16052023-JTR-01.qxd 5/16/2023 12:17 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune PASSPORT OFFICE FIXES MAY 20 FOR CANCELLED APPOINTMENTS SHAKIRA NOT INTERESTED IN DATING TOM CRUISE: SOURCE WAMIQA GABBI TO STAR IN MODERN LOVE: CHENNAI Several passport applicants missed their appointments on account of public holiday on poll day. P2 Shakira has no plans to date Tom Cruise, who is said to be romantically interested in the songstress. P3 Wamiqa Gabbi will soon be seen as a part of one of the stories in Modern Love: Chennai. P4 » » » FORECAST BRIGHT & SUNNY MAX 41°C | MIN 22°C YESTERDAY MAX 41°C | MIN 24°C SUNSET TUESDAY 7.09 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 5:28 AM TUESDAY | 16 MAY 2023 | JALANDHAR AAP’s bypoll victory makes Oppn jittery about MC poll Summer splash Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service As the temperature has crossed 40°C, people are finding ways to keep themselves cool. Water parks in Jalandhar are abuzz with visitors who want to beat the heat and have fun. SARABJIT SINGH INBRIEF 5 BOOKED FOR HOMICIDE BID Phagwara: The Nakodar Sadar police have booked five persons on the charge of attempt to commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Investigating officer (IO) Gurnam Singh said accused Vijay Kumar, his brother Yograj and Raja are from Kullar village and Dhirna and Arash are Malsian town in Shahkot. Jagdeesh Singh, a resident of Kullar village, complained to the police that the accused had attacked his bother Surjit Singh with the intention to kill him on May 12, leaving him seriously injured. The IO said no arrests had been made. OC 1 HELD FOR DEATH BY NEGLIGENCE Jalandhar: The Mehatpur police have arrested a truck driver and booked an unidentified car driver on the charge of causing death by negligence and rash driving on the road. Investigating officer (IO) Janak Raj said the accused truck driver was Pargat Singh of Bhattan village. Navjot Singh of Mehatpur told the police that his brother Jai Deep Singh was on his way to Nakodar on his motorcycle on May 12 when a rashly driven car and a truck hit his brother’s motorcycle near Meharu Pulli, leaving him seriously injured. oc Jalandhar, May15 After AAP emerged victorious in the bypoll in Jalandhar, it has become a painstaking task for former councillors associated with the Congress, BJP and SAD parties to ensure that voters at least consider them for the MC elections. Ticket aspirants for MC elections who have been councillors for several years are unsure this time because of the ‘wave’, but all of them have a ray of hope as they believe that ‘face value’ matters in the MC elections. While some share their thoughts BJP, Cong jointly oppose MC Commissioner in Phagwara Congress and BJP activists hold a sit-in against the MC Commissioner in Phagwara on Monday. PHAGWARA, MAY15 In the ongoing protest of the Congress against Phagwara MC Commissioner Nayan Jassal, the BJP on Monday also joined it and held a joint dharna in front of her office for about five hours. Wearing black badges and raising slogans, protesters demanded immediate transfer of the MC Commissioner and public apology for allegedly misbehaving with MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal. The protesters said an MLA is an elected representative of the people and the MC Commissioner’s behavior with MLA Dhaliwal could not be tolerated at any cost. They ALLEGE MISBEHAVIOUR BY OFFICER, SEEK PUBLIC APOLOGY announced that their dharna would continue on Tuesday also. Interestingly, during the five-hour dharna, MC Commissioner did not come to her office and sat in the Improvement Trust office as ADC, Phagwara, but as soon as dharna was lifted around 1.45 pm. She came to her MC office. Despite repeated efforts, the MC Commissioner could not be contacted. Phagwara SDM Jai Inder Singh however, said the sincere efforts were being made to resolve the issue. The prominent leaders of the Congress who joined today’s dharna included Phagwara city party president Gurjit Pal Walia, Mahila Congress ex-general secretary Shavinder Nischal, SC wing leader Vinod Vermani, Naresh Bhardwaj and Jatinder Vermani. From the BJP those who , protested were state executive committee member Tejaswi Bhardwaj, former block president Ramesh Sachdeva, Nagar Council former president Balbhadar Sen Duggal, Mandal ex-president Pankaj Chawla, former councillor Anurag Mankhand and Raj Kumar Gupta. — OC RULING