12012023-JTR-01.qxd 1/12/2023 12:07 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune ASH PROBLEM: DC MEETS POWER PLANT MANAGEMENT RRR WINS GOLDEN GLOBE FOR BEST SONG FOR NAATU NAATU The song bagged the ‘best original songmotion picture’ trophy. It’s the first Indian production to win the award. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 15°C | MIN 9°C YESTERDAY MAX 12°C | MIN 8°C SIMARAN KAUR IS SET TO HOST INDIA’S BEST RESORTS The Nawanshahr DC has asked the power plant authorities to resolve the issue in a time-bound manner . P2 FORECAST Simaran Kaur will be seen hosting a new travel show, titled India’s Best Resorts. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 5.43 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 7:20 AM » THURSDAY | 12 JANUARY 2023 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF ~95L PROPERTY TAX DEPOSITED 2 robbers loot ~9L from village bank at gunpoint Carry out heist in 7-8 minutes I Security men had no weapons Nakodar: The Nakodar municipal council (MC) has collected over ~95 lakh as property tax till January 10. The executive officer (EO), Randhir Singh, said the civic body had received ~95 lakh as property tax against the target of ~120 lakh. He said the government had given a 10 percent deduction in property tax till September 2022, but now the civic body is charging a penalty of 10 percent. OC 80-YEAR-OLD RUN OVER BY TRAIN Phagwara: An 80-year-old man was run over by the Amritsar-Chandigarh express near Gobindpura on Wednesday. Gurbheij Singh, in-charge, Government Railway Police, said the victim was trespassing on railway track when he was knocked down by the train. The GRP have kept the body for identification after the autopsy. OC DRONES BANNED ON JAN 14 & 15 Phagwara: Ahead of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ the Deputy Commissioner, Vishesh Sarangal, has imposed a ban on flying of drones, unmanned aerial vehicles and remotecontrolled micro light aircraft in Phagwara subdivision on January 14 and 15. The ban has been imposed by the DC using powers conferred under Section 144 of the CrPC. The ban has also been imposed on remotecontrolled drone cameras used for video graphing wedding ceremonies. OC ZOMATO STAFFER ROBBED OF CASH Phagwara: Three unidentified motorcycle-borne miscreants snatched a motorbike, a mobile phone and Rs 4,000 from an employee of a food delivery company near Chachoki village. The victim, Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Prem Nagar, told that he was returning from Chhachradi after delivering a food order when three miscreants robbed him of. The police have registered a case in this regard. OC MAN BOOKED ON DOWRY CHARGE Nakodar: Nakodar sadar police booked a person identified as Mangal, a resident of Singh village in a dowry harassment case. Bindar, a resident of Talwandi Salem, had filed a complaint with the police that her husband had been demanding dowry since they had tied the knot and threatened to register a fake case against her. The investigating officer, Jasvir Singh, said a case under Sections 406(breach of trust) and 498-A (husband or relative of a woman subjecting her to Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 11 Two armed men looted Rs 9 lakh from Kotak Mahindra Bank at Hazara village in Jalandhar in a matter of seven to eight minutes in a daring robbery this evening. The robbers entered the bank during closing time at 4.15 in the evening. As per some reports, they also indulged in firing which caused panic among the staff present in the bank. The robbers directly approached the cashier of the bank and at gunpoint looted Rs 9 lakh from his cash drawer. An FIR has been lodged against two persons under Sections 382, 506 and 34 of the IPC at the Patara police station. As per the police, robbers came to the bank in an i-10 car and carried out the heist in a matter of seven to eight One of the robbers captured on the CCTV camera at Kotak Mahindra Bank in Hazara village of Jalandhar on Wednesday; and police personnel carry out the investigation. TRIBUNE PHOTO After CM’s threat, striking PCS officials return to work Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 11 After the state government warned the PCS officers of action, they resumed their offices on Wednesday afternoon. Though Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had announced that the officials must join offices by 2 pm or else they should be ready to face suspension, most of them resumed duties past 3 pm. Not just the PCS officials, even the staff from the Revenue Department who had come in support of the PCS officers have joined back. However since a larger part of the day was already over and the public got to know of their joining much later, not much work could be done even today. The officers had been on strike since Monday. Even the employees of the DC office, including the clerical staff, had announced support for the PCS officers, who