23042025-JTR-01.qxd 4/22/2025 11:11 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune MERGER OF SMALL DEPTS A COST-EFFECTIVE STEP: FM A PAGE FROM ARTISTE NEELAM MANSINGH LIFE ON WORLD BOOK DAY, CELEBS REVEAL MOST-LOVED READS The merger of some small departments is one of the steps to be taken by the government, says FM Cheema. P2 Theatre thespian Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry speaks about the books that shaped her life's journey. P4 I don't read e-books because I just can't. I've tried reading them, but it felt very odd, says Rukhsar Rehman. P4 » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 37°C | MIN 19°C YESTERDAY MAX 38°C | MIN 19°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.01 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:49 AM » WEDNESDAY | 23 APRIL 2025 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF TWO ARRESTED FOR KIDNAPPING Phagwara: The police have arrested two youths on the charge of kidnapping a minor. The accused have been identified as Balraj Singh of Nurpur Chatha village and Jatindar Singh of Mohala Sarafan, Rahon, in SBS Nagar district. The father of the victim complained to the police that accused conspired with his accomplice and kidnapped her minor daughte. The police also booked Vishal of Dana Mandi, Sarihn village, for kidnapping a Nakodar girl. 4 BOOKED FOR JEWELLERY LOOT Phagwara: The Shahkot police have booked four persons on the charge of looting silver jewellery from a woman. The accused have been identified as Nikka of Kania Khurd village and his three accomplices. Palwindar Singh of Sandhawal village complained to the police that the accused waylaid him and his wife on April 20, assaulted them and snatched his wife's silver chain. A case has been registered against the accused. OC 'DRUG PEDDLER, ADDICT' ARRESTED Phagwara: The Mehatpur police have arrested a 'drug peddler' on the charge of selling poppy husk. As much as 19 kg poppy husk and Rs 2,200 drug money were recovered from the possession of the accused Dilbag Singh, alias Baga, of Gounsuwal village. A case had been registered against the accused. The police have arrested a 'drug addict' Gurmeet Singh of Mohalla Bagh Wala for consuming heroin. OC VILLAGER HELD FOR LIQUOR SALE Phagwara: The police have arrested a villager on the charge of brewing and selling illicit liquor. Twenty bottles of hooch and 235 kg of lahan (raw liquor) were seized from the possession of the accused Harsh of Chachowal village. The police had registered a case. OC GOLD CHAIN SNATCHED Phagwara: Two motorcyclists snatched a gold chain from a woman near Shaheed Joginder Singh Nagar, Phagwara, on Monday. The victim Kavita was returning home after purchasing groceries when the accused struck and snatched her gold chain and managed to flee. The police have registered a case. oc MAN ARRESTED WITH INTOXICANT Phagwara: The police have arrested one drug peddler and recovered 37 intoxicating tablets from his possession on Monday night. The accused identified Sandeep of village Lakhanpal was arrested at a check point in the city. oc MAN BOOKED FOR RASH DRIVING Phagwara: The police have booked a car driver on the charges of rash driving and mischief. The accused has been identified as Karan Singh of Mohalla Dherian, Shahkot. Sawindar Singh of Fajjalwal village complained to the police that the accused was driving his car very fast and negligently on April 11 and hit his car and seriously injured him and damaged the vehicle. oc To settle old score, 18-yr-old youth joined BKI module Jalandhar girl Arushi clears UPSC with 184th rank FUNDS FOR ASPIRANTS Jatinder was booked under UAPA for attack on Batala police station Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Kapurthala, April 22 Some youths from the adjoining villages, during a fight, stripped him, videographed him and then posted his video on social media that perhaps led him to take an extreme step that spoiled his entire life. Having turned 18 just a month back, Jatinder Singh of Lakhan Kalan village of Kapurthala has been booked by the Batala police for attacking Qila Lal Singh Police Station with a rocket launcher two weeks back. The teen is now facing harsh charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Explosives Act. “Just a month ahead of the incident, he was taking his examination of Class XII. He could attempt all his theory exams but his practicals were still pending when the fight happened. We know that he Jaspal Singh and Gurpreet Kaur, parents of teenager Jatinder Singh, who has been booked for terror attack at police station. was restless and learnt to have been talking with his peers of taking revenge from some boys. But we fail to understand when and how he got aligned with a module of the Babbar Khalsa International, learnt to know about the use of explosives and that too a rocket launcher. He had left home in anger and was barely away for a week”, said sarpanch of the village Kuldeep Singh. Villagers shared, “The police had come searching for him in the village on April 15. The boy returned home the next day. The family and the sarpanch handed him over to the police.” They elaborated, “This boy had fondness for a girl