26032021-JTR-01.qxd 3/25/2021 10:34 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar TRIBUNE DON’T ANNOUNCE BOGUS SCHEMES IN BHAGAT SINGH’S NAME: YAD PAGE 2 The Youth Akali Dal said both the Congress in Punjab and the AAP in Delhi are defrauding the youth. FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY INBRIEF 30-YEAR-OLD MAN COMMITS SUICIDE Jalandhar: A 30-year-old person hanged himself on Wednesday evening at his residence in Satokhpura. The deceased has been identified as Sunny, who used to work with his father in their family business. No suicide note was recovered from the possession of the deceased and his family members claimed that he took the extreme step due to depression. He was reportedly upset from numerous days. Sunny’s father, Pyare Lal, is also a BJP worker. Rama Mandi SHO Sullakhan Singh said family members of the deceased told him that they found him hanging with a ceiling fan. The body has been sent for the postmortem & inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC have been initiated. TNS 36 CASES OF ILLICIT LIQUOR SEIZED Jalandhar: Following directions of Jalandhar Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, CIA Staff-1 police team while taking an action against liquor smugglers seized 36 cartons of illicit liquor. After receiving a tipoff, the CIA Staff installed a naka at Rama Mandi Chowk. Subsequently, the police intercepted the accused near Bhoor Mandi area. The police recovered 36 cartons of illicit whisky (for sale in Chandigarh) from his car bearing registeration number PB-01B8477. A case under Section 611-14 of the Exice Act and 420 of the IPC has been registered against the accused. TNS MAN’S BODY FOUND HANGING FROM TREE Jalandhar: Panic gripped Raipur-Randhawa village after locals discovered a body found hanging from a tree in a field. Villagers spotted the body on Thursday morning. The Maqsudan police reached the spot and took the body of the deceased in their possession. Maqsudan SHO Kamarjit Singh said we received the information around 9.30 am. “The deceased was apparently a migrant labourer. The incident may have happened around four to five days ago. It’s hard to ascertain whether it was a suicide or a murder,” said the SHO. The body has been sent for the post-mortem and proceedings have been initiated under Section 74 of the IPC. TNS SCHEME NAMED AFTER MARTYR Jalandhar: Cabinet Minister Sunder Sham Arora on Tuesday inaugurated the improvement trust Hoshiarpur’s residential scheme named Shaheed-eAzam Bhagat Singh Scheme at Fatehgarh Chowk. Advocate Rakesh Marwaha, chairman of the trust, welcomed all dignitaries and gave information about the scheme. He said the residential scheme prepared by the trust had been named after the martyrs on the instructions of the Punjab Government so that our future generations can know their glorious past and ensure their invaluable contribution in making India as martyrs dreamt. TNS PAGE 3 BUNTY AUR BABLI 2 RELEASE PUSHED DUE TO COVID WAVE INTENSE THOUGHTS: SAMIR SONI TALKS ABOUT HIS DEBUT BOOK Yash Raj Film’s Bunty Aur Babli 2, which was slated to release on April 23, has been postponed for now. MAX 30°C | MIN 13°C | YESTERDAY MAX 29°C | MIN 12°C SUNSET FRIDAY 6:43 PM PAGE 4 Samir is currently working on his debut book My Experiments with Silence, which talks about self-discovery. SUNRISE SATURDAY 6:22 AM FRIDAY | 26 MARCH 2021 | JALANDHAR Daily toll continues to remain in double digits Vaccination drive starts 11 lose life, 413 new cases reported in dist | Mutated virus spreading in rapid manner: Expert at K’thala Jail Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 25 The district health authorities reported 413 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday. This is the second highest daily spike of this month after 510 people tested positive on March 18. The authorities also reported 11 Covid-19 related deaths in the district today. The daily death toll continues to remain in two digits. With this, the Covid infections reached 27,369 and the death toll increased to 860. Test reports of 4,412 persons were awaited and a total of 23,650 patients have recovered, so far. At present, the district has 2, 859 active cases. Due to the presence of new strain, symptoms have also slightly advanced, said doctors. Apart from severe fever and diarrhoea, difficulty in breathing and lung congestion has become a cause for concern. Hence, with addition of new patients, experts have been stressing upon taking preventive measures. With situation becoming HELPLINE NUMBERS FOR COVID PATIENTS ■ Helpline number of Ambu- lance: 108 ■ Emergency helpline: 104 ■ Jalandhar Helpline for Covid JALANDHAR UPDATE NEW CASES TOTAL CASES NEW DEATHS TOTAL DEATHS RESULT AWAITED TOTAL DISCHARGED ACTIVE 413 27,369 11 860 4,412 23,650 2,859 or other medical queries: 0181-2224848 ■ District Immunisation Officer contact: 94171-64164 ■ Website for Covid bed info: https://jalandhar.nic.in/ Health Department employees take a swab sample on a roadside police naka in Jalandhar on Thursday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH 3,000 DOSES BEING ADMINISTERED DAILY grave, District Covid-19 incharge Dr Paramjit Singh said: “The infection rate has surpassed previous records. Due to the mutation, virus is spreading in a rapid manner. Compared to the first week of March, infection rate seems to have doubled. What is more frightening is the added ‘hypoxia’, due to which there is an absence of enough oxygen in tissues to sustain bodily functions and eventually a patient faces difficulty in breathing. Such symptoms were not even recorded in the Covid patients during the last year’s peak in September.” As a result, demand for oxygen cylinders has also surged. Dr Paramjit said over 300 cylinders were being consumed on daily basis and considering the graph of cases, demand for oxygen cylinders would rise further. “Around 10 anaesthesia experts and eight medical specialists are treating 90 Covid patients at the Civil Hospital. Forty-one beds out of 56 in the ICU are occupied,” he said. ■ District Immunisation Officer Rakesh Chopra said since the launch of vaccination drive, as many as 71,000 beneficiaries have been inoculated. Around 100 vaccination centres, including 49 private were administering around 3,000 doses daily. He said considering the surge in cases and insertion of people above 45 among beneficiaries, strength of vaccination centres will be increased in coming days ■ Meanwhile, demand for oxygen cylinders has also surged due to ‘hypoxia’, a condition in which there is an absence of enough oxygen in tissues to sustain bodily functions and eventually a patient faces difficulty in breathing. Dr Paramjit said over 300 cylinders were being consumed on daily basis and demand would rise further Kapurthala, March 25 The district authorities have started to inoculate inmates at the Kapurthala Central Jail. With this, it has become the first jail in Punjab to do so. Additional District and Sessions Judge Rajwinder Kaur and CJM-cum-Secretary District Legal Services Authority Ajitpal Singh formally launched the vaccination drive at the jail. Justice Rajwinder Kaur directed jail officials to ensure that the health guidelines were being followed to tackle the spread of pandemic among prisoners. The duo listened to grievances of inmates and took necessary steps for their immediate solution. They also asked the the jail administration and the District Legal Services Authority, Kapurthala, to provide free legal services to the needy detainees and prisoners. Justice Rajwinder Kaur said orders have been issued to settle cases in the district courts on priority basis. Most schools averse to Krishna Nagar residents getting diktat on NCERT books sewage-mixed drinking water Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 25 A recent circular of the Director Education, Punjab, to all schools in the state, including private institutes, recommending only NCERT books for students has not gone down well with managements of most schools. While a few schools said they were already using only NCERT books, which has best content and were easy on pocket, management of other institutes said the orders came too late and they had already tied up with private publishers and recommended their books to students. The CBSE-affiliated Schools’ Association has reverted back to the Director Education and said, “We are shocked after receiving the circular, just before the beginning of new academic session. In the circular, it has been mentioned that books of private publishers are Schools said they have already placed orders with publishers. expensive and parents are against these. This seems to be an afterthought.” The association further said, “We had sent orders to private publishers before mid-January and we received our orders on March 18. We were about to publish a list of books on our websites, a month before the commencement of session. The prescribed list includes books published by the NCERT / PSEB / CBSE as well as of private publishers and we cannot go back on our decision at this stage.” Owner of five CBSE-affiliated schools not willing to go on record said, “The order of recommending only NCERT books is not justified because NCERT does not print all subjects and books for every grade. Every year, there is a shortage of NCERT books. Sometimes, NCERT books are not available throughout continued on page 2 Jalandhar, March 25 Residents of Krishna Nagar are a harried lot as civic body has not paid any heed to their complaints regarding contaminated water supply. Irked over non-seriousness of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation, residents forwarded their complaint to Local Bodies Principal Secretary AK Sinha. Former chief engineer of the Water Supplies and Sewage Department, RK Talwar, said, “Our colony, which has about 1,000 