11012021-ATR-01.qxd 1/10/2021 11:25 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar TRIBUNE NEUTERING SEEMS HUMANE, SHOULD BE PRIME PRIORITY PAGE 2 HRITHIK AND DEEPIKA TO COME TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME! With the situation on stray dogs getting severe as days pass, residents urge civic bodies to move into top gear. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY INBRIEF TWO FALL PREY TO VIRUS IN DISTRICT Amritsar: The health authorities reported two Covid-19 related deaths in the district on Sunday. With this, the toll has increased to 564. The deceased have been identified as Dalbir Kaur (67), of Pandori Warraich village, and Amrik Singh (45), a resident of Sultanwind village. The health authorities reported 12 new cases, which pushed the total number of positive cases to 14,690. Of these, 10 were found to be influensa like illness cases and two were contacts of positive cases. As many as 27 patients recovered, which took the recovery count to 13,940. Currently, the district has 183 active cases. TNS ONE HELD WITH 20-GM HEROIN Tarn Taran: The police have nabbed a person and recovered 20 grams of heroin from his possession. The accused has been identified as Jaspal Singh of Amritsar district. The police said the accused disclosed during interrogation that he had brought the consignment from Om Parkash Vikki of Amritsar. The duo had been booked under Sections 21-B, 29, 61, and 85 of the NDPS Act. OC 4 OF KALE VILLAGE BOOKED FOR FIRING Tarn Taran: The Bhikhiwind police have booked four persons of Kale village here for firing. The incident took place four days ago. The police said no causality was reported in the firing. In his complaint to the police, Jarnail Singh of the village said his sons were driving out stray animals from their fields when his neighbour fired at them. Lakha Singh, Gursewak Singh, Gurpreet Singh and his brother Manpreet Singh have been booked under Sections 336, 506 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. OC PAGE 3 NEHA BHASIN IS BACK WITH A NEW OFFERING TU KI JAANE The actors put all rumours to rest as on Sunday they announced their collaboration with the film Fighter. MAX 17°C | MIN 3°C | YESTERDAY MAX 16°C | MIN 5°C SUNSET MONDAY 5:46 PM PAGE 4 The singer has launched a new track, a Punjabi hip-hop, and says that it is a melancholicsong about unfulfilled love. SUNRISE TUESDAY 7:31 AM MONDAY | 11 JANUARY 2021 | AMRITSAR Ensure our safety, demand delivery boys of food firm Celebrating ‘Swarn Vijay Varsh’ IN PROTEST MODE Say don’t fix duty hours without paying fixed salary Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 10 Delivery boys of an online food company, Zomato, on Sunday raised slogans against the company for trying to fix duty hours for them and the government for failing to protect them from robbers. They took out a motorcycle rally and passed through various parts of the city to mobilise support. They said one of the delivery boys was recently attacked with a sharp-edged weapon on the elevated road and was robbed of his mobile phone and Rs 4,000. They said two months ago, another delivery boy was robbed near Bhagtanwala Dana Mandi when he was returning home at night. Children participate in an umbrella painting competition to mark the Golden Jubilee year of the 1971 Indo-Pak War at the Punjab State War Memorial and Museum in Amritsar on Sunday; and (right) BSF jawans perform the Guard of Honour. With 1971 War witnessing its Golden Jubilee in 2021, the Indian Army, along with the BSF, organised a programme as a part of the ongoing ‘Swarn Vijay Varsh’ to celebrate India’s victory over Pakistan. PHOTOS: VISHAL KUMAR UP IN ARMS: Delivery boys of an online food firm raise slogans against the company in Amritsar on Sunday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR They said delivery boys were vulnerable as everybody knew that they carried cash and owned expensive mobile phones. However, the reality was that they came Police nab three in youth’s murder case Abhishek Singh was shot dead by armed assailants on January 1 for his alleged affair with the girlfriend of a drug trafficker and notorious criminal identified as Kishan Singh Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 10 With the arrest of three criminals, the Amritsar Rural police on Sunday solved the murder case of Abhishek Singh (19), who was gunned down by armed assailants on January 1. Abhishek was shot dead for his alleged affair with the girlfriend of a drug trafficker and notorious criminal identified as Kishan Singh. Besides Kishan, the police have arrested Baljit Singh, alias Bulli Jandiala, who is considered a close aide of notorious gangster Jaggu Bhag- wanpuria and Sukhwinder Singh alias Kaddu, all residents of Sheikhupura Mohalla falling under Jandiala police station. Two of