09012021-ATR-01.qxd 1/8/2021 11:15 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE TEAL RIBBON CAMPAIGN CREATES AWARENESS ON CERVICAL CANCER PAGE 2 The Phulkari CAN launched Teal Ribbon initiative to celebrate International Cervical Cancer Awareness month. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY INBRIEF DID PRIYANKA CHOPRA BREAK COVID LOCKDOWN RULES IN UK? Reports of Priyanka Chopra and her mother breaking the lockdown rules in London were doing rounds on internet. MAX 16°C | MIN 5°C | YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 7°C SUNSET SATURDAY 5:44 PM SENDING MAILS STREAMLINED Amritsar: In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and suspension of trains on the Amritsar-Pathankot route, the Department of Posts on Thursday introduced a Mail Motor Service under Road Transport Network for streamlining the process of transmission of mail to cites, including Batala, Dhariwal, Gurdaspur, Dinanagar and Pathankot. Vikas Sharma, Superintendent, Railway Mail Service, ‘I’ Division, Jalandhar, of Punjab Postal Circle flagged off Road Transport Network Mail Motor Service from AmritsarPathankot via Batala, Dhariwal, Gurdaspur, Dinanagar and Pathankot. “As the Department of Posts is known for its commitment towards timely delivery of its mail and other services, this newly launched mail transportation network will surely speed up the transmission of mail resulting in prompt delivery of mails at the doorstep of esteemed customers,” said Vikas Sharma. TNS INSURANCE FIRM’S STAFFER ROBBED Tarn Taran: A three-member gang of robbers has been active in Chohla Sahib-Sarhali and on the national highway 54 for the last two weeks. The gang robbed ~ 40,000 and other documents from an employee of an insurance company near Chohla Sahib on January 6. SubInspector Sahib Singh said the victim Karanjit Singh after collecting installments from customers was heading towards Chohla Sahib from Ruriwala. He said three armed men robbed ~40,000 from the victim at gunpoint. The police have registered a case under Sections 379 and 34 of the IPC and 25, 27, 54 of the 59 Arms Act. OC Amritsar, January 8 The Health Department conducted the first dry run of the Covid-19 vaccination at three health facilities in the city — the District Hospital, the Health Centre, Verka, and Sri Guru Ram Das Hospital, Vallah — here on Friday. A group of 17 persons, all from the Health Department, were administered the mock vaccine. Though the state Health Department had forwarded a list of 25 officials but many of them had already been transferred. They were from the Health Department and were in the forefront to serve people during the pandemic. Before administration of the mock vaccine, their identity proofs like Aadhaar numbers were recorded and a health check-up was done. Following this, mock vaccine was administered and their health was monitored for the next half an hour. Civil Surgeon Dr RS Sethi said people would receive a text message on their mobile phones for vaccination. After A doctor administers a mock Covid vaccine to a medico at the Civil Hospital in Amritsar on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR 20 MORE CASES REPORTED IN DISTRICT ■ The district health authorities on Friday reported 20 positive cases in the district, taking the count to 14,662. Of them, 12 were contacts of positive cases and eight were of influenza-like illness. Besides, 34 patients recovered taking the tally of recovered persons to 13,899. Now, the number of active cases in the district is 202. However, no death due to the Covid-19 contagion was reported on Friday. reaching the hospital, the staff would verify the mes- sage and then his/her identity proof would be recorded. Minor ‘raped’ youth booked , Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 8 A minor girl was allegedly raped by a youth at Teda Kalan village here on December 13 while a case was registered only on Thursday following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the victim’s father filed a petition. The accused was identified as Sukhraj Singh of the same village. However, the victim accused her father of rude behaviour and told the police that she did not want to live with her father. She said she felt safe with the accused and his family. Bhupinderjit Kaur, investi- JUST AN ALLEGATION BY MY FATHER: GIRL ■ The girl got her statement recorded before the magistrate and the police that the allegation levelled by her father against the youth was false and she wanted to live with him and not with her father. gating officer of the case, said the girl got her statement recorded before the magistrate and the police that the allegation levelled by her father against the youth was false and she wanted to live with him and not with her father. “Being minor, the girl was now sent to Nari Niketan follow- ing the orders of the court and further investigation was under progress,” she said. For now, a case under Sections 342 and 376 of the IPC and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been registered against alleged accused Sukhraj Singh. He was not arrested yet as the matter was under investigation. She said the medical examination of the victim would be conducted after the mandatory corona test. The complainant alleged that on December 13, 2020, the accused pulled her 15-year-old daughter into his house and raped him. He alleged the accused used to tease his daughter earlier also. “Upon confirmation of the sound health, people would be administered vaccine. Post vaccination, they would be put under observation for 30 minutes.” Dr Sethi said they had made arrangements for 27 centres and each of them would be headed by a Senior Medical Officer (SMO). Each centre will have two teams consisting of five medical officials. “Firstly, the vaccine will be administered to healthcare professionals (either government or private), then to defence personnel followed by those who are ill and those 50 years and above in age,” he said. The Amritsar Tribune team visited the district hospital and found a part of the OPD earmarked for the Covid-19 vaccination — a lobby for waiting, three rooms for verification, vaccination and observation purposes. A five-member team headed by Supervisor Dr Kunal oversaw the vaccination. The number of staff members and infrastructure would be increased once the vaccine would be delivered here. Two held with 2 kg of opium Amritsar, January 8 The Counter Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police have arrested two persons and recovered 2-kg opium from them. The accused have been identified as Sukhwinder Singh and Bhaag Singh, both residents of Bohru village. A police official said the duo was travelling in a car and intercepted near Manwala flyover. He said the contraband was concealed beneath the driver’s seat. Preliminary probe revealed that the accused