18012023-JTR-01.qxd 1/18/2023 12:06 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune HOCKEY TOURNEY: CITY SCHOOL ENTER QUARTERFINALS SELENA GOMEZ HAS FOUND LOVE IN DREW TAGGART SHOTGUN WEDDING TO PREMIERE ON JANUARY 27 On the third day of Balwant Singh Hockey Tournament, three matches were played at Surjit Stadium. P2 Hollywood Singer and actress Selena Gomez is said to be enjoying time with Drew Taggart. P3 Shotgun Wedding will premiere for Lionsgate Play members starting from January 27. P4 » » FORECAST CLEAR SKY MAX 16°C | MIN 2°C YESTERDAY MAX 14°C | MIN 1°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 5.47 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 7:19 AM » WEDNESDAY | 18 JANUARY 2023 | JALANDHAR City chess player honoured with National Youth Award Suffering from 90% hearing disability & speech impairment, Mallika Handa only recipient from state Avneet Kaur EMOTIONAL MOMENT Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 17 City’s golden girl in chess Mallika Handa (26), who has won several medals in national and international championships, was presented the National Youth Award (201920) by Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur at an impressive ceremony of the 26th National Youth Festival held at Hubballi in Karnataka on Monday. The event was organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. Mallika was one of the 19 youngsters from across India and only person from Punjab to have received this award. The award was given to these youngsters for their outstanding services to the community and achieving great heights in their respective fields. ❝ When Mallika moved towards the stage, the audience kept clapping for her and didn’t stop till she came back to her seat. It was only Mallika who received such a response. I got emotional. ❞ Renu Handa, MALLIKA’S MOTHER Mallika Handa receives the award from Union Minister Anurag Thakur at Hubballi, Karnataka. Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, an elated Renu Handa, mother of Mallika said her daughter is fortunate to have received this country’s biggest youth award for her achievements. She said Mallika is suffering from 90 per cent hearing disability and speech impairment but despite that she has won many national and international championships in chess. She said her daughter was the first Indian girl to win gold in the International Deaf and Dumb Chess Championship. Besides, she was an eighttime gold medallist of the National Chess Championship for the Deaf. “Union Minister Anurag Thakur and other dignitaries present on the stage were very impressed with Mallika, and praised her for keeping a positive attitude towards life and winning so many medals in various championships,” she added. Renu Handa said when Mallika moved towards the stage, the audience kept clapping for her and didn’t stop till she came back from the stage. “It was only Mallika who received such a response from the audience and the way everyone cheered for her, I got emotional,” she said, adding that the only disappointment she has is that none from the government or administration has congratulated her yet for this big achievement. “The other youngsters present there who received awards were showing tweets of the CMs of their respective states, and the congratulatory messages they received on the government’s official letterheads but my daughter had no such thing to show,” she said. She added at times her daughter feels bad and says she wants to quit the game due to the government’s apathy, but they keep her spirit high and divert her mind from thinking such things. “I again appeal to the government to give a government job to her, so that she can continue with her passion of playing chess with a positive mind,” Renu Handa asserted. Panels to check Chinese string sale Murder accused arrested with US-made pistol Members empowered to take action against violators IPolice issue warning Jalandhar, January17 The Jalandhar rural police have arrested a murder accused and recovered a US made 7.65mm pistol, magazine and a live cartridge from his possession. The accused has been identified as Sukhwinder Singh, alias Rana, a resident of village Mansurpur in Mukerian. As per the police, the Kartarpur po lice received a tip-off that Sukhwinder Singh could be arrested near the Kartarpur railway station. Acting on the information, the police team nabbed Sukhwinder from near Kapurthala Road in Kartarpur and a pistol was recovered from his possession. A police official said a case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered against him in 2016 at Mukerian Police Station. A court had declared Sukhwinder a PO recently and the police were looking out for him. A fresh case under the Arms Act has been registered against him at Kartarpur Police Station. — TNS Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 17 Deputy Commissioner Jaspreet Singh has constituted special committees for both rural and urban areas to check the sale of Chinese kite strings to save lives of people from these dangerous strings. The DC said respective SDMs would lead the teams in rural areas with the assistance of members such as area DSPs, tehsildar/naib tehsildar, executive officers of municipal councils, EE/SDO from the Punjab Pollution Control Board. Likewise, the Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar would head the committee for urban localities, he said, adding superintendent Tehbazari, respective ACPs, tehsildar/naib tehsildar, EE/SDO from the PPCB would assist the officer as committee members. The DC further mentioned Cops have so far registered 11 cases and seized 519 spools of Chinese string in the district. FILE IT’S HARMFUL, CAUSES INJURY REPORT SALE TO POLICE ❝Synthetic or plastic-coated sting isfor ❝We appeal to the public not to use harmful not only for humans, but also this banned string, and if they find birds. The administration will take strict measures against the ban violators. anyone selling it, they must report it to their respective police stations. Jaspreet Singh, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER S Boopathi, POLICE COMMISSIONER that the committees had been empowered to check the sale of Chinese kite strings and take action if anyone was found selling the prohibited string. He also said the district ❞ administration had already issued ban orders concerning the sale of Chinese kite strings under section 144 