had been protesting against the arrest of Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, Ludhiana, Kuldip Dhaliwal, in an Kapurthala MC Commissioner Anupam Kler in her office. SARABJIT SINGH ALL BACK TO OFFICE IN DISTRICT PCS officers posted Jalandhar have joined ❝Allending their stike thatinstarted on Monday. We back, have adhered to the orders of the government. ❞ Dr Amit Mahajan, JALANDHAR ADC (G) minutes. The police said none of staff at the bank offered them any resistance as they were armed and the security personnel at the bank did not have any weapons to counter them. The robbers were wearing caps and had their faces covered due to which they have not been identified yet. However, the police are checking out the CCTV footage of the bank and looking for leads into the robbery. Patara police station ASI Karnail Singh said: “The robbers entered the bank at 4.15 pm and looted the money. They scared the staff present with the pistols they were carrying. They straightway approached the cashier’s counter and took out Rs 9 lakh from the drawer of the cashier by scaring him at gunpoint. Their identities have not been ascertained yet, but a detailed investigation is on and all possible leads are being explored.” Farmers hold protest outside PPCB office Cop deployed with civic body suspended Jalandhar, January 11 The members of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee on Wednesday organised a protest outside the office of Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) here. The members of the committee led by state secretary Sukhwinder Sabhra said they were protesting against the PPCB for favouring corporates as they had failed to redress the grievances of the farmers protesting in Zira against a liquor factory. The farmers also lodged a protest alleging that the PPCB had failed to solve the problem of untreated sewer water discharge into water bodies such as Chitti Bein, the Sutlej and Beas. The farmers demanded action by the board. The XEN, Kuldeep Singh, received a copy of the memorandum from them and assured them of action. Jalandhar, January 11 A cop deployed with the Municipal Corporation for security purposes has been placed under suspension as his weapon was used by MC driver Manpreet Singh Money for committing a crime at Purhiran village. SSP Sartaj Singh Chahal said the cop had gone to answer the call of nature leaving his revolver behind. Money had lifted his revolver and taken along a car on the pretext of fuelling it and gone to the village where he killed 18-year-old Amanpreet on Monday. He had then shot at himself too. He too had died on Tuesday. DSP City Palwinder Singh had confiscated the weapon from the scene of crime. The SSP said Money had switched off his phone while fleeing with the revolver. The crime took place within half an hour henceafter. — TNS Centre, BJP serious about Latifpura; will do all to help displaced: Sharma ASK BOARD TO STOP FLOW OF UNTREATED WATER INTO RIVERS The farmers from the committee have been holding a dharna on the premises of the DC office for past 47 days. Their dharna at the toll plazas has also entered the 27th day. Sabhra said it was being wrongly claimed by the NHAI that the farmers were causing loss to them by holding protests at the toll plazas. “We are of the view that the commuters were being wrongly asked to pay high toll taxes to private companies,” he said. — TNS alleged corruption case. Kapurthal MC Commissioner Anupam Kler said she too had been supporting the strike called by the PCS Officers’ Association but as there was a message from the state government as well as the association to join back, she too resumed her duties and Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 11 State BJP president Ashwini Sharma today visited Latifpura residents who have been displaced by the recent demolitions. Sharma told the residents of Latifpura that the BJP and the Central Government was very serious about their plight and the National Commission for Minorities is also diligently pursuing their case. Sharma said the leadership of the BJP stood with them at this difficult moment. Speaking during the occasion, Sharma said the state’s AAP governemnt should have aranged for the rehabilitation of the Latifpura residents before demolishing their homes. He said the state government was supposed to provide homes to people, but in this case it was displacing State BJP president Ashwini Sharma with Latifpura residents on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO people after demolishing their homes. Terming the abrupt displacement of Latifpura residents illegal, he said the BJP would do all it could to ensure their rehabilitation. During his visit at Latifpura, Sharma was accompanied by BJP leaders Manoranjan Are we breathing ‘severely’ polluted air? Private body’s machine shows quality ‘hazardous’, PPCB’s displays ‘moderate’ I 100-point difference baffling Aparna Banerji VARYING