Monthly Archives: October 2022

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 11

Chandigarh’s curfew will continue so long as nation lockdown continues, UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore said on Saturday.

Badnore, who attended the video conferencing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said: “It is heartening to know that Chandigarh has fared well in the first phase of curfew. The curfew in Chandigarh will continue as long as the lockdown in the country continues”.

He directed UT Adviser Manoj Parida to formulate a scheme for utilising the services of idle workers in the second phase of curfew, and said the farmers going for harvesting and marketing of their produces should be facilitated during the curfew.

The Administrator asked the UT’s Education Department to devise a mechanism for 40 book stores of Chandigarh to deliver books to students’ homes during the long curfew period, a press statement from the UT Administration said.

Badnore directed the Adviser to ensure that all students from North-east, Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir are taken care of in the city.

Badnore also launched a new mobile application developed by IT Department of Chandigarh to track quarantine corona patients.

The development comes at a time when state governments through India have asked the central government to extend its lockdown beyond April 14 to stem the spread of coronavirus.

Chandigarh’s coronavirus tally currently stands at 19 infections.

Chandigarh Administration ordered curfew in the union territory on March 23, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown.

Punjab has already announced it was extending curfew restrictions in the state until May 1.

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Aman Sood
Tribune News Service
Patiala, April 12

Eleven persons were on Sunday arrested in connection with the horrendous attack on a police party at the vegetable market in Patiala in the morning, in which an ASI’s hand was cut off by a group of Nihangs.

The accused included the five persons involved in the brutal attack on the Punjab Police team posted at the vegetable market in Sanaur early Sunday morning.

They had crashed through a series of barricades and attacked the police personnel who inquired about their curfew passes, said DGP Dinkar Gupta, adding that Baba Balwinder Singh, the Nihang Head, was the main perpetrator of the attack on the police party at the Patiala Sabzi Mandi this morning. He came to the market with four other persons, in a Tata Xenon vehicle.

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The accused, including a woman, were nabbed after the Patiala Police Party led by Jatinder Aulakh IG Patiala Range and Mandeep Sidhu, SSP Patiala, were fired upon from inside the Nihang Dera Complex which also houses Khichdi Sahib Gurdwara. The operation followed several hours of stand-off and many rounds of appeals and negotiations led by Patiala SSP with the Dera Head Baba Balwinder Singh to surrender with their weapons and swords but the Nihangs refused to surrender. One Nihang, Nirbhav Singh, suffered an injury in the incident was taken to Patiala Hospital.

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has condemned the attack and warned that anyone violating the curfew, imposed in the state since March 23 to check the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, would be strictly dealt with.

DGP Dinkar Gupta said a huge cache of weapons as wells as hand held weapons, such as ‘barchhe’ and ‘kirpans’, and some used cartridges were seized from the accused, in addition to two petrol bombs and LPG cylinders, five bags of poppy husk mixed with ‘sulpha’, other drugs in commercial quantity and Rs 39 lakh in cash. Some bottles with chemical substances were also found from the premises.

ASI Harjit Singh, whose hand was reportedly cut off with a sword during the attack at the vegetable mandi, is undergoing a plastic surgery at PGI, Chandigarh, for suturing back his hand, where he was rushed after the incident, said the DGP.

Gupta claimed despite repeated announcements from the public address system, the accused refused to surrender and, instead, abused the police and threatened them with serious consequences if they tried to come closer.

The police then persuaded the sarpanch and some villagers to go in and persuade the men to come out but they failed. Soon thereafter, the police party heard loud shouts and noises from inside the gurdwara premises, suggesting that some innocent people and hostages within might have got caught in the trouble, according to the DGP.

A Patiala Police team led by IG Patiala and SSP Patiala along with a team of the Special Operations Group (SOG), led by ADGP Rakesh Chandra, moved into the premises to flush out Nihangs. A few shots were fired by the accused at the police personnel before they were nabbed, said the DGP, adding that entire operation was handled delicately so that the maryada and sanctum sanctorum of the Gurdwara Sahib was not disturbed in any manner.

