28122020-CT-01.qxd 12/28/2020 12:45 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh TRIBUNE MONDAY | 28 DECEMBER 2020 | CHANDIGARH UK RETURNEE +VE IN PATIALA, TO BE TESTED FOR NEW MUTANT PAGE 2 A UK returnee tests Covid +ve in Patiala; sample to be sent to Pune to confirm if the patient is carrying mutated virus. FORECAST GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY TRICITY COVID REPORT CHD SAMPLES TESTED SAMPLES REJECTED POSITIVE NEGATIVE RECOVERED REPORTS AWAITED ACTIVE DEATHS P’KULA MOHALI 1,76,337 881 19,486 1,55,970 18,810 86 361 315 1,37,358 — 9,906 — 9,541 — 225 140 1,76,235 — 17,966 1,57,414 16,365 855 1,264 337 AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 155 PANCHKULA 260 MOHALI 161 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF BAG SNATCHED FROM WOMAN Chandigarh: A motorcycleborne miscreant allegedly snatched a purse from a woman in Sector 27. According to the police, the victim was targeted near her house. The purse, containing ~7,200, a mobile phone and documents, was snatched on December 26. The police were informed, who visited the spot. A case has been registered at the Sector 26 police station. TNS WOMAN’S PURSE STOLEN IN SEC 41 Chandigarh: A ladies’ purse was stolen in Sector 41. According to the police, the complainant reported that she had kept the purse on the bonnet of a car parked near the Sector 41 market from where it was stolen. The purse contained ~9,700 and documents. A case has been registered at the Sector 39 police station. TNS FB MESSENGER OF UT ADVISER HACKED Chandigarh: UT Adviser Manoj Parida’s Facebook messenger account was hacked and misused. “Someone is using my account on Facebook messenger and asking bank account details from people for a Covid loan. Please be wary of it and do not respond,” Parida posted on his Twitter account on Sunday. Parida said: “One of my friends in Odisha informed me that he had received a text from my FB messenger, seeking bank account details.” TNS Biker killed in hit-and-run BADMINTON C'SHIP: ABHISHEK CLAIMS 3 TITLES, VRINDA TWO Chandigarh, December 27 A 28-year-old man riding an SUV was held from near a club in Sector 7 while possessing a pistol in violation of the District Magistrate’s order. Manoj, a resident of Rohtak district, who was riding a Fortuner, was arrested with a pistol on the intervening night of December 25 and continued on page 3 RESIDENTS CLANG UTENSILS DURING PM'S 'MANN KI BAAT' Abhishek Saini wins three titles, Vrinda bags two on concluding day of the State Badminton Championship. MAX 17°C | MIN 8°C | YESTERDAY MAX 20.2°C | MIN 4.1°C SUNSET MONDAY 5:31 PM PAGE 3 Mohali residents clang utensils, urge PM Modi to repeal farm laws and resolve farmers' grievances. SUNRISE TUESDAY 7:18 AM TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE 54%votersturn upinP’kula,sealfate of 89 MC ELECTIONSNo untoward incident| Counting on Dec 30| New Mayor before New Year Tribune News Service Panchkula, December 27 The fate of 89 candidates — six for the Mayor’s post and 83 for 20 posts of councillor — contesting the Panchkula MC elections was sealed today. With no incident of violence reported, the voting for the civic body poll was peaceful. The voter turnout was 54.01 per cent. It was 64.1 per cent in the 2013 civic body poll. The polling at all 275 booths began at 8 am and concluded at 5.30 pm. There were 1,85,909 registered voters. Union Minister Rattan Lal Kataria, Haryana Speaker and local MLA Gian Chand Gupta and former Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan were among the prominent personalities who came out to vote. It is a direct contest between the BJP-JJP alliance and the Congress, with both parties claiming victory. The State Election Commission had made special arrangements in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing only 1,000 voters per booth. Covid-positive persons were also allowed to vote in the last hour of polling — between 4.30 pm and 5.30 pm. However, Covid-positive persons — 231 till December 26 — did not turn up at polling booths. The results will be out on December 30. Pollsapart — Posh sectors, rural areas Amit Bathla Tribune News Service Residents queue up outside a polling centre in Sector 16, Panchkula, on Sunday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: RAVI KUMAR SEE ALSO PAGE 3 ‘LOTUS WILL BLOOM’ ‘ANTI-BJP MANDATE’ ❝ their ❝Voters exerciseddefeat right to franchise to The lotus will bloom in Panchkula on December 30. Ahluwalia did nothing for the city during her last tenure as the city’s Mayor. the BJP and its anti-people