19012021-JTR-01.qxd 1/18/2021 11:11 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar TRIBUNE HIS GARDENING STOCK HAS ALWAYS BEEN ON THE RISE PAGE 2 Paramjit Sachdeva deals in stocks and securities, but his love for gardening is the biggest investment. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY AMMY VIRK-SONAM’S PUAADA TO HIT THEATRES IN MARCH PAGE 3 KARAN VEER MEHRA TO MARRY NIDHI V SETH ON JANUARY 24 The film is directed by debutante Rupinder Chahal and Zee Studios have acquired film’s worldwide rights. MAX 19°C | MIN 6°C | YESTERDAY MAX 19°C | MIN 6°C SUNSET TUESDAY 5:50 PM PAGE 4 This will be Karan’s second marriage. They met each other in 2008 when they did a commercial together. SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7:25 AM TUESDAY | 19 JANUARY 2021 | JALANDHAR War of words, blame game ruleMC House meeting Uproar over LED lights, blue boards installed in city | Proceedings began by paying tributes to farmers who died during protests Ajay Joshi Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 18 The Municipal Corporation (MC) General House meeting took place at the Red Cross Bhawan here on Monday. After paying tributes to the farmers who lost their lives during their agitation, the House proceedings went ahead. The meeting continued for nearly 90 minutes in which 23 new agendas along with the old ones were passed by Mayor Jagdish Raja and MC Commissioner Karnesh Sharma. While Raja insisted on holding a zero hour and clearing the agendas first, councillors of the ruling and opposition parties asked MC officials to answer their questions regarding development-related issues. There was uproar over the LED lights and blue boards installed in the city. Council- lors argued that no proper arrangements had been made in the LED lights project. Despite spending a huge amount on it, the work was still incomplete. Nobody walked out of the hall or boycotted the meeting but a war of words and blame game between the councillors continued till the end. Meanwhile, the agenda branch of the officials passed the agendas. Repair and maintenance of rock garden in Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar park, repair and maintenance of park at Ajit Nagar, repair and maintenance of Gulab Park and others were among the few agendas passed. A heated discussion between Davinder Singh Roni, councillor of Ward No.66, and Sushil Kalia forced the Mayor to intervene and told Roni to not cross the limit of the House meeting. Councillors argue with each other; and (above) Mayor Jagdish Raja tries to make a point during the Jalandhar MC House meeting on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: SARABJIT SINGH Illegal buildings issue While Kawaljit Kaur Gullu, councillor of Ward No.67, was the first one to raise the issue of the construction of illegal buildings and encroachments in streets, the Mayor interrupted her asking her to raise a question not a complaint. Following which, the councillors in unison opposed the House proceedings and said if their questions on civic issues were being taken as complaints then there was no need to organise such House meetings. Heated arguments were also witnessed over the MC elections. Following which, Shelly Khanna, councillor of Ward No.17, said despite sending various written complaints, none was resolved. LED lights not installed Jaspal Kaur Bhatia, Shiromani Akali Dal councillor from Ward No.45, asked the Mayor if the LED lights project was a lottery system as no lights had been installed in her ward. Gurvinderpal Singh Bunty, councillor of Ward No.66, said a detailed report on the LED lights project needed to be presented on the table by the officials. “There is no information on quality and quantity of the lights used; when the tender was passed; and how these would be maintained,” added Bunty. Likewise, Ward No.65 councillor Anjali said who was having the contract of the LED lights and when it would be completed. To this, the MC Commissioner assured that the street lights project would be completed by March and April. Bhatia further demanded the recruitment of new sanitation workers. Drinking water issue Tanmanpreet Kaur, councillor of Ward No.1, started her question by lifting a water bottle filled with contami- nated water. She said people living in Indira Colony were forced to drink unsafe water. Despite complaining on several occasions about the damaged pipe lines, no action was taken, she added. It has been almost 10 months since Indira Colony residents were getting the dirty water supply. Misappropriation of funds Shushil Kumar, after raising a question on the biomining project, questioned the accountability of MC officials on the street vendor’s policy. He said though financial help was provided to street vendors during the lockdown, it was reported that a large number of street vendors didn’t receive it. Similarly, Aruna Arora, councillor of the Model Town conitnued on page 2 157 report for inoculation on Day 2 ‘It’s time to shed apprehensions about vaccine’ Tribune News Service Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 18 A marginal increase in the number of people reporting to get vaccinated for Covid-19 was registered on Monday. On the second day of the vaccination drive, as many as 157 health workers received the shots