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Panaji, April 7

British Crown Prince Charles has been “101 per cent” cured of COVID-19 using Ayurveda and Homeopathy treatment, Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik has insisted, claiming the reason why the Prince’s office may have denied acknowledging the cure, is because England does not formally recognise Ayurveda, as a medical science.

“I am proud that the Ministry which I head, managed to cure such a great man, there is no greater credit than this. He may have some problem (admitting to it) because the system in his country does not give recognition to Ayurveda. He may have felt he would violate rules, which is why his refusal to admit is obvious,” Naik told a local cable news channel in an interview late on Monday.

“I believe 101 per cent, that he has been cured (using Ayurveda and Homeopathy),” Naik also said.

On April 2, Naik had told a press conference in Goa, that Prince Charles had been cured of COVID-19 after seeking treatment from a Bengaluru-based alternative treatment resort, SOUKYA International Holistic Health Centre’ run by a doctor Isaac Mathai.

A day after his statement, Clarence House, the official residence of Prince Charles had said that the claim was incorrect, and that the royal “followed the medical advice of the National Health Service in the UK and nothing more”. The royal had been diagnosed COVID-19 positive last month.

Naik in the cable TV interview on Monday, continued to insist that Ayurveda and Homeopathy had indeed cured the Prince and that it was a “victory” for Indian traditional medicine systems. Naik also said that there was no need to disbelieve the doctor Isaac Mathai, who cured Prince Charles.

“The man (Dr. Mathai) himself is saying this. He is a doctor, an owner of a resort, he is trustworthy, when he says this, it is a victory of our Indian system,” Naik said.

IANS

Our Correspondent
Anantnag, April 7

A CRPF man was killed after militants fired at a patrol party of the force, early Tuesday evening, here in Bijbehara area of Anantnag district.

The slain paratrooper has been identified as Head Constable Shiv Lal.

The firing incident took place near the police station, Bijbehara along the old national highway at around 4:45 pm on Tuesday evening.

“The militants opened fire at a joint patrol party of the police and the CRPF. One CRPF jawan was injured in the firing, who later succumbed to his injuries,” a senior police official from Bijbehara said.

Injured Shiv Lal was immediately rushed to the Sub-District hospital, located near to the site of the attack.

“We gave him first aid and shifted him to the Anantnag Government Medical College Hospital,” a doctor at the hospital said.

In Anantnag, the doctors said, that he was declared brought dead with bullet wounds to his chest.

Following the firing incident, a cache of security forces cordoned off the already deserted Bijbehara market and conducted searches to try and nab the attackers.

The slain CRPF jawan of 116 Bn was deployed for law and order duty in Bijbahara, a spokesman of the force said in Srinagar.

Jammu: The Army is reaching out to people by launching a multi-pronged campaign in its fight against coronavirus. It has been undertaking awareness campaigns and educating people during the pandemic. It has also established multiple telephone helplines for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from providing essentials, such as ration, medical aid, masks, soap and sanitiser to the poor and needy, the Army is making announcements on loudspeakers asking people to restrict their movement as part of the lockdown. It is also distributing pamphlets in bilingual language in remote areas, especially among the nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal communities, to provide important information related to Covid. All field hospitals of the Army have been instructed to be ready to set up an isolation facility exclusively for the Covid patients. TNS

Community policing upped in villages

Jammu: While the government is working at its level to tackle the spread of coronavirus in Jammu, people have started to restrict the entry of outsiders in their villages and localities. Community policing is being done to ensure the success of the 21-day lockdown period. People are guarding the entry point to Chatta village on the outskirts of Jammu to ensure that no one enters there without any reason. The sarpanch of Chatta Farm, Avatar Singh, on the outskirts of Jammu has involved village youths to barricade the village entry to check people from entering the place. Whoever moves outside the village for essential works or comes to the village is asked the purpose of his work, and his identity papers are checked. To ensure the regular supply of the essential commodities in the panchayat, people contact youth volunteers constituted by the sarpanch, who are contacted in case of any emergency via phone. OC