PARTY MAY LIKE TO SEIZE OPPORTUNITY will want the be ❝AAPbecause theyMC electionstotoseizeheld at the earliest would want the opportunity... our ward people have seen us work daily. I am still meeting them. I am still hopeful. Jagdish Samrai, CONGRESS COUNCILLOR FROM WARD NO. 78 ❞ have seen us work daily. I am still meeting them. I am still hopeful,” he said. Sushil Kumar from BJP a , former councillor from Ward No. 2, said, “The ‘face value’ matters a lot. The BJP’s vote bank has grown in the city, so, there is nothing like AAP’s win in by-poll elections will influence the votes in MC elections too,” he said. Another former Congress councillor, Onkar Tikka, also admitted that there was a chance that there will be an impact but also said that a person who has worked for their ward residents will have an upper hand, for sure. openly, others shied away from accepting the fact openly. Already, big names from SAD and Congress have joined AAP in the past few months. Now, it will be a battle for those remaining in the parties. Congress leader Jagdish Samrai, a councillor from Ward No. 78, said, “AAP will want the MC elections to be held at the earliest because they would want to seize the opportunity.” “But, in these elections, the person matters a lot,” he stressed. He added that it was also a fact that ministers or MPs would not help people, but councillors do. “And our ward people 3 arrested with 16-gm heroin Food Safety Dept to take part in ‘Millet Challenge’ Jalandhar, May 15 In three different cases related to drug smuggling, the Nawanshahr police have recovered 16 grams of heroin. Two cases were reported from Balachaur and one from Pojewal. Two accused Kulwinder Kumar and Praful Kumar were arrested with 5-gram heroin and 6gram heroin, respectively. The police also seized a stolen scooter from Kulwinder. In Pojewal, the police arrested Vishal Kumar with 5 grams of heroin and also recovered Rs 5000 from his possession. In all the cases, FIRs under Section 21 of the NDPS Act have been registered against the accused. — TNS Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 15 In view of the International Year of Millets, District Health Department, in collaboration with KMV College, will be participating in the ‘Millet Challenge’, an initiative by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to promote millets for a healthy India. District Health Officer Dr Reema Jammu said that on the directions of the Commissioner (Food & Drug Administration) Punjab, Dr Abhinav Trikha, the Jalandhar Food Safety Department has decided to participate in this month-long challenge. She said that the campus has also prepared three types of millet-based recipes using three varieties of millets namely Ragi, Jowar and Bajra. The dishes based on these recipes would be served in the college canteen, Continued on page 2 Ex-Mayor Surinder Mahey Former Mayor passes away Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 15 Former Jalandhar Mayor Surinder Mahey today passed away following some illness. He was taking treatment for the past few months. Mahey was the third Mayor of Jalandhar and his tenure was between 2002-07. He was then in the Congress. He joined the BJP more than FOUGHT ON BJP TICKET FROM KARTARPUR IN 2022 ASSEMBLY POLL a year ago and had contested as its candidate from Kartarpur in 2022 Assembly elections. Mahey resided in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar falling in Jalandhar West. National executive member of the BJP and former Punjab minister Manoranjan Kalia expressed shock and grief over the sudden demise of the former Mayor. Kalia said, “He was a close friend of mine and his demise is a personal loss to me. May the Almighty give ample power to the bereaved family to bear the irreparable loss.” Akashvani completes 75 years today Jalandhar, May 15 Akashvani Jalandhar is set to complete 75 years of its broadcast tomorrow and will organise a cultural event in the studio of Doordarshan. An important part of Prasar Bharti, an autonomous body of the Central Government’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the station of Akashvani has always been a significant symbol of Punjab’s cultural history. LOCAL STATION STARTED BROADCAST ON MAY 16, 1948, UNDER KARTAR SINGH DUGGAL The station commenced its broadcast on May 16, 1948 ,under eminent writer and broadcaster Kartar Singh Duggal. The station has produced a number of artistes and writers. Programme