residents, is being supplied drinking water mixed with sewage. Every morning, dirty water starts flowing from our taps. We need to keep taps running for at least 30 minutes before filling water. Water supply pipelines were laid more than 50 years ago and have outlived their shelf life. The supply line should be changed at the earliest.” He said, “Sewerage was laid much later and often remains ANYONE LISTENING? Residents of Krishna Nagar area show dirty drinking water in Jalandhar on Thursday. PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH blocked. There is leakage either in joints or from manholes. During non-water supply hours, sewage enters into water supply lines as negative pressure is created inside pipelines when supply is shut. When water pumping is restored after interval, sewage that has already entered inside water supply lines certainly gets mixed with drinking water.” Another resident, Rajat Mahendru, said, “Water supply provided to our locality by Nukkad nataks& skits inspireparents to enrol kids in govt schools Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 25 Flexes installed at public places, doorto-door campaigns, announcements at bus stands and now nukkad nataks, mono acting and skits…no, it is not an election campaign, but these steps are being taken to increase enrolment at the government schools. In a first, nukkad nataks are being held in the districts so that the people are encouraged to send their wards to the government schools. The play begins with women who are chit-chatting to each other. One of them asks the other if his son studies in a private school as he speaks such fluent English. She replies, ‘no, he studies in a government school’. Then, two students from the school converse in English during the natak so that everyone in the village understands that the students in the government schools have the capabilities that a private school possesses, and that too at minimal fee. A street play being staged to give a push to the enrolment drive in government schools in Nawanshahr. TRIBUNE PHOTO ‘Aajaao hun chaliye, school sarkari’, a song has also been released by the Education Department, in which the lyrics boast about the good infrastructure, wellqualified teachers, smart classrooms, and projectors. In Nawanshahr, a team compris- c m y b ing of teachers Balwinder of Government Primary School (GPS) Langroya, Baljinder Kaur from Government Primary School Mehatpur, Ashu Kalia from GPS, Pannu Majara, Gurjot Kaur from GPS Kariam, Jasveer Kaur from GPS Mahalo perform nukkad nataks at various villages at Nawanshahr. Today, the natak was held at Gunachaur village. The nataks have been performed in Sona, Mubarakpur, Durgapur, Barnala Kalan, Bhagora, Barwa, Langroya, and Mehandipur to date. Parmod Bharti, state media coordinator of the enrolment booster team, said the Education Secretary is taking feedback and has really appreciated the initiatives being taken by the team members and teachers on their own level. “Almost every schoolteacher has been coming with a unique idea and the motive is the same: to increase enrolment at the schools. Nukkad nataks are being performed, songs are being sung, there are mono acting and skits. The drive doesn’t stop here only, we are continuing with the process and will definitely succeed,” he said. the MC is not only toxic, but unfit for human consumption. As a result, chances of outbreak of water-borne diseases are very high.” Nirmal Singh, a local, said, “Though we are residents of the Smart City, but in reality we are living in a very miserable condition. We are being forced to consume sewage mixed drinking water.” Irate residents said they contacted their councillor and MLA as well, but nothing happened on the ground. “Water purifiers installed at our places need to be repaired every month due to heavy volume of impurities. We cannot use filtered water for bathing or washing clothes. The MC must install new pipeline,” said Naresh Bahri. Jalandhar Central MLA Rajinder Beri said, “Residents were to meet me over the issue, but they did not turn up. In any case, I will surely look into the problem and get it sorted out.” Old-age home gets a facelift Jalandhar, March 25 Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori on Thursday visited the Red Cross old-age home after the completion of its facelift project, which started a few months ago. The DC said a total of ~12.50 lakh has been spent on this project and now with renewed facilities the old-age home once again was ready to serve the senior citizens. He said the amount was spent to revamp work of 20 rooms and other parts of the building in Maqsudan. He also interacted with the people living in the old-age home and assured that the district administration is committed to protecting their rights. Earlier, he also talked with the officials in the Red Cross Society and asked them to mitigate the woes of needy people visiting them. — TNS