31122020-JTR-01.qxd 12/30/2020 10:39 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar TRIBUNE IN PICTURES: 2020 — THE YEAR THAT WAS OR WASN’T... PAGE 2 The Tribune highlights key events that took place during 2020, a year that most of us won’t be able to forget. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY INBRIEF AAP TO CONTEST LOCAL BODY POLL Jalandhar: The district unit of Aam Aadmi Party announced that it would contest the upcoming Municipal Committee polls on the party symbol ‘broom’. The announcement was made jointly by AAP Jalandhar (urban) president Rajwinder Kaur and AAP Jalandhar (rural) president Prem Kumar. Both the presidents said they would contest the elections with an aim to provide a good civic administration which would be corruption-free and would ensure that residents get better amenities. Rajwinder Kaur said the party had a Delhi model to show to the residents. She said candidates with an impeccable background and farsighted vision would be picked to contest the forthcoming elections. TNS FOUR ARRESTED UNDER NDPS ACT Jalandhar: The division number eight police on Wednesday arrested four persons for supplying drugs in the city. The accused have been identified as Gurjit Singh, a resident of Saraba Nagar; Karamjit Singh, alias Ladi, a resident of Butta Subhanpur; Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Benchit Nagar, and his cousin Raju. SHO Kamaljit Singh said a police team received a tip-off that Gurjit and Gurjinder were on their way to Kapurthala to deliver a consignment. Subsequently, the police team reached there and held them with two of their associates. While Gurjit and Gurjinder were held with 18gm heroin, Rakesh and Raju were held with 14-gm heroin. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against the accused. TNS TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO 2020: B-TOWN IN VACATION MODE PAGE 3 NEHA GETS EMOTIONAL AS ROHAN JOINS HER ON INDIAN IDOL STAGE With celebrations being low-key this year, many celebs are holidaying with loved ones to ring-in the New Year. MAX 17°C | MIN 4°C | YESTERDAY MAX 15°C | MIN 2°C SUNSET THURSDAY 5:35 PM PAGE 4 This will be first time when Neha Kakkar and her husband Rohanpreet will be coming together on Indian Idol stage. SUNRISE FRIDAY 7:26 AM THURSDAY | 31 DECEMBER 2020 | JALANDHAR No vaccination for kids as of now: DC Tributes paid to deceased Says the first ones to be vaccinated by January end will be 12,000-plus healthcare workers farmers Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, December 30 Since the pandemic seems far from still being over and the governments have no plans to administer vaccination to children, it’s being guessed that at least the first half of the next session of schools and colleges may be held online. Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori during an interaction with mediapersons said the first ones to be vaccinated by January end would be 12,000-plus healthcare workers in Jalandhar. He also specified that next on priority would be residents above the age of 50, especially those with co-morbidities. All these cases would have to be given double or triple shots depending on the vaccine finalised by the Centre. He said so far, there was no plan to administer vaccine to the ones less than 50 years as ones to be ❝The firstby January end vaccinated 2 DIE, 16 POSITIVE IN HOSHIARPUR will be 12,000-plus healthcare workers in Jalandhar. The next on priority will be residents above the age of 50, especially those with comorbidities. All these cases will have to be given double or triple shots depending on the vaccine finalised by the Centre. So far, there is no plan to administer vaccine to the ones less than 50 years as nearly 27 crore population in India will be covered in the above-50 years bracket. There is no plan to vaccinate children as of now. Ghanshyam Thori, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, JALANDHAR ❞ nearly 27 crore population in India would be covered in the above 50 years bracket. He clearly specified that there was no plan to vaccinate children as of now. This means that schoolgoing children and collegiates would not be vaccinated in the near future. In such a scenario, school authorities feel that they would have to continue with online sessions at least till July 2021. Ritu Kaul, Principal, Delhi Public School, said, “It is a very dicey situation. We are on a wait and watch mode. Hoshiarpur: As many as 16 new Covid positive patients were traced in the district on Wednesday increasing the district tally to 7,719. Due to the death of two more patients, the toll also increased to 310. Civil Surgeon Dr Jasvir Singh said 1,098 new samples were taken on Wednesday from people with suspected flu-like symptoms. The reports of 1,086 samples were received on Wednesday, of which 16 were positive. The total number of samples taken in the district so far has gone up to 2,33,025, whereas according to reports received from the lab, 2,24,733 samples were negative, while the reports of 2,178 samples were still awaited and 149 samples were invalid. The number of active cases is 118, while the number of patients who have recovered, has increased to 7,291. Out of today’s 16 positive cases, four cases were from Hoshiarpur city, while the rest of them were from various other health blocks. OC Regular classes may not be possible till June or July. We are also waiting for the CBSE directions to be released alongwith the datesheet for the Class X, XII students. We want that at least 60-day classes should be conducted for students appearing for board exams, but this will depend on new standard operating procedures to be issued by the CBSE.” She said, “We have been attending all the CBSE workshops. We have also invited parents to school for parentteacher meets. They were sat- isfied with provisions for Covid safety that we have been taking. Ultimately, we will have to follow the directions of the CBSE. As of now, I do not think that primary classes will be called in any time soon.” Innocent Hearts School Principal Rajeev Palival said, “Nothing is clear about the Covid situation as of now. We also do not know how effective the vaccination will be and whether children will be administered vaccine or not. We really do not know when normal schooling will start. Children are pretty much excited to rejoin schools, but parents are apprehensive. No matter how hard we try, something is amiss in online classes. Virtual education cannot be compared with classroom teaching in terms of attention, retention and understanding. We will follow whatever way the CBSE or the state government guides us.” Jalandhar, December 30 Various city-based organisations and residents held a candlelight ceremony to pay tributes to deceased farmers. Aorund 100 residents gathered outside the MC office. Members of the Jatt Sikh Organisation, Vision Punjab, Sikh Taalmail Committee and Punjab Youth Organisation, condemned PM Narendra Modi for ignoring demands of farmers. Lakhbir Singh, a memeber of the Jatt Sikh Organisation said, farmers have been protesting on Delhi borders for a month now to safeguard their rights. “It’s disheartening to see farmers camping in cold nights and live like nomads. The Centre should immediately withdraw black laws,” he said. Residents said they would continue to support farmers untill the deadlock ends. The protesters said more people would join protests in the coming days to put pressure on the government. — TNS Advocates lend support to farmers CT institute pass outs block Submit memorandum to DC regarding the revocation of agri laws Tribune News Service Jalndhar, December 30 Supporting farmers in their fight against the controversial farm laws, the members of the District Bar Association on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to the Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner in favour of the farmers’ demand. In the two-page memorandum, the senior advocates made an appeal to the government to accept the demands of the agitating farmers and revoke the ‘black laws’. To further support farmers, Advocate Gurmail Singh Lidhar, along with the other executive committee members, said there were many discrepancies in the farm laws. ❝ Eightyfive per cent farmers are those, who own less than 2 hectares, and it will be difficult for them to negotiate with big buyers not only in their native places but in other states as well. Advocate Gurmail Singh Lidhar ❞ Highlighting core issues, he said, there has to be a minimum and maximum limit on Minimum Support Price (MSP) fixed, when it comes to farmers selling their produce. Citing the recent example of cauliflower being sold at throwaway rates, Lidhar said farmers would always be at the mercy of traders in the absence of MSPs. “Besides, the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) laws should be kept intact. If it is not done so, the potential scrapping of mandis would cost thousands of workers, who work in mandis, dear. For the convenience of farmers, the points of contract between all parties should be made clear. In addition, the Essential Commodities Act should be restored to its original form for easy transportation of farmers’ produce,” he said. “Eightyfive per cent farmers own less than 2 hectare land and it would be difficult for them to negotiate with big buyers not only in their native places but in other states as well,” Gurmail said. Referring to the legal conditions of farm laws, the advocates said there should be restrictions on hoarding to avoid unlimited stocking as it could lead to artificial price fluctuation and low prices for farmers after the harvest. Moreover, the implementation of all three Acts must be suspended till the deadlock between the farmers and the government is over. The Bar association members also expressed solidarity with thousands of farmers braving the chill at the Singhu and Tikri borders and paid tribute to people who lost their life during the protest. Jal-Nakodar highway for 4 hrs Accuse the institute of holding back their degrees Tribune News Service Jalandhar, December 30 Nearly, 60 Dalit pass outs of the CT institute today blocked the JalandharNakodar highway for four hours, seeking intervention of the administration in helping them get their degrees for getting jobs. The students, supported by BSP leaders, including Balwinder Kumar, alleged harassment by the CT institute authorities. The authorities, on the other hand, alleged vandalism by students at the campus prior to the road blockade. Dharna on the highway was finally lifted after DCP Jalandhar Balkar Singh reached the spot and convinced the protesters for a meeting with ADC (G) Jasvir Singh tomorrow. Authorities allege vandalism CT institute authorities alleged that the protesters had forcibly seized the entire campus since last evening and the staff members stood terrified outside their locked offices. CT Group Managing Director Manbir Singh said, “Some unknown political leaders seized the campus from the reception area and created ruckus. Due to this, the women staff members and students who have been residing in the campus hostel felt unsafe. They burnt photographs kept at the reception area.” It is noteworthy that the institute has withheld the degrees of students as it is yet to get the post-matric scholarship grant to the tune of Rs 39 cr. He said, “We are with the students, who are our assets, but the situation is not in our favour and now we are seeking immediate intervention of government authorities because the final exams are starting from January 4,” added Manbir Singh. ‘There isn’t going to be a compromise with students’ studies’ ACADEMICS IN PANDEMIC W HILE the school authorities are still finding it difficult to adapt to the new normal after resumption of regular