and anti-farmer policies. It will be a clear anti-BJP mandate. ❞ ❞ Kulbhushan Goyal, BJP MAYORAL CANDIDATE Upinder Ahluwalia, CONG MAYORAL CANDIDATE Panchkula, December 27 The “model polling booths” in posh sectors showed a seamless voting experience, while slums and rural areas exhibited a different picture altogether. As opposed to various sectors in the city, where polling booths were equipped with all paraphernalia in view of Covid-19, polling stations in regions with economically weaker population, especially Budanpur, Maheshpur and Abhaypur, lacked arrangements such as sanitisers, temperature check, clean drinking water and wheelchairs for the specially abled. On the contrary, the polling station at Saarthak Government Integrated Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 12A, had laid down a red carpet with flowerpots on each side for voters. Voters in urban sectors were approaching their respective polling booths in a harmonious manner after sanitising their hands, proper temperature check and entry details. Such sectors even had attendants assisting those on wheelchairs. Baljeet Singh, a block-level officer on poll continued on page 2 EWS areas lacked measures such as sanitisers, wheelchairs in contrast to others HAVES & HAVE-NOTS As opposed to various sectors in the city, where polling booths were equipped with all paraphernalia in view of Covid-19, polling stations in regions with economically weaker population, especially Budanpur, Maheshpur and Abhaypur, lacked arrangements such as sanitisers, temperature check, clean drinking water and wheelchairs for the specially abled. Low turnout due to Covid Compared with the 2013 poll, the city witnessed a fall of 10 per cent in the voter turnout ratio. Officials cite Covid and the New Year holidays as the reason. The highest voting percentage (84.97) was recorded in ward number 20 and the lowest in ward number 2 (38.95 per cent). The voter turnout in the rural areas was higher than the urban. 3 nabbed with illegal liquor The police arrested three persons with 92 bottles of illicit English liquor a day before the poll. Sanjay, a resident of Sector 20, and Sushil Kumar, a resident of Peer Muchalla, were arrested by the Sector 20 police with 80 liquor bottles. The Chandimandir police team arrested Harinath, a resident of Sector 26 here, with 12 bottles of illegal liquor. FIRs were registered under Sections 61, 4 and 20 of the Punjab Excise Act (Haryana Amendment) 2020. Differently abled woman forced to crawl to booth Amit Bathla Polling station had no wheelchair facility for people like her Tribune News Service Panchkula, December 27 Savitri, a 55-year-old differently abed woman, turned up at the Sector 17 Government Model Primary School polling booth on her tricycle around 11 am to cast her vote as a responsible citizen. To her dismay, the polling station, which was not too far from Haryana Speaker and local MLA Gian Chand Gupta’s residence, had no wheelchair facility. Savitri subsequently waited for around 40 minutes inside the school premises while hoping for a wheelchair, which would ensure her mobility into the booth. The absence of a wheelchair, however, did not deter her enthusiasm to vote and Winter hues Savitri, a specially abled woman, crawls her way to cast vote at a polling booth in Sector 17, Panchkula, on Sunday. she crawled with her hands to the polling booth. As Savitri began gasping for air after vigorous physical activity, poll officials in the voting Naina Mishra Tribune News Service Chandigarh recorded light rain (0.8 mm) between 5.30 pm and 8.30 pm on Sunday. A Met official said winds blew at 19 km/hr. According to the weatherman, light rain is expected on Monday too. PRADEEP TEWARI 36 fresh cases, no death in Panchkula One fatality, 56 more infected in Mohali PANCHKULA:The district on Sun- MOHALI: day reported 36 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 9,906. The toll remained at 140 with no new death. While 9,541 patients have defeated the virus, 225 cases are still active. The recovery rate of the district stands at 96.31 per cent. — TNS compartment stared at each other as there was no drinking water available to offer her. After casting her vote, she came out and urged, ❝Everybody should caste vote. ❞ Savitri “Everybody should caste vote.” Officials of the Election Commission at the polling booth told Chandigarh Tribune that they were not pro- vided with a wheelchair for differently abled persons. An official, on the condition of anonymity, said there was little or no support from the state Election