their accomplices identified as Gurbhej Singh and Happy Jatt were yet to be arrested. Victim’s brother Akashdeep had stated that Kishan was suspicious that Abhishek Singh was having an affair with his girlfriend. The victim had a quarrel with Kishan, Baljit and Happy Jatt a few days ago over the issue. He said the accused killed his brother at the behest of Happy Jatt. A case under Sections Police officials show the weapons recovered from the suspects, who shot dead Abhishek Singh (inset) on January 1, in Amritsar on Sunday. SUNIL KUMAR 302 and 120-B of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against them. ‘Pandemic witnessed a surge in demand for government jobs’ T HE Centre for All-India Competitive Examination on the Khalsa College campus commenced its first batch of offline classes recently. The first such coaching centre established by an educational institution in city, it will offer coaching and training to the students aspiring to compete for various all India services exams, including civil services (IAS, IPS, IFS and PCS), defence, banking and other sectors. It will offer multiple programmes to aspirants with extensive training and mentoring. In an interview with Neha Walia, social scientist, former educator and chief coordinator for the Centre for All-India Competitive Examination Dr Paramjit Singh Judge shares the details regarding the centre and its significance. What was the purpose behind setting up the Centre for All-India Competitive Examination? Given the surge in the number of candidates appearing for competitive exams in India every year, especially the administrative exams, having one specialised agency to cater to the needs of aspirants taking multiple competitive exams becomes a necessity. Also, in the post pandemic scenario, the private sector job market has shrunk immensely, giving government sector an advantage for better employment opportunities. A lot of students have been opting to sit for competitive exams that offer government sector jobs. So, there is a need for such centres now more than ever. The maiden THE TRIBUNE INTERVIEW barriers with them. Most aspirants who take multiple competitive exams face a lot of confusion regarding choosing their subjects and their specialisation. ❞ Dr Paramjit Singh Judge, HIEF COORDINATOR FOR THE CENTRE FOR ALL-INDIA COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION What is the fee and course structure being offered to applicants? We had 32 candidates attending the classes on the first day and we hope for an increase thereafter. We have begun with three programmes – five-month course, seven-month course and one-month training for just the interviews. General enrolment fee of ~500 will be charged from candidates and a fee of ~ 6,000 per month, later. Each course has been divided into three categories, depending on the preliminary stage and the mains. We will conduct classes for various competitions including IAS, IPS, PCS, UGC/NET, judicial, defence forces. The programmes have been designed by renowned political scientist Dr Jagroop Sekhon and me. How will your approach for training candidates be different from privaterun coaching centres? GNDU nod to online exam for odd semester Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 10 GNDU allowed its students to appear for the online examination for Jan-Feb semesters after the matter was raised by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). Acceding to the request and owing to the personal intervention of NSUI Punjab President Akshay Sharma over Covid-related concerns of students, the GNDU administration on Sunday allowed students the option to appear for online examinations also for odd semesters Jan-Feb exams. The university had also announced cancellation of scheduled January 11 Law Department examination for We will not just train the aspirants academically but also work on attitudinal barriers with them. Most aspirants who take multiple competitive exams face a lot of confusion regarding choosing their subjects and their specialisation. Also, we will function as a skill development centre as well through detailed programme and training schedule that will cater to improve their language proficiency, academic performance and overall personality. What according to you is required to build a temperament conducive to excel in competitive exams? With three decades of academic career and observing several success stories in administrative and other institutional competitive exams, I would say that commitment and consistency are two most important requirements for anyone aspiring to excel in any competitive exam. It is a myth that only academic achievers are successful in competitive exams. c m y b Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Jalandhar campuses yesterday. Akshay said the university was