livelihood FMManpreet,want problems resolved Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 29 Balwinder Kaur (55), a resident of Lakhan Ke Padda village, in Kapurthala, lost her life in a bid to save her handbag from snatchers. The incident had taken place on November 23 and the victim succumbed to her injuries on November 27. The police have managed to arrest the accused after six days of the incident. The accused have been identified as Anmol, alias Billa (21), Parminder Singh (24), of Khatika Mohalla, and Anmol (19), of Krishna Nagar, Nurmahal. Th victim was reportedly riding pillion on a motorcycle with her husband Balwinder Singh when the incident took place. They had gone to Chuheki village near Nurmahal to meet their daughter. The duo was returning when three unidenti- fied bike-borne youth snatched Kaur’s purse containing Rs 2.5 lakh and other documents near Samrai village. While the snatchers managed to flee from the spot, Kaur sustained serious head injuries after she fell down from the motorcycle. Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar informed that different police teams comprising CIA Staff-1, Special Operation Unit (SOU) and Sadar police station was constituted to nab the accused. He said the police teams nabbed the trio on Saturday. He said the police have seized Rs 46,000, two artificial bangles and a motorcycle used in the crime. A case under Sections 302, 379-B, 323 and 34 of the IPC had been registered at Sadar police station. — TNS Jalandhar, November 29 Thousands of farmers from Doaba have left for Delhi to participate in the farmers’ agitation against the agri laws introduced by the Centre. Farm activists from the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, the Bharti Kisan Union and the Doaba Kisan Union reached Delhi. Around 150 tractor-trailers from Nawanshahr reached the protest site. The Alliance of Sikh Organisations had been extending support to protesting farmers. While Phagwara-based volunteer Sukhdev Singh Phagwara visited the protest site, a number of volunteers were coordinating for smoot movement of farmers at Kundli border. Singers and intellectuals, including Kanwar Grewal, Veer Singh, Sukhpreet Singh Farmers protest at Kundli border on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Udhoke and Lakha Sidhana, among others had been extending support to farmers. Sukhdev said, “Demonstrations are getting support from farmers, singers and intellectuals as well. Our volunteers are coordinating and will be available as long protests go on. Before ‘Dilli chalo’, we held a series of morchas in Patiala, Garhdiwal, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur. From Doaba, members of the Bharti Kisan Union among other farmers’ groups have reached the protest site.” Kuldip Singh, chief, Doaba Kisan Union, who has stayed put at Kundali border said farmers were going to protest until the government agrees to revoke the farm laws. Kuldip said, “I have left behind my farm, mother and two daughters to protest here. It is about withdrawal of all three farm laws. On a chilly winter evening, there are around 2 lakh farmers here. Samaritans are supporting us. People have set up langars and those from Delhi come to offer us tea and food. We are not going to budge. For us it is question of our livelihoods.” Salwinder, a farmer of the KKSC said, “Around 1,000 farmers from our union have left for Delhi. We have just returned from a morcha being held at Jandiala Guru and will be leaving for Delhi. Various jathas will leave for the national capital in turns. A jatha from Amritsar has left for Delhi today and others will be leaving in coming days.” This writer is touching new heights amid pandemic Des Raj Kali had released a book from home and another novel all set to hit markets soon Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 29 The doyen of writing has named his office as ‘Nathchaura’ (a place where thinkers get together and hold discussions). In his office, he writes columns for various news dailies, reads books, and prepares his recordings. Des Raj Kali, a veteran writer well-known for his works, is busy nowadays recording shows for various channels amid the pandemic. With all the work, he doesn’t forget to give special attention to his health and spending time with friends. He wakes up at 5 in the morning and goes for a long stroll. On return, a cup of coffee and an hour’s rest readies him for the rut. He has also been working on a novel for the last two years. “It is almost finalised. I have done an experiment with the novel and there will be around 250 pages in it. This time, I have added a few poetry lines before starting a new chapter in the novel,” he shared. A weekly literature show Des Raj Kali, a veteran writer well-known for his works, is busy nowadays recording shows for various channels. TRIBUNE PHOTO c m y b every Sunday at 11 in the morning is also his forte. The name of the programme is Inj vi padheya ja skda hai sahitya. Around 28 episodes have already been beamed and Kali dedicated 10 episodes to the new book of Arundhati Roy ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’. His literature show has drawn praise from many. “This is a unique concept of a literary show and it has never happened before and I am getting a very good response for the same,” he told. Amid the lockdown, he had also released a book ‘Shanti Parav’ – from his home, along with his wife. Kali, while sharing his experience, said it was an interesting event in itself. The shelves are stacked with books; getting a good treatment as he hasn’t done away with reading. “I just finished reading ‘The Fall’ which is really apt according to what is happening today,” he said. The curbs set in motion came as a chance for the writer to sit and have meals with the family, nearly after a span of 15 years. Jalandhar, November 29 Industrialists, traders and manufacturers mince no words while sharing their problems with ministers now. Earlier, it was the industries minister and now Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. The industrialists on Sunday expressed their disappointment while holding a meeting with the Finance Minister and the latter called them to Chandigarh on Thursday for further discussion. Even Rajinder Beri, MLA, Jalandhar Central, was present in the meeting. Ravinder Dhir, convener of the Khel Udyog Sangh, told the minister, “After the Beant Singh government, nobody has listened to us. Four years have passed, but your government has failed to do anything for us,” he said. Only the Beant Singh government had taken care of the industry of Punjab. “After that several governments came, but nobody ever paid any heed and did not even bother about listening to us,” he said. “We are demanding immediate relief just because the pandemic has hit us hard. Otherwise there are many such issues which have troubled the industry. How can we go and submit C-forms, it is not possible now,” the industrialists said. They also asked the minister about the status of one-time settlement (OTS) policy that the government was set to unveil for resolving the longpending issue of C-forms. Recently, traders had told Industries Minister Sunder Sham Arora that there was no point of holding meetings when no solution to the problems being faced by them was suggested. The minister had then listened to various problems raised by traders of hand tools, leather, sports, auto parts, surgical, textiles, pipe fittings, etc, and almost all problems that were raised were old and never got resolved. — TNS Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal along with local MLA Rajinder Beri and traders in Jalandhar on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTO