07012021-JTR-01.qxd 1/6/2021 11:45 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar TRIBUNE AT SINGHU BORDER, SEECHEWAL PITCHES FOR ORGANIC FARMING Environmentalist asks the Centre to withdraw farm laws, says rains have emboldened the already irked farmers. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY PAGE 2 PAGE 3 SUDHIR MISHRA REMEMBERS OM PURI ON DEATH ANNIVERSARY DEBATTAMA SAHA THRILLED TO SHOOT FOR WEDDING SEQUENCE The filmmaker remembered Puri on his death anniversary, saying the late actor was one the heroes of his youth. MAX 18°C | MIN 9°C | YESTERDAY MAX 17°C | MIN 10°C SUNSET THURSDAY 5:40 PM PAGE 4 Newly launched show Shaurya Aur Anokhi Ki Kahani is focused on a marriage ceremony as of now. SUNRISE FRIDAY 7:27 AM THURSDAY | 7 JANUARY 2021 | JALANDHAR Soaked in blood, letters continue to stir the ‘unstirred’ INBRIEF 7 PEDDLERS HELD IN HOSHIARPUR Ludhiana-based Bhai Ghanaiya Ji Mission Sewa Society collecting blood units, penning letters from it since Dec 20 Hoshiarpur: Seven peddlers, including a woman, were arrested with liquor and intoxicants. ASI Sukhdev Singh, in-charge, Puriharan police post, said he received a tip-off that consignment of alcohol from other state was being delieverd in the area. He said he set up a special naka and recovered 10 lakh 71,000 ml of different types of liquor from a Tata 407 canter. He said the accused have been identified as Vicky Baba, a resident of Purheeran, Manpreet, alias Mamu, of New Fatehgarh, Manjit Kumar and Lakhan Kumar, of New Sunder Nagar. In another incident, the Mahilpur police arrested Rajinder Singh of Padi Sura Singh and recovered 35,820 ml of smuggled liquor from him. In the third incident, the Mehtiana police nabbed Kulvinder Kaur of Harta, and recovered 10-gram intoxicating powder from her. In another incident, the Dasuya police arrested Purshottam of Ghanta Ghar, and recovered 180-gram intoxicating powder from him. OC ❝ Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 6 Revolutions can’t succeed without shedding blood, it is said. At Singhu, it’s being done literally! For the 15th day on Wednesday, 48-year-old Taranjit Singh Nimana sits with a thin wooden straw in his hand; its tip soaked in red. He is penning a letter to the leaders of the country. On a nearby table lies 10 more letters — red on white — in Punjabi. But in place of ink, what he writes with is the blood of farmers! Since December 20, the Bhai Ghanaiya Ji Mission Sewa Society, a Ludhiana-based NGO, has been penning letters in blood of farmers exhorting the top leaders of the country to withdraw the three farm laws. Everyday an array of blood-soaked letters are handed over to farm leaders. This blood is donated at the NGO’s blood donation camps being held behind the main stage of the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha at the Singhu border. Ehnan chitthiyan vich kisanan da khoon raleya hai. Asi bhejde rahange jad tak kale kanoon vapas nahi hunde. Singhan de hausle chikkar vich vi buland ne. (These letters are soaked in farmers’ blood. We will keep writing these until the black laws are withdrawn. Singhs are full of courage even in mud). Taranjit Singh Nimana, PRESIDENT, BHAI GHANAIYA JI MISSION SEWA SOCIETY, A LUDHIANA-BASED NGO Taranjit Nimana pens a letter in blood to leaders at Singhu border. The NGO, which has won the state award nine times for its contribution in the field on blood donation, is headed by its president Taranjit Singh Nimana. Nearly 1,000 farmers have donated blood across the 15 blood donation camps held so far. Letters have so far been sent to the Prime Minister, Home Minister, President, Vice President and the Chief Justice of India, but to no avail. Nimana now plans to send a letter written in his blood to the UNO on his birthday tomorrow (January 7) in honour of those, who died at the Delhi protests. On his recent visit to the Singhu border, environmentalist Seechewal also called upon Nimana, his old acquaintance, after Seechewal’s speech on stage. Such is the spirit that after a storm uprooted the backstage tent and damaged the mattresses and equipment at the camp, it has been shifted to a safer shed, where the camp resumed today. Nimana, says: “Ehnan chitthiyan vich kisanan da khoon raleya hai. Asi bhejde rahange jad tak kale kanoon vapas nahi hunde. Singhan de hausle chikkar vich vi buland ne. (These letters are soaked in farmers’ blood. We will keep writing these until the black laws are withdrawn. Singhs are full of courage even in mud).” Nimana adds: “We sent back doctors yesterday. Our backstage tent lost its roof. It was very windy and the tent ended up dripping in rain. We resumed at another place today. It’s my birthday on January 7. In memory of lives lost at Singhu, I shall donate blood and write in blood to the UNO to get the laws withdrawn.” Blood collected from the camp has been donated to blood banks at Ludhiana, Patiala and now to UP Delhi , and Haryana (Faridabad, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Delhi (Mayur Vihar). “While there is already a blood shortage during the pandemic, we would want the blood to be used for any emergency case. Anyone who needs blood is free to take it from us,” Nimana says. While Nimana planned to send blood-soaked letters to the PM from Ludhiana, he shifted to Singhu border when the idea was discussed with morcha leaders, who asked the NGO to shift base to Singhu. To start or not to start classes Man dies in road accident, on campus? Dilemma remains kin block road for an hour Hearing impaired woman, handicap son found dead Deepkamal Kaur Jalandhar, January 6 A 70-year-old woman along with her 25-year-old son were ‘murdered’ by unidentified persons at Aliwal village in Lohian on January 6. The deceased have been identified as Kartari and Mangat Ram, alias Manga. While the woman was speech and hearing impaired, her son was handicap. The duo was found murdered by villagers who then informed the police. The woman’s body was located from her home, while her son’s body was found in fields. Both were cattle grazers. The woman had suffered serious injuries on her head with a blunt weapon, said the police. They have not ruled out the possibility of an enmity or dispute given the nature of wounds on the bodies. An FIR was lodged under Sections 302, 120-B and 201 of the IPC. Lohian police station SHO Balwinder Singh said, “The bodies have been sent for the post-mortem. The woman was hit repeatedly with a blunt weapon. Things will get clear after the report arrives.” Our Correspondent School authorities say it’ll depend on parents Tribune News Service so many issues ❝There areto before taking athat need to be catered call. It is easy for the governments to announce, but extremely difficult for schools to implement at the ground level. Our classrooms are not so big that we will be able to maintain 6-feet distance even for half the capacity. We can run buses only to full capacity as otherwise transport will not be financially viable and we cannot ask parents to pay more bus fare. Rashmi Vij, A PRINCIPAL FILE PHOTO Jalandhar, January 6 The decision to allow schools to start classes from V to XII on the campus has evoked a mixed response from parents, teachers and authorities. Since the SOPs released in the evening mention that it would be mandatory for school authorities to take prior consent from parents, the authorities say it would take some time and that they would be able to take a final decision on Monday or later. Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla on Wednesday in his subsequent release also mentioned that attending physical classes will not be mandatory and students have to be given an option to study through online classes. Some school authorities also maintain that while they had not received consent from a majority of parents of Classes IX and XII, they were least hopeful about getting a positive response from the junior classes. Teachers Jalandhar, January 6 The city police on Wednesday arrested three drug peddlers, including a woman, and seized 26-kg opium from them. The peddlers had hidden the drug consignment in the two stepneys of the vehicle they were traveling in. The accused have been identified as Poonam Devi Rao (40), her son Krishna Rao (19) of Jamshedpur and her nephew Raja Kumar Bhagat (29), a resident of East Singhbhum, Jharkhand. Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said CIA staff-1 head Harminder footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area would be scrutinised to identify the accused. He said an FIR has been lodged in this regard. After getting assurance from the DSP protesters , performed the last rites. Talwara police have initiated action by registering a case against an unidentified driver under Sections 279, 304-A and 427 of the IPC. ❞ said hardly 6-8 students used to come for even the short doubt clearing session and holding physical classes at this stage for so many students seemed a tough decision to take. Rashmi Vij, a principal, said: “There are so many issues that need to be catered to before taking a call. It is easy for the governments to announce, but extremely difficult for schools to implement at the ground level. Our classrooms are not so big that we will be able to maintain 6feet distance even for half the capacity. We can run buses only to full capacity as otherwise transport will not be financially viable and we cannot ask parents to pay more bus fare. Also, if children are less prone, they can be carriers bringing infection from home to school or Woman, son & nephew held with 26-kg opium Tribune News Service Talwara, January 