SMC carries sterilisation drives

Srinagar: The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) conducted prompt sterilisation drives in the Hyderpora and Natipora areas after two cases tested positive for Covid. Officials said a fully equipped team of 50 members took to these areas for conducting fumigation and prescribed chemical spraying around 300-meter radius of these areas. All connecting lanes, bylanes, mohhallas, mosques in Natipora and Hyderpora were sanitised under the supervision of ward officers, sanitary supervisors and inspectors concerned after the news came that two persons had tested positive, which created panic among residents. TNS

Press club flays gag on covid info

Srinagar: The Kashmir Press Club condemned the attempts by authorities to “throttle information on coronavirus” amid the lockdown. The press club said the recent order issued by the Director, Health Services, Kashmir, ordering the doctors and paramedics “not to share information with the media about the ongoing crisis” was nothing but a crude attempt to further stifle the freedom of the press in the region. “Stopping the information flow amid the unprecedented situation is highly condemnable,” the KPC said in a statement. It said putting out information during the pandemic through the media was of vital importance as it helped to stop the flow of unverified information and rumours. TNS

Residents urge L-G to ban polybags

Jammu: Amid the coronavirus pandemic and as the UT is seeing a rise in the number of positive cases, residents have appealed to Lt-Governor GC Murmu to replace polythene bags with paper bags, which are safe and less harmful. Many researches claim that the virus vitality lasts longest on plastic but polythene carry bags continue to be in use and people carry their daily items, including vegetables and groceries, in them. People have also requested the Jammu Municipal Corporation and the UT Pollution Control Board to immediately launch a drive and confiscate the polythene bags from the shopkeepers. TNS

Board exams evaluation suspended

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education has extended the suspension of the evaluation process of the Class X and XII annual exams of the summer zone amid the coronavirus outbreak. Sources said the board had taken the decision in view of the lockdown and advisories issued by the government of Jammu and Kashmir. The exams of Class X, XI and XI, which were postponed till March 31, have now been postponed till further orders. The new dates for the exam will be communicated by the board separately. TNS

Tele-counselling helpline launched

Jammu: In a significant move to guide students, parents and teachers if they have any anxiety or other issues arising out of the Covid situation, the Directorate of School Education, Jammu (DSEJ), has decided to extend special services of its tele-counselling helpline “Aao Baat Karein”. The counselling cell of the school directorarte, which runs the tele-counselling helpline has collaborated with the Brainpreneurs – Child Development Centre (CDC), Jammu, an organisation dedicated to the cause of child mental health. The trained clinical psychologists of Brainpreneurs-CDC will be available for counselling on the helpline number 6006800068 along with their teacher counsellors/counselling psychologists. TNS

IIT-Jammu starts online classes

Jammu: To ensure that there is not much academic loss of students due to the ongoing campus shutdown amid the Covid pandemic, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) -Jammu has started online classes for its students from Thursday thorough learning management system (LMS). For the students attending online classes through the LMS, there are different categories of courses, including computer science, physics, mathematics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, chemical engineering, humanities and social sciences, chemistry, materials enginering, common courses etc. TNS

Itanagar, April 7 

China’s People’s Liberation Army released on Tuesday the 21-year-old Indian man who was abducted on March 19 from near the McMahon line in Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, a defence spokesman said.

Togley Singkam, who was handed over to the Indian Army personnel guarding the border, was immediately put into quarantine amid fear of coronavirus infection, Defence PRO Lt Col P Khongsai said.

When the incident came to light, the Indian Army swung into action and approached the Chinese side utilising the established border management mechanism. Owing to peace and tranquility existing in the region and the bonhomie that has developed between both the border guarding forces, Singkam was handed over to the Indian Army on Tuesday, he said.

This has provided immense relief to the family members of Singkam and also to the people of the area, he said.

Singkam has been quarantined by the Indian Army and will be handed over to his family after 14 days, the official said.

Singkam along with his two friends — Gamshi Chadar and Ronya Nade — had gone fishing and to collect traditional herbs from the land belonging to the Naa clan of Tagin community on March 19 when the Chinese security personnel allegedly ambushed them.

