06012025-JTR-01.qxd 05-01-2025 22:31 Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune PUT PREVENTIVE MEASURES IN PLACE TO MINIMISE RISKS AKSHAY KUMAR SAYS IF I CAN WORK, WHY SHOULDN'T I? A LOWDOWN ON THE MOST ANTICIPATED WEB SERIES Follow road safety rules in foggy weather, provide care and temporary home to the destitute, say residents. P2 Akshay Kumar, Veer Pahariya lead the high-octane aerial action in film Sky Force due for January 24 release. P4 There are certain web series whose popularity hits sky and fans wait with bated breath for new seasons. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 14°C | MIN 10°C YESTERDAY MAX 15°C | MIN 9°C SUNSET MONDAY 5.39 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 7:27 AM MONDAY | 6 JANUARY 2025 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF LOCKED IN ROOM, YOUTH DEAD Phagwara: On a complaint lodged by Jaswant Singh of Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Phagwara, the police have registered a case against youth Raj Kumar on the charge of locking the son of the complainant in a room in the Green Valley locality and fled. The body of Balwinder Singh was found in the room on the night of December 31 after a search of 23 days. The deceased was missing since December 8. OC MAN HELD UNDER NDPS ACT Phagwara: The police have arrested a 'drug peddler' and seized 10 gm of heroin from his possession on Saturday night. The accused, identified as Ashwini Kumar of village Madhopur, was arrested at a check point near Law Gate, Miherru. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused. OC BOOKED FOR ILLEGAL SAND MINING Phagwara: The police have booked unidentified persons on the charge of illegal sand mining. Block Mining Officer Vijay Kumar complained to the police that the accused were indulging in illegal sand mining near Chak village and a tractortrolley loaded with sand was impounded. A case has been registered against them. OC Cauliflower glut brings down veggie price, growers suffer Divine radiance Forced to sell it at ~4 per kg Dogs injure child playing outside house Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 5 Cauliflower growers are suffering as they are getting lower prices of their produce. Gajan Singh, a farmer from Swal village in Sultanpur Lodhi, said such situation occurred two years ago when due to high production, the prices had nosedived. Farmers are fearing that they don’t have to go through the same situation which they faced two years ago when many of them had to destroy the crops. Several growers said they were getting Rs 4 per kg. Malkit Singh from the same village said the cost of production per acres reached Rs 25,000-30,000. “Starting from seed, fertilisers, labour, transportation, etc, a lot of money is spent to grow crop on one acre, but right now we are not getting the right price for our crop,” he said. “Gobhi ne jimidaar rolte” Labourers pack cauliflowers at a wholesale vegetable market in Jalandhar. PHOTO:MALKIAT SINGH (Cauliflower has shattered farmers), an upset grower Sukhjinder Singh from Swal village had earlier shared when due to low price, he had plough his standing crops. Sukhjinder Singh had destroyed his produce on 1.5 acres in 2023. Sukhjinder had said he had spent Rs 30,000 on one acre and was hardly getting Rs 3 per kg of his cauliflower crop. “Apne hath naal laayi, hun aap hi vatti, mann nai manda par ki kariye (I grew it and I am destroying it, it’s very tough but what to do),” he had then shared. However, right now, the farmers are still hopeful that the situation will improve in the coming days. Gajjan Singh, another farmer from Sultanpur Lodhi said, “Whenever the production rate is high, such situation arises,” he said. He had also destroyed the crop on an acre last year. “We bought hybrid seed, then a lot of money went into fertiliser and manure apart from transportation cost. ‘Kuch nai bacheya,’” he had then rued. Gurdwara Guru Nanak Mission decked up on the eve of Parkash Purb of Guru Gobind Singh in Jalandhar. SARABJIT SINGH Dasuya, January 5 A 6-year-old child playing outside the house at village Nansota was injured by stray dogs on Sunday. The child had deep wounds. The child was undergoing treatment in the Civil Hospital, Dasuya. Doctors said the child was stable at the moment but due to excessive scratching of the skin in the head, he had been kept under observation for a few hours. If any complaint like blackening of the skin was noticed, he will have to be referred further. The injured child has been identified as Chandan Kumar, village Dhanda Ghat, of Bihar. His father has been living in Nansota for a long time and used to work as a labourer in the nearby villages. — OC Amid PIMS revamp, NGO finds itself without roof 3 OF FAMILY BOOKED Apaar