execitive Mohammad Imtiaz said, “Eminent singers like Lal Chand Yamla Jatt, Nooran, Ajit Kaur, Surinder Kaur, Parkash Kaur, Mohammad Sadeeq, Kuldeep Manak, Pooran Chand-Pyare Lal Guru ki Wadali, Jagmohan Kaur, Narinder Biba, Gurmeet Bawa, Surinder Chhinda and Hans Raj Hans have been a part of this station. The programme for the rural masses originating from the stateion contributed in spreading awareness on scientific agriculture programmes, being broadcast for women, youth, children, senior citizens and Army troops have always motivated the masses. Even now the broadcasts of Akashvani are available on five radio channels. Listeners associated with Punjabi language have been connecting digitally through ‘news on air’ app from across the world. — TNS Shun social media to succeed: Exam toppers’ common sentiment AvneetKaur ‘USED MOTHER’S MOBILE PHONE ONLY’ Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May15 The CBSE and CICSE Class X and XII results are out, and the toppers are sharing their success stories with joy. But what sets them apart is their attitude towards social media. Interestingly, almost all the toppers cited social media as a significant obstacle to their academic ambitions. By maintaining distance from popular social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, they were able to focus more on studies. At a time when even young students are highly active on social media, these toppers have taken a different path. They have voluntarily abstained from the lure of virtual social networks and prioritised their studies. This decision has undoubtedly contributed to their remarkable results. In conversations with these high achievers, a com- Pawani Kundra, who topped the ICSE Class X exams in the district with near perfect 99%, used her mother’s mobile phone only to talk to her friends or check WhatsApp groups where important information related to exams or certain subjects was shared. ‘IMPROVED AFTER LEAVING SOCIAL MEDIA’ Noorpal Kaur Sidhu, who scored 99.49% in the commerce stream and bagged the first position in the district in the CBSE Class XII results, confessed that she was an average student until she stopped using social media two years ago. ‘AVID READ, NO SOCIAL MEDIA DISTRACTIONS’ Guneev Kaur, who is third in the district with 98.2% in the ICSE Class X results, has authored two books and is an avid reader too. She has detached herself from the social media world, and her only focus is on her studies and fulfilling her dreams. mon sentiment prevailed: social media had little to offer in terms of academic advancement. By consciously avoiding these platforms, they were able to carve out precious time for concentrated studying, engaging in self-reflection, and participating in offline educational activities. For instance, Pawani Kundra, who topped the ICSE Class X exams in her district, only used her mother’s phone to talk to her friends or check WhatsApp groups where important information related to exams or certain subjects was shared. She said social media only keeps peo- c m y b ple updated with unwanted information about their friends and relatives, like where they are hanging out and with whom. Another topper, Noorpal Kaur Sidhu, who scored 99.49% in the commerce stream and bagged overall first position in the district in CBSE Class XII results, confessed that she was an average student until she stopped using social media two years ago. Since then, she has seen a significant improvement in her scores. Similarly, Guneev Kaur, who bagged the third spot in the district in the ICSE Class X results, shared that she has authored two books at her age and is an avid reader too. She has detached herself from the social media world, and her only focus is on her studies and fulfilling her dreams. “I wholeheartedly believe that social media is a big distraction in pursuit of your dreams,” she added. Other toppers like Alan Wilson, Palakshi, Aashna, Anshya Aggarwal, and Raghav Sehdev shared a similar opinion. By forgoing the constant distractions and information overload that social media often presents, they said that they were able to maintain better focus on their studies, coupled with effective time management strategies. In today’s competitive academic environment, where digital connectivity and social media usage have become the new norm, these toppers’ ability to prioritize their studies and their offline pursuits has paid off handsomely.