in Jalandhar. Of 300 medical professionals, who had been sent messages, 143 gave the process a miss. Dr Chanjeev, Dr Sacchar, anesthetist Dr Paramjit Singh along with other doctors of the Civil Hospital also got vaccinated. Even though marginal rise in the numbers is being registered, doctors at the Civil Hospital on Monday said the exercise would continue with three centres on Tuesday as well due to the limitations of the vaccination portal. The three session sites continue to be the Civil Hospital Jalandhar; Basti Gujan CHC, Jalandhar; and Sub-Divisional Hospital, Nakodar. As many as 11,800 health workers in Jalandhar have been listed to be vaccinated in the district in the first phase of the Covid vaccine. Notably, a majority of volunteers or beneficiaries of the vaccine continue to be from the government sector. As many as 293 of the 600 people (300 each on Saturday and Monday) called on for the vaccination drive so far, which is a little less than the INBRIEF MAN KILLED IN ROAD ACCIDENT Healthcare workers flash a victory sign after being inoculated on Day 2 of the vaccination drive. ❝There has been a marginal but encouraging increase in the number of health workers reporting for vaccination. From 136 on Saturday, the number rose to 157 on Monday. We expect the number to gradually increase. If need be, another session site at PIMS shall be made operational depending on the response. For now, we will continue to have three vaccination sites. Dr Rakesh Chopra, DISTRICT IMMUNISATION OFFICER halfway mark. Besides, at various health centres and hospitals, the health staff continues to be wary of getting the shot and are waiting instead for other colleagues to be vaccinated first. Amid apprehensions, the good news is that no adverse reaction to the Covishield vaccine has been reported in any of the doctors, paramedical or ❞ support staff vaccinated so far. Dr Paramjit Singh, anesthetist and frontline worker, who is in charge of the ICU at the Civil Hospital, said: “Since I was away for some personal work on Saturday, I got the vaccine shots on Monday. I was kept under observation for half an hour. But no adverse reaction has been reported from anyone so far. Your arm is sore or a bit painful for a while after being vaccinated, but that’s about it. This is common among many other previous vaccines too.” Dr Rakesh Chopra, District Immunisation Officer, said: “There has been a marginal but encouraging increase in the number of health workers reporting for being vaccinated. From 136 on Saturday, the number rose to 157 on Monday. We expect the number to gradually increase. If need be, another session site at PIMS shall also be made operational soon depending on the response. For now, we will continue to have three vaccination sites since currently the server is only picking as many entries.” ❝ ❞ well as the 70-year-old Nijatam Nagar woman. Dr Indu said: “I was among the first batch of doctors to begin working at the isolation ward when the national emergency was declared on March 21. We spent a considerable time in much anxiety. We have seen so many deaths. My own sister-in-law remained admitted to the hospital for a month. Since no one had ever witnessed this kind of a pandem- ic in their lifetime, people were scared. Families were scared. Eventually the panic has subsided and things are getting smooth.” She goes on to add: “Initially, we worked with OT gowns too and then later PPE kits arrived. After those initial gloomy days, the arrival of the vaccine is like a breath of fresh air. While there were a lot of negativity regarding the vaccine, I believe things will change quickly.” Now spearheading the team of officials who carry out the vaccination drive, Dr Bala said: “It was a very happy occasion for me. We finally got the shots after a year of hard work. We planned days ahead for the vaccination drive and the process is going on smoothly in the district.” On myths about the vaccine and many health workers still not turning up to vaccinate themselves, she said: “I have myself taken the shots. So, people should have a positive approach towards it. This is the moment we have been waiting for. We are administering the Covishield vaccine in Jalandhar. We have adequate facilities and trained staff administering the vaccine in Jalandhar. People can take a cue from us, who have already been vaccinated. The biggest thing is that this vaccine is being administered for free.” JALANDHAR RECORDS 1 DEATH, 15 +VE CASES 1 DIES, 13 TEST POSITIVE IN HOSHIARPUR Jalandhar: With 15 more cases, the Covid tally in district reached 20,373 today. With one more death, the toll reached 660 in Jalandhar. The active cases in district are 226 until today. As many as 19,487 persons have been discharged while as many as 142 people are under home isolation in Jalandhar currently. Kapurthala district saw five persons testing positive for Covid-19 today. TNS Level-I check: EVMs ready for use JALANDHAR ROUND-UP Samples collected 5,26,471 Negative 4,86,892 Positive 20,373 Active 226 Deceased 660 Discharged 19,487 Sample inappropriate 5,320 Results awaited 395 Home isolated 142 Hoshiarpur: The district received 1,371 sample reports on Monday, of which 13 people tested positive taking the tally to 7,945. With the death of an 81-year-old resident of Haveli