While his other two friends could successfully escape, Singkam was abducted at gunpoint by the Chinese security personnel.

The Tagin Cultural Society had approached the governor on March 27, urging him to take steps for Singkam’s release.

A complaint was also filed by Singkam’s family at the Nacho police station on March 23.

The McMahon Line demarcates the boundary between the Tibet autonomous region of China and Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as its own.

The McMahon Line is not properly demarcated and small cement pillars erected on the Indian side often get covered under wild growth.

A number of organisations in the state had appealed to the state government for taking up the matter with the Centre for the safe release of the man.

The Siyum Nacho Limeking Taksing Students Union (SNLTSU) had also threatened to launch a democratic movement in the state capital, if his early and safe release was not ensured. PTI

Chandigarh, April 7

The Chandigarh Administration on Tuesday made it mandatory for people to wear masks in public places to check the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“We have made it mandatory for people in Chandigarh to wear masks or cloth on their face from Wednesday,” the Union Territory of Chandigarh Adviser Manoj Parida said here.

He said anybody flouting the order will be warned by the police. However, the decision regarding levying penalty on violators is yet to be taken, Parida said.

He said Chandigarh will be the first Union Territory (UT) that has made wearing masks mandatory.

The UT of Chandigarh has reported 18 coronavirus cases so far and of them, seven have been cured, Parida said.

Besides, the administration has also decided that the payment of water and electricity charges and payment of house rent, including for rehabilitation colonies, will be deferred, he said.

Chandigarh administrator VP Singh Badnore on Tuesday held a meeting to view the situation here.

Parida informed Badnore that the number of positive cases had come down in Chandigarh to 11 because of curfew measures and observation of social distancing by residents. PTI

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 7

To further mitigate the hardships faced by the people amid the COVID-19 crisis and clampdown, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday announced a reduction in the fixed charges for electricity consumers, along with deferment of the deadline for payment of bills, while instructing the power department to provide  uninterrupted 24×7 supply to all Health Care Institutions.

The PSPCL will have to bear the additional burden of Rs.350 crore due to the various reliefs announced for the consumers, an official spokesperson said, adding that the Chief Minister also lauded the employees of PSPCL and PSTCL for their untiring efforts in maintaining a continuous supply of power in this time of crisis.

No new disconnection shall be carried out against non-payment till restrictions are withdrawn by the authority, the Chief Minister has further ordered.

The reliefs have been announced in view of the unprecedented situation in which consumers are unable to pay their dues to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), according to the spokesperson.

As per the Chief Minister’s directives, the due date of electricity bills of all the domestic & commercial consumers, having current monthly/bi-monthly bills up to Rs. 10,000/- payable on or after 20th March, has been extended up to 20th April, without levy of late payment surcharge.

Further, a one percent rebate will be given to the consumers (exclusive of any previous arrears), who will pay electricity bills online through digital modes by the original due date.

The same applies to all electricity bills payable on or after 20th March of all the Industrial consumers – Medium Supply (MS) and Large Supply (LS) Industrial Consumers.

The fixed charges of the industrial consumers will also be exempted for the next two months, w.e.f 23.3.2020, and Energy Charges may be fixed commensurate with the reduction in Fixed Charges (single rate), the Chief Minister has instructed.

Since, the Revised Energy Charges will be paid by consumers and will not be considered for the subsidy, the MS and LS Industrial Consumers, whose units remained closed during this period will not be required to pay any electricity dues.

Captain Amarinder has further directed A Venu Prasad, Principal Secretary to Government of Punjab, Department of Power, to provide uninterrupted 24×7 supply to all Health Care Institutions such as Medical Colleges, Hospitals, Dispensaries, and other Medical Establishments and Quarantine Centres across the States for their smooth functioning.

He has also directed that PSPCL shall ensure continuity of supply, and complaints related to safety and restoration of supply shall continue to be attended. However, other non-essential services that require visiting consumer premises for meter reading, billing, the release of new connections, etc. may be discontinued during the lockdown period.