from a nearby village. He had even got tattooed her name on his neck. The boys from the village beat him up after which he spent Rs 1,800 more to get the name tweaked into another pattern.” The boy’s father Jaspal Singh is a welder at a factory in Hamira, about 2 km from their place. His mother Gurpreet Kaur is a homemaker. Both of them have said they have still not been able to come to terms with the incident. “He has been quite religious-minded. We thought that he could have gone to Anandpur Sahib or Amritsar. We have now got to know that he had reached out to some anti-social elements just to settle score with those boys who had beaten him up and ashamed him”, he said. Two days ago, DGP Gaurav Yadav had announced the busting of two modules of the BKI and arrest of 13 youths with the recovery of two rocket launchers, sticky bombs, IEDs, hand grenades and other explosives. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, April 22 Daughter of a city-based chartered accountant Arushi Sharma (23) has done the city proud by securing 184th rank in the civil services examination conducted by the UPSC, the result of which was declared this afternoon. A resident of Friends Colony here, she is expecting to get into the Indian Police Services. Having studied from St Joseph’s Convent School, she remained among the toppers throughout. She had obtained 97 per cent marks in ICSE Class X result. She did Plus Two in humanities from Cambridge School and got 98.5 per cent in the CBSE. Thereafter, she went to Delhi and graduated in psychology. Former DC of Jalandhar Ghanshyam Thori had allocated the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao funds towards providing quality coaching for civil service aspirants — moving away from the conventional practice of funding street plays. This innovative decision proved instrumental in transforming Arushi’s journey. The initiative has not only empowered Arushi, but also inspired and supported many other young women striving to achieve their goals through education and public service. “It was after my graduation that I seriously started preparing for the UPSC, spending 10 hours a day on studies. Almost all my coaching took place on online mode. I had started off with three month of online coaching being run by the district administration, later switching over to a private centre”, she said. An avid reader, Arushi says, “I used to take break from studies reading non-fiction books. Everyone at home, including my dad Aseem Sharma, my mon Neetu Shar- ma and my younger brother, ensured that I kept going”. Tehsildar Singla shines Hoshiarpur: Tehsildar Larson Singla, posted at the local tehsil, has cleared the UPSC examination and secured 936th rank. On the result of the UPSC examination, Singla credited his achievement to his grandparents, parents and teachers and said his parents’ dream of making him an IAS would come true. He said there was dedication and hard work behind passing this exam, due to which he succeeded in UPSC. Singla, a resident of Patran in Patiala district, said no one in his family had taken the UPSC exam before and his parents wanted him to pass this exam. — OC Special search op at Civil Hospital Traders oppose govt over GST surveys Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Jalandhar, April 22 As part of the ongoing initiative ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’, the Commissionerate Police, Jalandhar, under the leadership of Commissioner of Police, Dhanpreet Kaur, conducted a special inspection and search operation at the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, and its surrounding areas. CP Jalandhar said he operation aimed to curb the trade of illegal drugs and illegal activities in and around the Civil Hospital. The operation was carried out under the supervision of DCP Operations and ADCP-I, ADCP Industries and Security along with the SHO and four dedicated police teams. She said that a comprehensive inspection was conducted across the hospital premises, including the medical stores, canteen and parking to ensure that no illegal activity was taking place. Identities of suspected individuals were thoroughly verified. Additionally, the parking areas were inspected using the VAHAN app to verify vehicle ownership and documen- Jalandhar, April 22 Jalandhar industrialists are up in arms against the state government and staged a protest today. Khel Udyog Sanjh members said the government had released orders where GST officials have been given targets to conduct survey of industrial units. “We are fed up with this. With the set targets, every officer will target the units which is not acceptable at all,” claimed Ravinder Dhir, a senior member of the sangh. The members protested by holding placards which read, “Vyapar nahee te sarkar nahee’, and ‘GST di chaapemaari band karo’. “Just a few days ago, the GST Department of the state had given the rights of checking to GST inspectors,” the members said. In the meeting organized under the leadership of the convener Vijay Dhir, co-convener Praveen Anand, anger was expressed on these orders. In the meeting, Ravinder Dhir said on the one hand, the Finance Minister of the The police during