founder-member blames hospital authorities for damaging NGO’s items Phagwara: The police have booked three of family on the charge of assaulting a villager. Dilbag Singh said the accused had been identified as Baldev Singh of Ludhiana village, his daughter Shagan Deep Kaur and son-in-law Sukhwindar Singh. Gurdeep Singh of Boparai village complained to the police that the accused attacked him at the behest of Shangun Deep and threatened him. OC Tribune News Service THREE DRUG PEDDLERS HELD Phagwara: The police have arrested three 'drug peddlers' on the charge of selling heroin. As much as 100 gram of heroin was recovered from the possession of accused Joga, Ajay Singh and Sarabjit Singh, all residents of Lattianwal village in Kapurthala. A case had been registered against them and a vehicle they were traveling with the contraband had been impounded. oc 4 BOOKED FOR INTIMIDATION Phagwara: The police have booked four miscreants on the charge of criminal intimidation. The accused have been identified as Harjindar Singh, Baljindar Singh and Sukhdev Singh, residents of Bangiwal village, and Charanjit Singh of Gounsuwal village. Malook Singh complained to the police that he along with his wife was sitting in his clinic on January 3 evening when the accused reached there and threatened Sandip Singh of Ludhiana village and his two friends. oc YOUTH HELD FOR KIDNAPPING Phagwara: The police have arrested a youth on the charge of helping in kidnapping of a minor. The accused had been identified as Parmindar Singh, a resident of Baupur village. oc Aparna Banerji Jalandhar, January 5 After having spent 10 years on the premises of the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), members of the Apaar NGO found their organisation without a roof on the morning of January 3. Being asked by the PIMS authorities to vacate their rooms and office, members allege damage to their property and some items of the NGO also going missing. Founded on March 25, 2014, Apaar (Altering Perceptions of Autism and Assisting in Rehabilitation) is a National Trust-registered NGO which was situated in the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) campus, Jalandhar, since July 15, 2015. Running from five rooms, Apaar works with adults for autism and other intellectual disabilities and works on their social and vocational rehabilitation. The NGO’s founder member Dr Navneet Bhullar said, “In mid-November 2024, the PIMS asked us to vacate as they needed our space for faculty accommodation. We Apaar founder Dr Navneet Bhullar with the NGO’s property scattered on the ground at PIMS. asked for time till December to shift with the help of the district administration. We told the PIMS administration on December 30 that we planned to vacate it by weekend. They insisted us to vacate a large space so that they may begin construction, which we did.” Apart from Navneet, Apaar has a special educator, two vocational assistants, a van driver and an office assistant. Bhullar added, “On the morning of January 3, the Apaar staff reached the PIMS to see that their set-up was damaged. All items in the locked rooms and office (furniture, cash, computers, almirahs, tables, books, vital med- ical records chairs, handicrafts) were dumped into ewaste room downstairs and several furniture pieces lay on the ground.” Bhullar said, “This forced eviction by the PIMS administration is unacceptable in a civilised society. It has brought mental anguish to its beneficiaries marginalised by society, Kin of those stuck in Russia to gather at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan tomorrow Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 5 Jagdeep Kumar, brother of Mandeep Kumar who has been stuck in the Russian warzone since last year, will go to New Delhi on January 7 to appeal to the government and ensure the return of his kin. He will be accompanied by family members of eight other missing persons in Russia. Jagdeep said nobody knew the pain they were going through. “A long wait of one year is something no one can understand. I haven’t spoken with my brother since March and only me and my family know how paintful it is,” he said. The families will be gathering at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi and will hold a peaceful protest, asking the government to speed up the process of getting their kin back. He had recently met MP Balbir Singh Seechewal at Sultanpur Lodhi and raised the issue of his brother. He was then accompanied by Rakesh Yadav from Azamgarh, UP who had returned , from Russia. Yadav shared his ordeal and told Seechew- al and the media how difficult it was for him there. He had also travelled to Delhi a few months ago to meet an official from the Ministry of External Affairs, seeking information