READINGS Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 11 A 100-point difference has been recorded in the air quality index (AQI) readings in the machines of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and Jalandhar-based industrialist and philanthropist PC Sondhi’s Air Veda air quality trackers, raising questions over the level of air pollution in Jalandhar. Possible anomalies in the readings based on difference in air quality in higher traffic zones in the city cannot be ruled out. Since Jalandhar has only one government machine, the air quality in other higher traffic zones might considerably differ than the AQI at Civil Lines. At any given point there is at least a 100-point difference in the two AQI trackers. Jalandhar’s air quality has constantly been “severe” as per the Air Veda trackers. However, the formal PPCB machine readings consistently record AQI at “moderate”. While the air quality reading on the ■ On November 28, the Sondhis’ machine recorded an AQI of 318 (poor), while the PPCB’s recorded it at 120 (moderate) at the Civil Lines ■ On December 22 afternoon, the Sondhi’s AQI board read 421 (severe or hazardous). PPCB’s AQI reading for Jalandhar on the same day was 151 (moderate) ■ On January 2 morning, the Sondhis’ machine displayed AQI at 453 (severe) at Football Chowk; On CPCB’s website, ‘live air quality index’ was 189 (moderate) Air Veda machine was at 403 at 4.24 pm today, which falls in the “severe” category, the air quality recorded in the PPCB machine was at 211, which is in the “poor” category. While PPCB officials say they do not rely on air quality readings of low-cost sensor machines, independent experts say differing pollution levels as per areas call for recal- CLEAR AIR ON ‘REAL’ DATA ❝ Air Veda machines operate on laser technology and are accurate...the PPCB should clear the air on the real AQI in the city. — PC Sondhi, INDUSTRIALIST ❞ MACHINE ACCURATE, AUTHENTIC ❝ The data collected by Civil Lines machine is accurate and authentic. We cannot take note of machines whose data is questionable as per NAAQS guidelines. — Sandeep Bahl, PPCB ENGINEER ibration of either of the machines. PPCB officials maintain their machines are authentic and costly, and installed as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) norms; they do not recognise any other machines with low-cost sensors. The Jalandhar Civil Lines PPCB machine – “Environment SA India Pvt Ltd”, costing over Rs 1 c m y b held meetings with the officials. ADC (G) Jalandhar Dr Amit Mahajan said: “All PCS officers posted in Jalandhar have joined back their duties ending their stike that started on Monday. We have adhered to the government orders. Association leaders can meet higher authorities.” ❞ crore, was installed four years ago at the Civil Lines. It is the only government air quality tracking machine in Jalandhar. However, it needs constant recalibration. On the other hand, the Sondhis have been tracking air quality through Air Veda air quality trackers, privately installed at their residence at the traffic-heavy area of Football Chowk in Jalandhar. They also formally broadcast the live AQI index recorded on their machine on an AQI bulletin board put at the roundabout. Namita Gupta, founder Air Veda said: “We are formally working with the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and IIT, Kanpur. Our Air Veda monitors are deployed at various places. At Air Veda, we calibrate our machines with CPCB machines. Since expensive government machines can’t be put up everywhere, that is where our lostcost machines come in. We partner with the government to set up a hybrid network to record air quality data more democratically.” Data varies a lot as per the area. One monitor for the city is insufficient. Sometimes 50-metre distance causes a vital difference. It’s quite possible that both the machines (in Jalandhar) are right (based on the area). Both machines also require constant calibration, she adds. Kalia, Rajesh Bagha, Rakesh Rathour, KD Bhandari, Mahendra Bhagat, Sarabjit Makkar and Raman Pabbi among others. Travel agent in police net after 4 years PHAGWARA, JANUARY11 The Nakodar sadar police nabbed a proclaimed offender after more than four years of registration of a case against him. The case was registered against him on the charge of cheating. SHO Palwinder Singh, said the suspect had been identified as Swaran Singh, a native of Bijnor district, UP He was . residing in Warra Salam village when the crime was committed. The SHO said the suspect had duped Sadhu Singh, a resident of Bal Kohna village, of Rs 25.50 lakh on the pretext of sending his family abroad. He said a case under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC and Section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professions Regulation Act was registered at the Mehatpur police station after an inquiry on August 17, 2018. He was declared a proclaimed offender in 2019. — OC