Commission and the local administration not just for voters, but poll officials as well. “Whether it was providing meals or bedding for the night, they (authorities) failed on all fronts,” he alleged. Savitri was not alone. There were many senior citizens and differently abled persons who had a tough time while casting their vote. Deputy Commissionercum-District Election Officer Mukesh Kumar Ahuja and other election officials had promised a seamless voting experience for voters, claiming adequate arrangements for all 275 booths for the Panchkula Municipal Corporation elections. The voters’ experience, however, was not so pleasant. UT gets 1.5L syringes for vaccine SAD to stage walkout Dera Bassi, December 27 A motorcyclist was killed on the Dera Bassi-Ramgarh road after an unidentified truck hit him. The incident occurred around 11.30 am when the victim, Mohan Lal, was going to work from Ambala to Panchkula and met with an accident near Aggarwal Stone Crusher. continued on page 3 Man riding SUV held with pistol PAGE 3 One more fatality due to Covid-19 was reported in the district during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths to 337. Meanwhile, the district witnessed 56 fresh Covid cases. The total number of cases now stands at 17,966. — TNS Chandigarh, December 27 Chandigarh has received over 1.5 lakh syringes from the Centre for carrying out the mass Covid immunisation in the region. “The syringes have been kept at the district vaccine store at Government MultiSpecialty Hospital, Sector 16, and will be used as and when the vaccine is made available by the Centre,” said Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, Director, Health Services. The vaccine will be procured by the district vaccine store from government medical store depot (primary vaccine store) in Karnal, which is handling coldchain items such as cold boxes, vaccine carriers, ILR and deep freezers, syringes and cold spares. The registration of a beneficiary is mandatory for Covid vaccination. continued on page 3 c m y b FAQs — MINISTRY OF HOME AND FAMILY WELFARE during city mayoral poll Is vaccine mandatory for all? Sandeep Rana The vaccination for Covid-19 is voluntary. However, the ministry advises people to receive the vaccine for protection against the virus. Tribune News Service Can a Covid-19 patient (confirmed or suspected) be vaccinated? UT SEES 63 CASES Chandigarh: The city on Sunday reported 63 fresh cases of Covid, taking the UT case tally to 19,486 and the toll to 315. TNS Infected individuals should defer vaccination for 14 days for preventing the spread of Covid. When will antibodies develop? Is it necessary for a Covidrecovered person to take the vaccine? Protective levels of antibodies are generally developed two weeks after receiving the 2nd dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Yes, it is advisable to receive the complete doses of the vaccine. How many doses of the vaccine need to be taken and at what interval? Two doses of vaccine, 28 days apart, need to be taken by an individual to complete the vaccination schedule. Does one need to follow preventive measures after receiving the vaccine? Even after being administered the vaccine, people must continue taking all precautions such as wearing a face mask, sanitising hands and maintaining social distance. Chandigarh, December 27 Nearly a fortnight before the city mayoral elections, the Chandigarh Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has decided to stage a walkout from the MC House on the poll day in “support of farmers.” It will probably be the first time that the former BJP ally will not vote for any party in the mayoral elections. “We will walk out in support of the farmers. The SAD will not vote for any party. We can never go with the Congress, and we have already severed our ties with the BJP over the farmers’ issue,” MC councillor Hardeep Singh, who is also the president of the city SAD, told Chandigarh Tribune. The BJP and the SAD had fought the last MC elections together. Of the 26 wards, the ‘IN SUPPORT OF FARMERS’ walk out in ❝We willthe farmers. support of The SAD will not vote for any party. We can never go with the Congress, and we have already severed our ties with the BJP over the farmers’ issue. Hardeep Singh, ❞ COUNCILLOR & CITY SAD CHIEF saffron party had contested 22 seats and had won 20 of them, while its former associate fought on four seats and won one. Though the SAD has only one seat in the House, its decision is significant on two counts. One, it is a big symbolic move with continued on page 2