21032021-JTR-01.qxd 3/20/2021 10:55 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar TRIBUNE COL MANDIP GREWAL’S SPACE IS BEYOND THE WORD ‘GARDEN’ He has developed a whole natural eco-space for a variety of plants and birds at his place at Sofia pind. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY PAGE 2 JANHVI WRAPS UP GOOD LUCK JERRY SHOOT IN CHANDIGARH PAGE 3 OTT IS THE FUTURE, SAYS ACTOR PRIYASHA BHARDWAJ She took to her social media account and penned down a heartfelt note for the cast and crew of the film. MAX 29°C | MIN 13°C | YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 14°C SUNSET SUNDAY 6:39 PM PAGE 4 Priyasha, who has played key roles in web series such as Aarya and Mirzapur 2, talks about life & career. SUNRISE MONDAY 6:29 AM SUNDAY | 21 MARCH 2021 | JALANDHAR Prof Chahal develops ‘sparrow map’ for city Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 20 Having initiated a move 14 years back to save the dwindling population of sparrows in Punjab, Prof Sandeep Chahal of local Doaba College has recently come up with a ‘sparrow map’ of Jalandhar depicting various urban and rural pockets where house sparrows are frequently spotted. Through his NGO, Dastak Welfare Council, with teachers, doctors, science students and environment lovers as its volunteers, he launched ‘Save Sparrows’ campaign in Jalandhar and since 2007 has installed 2,400 water and termite-proof wooden nests free of cost in the residential urban and rural places to INBRIEF PSPCL FINES 25 CONSUMERS Jalandhar: A mass checking was carried out by 10 enforcement teams of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited. The premises of consumers were checked at Focal Point and Model Town division areas. The squads checked 151 connections, detected five theft of electricity cases and 20 unauthorised use of electricity (UUE) cases. A penalty of ~26.75 lakh was imposed on the discrepancy cases. Jasbir Singh Bhullar, chief engineer, enforcement, PSPCL, said the campaign by the PSPCL was launched against the menace of theft of power in Punjab on the instructions of PSPCL CMD A Venu Prasad. He said special emphasis was given to defaulting amount cases. Meanwhile, the PSPCL has appealed to all its consumers to help it in controlling the menace of theft of electricity by providing information about theft of power for campaign against theft of electricity in the state. Bhullar said anyone can inform about theft of electricity on WhatsApp no 96461-75770. The PSPCL has assured its consumers that their identity would not be disclosed. TNS Has installed 2,400 sparrow nests through his NGO save the birds. As per NGO’s estimate, sparrows have hatched their eggs four times in these innovated wooden nests during the onset of breeding October season every year, and this has led to an increase in its population by 9,000 nestlings till date. Prof Chahal says his council recently surveyed 78 urban areas and most of the villages by using binoculars and used scientific line transsanction methods by noting the sightings of male, female and juvenile sparrows’ population at morning, afternoon and evening in a particular area and took mean of the daily three readings to record the total reading of sightings. Then they made a ‘sparrow map’ depicting pickets of sparrow population. In their binocular survey it was found that most of the villages ulace to grow citrus trees with thorns viz kinnow, lemon, bougainvillea, etc in their gardens as they provide natural foliage to sparrows as it will shelter them from predators like eagle, shikra, kite, snake and cat. “Such congenial ecosystem attracts sparrows nearby to come and eat the seeds of annual plants such as chickweed and plantains, and insects. Thereafter, it may enter the nest installed by us”, said Sandeep, who firmly believes that sparrows have an innate instinct prior to an earthquake. He adds, “Sparrows become restless, start chirping and abandon their nests immediately whenever earthquake comes and warn human beings of the impending danger.” Without mask? Get ready for Covid test at nakas Ajay Joshi 390 +VE, 12 NEW DEATHS REPORTED IN DIST Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 20 Taking strict action against offenders of Covid norms, the administration on Saturday installed joint nakas of the Police and Health Department at various locations in the district. The development comes amid unexpected rise in Covid-19 infections and surging fatality rate. On Saturday, too, as many as 390 people were found infected with the deadly virus and 12 patients succumbed to it. With this, the Covid case tally has mounted to 25,581 and with 810 fatalities, the total death count is shortly going to touch the 1,000 mark. In the month of March only, 3,884 people have tested positive for the virus so far and 105 people lost their lives. As the situation is worsening every day, new measures are being adopted by the administration to contain the Covid spread. Following the direction of Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori, the joint nakas were held at 16 locations across the district. A mobile team of 4-5 health workers along with five cops were asked to do the RT-PCR HELPLINE NUMBERS FOR COVID PATIENTS ■ Helpline number of Ambu- lance: 108 ■ Emergency helpline: 104 ■ Jalandhar Helpline for JALANDHAR UPDATE ACTING TOUGH To take strict action against violators, the administration on Saturday set up joint nakas of the Police and Health Departments at various locations in Jalandhar. PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH tests of those not adhering to Covid rules. Consequently, violators of the government protocol were made to undergo compulsory Covid-19 testing at these nakas. Surprisingly, people who were wearing masks and following social distancing were also forced to undergo the Covid test by the police. Autorickshaw drivers and passengers sitting inside were also not spared. While around 3040 tests were conducted at every such location, Commis- sioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said around 379 violators were made to undergo