6 A 27-year-old man died in a road accident on Talwara - Mukerian GT Road on January 5. The deceased has been identified as Jeevan Kumar, a resident of Haled Mohalla in Dosadka. Jeevan was returning from a gym in his car, when an unidentified vehicle rammed into it. On Wednesday, the kin of the deceased kept his body at Nagar Road and demanded immediate arrest of the accused. Protesters blocked the road for an hour. Dasuya Deputy Superintendent of Police Manish Sharma reached the spot and persuaded the deceased’s family by promising prompt action in the case. He said Singh got a tip-off that the accused were traveling in a silver Sumo (JH05-AP-8743) to deliver a consignment of opium to an Amritsar-based dealer on Wednesday. Following this, a check-post was set up at Pragpur under the supervision of ACP Major Singh and the cops stopped the vehicle. “The police party, including women sleuths, checked the Sumo and found two stepneys (spare tyres). After both tyres were opened, the cops recovered 26-kg opium from one of the spare tyres, which was packed into 26 small plastic bags. Subsequently, the cops arrested the accused and a case under Sections 18, 61, and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered against them at the Cantonment police station,” Bhullar said. Poonam Devi Rao has reportedly been delivering opium in Amritsar from Jharkhand for the past six months along with her son and her nephew after getting the consignment from Jharkhand-based drug smugglers. While her son Krishna Rao is studying in Class XII, her nephew is a street food vendor. The Commissioner said the accused would be produced in local courts and taken on remand for further interrogation. vice versa. We have had preboard exams and we gave both online and offline options to students. We had very recently evolved a good online teaching mechanism, wherein we had grouped students. Weak students were being made to attend extra classes and for meritorious students, we were giving extra notes and questions to practise. continued on page 2 DSP Manish Sharma tries to persuade protesters asking them to lift the blockade at Talwara. Tribune News Service 22-yr-old dies a month 49 +ve in dist, tally reaches 20,068 after moving to Dubai JALANDHAR ROUND-UP Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 6 In a tragic incident, a 22-yearold woman from Panj Peer locality here, who had moved to Dubai for alleviating her family from poverty, died in less than a month since she moved from here. Body of Meenu, who reportedly died eight days ago because of some illness, was brought back on Tuesday with the help of ‘Sarbat Da Bhala Trust’. Her last rites were performed on Wednesday. Meenu had reportedly planned to work for a beauty parlour there but even before she was to settle, the devastating news struck the family. She had c m y b Body brought back through Sarbat Da Bhala Trust reportedly taken a loan of ~1 lakh to move to Dubai. Trust member Amarjot Singh, who got all the documentation from here, said, “The girl is from a very poor family and was not in a condition to pay for bringing her body back. So, I contacted SPS Oberoi in Dubai and he arranged to send her body back in a day. Her father passed away two years back and her mother is jobless. We have announced ~2000 per month pension to support her mother.” Jalandhar, January 6 With 49 more cases, the Covid-19 tally reached 20,068 in the district on Wednesday. With two deaths, the toll also increased to 649. So far, there are 265 active cases in the district, while 19,154 people have been discharged and 165 people are under home isolation. Meanwhile, Kapurthala district saw four persons testing positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. An 85-year-old woman from Fattu Dhinga village died at a private hospital in Jalandhar, where she was brought for treatment. Hoshiarpur district reports 16 new Covid cases The district reported 16 new Covid-19 patients on Wednesday, taking the total Samples collected Negative Positive Active Deceased Discharged Sample inappropriate Results awaited Home isolated 4,90,368 4,48,517 20,068 265 649 19,154 4,334 3,065 165 to 7,811. Civil Surgeon Dr Ranjit Singh said the total number of samples taken so far in the district increased to 2,46,246 with 2,396 new samples taken from people with suspected flu-like symptoms. According to reports received from the laboratory, 2,35,152 are negative, while 4,884 reports are awaited, 181 are invalid and the death toll so far is 316, while no death reported on Wednesday. The number of active cases is 93, while the number of cured patients is 7,402. On Wednesday, out of 16 positive patients found in the district, four are from Hoshiarpur city and 12 positive patients are from various other health blocks in the district. — OC