also exploring more online avenues to conduct all tests online, beginning with exams scheduled for the semester for all classes. Thanking GNDU Vice Chancellor Jaspal Singh Sandhu on behalf of all students for his support and cooperation, Akshay lauded him for always being forthcoming and generous in ensuring safety and well-being of students on the campus. Akshay said the NSUI Punjab had been working continuously to ensure seamless flow of education to underprivileged children right through the lockdown. THE LAW OF NATURE WAY TO Ridiculed for being a dwarf, Ruby now stands tall as a lawyer GO! STORIES THAT INSPIRE just train the aspirants ❝We will notbut also work on attitudinal academically batch of the centre commenced recently. Kamalpreet Singh Chahal, Superintendent of Police, said the three accused were held from Timowal village following a tip-off. The police teams recovered three .32 country-made pistols with magazines and 19 live bullets, one .38 bore pistol with five cartridges, three bikes and three mobile phones from their possession. He said Bulli Jandiala was also associated with Vicky Bhatti of Nanaksar Mohalla in Tarn Taran who was an accused in Jandiala Guru gun house dacoit case. He had four different cases of murder, murder bid, robbery, arms and the NDPS Act at Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Kartarpur. Similarly, Kishan had eight criminal cases while Sukhwinder had around four cases against him. Chahal said raids were on to arrest Gurbhej and Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Jatt. from economically weaker families and had to commute from place to place for deliveries to earn a livelihood. They urged the police to provide them security as many of them were looted while on way to deliver orders at night. Meanwhile, delivery boys of private company also raised slogans against the company for trying to fix duty hours without paying them any fixed salary. They said post lockdown the online food delivery company drastically reduced their incentives. For instance, they used to be paid ~2,000 in the first week of the month, ~4,000 the next week and more after the delivery of 60 orders per week. The ~5-incentive, which used to be accrued in the account of a delivery boy upon the star rating given by a customer, was also dispensed with. The ~20 of pick and drop has already been continued on page 2 Ajay Joshi Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 10 Picked on mercilessly as a kid, she started hating school. Skipping classes most of the time and secluding herself, her teenage years withered away in depression. That was also the time it dawned upon her that it wasn’t her fault after all. Born a dwarf, she realised how mentally strong she is. Now 24, Harwinder Kaur, alias Ruby, stands tall as a lawyer who pledges to fight for differently-abled for free, as she can “feel the pain”. “The scornful looks and words of ridicule forced me to doubt my capabilities as a child. Today, I am just 3 ft 11 inches tall, but now I see respect in the once-scornful eyes and the sly remarks have been turned into compliments. I feel proud of myself,” Ruby says. She said her life had been one of a struggle but still went on not only to study law but also to win hearts. “I am currently practising law under District Bar Associa- ❝ The scornful looks and words of ridicule forced me to doubt my capabilities as a child. Today, I am just 3 ft 11 inches tall, but now I see respect in the once-scornful eyes and the sly remarks have been turned into compliments. I feel proud of myself. Harwinder Kaur (Ruby), A LAWYER ❞ tion vice-president Jagpal Singh Dhupar and want to pursue my career in judici- ary,” she adds. A resident of Armaan Nagar in Rama Mandi here, Ruby said she came to know about her disability as a 10-year-old. All members in her family are of average height. “I was in Class IV when I noticed my body was not growing normally. With this came a lot of teasing and bullying. By the time I reached senior secondary classes, I started skipping school and spent most of my days at home. But when I decided to face the world and took admission at the KCL Institute of Laws, life changed for the better. The things I missed in school, I experienced at college,” the law aspirant says. Accepting herself the way she was instilled positivity and motivated her to fulfill all the dreams she had conjured. “Earlier, I wanted to be an air hostess but that was not possible, so I chose to study law and become a voice of the disabled,” Ruby says, adding, “People with insecurities and inferiority complexes now look up to me and appreciate my confidence.” Daughter of an ASI, she believes in hard work, resilience and positive attitude as the key to success. With 50,000 followers on Instagram, she is already popular as a social media star.