the compulsory Covid tests on the spot on Saturday. The health workers were seen taking the swab of locals and collecting their samples for the RT-PCR tests. Those who were tested, would receive their reports on their registered mobile number, a health worker said. The locations where special checkpoints were installed include SDM-2 (Reru Bypass Students demand reopening of colleges & varsities in dist Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 20 The Punjab Students’ Union (PSU) on Saturday strongly condemned the decision taken by the state government to close colleges and universities till March 31 and demanded reopening of educational institutions. The students, while holding a protest, stated that the shutting of colleges would badly affect their studies. District president Varjit Kaur and district secretary of the union Ramandeep Kaur stated that the students oppose the decision taken by the government to discontinue the offline education. “The students have been taking necessary precautions. We have already suffered a lot during the last year’s lockdown as online classes completely failed to finish the syllabus. While there was no clarity on the which have vegetable fields have abundant population of butterflies in flowering season where they lay their eggs on the leaves of vegetation and when larvae comes out of eggs they form primary diet of all juveniles of all birds due to their rich protein content. Dastak Welfare Council’s campaign has effectively served as a home for house sparrows whose existence seemed to be threatened. The NGO recommends people to place traditional feed of satnaja- feed viz sun flower seeds, granules of wheat, porridge, bajra, millet, rice, etc to attract house sparrows in their region and by installing special wooden nests. The NGO has also motivated city’s urban and local pop- Members of the Punjab Students’ Union protest stating that the shutting of colleges would badly affect their studies. schedule of the digital classes, there were many students who didn’t even have smartphones or internet packs to attend the classes. Moreover, almost all the institutions, including multiplexes and transport servic- es have been opened, but institutes of higher education have been kept closed. The government is creating an atmosphere of fear in the state by closing down educational institutions in the wake of the pandemic. It is affecting studies of students and their placements. It is being used as a means to keep students away from political activities,” alleged protesting students. Varjit added that if political rallies and meetings could be organised amid Covid, then why there is ban on educational institutes. The government should allow opening of colleges for at least limited hours and students should be called in a phased manner. “Online education cannot be a substitute for education received in classes as it is very important for students to have access to classes, libraries, playgrounds and labs for the overall development. However, instead of chalking out a plan on how to reopen the institutions, the government is running away from its responsibilities and boosting online education,” added Ramandeep. c m y b NEW CASES TOTAL CASES NEW DEATHS TOTAL DEATHS RESULT AWAITED TOTAL DISCHARGED ACTIVE and Maqsudan Chowk), SDM-1 (Nangal Shama, BSF Chowk and Near Jalandhar heights), SDM Nakodar (Kang Sabhu naka, Littran, BSNL tower Mehatpur, police station Mehatpur, Sewa Kendra Mehatpur and Uggi naka/govt hospital), SDM Shahkot (T Point Lohian Khas, Shahkot, Railway Overbridge Shahkot, Salaichan Chowk Shahkot) and SDM Phillaur (near Sutlej bridge and near Civil Hospital Phillaur) 390 25,581 12 810 3,392 22,564 2,207 Covid or other medical queries: 0181-2224848 ■ District Immunisation Officer contact: 94171-64164 ■ Website for Covid bed info: https://jalandhar.nic.in/ Drive initiated against violators in Hoshiarpur too In order to ensure effective implementation of Covid health safety protocols, the district police on Saturday initiated a drive against those violating the stipulated guidelines by taking them to Police Lines Hospital for RTPCR test. Senior Superintendent of Police Navjot Singh Mahal informed that as many as 310 challans were issued for not wearing masks in the last 24 hours, besides 4 DIE, 239 +VE IN HOSHIARPUR Hoshiarpur: With the arrival of 239 new positive patients in Hoshiarpur district, the total number of positive patients has increased to 11,441, while four deaths increased the toll to 443. Civil Surgeon Dr Ranjit Singh said on Saturday, the reports of 2,225 samples were received and of these, 213 new positive patients have been reported, while 26 more patients have been reported from other districts. The number of active cases is 1,768, while 9,915 patients have recovered. Hoshiarpur city had 13 new cases, while the remaining were from various health blocks of the district. Of the four deaths due to corona reported on Saturday, a 72-year-old patient was a resident of Bakapur village, a 62-year-old woman of Bassi Mudda village and a 71-year-old woman of Bulwari, who died at the Civil Hospital, Hoshiarpur, while 43-year-old resident of Bhagewal Ludda village died at Medical College, Amritsar. OC registering seven cases for violating night curfew. He said the district police would intensify the drive against those persons who were found flouting Covid appropriate behaviour. He appealed to the people not to violate the health safety protocols. On Saturday, SP RPS Sandhu and DSP Madhvi Sharma, on the directions of the SSP reviewed the drive , against the violators. Vaccination Drive: As many as 43,492 doses have been administered so far in the district. District Immunisation Officer Dr Seema Garg said 43,492 doses of Covid vaccine had been administered in the district so far. She said 7,656 health care workers received the jabs of the first dose of vaccine while 3,219 inoculated with second dose. In frontline workers, 5,830 got the first dose and 2,679 received the second dose whereas 23,808 above 60 yrs and above 45 years with co-morbidities were vaccinated.