22102026-JTR-01.qxd 10/21/2026 10:56 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune CONSUMER SERVICES HIT AS PSPCL STAFF ON MASS LEAVE WOMEN CANCER SURVIVORS INSPIRE WITH STORIES OF HOPE Patel Hospital, Jalandhar, organises its annual cancer survivors’ celebration, “Umeed – The Hope”.P3 MAINLY CLEAR MAX 31°C | MIN 16°C YESTERDAY MAX 31°C | MIN 17°C DEEPIKA, RANVEER NAME SECOND DAUGHTER DEVI SDOs, Junior Engineers deployed at substations to ensure uninterrupted power supply . P2 FORECAST Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh have named their second daughter as Devi Padukone Singh. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 5.48 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:36 AM » THURSDAY | 22 OCTOBER 2026 | JALANDHAR 170 buses off road, travellers 1.27 lakh smugglers held, over 7,000 kg heroin seized in AAP regime: DGP bear the brunt of staff strike 67th Police Commemoration Day observed at PAP headquarters, Jalandhar Union seeks regularisation of contractual employees Rishika Kriti Times News Network Jalandhar, October 21 Passengers relying on government buses for daily travel were left in the lurch on Wednesday as contractual workers of the Punjab Roadways and the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) went on an indefinite strike. The strike call has been given by the Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC Contract Workers Union. With most government buses off the roads, commuters seen stranded for hours at bus stand, with only a handful of buses operated by regular employees available to ferry them. Amid the strike, a meeting between union representatives and Transport Minister Harpal Cheema failed to resolve the issue. Union state president Resham Singh Gill said the government is holding one meeting after another without addressing the workers concerns, prolonging the issue. The union is demanding the regularisation of contractual workers under service rules, bringing of outsourced BJP leader, three others hurt in clash Hoshiarpur, October 21 BJP district vice-president Ranjit Singh Rana and his associate were injured in a clash between two groups at Rana’s shop in Hoshiarpur on Tuesday night. Two persons from the other group also sustained injuries. According to the police, Rana sustained head injuries during the clash, while his associate was also injured. Both have been admitted to a private hospital. The two injured persons from the other group have been admitted to the Civil Hospital, Hoshiarpur. The statements of the injured were yet to be recorded. Further action would be taken after recording their statements and examining the circumstances leading to the clash. — OC Passengers rush to board one of the few operational buses at Jalandhar bus stand. MALKIAT SINGH employees on direct contract with the department and the withdrawal of FIRs registered against workers following a protest in Sangrur in December last year. After the meeting, Gill said the strike would continue until the department issued an official letter accepting the demands, signed by the Transport Secretary. He said the union would no longer trust verbal assur- ances, pointing out that earlier letters had been signed by general managers or other officials, where government later refused to acknowledge them. “This time, we want the letter to be signed by the Transport Secretary,” he said. In Jalandhar, nearly 300 contractual employees of the Punjab Roadways and PRTC remained on strike. Ranjit Singh, general secretary of the union in Jalandhar, said around 170 buses remained off the routes. “We will not return to duty until our demands are met,” he said. The strike also inconvenienced passengers travelling to nearby cities and other places. Shalini, a passenger travelling to Amritsar, said she had to wait for nearly an hour and found a bus which was overcrowded. “I had to take a private bus to reach my destination,” she said. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 21 To honour the valiant police personnel who laid down their lives while fighting militants and criminals, the 67th State-Level Police Commemoration Day was observed at the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) headquarters in Jalandhar on Wednesday. DGP Gaurav Yadav led the homage ceremony and laid floral wreaths at the Police Martyrs’ Memorial. He was accompanied by Special DGP Law and Order, Praveen , Kumar Sinha and ADGP , PAP MF Farooqui. , The DGP said since September 1981, 1,804 brave personnel of the Punjab Police have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty, including two bravehearts who attained martyrdom this year. Yadav said, “It is because of these brave martyrs that we are breathing in an atmosphere of peace today. The police have an illustrious legacy of gallantry, selflessness, and iron-willed determination to eradicate militancy. The force remains steadfastly