classes, Munish Jain, Principal, Lord Mahavira Jain Public School, Phagwara, believes that the whole outlook of education has changed for students. In an interview with Ajay Joshi, he says it''s been more than a month now since the schools were reopened for classes IX-XII but the staff is still figuring out how the examinations should be conducted. The board exams are approaching but the pandemic has already delayed the usual schedule of pre-board examinations. However, the teachers are making all efforts to complete the syllabus. Excerpts from the interview: How has your school been dealing with the challenges posed by Covid-19? The main challenges we were exposed to by the pandemic have already been handled using trial and error method. We were earlier anticipating that the situation would normalise in Munish Jain, Principal, Lord Mahavira Jain Public School, says staff doing all to prepare wards for board exams winters, considering the downfall in infections, but with the mutation the panic state still persists. Besides, the whole online education concept came as a challenge for us. In fact, schools all around the country were not ready for online classes and the lack of technical support made it much tougher. Though it was troublesome for teachers to understand the concept of digital education and focus individually on every student, they managed to adapt themselves to the method. As schools have reopened, what is the response of the students? The footfall of students in the school is average. In the beginning days the students were not willing to come to the school, but now nearly 250-300 students of classes IX-XII are coming regularly. A large number of students told their teachers that their parents were not allowing due to the Covid threat. However, those who are attending prefer offline classes over online classes. They said that many concepts remained unclear THE TRIBUNE INTERVIEW is concerned, it is going its presence ❝As far as digital shifthave become tech-savvyto keepdays. So, alive partially. Students these getting information with a single click is more convenient for them. Also, I believe, more technical shift is required for digitisation for which more efforts needs to be made. Considerably, cheaper sources would be a win-win situation for the children. Moreover, for the official tasks, it has already replaced the traditional methods of working in schools. However, for the overall personality development of children, virtual education can't be a good option. Munish Jain ❞ in the digital classes. The winters are generally used as a golden time for revision for board exam appearing students and the subsequent pre-board exams helps them to understand it''s pattern, however, it is out of picture this year for the students. Online classes are only beneficial when individual attention is paid to all the students. smart classes and technical labs in the schools to adapt to the new normal. The school management remained supportive of the technical advancement needed for the digital classes. The teachers were provided with laptops and other devices. The management made sure that there won''t be any compromise with the studies. What infrastructural changes have been made for the digital sessions? What psychological changes you are observing among teachers and students amid pandemic? We have installed internet devices with better bandwidth in the school. Besides, we have modified The pandemic came as a big surprise for all of us. Not only teach- c m y b ers feel overburdened but also the children. It has adversely affected the mental state as well as health of both. The concept of six-seven hours teaching and learning has unexpectedly changed to a full day course. After reopening of schools, the teachers not only have to take classes in the school but also digitally. Likewise, the timings of lectures as per different schedules affect students. The teachers sometimes feel that due to online education they have lost control over discipline command over students. Parents also com- plain about strain on the eyes among their children due to increased exposure to screens. the new normal could be a new task. We will now have to revive the teacher-student interaction. Are online examinations equally beneficial as compared to physical ones? Do you think the digital shift is here to stay? There can't be any substitute to the classroom examinations. Conducting examinations in schools is more credible than in the online mode. Though, the teachers diligently frame question papers, the students remained a worried lot. Many a times students also prefer to come to the schools only for the examinations. The doubt clearance and the discussions on the question papers are only possible in the classrooms only. What will be your concern once the classroom teaching begins for all students? Apart from completing the syllabus, we will have to ensure that there isn't any psychological change among the students. The pandemic has changed their habits and the school discipline has completely taken a back seat. So, making the students adjust to As far as digital shift is concerned, it is going to keep its presence alive partially. Students have become tech-savvy these days. So, getting information with a single click is more convenient for them. Also, I believe, more technical shift is required for digitisation for which more efforts needs to be made. Considerably, cheaper sources would be a win-win situation for the children. Moreover, for the official tasks, it has already replaced the traditional methods of working in schools. However, for the overall personality development of children virtual education can't be a good option. How were the admissions this year? The admissions were average this year. The ratio of new admissions and students who leave the schools was equal. The financial crunch forced some parents to withdraw their wards.