had brought the opium from Meerut. The duo was produced before the court, which sent them into police custody. — TNS GNDU gets first instalment for new projects SYNDICATE MEETING Centre for interfaith studies to come up at a cost of ~432 cr Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 8 Prof Dr Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, has reiterated that the university is fully committed to implementing the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020). Presiding over the Syndicate meeting held on Friday at the university, Sandhu said under this policy, four-year courses of the bachelor’s degree would be introduced in the colleges, along with online courses of Punjabi language. The Syndicate members also welcomed a newly inducted member of Senate, Satnam Manak, a senior journalist. Sharing the upcoming projects, Prof Sandhu informed that under the recommendations of the Foreign/NRI Student Advisory Committee, an international student cell will be set up to deal with admissions and other formalities of foreign students as per the guidelines of ICCR. Among one of the major projects to be undertaken by the univer- A model of the upcoming centre for interfaith studies at Guru Nanak Dev University. A symphony of religious music will be created inside its premises and eight departments, a directorate office, a museum and panorama, a library and a guest house will also be set up. TRIBUNE PHOTO sity, an interfaith study centre designed by the Architecture Department of the university would also be raised at a cost of ~432 crore. It was announced by the Government of India during the 550th Parkash Purb celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev. The first instalment of ~175 crore has been received by the university. “Interfaith study centre would be established as the centre of research activi- ties on all religions. A symphony of religious music will be created inside its premises and eight departments, a directorate office, a museum and panorama, a library and a guest house would also be set c m y b WATCH OUT: NACHIKET LELE ALL SET TO WOW INDIAN IDOL FANS up,” he said. The eight departments established will be Sri Guru Granth Sahib languages; division of divine music; division of comparative religions; division of conflict resolution; centre for reconstruction of ancient musical instruments; division of study on travels of Guru Nanak Dev; division of archives and division of theology. Despite the challenges of Covid, the university received several grants for infrastructural enhancements, including ~107 crore for enhancement of quality and excellence in universities; ~2 crore for setting up digital library by the Department of Higher Education, Government of Punjab; ~25 crore for MYAS-GNDU centre for sports sciences and medicine; ~11.90 crore under Khelo India and ~17.05 for promotion of university research and scientific excellence under DST PURSE. Prof Sandhu said the university had enrolled 35 per cent more students than in previous years even in the pandemic. PAGE 4 Nachiket will not only sing in male as well as female voice, but also perform dressed as half man and half woman. SUNRISE SUNDAY 7:31 AM Health Dept conducts dry run for Covid vaccination Tribune News Service An official of the Department of Posts flags off mail motor service in Amritsar. PAGE 3 SATURDAY | 9 JANUARY 2021 | AMRITSAR Segregation of waste starts in 11 city wards Woman kills self; husband, mother-in-law booked by cops Tribune News Service A garbage collection van of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation with different compartments for dry and wet waste. More than 75 per cent of trash is separated at source itself. TRIBUNE PHOTO Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 8 Office-bearers of solid waste management company (Averda) hired by the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) claimed to implement segregation of waste (wet and dry) in 11 wards of the city at household level. The MC, Averda and some city-based NGOs had conducted awareness drives in the last few months in this regard. As a result, 11 out of 85 wards achieved more than 75 per cent waste segregation at source, while 15 wards were fast catching up. Amit Bajpai, director, Averda, said, “We launched a programme on segregation of waste in collaboration with the NGOs and the results are quite encouraging. In the first phase, which started in September 2020, we reached out to 42,128 households across 17 wards through 70 workshops. As a result, 29,639 households are now giving segregated waste.” Averda along with its outreach partner the Feedback Foundation deployed a multilayered intervention to change citizens’ behaviour. Ajay Sinha of the Feedback Foundation said, “After several workshops for waste generators, triggering sessions and door-to-door visits, awareness levels about safe waste management practices have improved drastically. We created awareness in colleges, schools, markets and at household level.” The agencies also worked on reducing garbage dumping hotspots by introducing innovative interventions, including creating rangolis, installing dustbins in markets vegetable and fruit mandis. Bajpai said, “Citizens are being asked to download Swachhata App so that they can register their complaints about laxity in waste collection or dumping of waste in real-time. The MCA has been responding to these complaints with alacrity.” Amritsar, January 8 A 21-year-old married woman, identified as Sukhdeep Kaur, committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance at Jallupur Khera village falling under Khalchian police station here on Thursday. A medical board was constituted which conducted a postmortem on the body at the Baba Bakala Civil Hospital here on Friday. After an autopsy, the body was handed over to the family. Sub-Inspector Paramjit Singh, investigating officer of the case, said the police had booked the victim’s husband Nishan Singh and mother-inlaw Kanwaljit Kaur in this connection. He said a case under Section 306 of the IPC had been registered against them. Mukhtar Singh, father of the victim, told the police that his daughter, Sukhdeep Kaur, was married to Nishan Singh around a year ago. He said she gave birth to a girl two months ago. He said Sukhdeep had told the family that both the accused used to harass her for giving birth to a girl. He said at around 12.30pm on Thursday, Sukhdeep called him and said Nishan and Kanwaljit Kaur had beaten her up. An hour later Kanwaljit Kaur called and said she had consumed some poisonous substance and she was taken to a private hospital. He said in the evening she died in the hospital. He demanded that the accused should be arrested and put behind bars. The investigating officer said further investigation was under progress and the accused would be arrested soon.