committed to defending our frontiers and preserving communal harmony across the border state.” Thiara opens up after audio goes viral Was crying for my father, not over ticket: Ex-AAP halqa in-charge Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 21 A day after an audio clip of a conference call in which she purportedly expressed anger over being removed as the Aam Aadmi Party’s halqa incharge for the Jalandhar Cantonment Assembly constituency went viral, Rajwinder Thiara took to social media to explain her emotional outburst. About six days ago, AAP replaced Thiara with party general secretary Deepak Bali as the halqa in-charge. Admitting in her Facebook post that it was her voice, Thiara said she had her outburst during a conference call for the youth workers of AAP . “I know who recorded and shared the audio but I don’t care. I sound a little emotion- al because I was missing my deceased father. I could not be with him in his last days when he was very sick since I was busy with the MC election work. I got so busy with party work that I did not even attend to him. He left me during the elections.” She goes on, “I have been with the party since 2012. I was working in Punjab even when people did not know about the Aam Aadmi Party. I worked hard for the party in 2014 Lok Sabha (Jalandhar SC) elections. I went door to door and put up posters for then candidate Jyoti Mann. We were a few people in the party then. I didn’t even know that the government would ever be formed. I worked in every state at my own expense. I worked in all elections in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi for three months. I worked day and night in my constituency. Wherever the party assigned me duty, I performed it. I am with the party. But people are saying that I got emotional for being denied ticket is wrong. I was crying because I was missing my dad. There is also a supreme power above. Fear God.” In another portion of the viral audio circulating on social media, Thiara could purportedly be heard telling the party leadership not to consider her weak or submissive. She also referred to an alleged fake affidavit in connection with Jalandhar Central MLA Raman Arora’s Vigilance Bureau case. “I do not fear any action against me. I am not scared,” she purportedly said in the audio. DGP Gaurav Yadav shares a lighter moments with a girl at PAP, Jalandhar. PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH A ceremonial Commemoration Parade was held at the Martyrs’ Memorial within the PAP complex, where the names of all martyrs who laid down their lives during the past year were read out by the Commandant. The ceremony was concluded with the observance of a two-minute silence and the laying of wreaths by senior officers in honour of the fallen heroes. Interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of the ceremony, DGP Yadav said since Man, daughter held for fraud Our Correspondent Nakodar,October 21 The Nakodar police have arrested a father-daughter duo, travel agents, for duping a Nakodar villager of Rs 20 lakh on the pretext of sending his family abroad. Nakodar DSP Onkar Singh Brar said the accused have been identified as Gurdev Singh, alias Gogi, a resident of Bajuha Khurd village, and his daughter Sarabjit Kaur. DSP said Charanjit of Thabalke village had complained to Jalandhar (Rural) SSP that he had paid Rs 20 lakh to the accused for facilitating his family members’ migration abroad, but the accused did not send them abroad, nor did they return his money. The DSP said a case under has been registered against the accused. HISTORY OF THE DAY The tradition of observing Police Commemoration Day dates back to October 21, 1959, when a CRPF patrol, led by SI Karam Singh, was ambushed by Chinese forces at Hot Springs in Ladakh, resulting in the martyrdom of 10 jawans. Their supreme sacrifice at 16,000 feet remains a symbol of extraordinary courage. Since then, October 21 is observed every year across all police units in the country to pay homage to police personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. March 16, 2022, more than 1,27,000 arrests had been made under the NDPS Act and recovery of over 7,260 kg of heroin had been seized. He stated that the police had frozen properties worth ~902 crore belonging to drug traffickers. DGP Yadav met the families of police martyrs and listened to their concerns. Prominent among those present on the occasion included Special DGPs. Season’s first FIR against farmer for stubble burning Tribune News Service Sultanpur Lodhi, October 21 The first FIR regarding stubble burning has been registered in Kapurthala, signaling the pro-active measures the administration will have to take this season. Identified as Gurwinder Singh, a resident of Lau Sawal village in Sultanpur Lodhi, a case has been registered against him against a local farmer for allegedly setting paddy stubble on