a special search operation at the Civil Hospital Jalandhar on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO:MALKIAT SINGH. tation. Nearby medical stores were also checked to ensure full compliance with pharmaceutical regulations. Police officials strictly instructed all store owners to sell medicines only with proper invoices and documentation. “This decisive action reflects the commitment of the Jalandhar Police to regulate the pharmaceutical trade and eliminate the illegal drug network in the region. This operation marks another crucial step in safeguarding public health and reinforcing law and order in the city”, CP added. Khel Udyog Sangh members hold a protest in Jalandhar. A TRIBUNE PHOTOGRAPH state says that there is a record-breaking increase in GST revenue and on the other hand, a campaign to harass the business class is going on for the last three years. “Many departments of the state are after the industry and the industrialists are being harassed in various ways, the law and order in the state has collapsed, business is running at the mercy of God and in such adverse circumstances, if the revenue growth in GST is recordbreaking, then the decision to harass the industry, instead of encouraging them, is like rubbing salt on the wounds and it will be opposed,” the enraged members said. This industrial group had recently released helpline numbers. The industrialists has been alleging that they Speaker Birla opens ‘One India, One World’ festival at LPU Ashok Kaura Phagwara, April 22 Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inaugurated Lovely Professional University’s flagship annual festival, ‘One India, One World’, on Tuesday at the university’s sprawling Phagwara campus. The three-day festival, under the theme “Rang De Bharat – Celebrating Patriotism through Art and Culture”, brought together more than 40,000 students and visitors from across India and over 50 countries, transforming the campus into a global village of heritage, art and expression. The event opened with a dynamic flag-off ceremony led by students, symbolising the spirit of unity across states and global cultures. A spectacular parade followed, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ,LPU Chancellor Dr Ashok Kumar Mittal,MP, during the annual fest ‘One India, One World’ at LPU in Jalandhar. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH showcasing tableaux and cultural performances representing the traditions and heritage of all 28 states, eight UTs and 31 foreign nations. This vibrant display set the tone for what was a richly immersive celebra- c m y b tion of diversity and global friendship. Welcoming the Speaker, Dr Ashok Kumar Mittal, MP (Rajya Sabha) and founder Chancellor of LPU, emphasised the university’s dedication to the ideal of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ — the world is one family. At this ceremony, scholarships were awarded to 124 meritorious students to help them pursue higher education at IITs, IIMs, AIIMS and NLUs. Dr Mittal highlighted that in the past five years alone, the university has disbursed over ?7 crore to support more than 600 students across the country. In his address to the gathering, Om Birla praised LPU’s role as a model of modern Indian education rooted in traditional values. “India’s future is in the hands of the youth and I see that future shining here today,” he said. Adding to the festival’s prestige was the presence of several distinguished international dignitaries, including Peter Hobwani, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Zimbabwe; Jean Asantewaah Oduro and Conrad Nana Kojo Asiedu from the Ghana High Commission; Ganbold Dambajav, Ambassador of Mongolia to India; Ntsukunyane Daniel Tsenoli from the Kingdom of Lesotho; and Dr. Amandeep Grewal, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Deputy High Commission, Chandigarh. Their participation reinforced the festival’s global vision and the university’s growing international reputation. The festival also featured the One World Dance Concert and Jhoomo Re – One India Dance Concert, where students performed over 30 traditional and contemporary dance forms. have been facing harassment because of various departments and are finding it difficult to work properly. Dhir had decided to issue helpline numbers. “If any of our members are harassed by any employee or officer of any department, then they can immediately contact the helpline number and immediate action will be taken,” he had said. Phone of city bizman hacked Jalandhar, April 22 The phone number of citybased businessman Anil Chopra was reportedly hacked on Tuesday afternoon. Some hackers are learnt to have managed to clone the number and sent across messages on WhatsApp seeking an amount of Rs 45,000 from his contacts. All messages read that he was in need of money as his UPI account had developed an error and he needed the money urgently. Chopra is a prominent realtor, runs a chain of schools and colleges and also owns hotels. His son Rajan Chopra said, “We have got the complaint lodged with the Cyber Cell of the police regarding the hacking of my phone. We hope that the guilty gets booked at the earliest.” — TNS