about his brother’s whereabouts. The distressed brother is also planning to go Russia as he wanted to meet and see what has actually happened and why wasn’t there. Jagdeep further added that his brother was among the other eight nationals missing in Russia. He said he was allegedly duped of Rs 6 lakh on the c m y b pretext of sending his brother from Armenia to Italy via Russia, Finland and Germany. Strangely, until now, the police have arrested only two travel agents in this regard. The police had lodged an FIR against eight travel agents in July. A 45-year-old suspect arrested from Dasuya, Hoshiarpur, was not a registered travel agent. The police said he also used to introduce himself as a journalist working for some news portal. Jagdeep said he would also raise the matter of inaction against the agents as well as the main culprits. who saw the overnight destruction of their home since nine years,” said Bhullar. CEO, PIMS, Dr Kanwaljit Singh, said, “The NGO had set up office at PIMS free of cost for the past 9-10 years. We requested them to move out in November since as per the National Medical Council’s requirements, we are redoing some parts of the PIMS and creating newer spaces. The rooms of the NGO will be part of the nursing hostel. After much delay, with their shift awaiting until December 15, they again did not move out, seeking two more weeks. Since we needed the space, we waited till January and then their items were shifted to a room downstrairs. No damage was done to any property.” While Bhullar shared videos of the NGO’s things scattered on a ground, Dr Singh said, “We do not know who scattered these.” He added that there was no space currently available at the PIMS. The NGO has moved all its property from the PIMS. Bhullar said alternative space was being arranged for the NGO. Sanjeev Juneja PHD chamber’s new convener Jalandhar, January 5 Sanjeev Juneja has been appointed as the convener for the Jalandhar zone of the PHDCCI. The announcement was made by Punjab Chapter chairman Karan Gilhotra, who highlighted Juneja’s extensive experience in the auto parts and foundry sector. Juneja, a prominent manufacturer of truck and tractor parts, serves as president of the Jalandhar Auto Parts Manufacturers Association and Secretary of the Chandigarh Chapter of the Institute of Indian Foundrymen. — TNS Former Union minister Vijay Sampla along with BJP leaders during an event dedicated to Dr BR Ambekdar in Jalandhar. Previous Cong govts ignored Ambedkar, contributions: BJP Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 5 The BJP government has always been committed to respecting ideals of Dr BR Ambedkar through projects, from Panchteerath development to designating November 26 as National Constitution Day. Tarun Chugh, national general secretary of the BJP said , this while addressing a gathering at a programme titled ‘’Ambedkar ko Samarpit Modi” organised by the Sampla Foundation today. Chugh said giving a befitting tribute to Ambedkar, the Modi government developed five key sites related to Baba Ambedkar. Dr Ambedkar’s Janma Bhoomi in Mhow, his cremation place Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai, Shiksha Bhoomi – place in London where he studied, Deeksha Bhoomi – the place in Nagpur where he embraced Buddhism and Mahaparinirvan Bhoomi – the place in Delhi where he passed away. All five places have been developed, besides observing November 26 as National Constitution Day, by highlighting Dr Ambedkar’s role in drafting the constitution. Apart from this, several other measures have also been taken to honour Dr Ambedkar who was largely remained ignored during the Congress rule spanning more than six decades in the country. Vijay Sampla, former chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Caste, and former union minister accused the former Congress government of ignoring Dr Ambekdar and his contributions. He said the Congress had never accorded due respect to the leader. The Congress betrayed Babasaheb Ambedkar right from hostility in the Lok Sabha to Dr Ambedkar resigning from the Nehru cabinet and the party’s mammoth failure to accord social justice to all groups of society – especially the marginalised Dalit community. While Tarun Chugh targeted the Congress for not according Ambedkar with Bharat Ratna, Sampla said Dr Ambedkar was given Bharat Ratna when the BJP supported the VP Singh government. He also accused the Congress of refusing to install Dr Ambedkar’s portrait in Parliament. Sarvhitkari Shisksha Samiti zonal organising secretary Desraj added the Modi government had proven over the years that it stood by the right and mighty. He added that the BJP was trying to undo the damage the Congress had inflicted on Dr Ambedkar over the past so many years.