fire. SDM Jasjit Singh and ASP Dhirendra Verma said action was taken on the basis of a field verification report submitted by the nodal and clus- ter officers concerned, following a satellite imagery report received from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Ludhiana. This is a first pre-Diwali action of this kind taken in the region against stubble fires. Traditionally, stubble fires peak immediately near Diwali, coupled with pollution levels amid firecracker burning as well as the winter smog, caused by a dip in temperatures. The Kapurthala administration has been leading an awareness and monitoring drive in hotspot villages of the subdivision, urging farmers to adopt environmentfriendly methods of paddy straw management. Govt staff on mass Jalandhar hotels plan culinary welcome for hockey teams leave, hold rally Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, October 21 A large number of government employees, teachers and pensioners staged a protest at PUDA Ground in Jalandhar on Wednesday as part of a two-day mass leave call across Punjab on October 21 and 22 to press for their long-pending demands of DA arrears and restoration of old pension scheme. The rally was organised by the Joint Action Committee, Punjab, which accused the Bhagwant Mann-led state government of ignoring employees demands. Addressing a gathering, committee leaders said the OPS had not been implemented despite the notification. They also alleged that the government had failed to imple- ment a Punjab and Haryana High Court order in favour of employees on the DA. The protesters demanded the release of pending DA installments and arrears in line with the Central Government. They also sought pension revision using a multiplication factor of 2.59, as recommended by the Pay Commission and the regularisation of contractual, outsourced and temporary employees. Other demands included minimum wages for honorarium-based workers, the withdrawal of government letters dated January 15, 2015, and July 17, 2020 and the inclusion of computer teachers in the Education Department with the benefits of the Sixth Punjab Pay Commission. — TNS Jalandhar, October 21 With the Asian Champions Trophy set to begin on October 27, hotels in Jalandhar are gearing up to welcome the participating teams with specially curated menus. From Korean style bean sprout salad, chicken bolognese and Korean style soy garlic chicken to Chinese delicacies such as hakka noodles and steamed vegetables in hot garlic sauce, hotel managements and chefs are making arrangements to ensure that the visiting players from other nations enjoy familiar flavours while staying in the city. Six teams Korea, Japan, China, Malaysia, Bangladesh and India are participating in the tournament and hotels accommodating the visiting teams are focusing on their dietary requirements, food preferences and hospitality. Nikhil Sharma, Assistant Director of Sales at Golden Tulip, said Korean-style dishes will be served to the Korean team, which is scheduled to arrive on October 24. The menu will include Korean food accompanied by appropriate sauces, along with protein-rich options, particularly for dinner. “The players need to consume around 1,500 to 3,000 calories, so the dishes will be prepared keeping their dietary requirements in mind. Koreans also love fish and we have included it on the menu. We have added cheese as well,” Sharma said. The Chinese team, meanwhile, will be staying at Hotel Ambassador, where the management is preparing a selection of Chinese delicacies for all three meals. “We will serve Chinese deli- c m y b A flyover near Surjit Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar gets a vibrant makeover with colourful paintings ahead of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy 2026. PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH cacies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu will include snacks and main course dishes such as hakka noodles, chilli manchurian and steamed vegetables in hot garlic sauce. Proper hygiene and laundry services will also be taken care of,” said Pradyut Das, general manager of Hotel Ambassador. The Bangladesh team, which is expected to arrive in Jalandhar on October 23, will be staying at Ramada by Wyndham. Shobha Ram, executive chef at the hotel, said the menu would include biryani, fish and kebabs. The team will also be consulted about its specific food preferences and requirements. “Since the team is expected to stay here for some time, we would also like the players to experience Punjabi cuisine, including Amritsari kulchas and chole bhature. Hum chaahenge ki woh Punjabi dishes ka bhi lutf uthayein,” he said. Meanwhile, the Japanese team is scheduled to arrive on October 22, while the Malaysian team on October 23. Hotels are making the arrangements to ensure a comfortable stay for the visiting contingents during the tournament.