village, the death toll reached 328 on Monday. She died at a private hospital in Jalandhar. The total number of samples taken so far in the district has increased to 2,63,636 with 1,316 new samples taken from people with suspected flu-like symptoms. According to the reports received from the lab, 2,55,487 were negative, while 1,854 reports are awaited and 184 were invalid. The number of active cases is 44, while the number of patients who have recovered is 7,573. Civil Surgeon Dr Ranjit Singh said out of the 13 positive patients found in the district today, two were from Hoshiarpur city and the remaining 11 from different health blocks. OC Officials take stock of R-Day preparations Elections due in six municipal councils & two nagar panchayats of district No massive gathering | Full dress rehearsal on Jan 22 Tribune News Service Talwara: One person was killed in a motorcycle-truck collision on late Sunday evening. Raj Kumar, a resident of Baringali village, said that he along with Aman was going towards Baringli village on motorcycle when a truck coming from Hajipur, near junk shop, hit them from the rear. Aman died after falling off the bike. Talwara SHO Ajmer Singh said the police had arrested Jaswinder Singh, the truck driver, and registered a case against him. OC Jalandhar, January 18 From serving as a frontline warrior during Covid-19 outbreak to now being the nodal vaccination officer, who received her first shot recently, life has come full circle for Dr Indu Bala. A general surgeon posted in Jalandhar, the doctor was among the first batch of medical professionals, who received the first shot of Covid vaccination on Saturday. Dr Bala was deputed at the Civil Hospital, when the very first Covid patients — residents of Virk village and relatives of Nawanshahr-based Baldev Singh (Punjab’s first Covid case) — were reported in Jalandhar. She also remained deputed during the reportage of subsequent initial patients — daughter of Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa as I have myself taken the shots. So, I can say that people should have a positive approach towards the vaccine. This is the moment we have been waiting for. We are administering the Covishield vaccine in Jalandhar. We have adequate facilities and trained staff administering the vaccine in Jalandhar. People can take a cue from us, who have already been vaccinated. The biggest thing is that this vaccine is being administered for free. Dr Indu Bala, NODAL VACCINATION OFFICER Jalandhar, January 18 Additional Deputy Commissioner (D)-cum-Additional District Electoral Officer Vishesh Sarangal on Monday conducted the first-level checking of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to be used in the elections of six municipal councils (MCs) and two nagar panchayats of Jalandhar. Sarangal along with the officials visited Government Polytechnic College for Women at Ladowali Road and inspected all 336 EVMs. The ADC checked the functioning of 336 ballot units and 336 control unit ADC (D)-cum-Additional District Electoral Officer Vishesh Sarangal conducts the first-level checking of Electronic Voting Machines to be used in the elections, in Jalandhar on Monday. c m y b machines to be used during the elections, in the presence of the representatives of various political parties. Sarangal held a detailed interaction with the engineers from BEL India, who have been specially deputed here for the elections at the college. He was apprised by the engineers that all these EVMs were ready for use. He said elections would be held in Jalandhar’s six municipal councils — Kartarpur, Phillaur, Nakodar, Nurmahal, Alawalpur, Adampur; and two nagar panchayats — Mehatpur and Lohian Khas. He said these elections would be held in 110 wards of six councils and two nagar panchayats. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 18 Deputy Commissioner of Police (HQ) Arun Saini and Additional Deputy Commissioner (G) Jasbir Singh on Monday reviewed the preparations for the Republic Day celebrations. Saini and Singh visited the stadium along with senior officials of the police and administration and took stock of the arrangements at the Guru Gobind Singh Stadium. The DCP and ADC said the district would uphold the glorious tradition during the celebrations of Republic Day adhering to all Covid-19 protocols. Referring to the state government’s guidelines regarding R-Day function amid Covid, DCP and ADC said there would be no massive gathering during the event as it used to be in the previous years and the contingent of the Punjab Police would give salute. They also clarified that there would be no other activities such as PT shows, cultural events, parades, etc, in order to maintain the safety guidelines. They added that a full dress rehearsal would take place on January 22. They also said the health and safety protocols, including social distancing, wearing masks, hand sanitising, disinfecting the premises would be accorded top priorities. They asked the security personnel, especially at frisking points, to follow all safety protocol to avoid further spread of the virus. Prominent among others present on the occasion included SDM Dr Jai Inder Singh, Assistant Commissioner Hardeep Singh, DFWO Dr Raman Gupta, District Education Officer Harinder Pal Singh and others.