of the CrPC on November 14, 2022, under which storage, sale, and utilisation of this Vendors have free run on Nakodar roads DC NPS Randhawa (C) speaks during a meeting on ash emanating from a power plant in Nawanshahr. Solve power plant ash problem on Zira pattern, CM Mann urged Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 17 Hailing the decision of CM Bhagwant Mann regarding closure of liquor factory at Zira, Jasbir Deep, convenor, Lok Sangharsh Manch, has urged the CM to intervene and resolve the issue of ash emanating from the co-generation power plant on Ziralike pattern. “While the ash emanating from the co-generation pow- er plant has been playing havoc with the health of the residents, the District Administration has been adopting a dilly-dallying approach towards the management,” rued Jasbir Deep, while citing an example of today’s meeting convened by the DC. He said earlier the power plant management claimed that the problem would be solved by January 5, now it has been talking of undertak- ing the installation of scrubber by February 17. “The district administration has just been convening the meetings to befool the residents but Lok Sangharsh Morcha would not relent and intensify the stir to ensure permanent solution of the problem,” he added. It may be mentioned that the Lok Sangharsh Manch has already announced the decision to gherao the power plant on January 24. Nakodar, January 17 Though the Nakodar market committee had shifted the vegetable market to the new grain market after it was de-notified some years ago, commission agents and sellers continue to encroach on municipal roads. Residents complained that it had become a nuisance as shopkeepers dumped garbage in front of the main post office apart from hindering the flow of traffic. The increasing stink from the garbage was troubling hundreds of commuters, who used this stretch to go to the post office, they said. — OC ❞ string was declared as prohibited. As the kite-flying season has just begun, the administration has taken steps to curb the use of thread. The DC said that the use of this synthetic/plastic-coated sting is harmful not only for humans but also for birds as many instances of severe injuries were also reported in the past. Therefore, the district administration would take strict measures against the violators of ban orders, he added. Police Commissioner S Boopathi through a press release said the commissionerate police had already issued orders concerning the sale of Chinese kite strings under section 144 of the CrPC on January 3, 2022, under which storage, sale, and utilisation of this sting had been declared prohibited. He said in case of violation of this order, appropriate legal action would be taken against the persons concerned. He said the city police had already registered 11 cases against 12 persons selling these banned Chinese manjha in violation of this order and 519 spools of Chinese string have been seized so far. Solar panels installed in one of the school buildings. TRIBUNE PHOTO Solar energy powers govt schools; panels fitted in 11 buildings Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 17 The district administration has kick-started a unique initiative to make government schools buildings self-reliant in terms of power generation as a total of 40 schools have been selected for this project in the first phase. Deputy Commissioner Jaspreet Singh said the project had been launched in collaboration with a non-government organisation namely ICICI Foundation wherein as many as 11 rooftop solar panels having a capacity of 40 KW had already been installed at an outlay of Rs 60 lakh. He further stated that these panels have been installed at government schools in Jamsher, Binpalke, Bal, Pachranga, Wariana, Chuharwali, Kalanur, Dhindsa, Nathewal, and Gopalpur. He also mentioned that the remaining 29 schools would soon get the installation of these solar panels while in the next phase underground rainwater harvesting systems would be installed at these 40 schools. Executive trainee of ICICI Foundation Bani Singh and community facilitator Sadhu Ram thanked DC Jaspreet Singh for his guidance and support to launch this project. They said the rooftop solar system was equipped with a power backup facility which made these schools completely self-reliant in terms of power generation. The setting up of underground water harvesting systems would be STEP TOWARDS SELF-RELIANCE ■ As many as 11 rooftop solar panels having a capacity of 40 KW have already been installed at an outlay of ~60 lakh at government schools in Jamsher, Binpalke, Bal, Pachranga, Wariana, Chuharwali, Kalanur, Dhindsa, Nathewal, and Gopalpur ■ The remaining 29 schools would soon get these solar panels. The rooftop solar system is equipped with a backup facility which makes schools completely self-reliant in terms of power generation started immediately after installation of solar panels, they added, highlighting that the foundation was also in the process of providing a blood transport vehicle to Jalandhar Civil Hospital, which would further ease out blood transportation in the district. continued on page 2 Crowd-puller Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Yatra between Tanda and Mukerian in Hoshiarpur. PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH P2 MC meeting on LED scam today; agenda released Jalandhar, January 17 Finally, the Municipal Corporation has released a proper agenda for the meeting scheduled on Wednesday over the LED project, which has been in the controversy for the past several months. c m y b Observers are skeptical whether the meeting would happen as several meetings in the past were postponed for one reason or the other. A meeting was supposed to be held on January 12, but it was postponed. In June and July last year, the meetings were postponed several times, raising eyebrows if there was any “pressure” to avoid the discussion on the controversial issue. The agenda that has been released today reads that the company has installed as many as 73,355 LED lights. “The company has been asked to mark numbers on poles where the lights have been installed so that it gets cleared if these many lights have been installed or not,” the agenda reads. It further states that the pole marking has started. Recently, a detailed list of the number of LEDs installed in each ward was released by an official looking after the continued on page 2