26072026-TTB-01.qxd 7/26/2026 12:12 AM Page 1 c m y b 123 ‘INDIA IN LOWER 10% US TARIFF BRACKET’ NATION /thetribunechd CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 205 | 24 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI COURT REJECTS TRUMP’S $100K H-1B FEE WORLD sunday | 26 july 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com CockroachJantaPartycallsoff36-day Decision after Nadda, Jitendra meet Relief for NEET suicide victims’ kin, Another meet after 4 weeks to work stir as Edu Minister Pradhan resigns CJP’sDas, Rankafor3rdroundoftalks FIRsagainst protesterstobedropped on broader reforms in exam system Cockroach Janta Pradhan PralhadJoshi getsaddlcharge ofEduMinistry Aksheev Thakur & Manikant Mishra New Delhi, July 25 The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Saturday called off its 36-day protest at Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak controversy, hours after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Education Minister and the government accepted its other demands. At a joint press conference with Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and JP Nadda, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the protest had centred on three demands: the resignation of Pradhan, withdrawal of cases filed against protesters and compensation of Rs 1 crore to the families of students who died by suicide following the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination. Das said the government and the CJP would meet again after four weeks to discuss a broader agenda of examination reforms. He was accompanied at the meeting by fellow CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka. “As the government has accepted all our demands, we appeal to everyone to peacefully withdraw from the protest sites and return home,” Ranka said. Nadda said the CJP representatives had submitted a written draft outlining their concerns, particularly regarding the cases registered against protesters. “We discussed these issues in detail. One of the key points raised was that no further action should be taken and no new FIRs should be registered. If any FIRs have already been filed, whether by the Delhi Police or in BJP-ruled states, they will be withdrawn,” Nadda said. He added that the government had also agreed to provide “honourable compensation”, in continued on page 11 MUKESH AGGARWAL Tribune News Service Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and JP Nadda with CJP spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka after a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday. PAINED AT EVENTS, QUITTING TO KEEP ANTI-NATIONAL FORCES AT BAY ❝ It is not a matter of individual prestige for me… I’m pained at past 10-day events... To prevent anti-national forces from exploiting the situation, preserve unity, ensure that students’ future doesn’t get entangled in legal complexities, I have submitted my resignation to Prime Minister. — Dharmendra Pradhan, UNION EDUCATION MINISTER PROTEST THAT BRIDGED GENERATIONS | MELODY TO TEARS: JANTAR MANTAR ERUPTS | FEMALE MEMBERS PITCH IN BACK PAGE Slipping narrative, swelling stir forced govt hand THE TRIBUNE ANALYSIS Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 25 It’s not routine for a member of the BJP's largely silent Margdarshak Mandal to speak, let alone publicly. So when Murli Manohar Joshi, 92, took to X on Thursday to flag the imperatives of engagement with the Jantar Mantar protesters or risk alienating them from the goal of Viksit Bharat, his remarks were anything but routine. They were seen as welltimed and calibrated. Sections within the Sangh Parivar even believed Joshi’s X post had Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s backing and that heads might finally roll. And today, a head did roll. Thirty-six days after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led movement persisted with its demand for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the 2026 NEET-UG paper leak, he put in his papers, citing the need to keep “anti-India forces at bay” and protect the future of India's youth. The development was seen in political circles as PM Modi’s capitulation in the face of growing protests. The reason: this is the first time in eight years that an NDA minister has stepped down amid sustained public pressure. The last and only NDA minister to resign was MJ Akbar in 2018. But Akbar was a Minister of State and a political lightweight, unlike Pradhan, a Cabinet minister and a key member of Home Minister Amit Shah’s election strategy continued on page 7 New Delhi, July 25 Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has been given the additional charge of the Education Ministry. He currently holds the portfolios of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy. A five-time MP from the Dharwad constituency in Karnataka and regarded as a favourite of the BJP leadership, Joshi returned to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet after the NDA’s victory in the 2024 General Election. Born into a traditional North Karnataka Brahmin family in November 1962, Joshi entered national politics in 2004 when he was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha. Associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from a young age, he later rose through the ranks of the BJP . Notably, in the aftermath of the NEET-UG paper leak in May 2024, Joshi said the government was working on reforms to strengthen the examination system. “The government is very serious about that... reforms are needed, and we are bringing them. But they cannot be implemented within a year. By next year, technology-driven examinations will be in place,” he had said. As the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Joshi has spearheaded the Centre’s efforts to expand India’s clean energy capacity. His focus has been on helping continued on page 7 IT’S ALL DONE, BRO CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke celebrates with supporters after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation in New Delhi on Saturday. PTI JULY 18: Delhi Police forcibly shift Wangchuk to Safdarjung Hospital citing health concerns JULY 20: CJP’s ‘Chalo Sansad’ march towards Parliament ends in a police confrontation CJI JIBE TO STIR MAY 15: CJI Surya Kant’s ‘cock- JULY 21: Rahul Gandhi leads a sit-in outside PM’s residence over police action against students roach’ remark sparks controversy and a major backlash online MAY 16: Abhijeet Dipke launches the Cockroach Janta Party; online membership drive follows JUNE 6: Dipke returns from the US; the CJP holds one-day protest at Jantar Mantar over NEET leak JUNE 20: Begins indefinite stir JUNE 28: Sonam Wangchuk joins JULY 23: Wangchuk ends his protest, begins a hunger strike 26-day fast after assurances; CJP continues its agitation JULY 17: The Centre appoints Anurag Kumar as Delhi CP JULY 25: Pradhan resigns; CJP ends protest after talks with govt THANK CJI FOR CALLING US ‘COCKROACHES’ We have it! The resignation is ❝scared,youdonewin...HadCJInotcalledproof that if you don’t get can uscockroaches, this couldn’t have been achieved. Abhijeet Dipke, CJP FOUNDER FIGHT BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE will protect future. ❝ Webetween thestudents, theand theThis is— a fight past — Modi RSS and the future. We are certain the future will defeat the past. Rahul Gandhi, LOP IN LS New Bill to be tabled in LS tomorrow, Pradhan joins long list of proposes 2-month deadline for probe embattled edu ministers Aksheev Thakur Tribune News Service CJP supporters celebrate the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following weeks of protests over NEET paper leak, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MUKESH AGGARWAL RAFprohibitsuseofpellet guns until further orders Animesh Singh Tribune News Service NewDelhi, July25 The Rapid Action Force (RAF) has banned the use of pellet guns in its future operations across the country until further orders following a review of the force’s handling of the Cockroach Janta Party-led protests over the NEET paper leak at Jantar Mantar. The RAF a specialised unit , of the CRPF tasked with maintaining law and order, has been accused of using excessive force on unarmed students and protesters during their march to Parliament on July 20. Several persons sustained serious injuries in the alleged pellet gun firing, with the weapons reportedly used from close range. Sources in the RAF said the force had been directed by its top brass not to use pellet guns, riot guns, electric shock devices and electric shields during protest control operations until further orders. It was decided in the review meeting that from now onwards, any action to be taken by the RAF while handling law and order situations would be in accordance with NATO protocol. continued on page 11 New Delhi, July 25 Coming up with stringent measures to curb unfair practices in examinations, the Centre has, in its amended Bill, proposed a mandatory two-month deadline for investigations into paper leak and related cases. The draft Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, which was approved by the Cabinet on Friday, will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh. The Bill, which was circulated to the Lok Sabha members ahead of its introduction, also empowers the Centre to set up a special task force for investigation of any offence. For organised crimes, it proposes a minimum sentence of seven years and a fine of up to Rs 10 crore. All states and UTs will be directed to set up fast-track courts, which will conduct hearings swiftly and complete the trial within three months of filing of the chargesheet, the Bill says. It empowers all states to designate any court of session as a special fasttrack court to try offences under the proposed law. In the ‘statement of objects’, the Bill states that the objective of the amended law is to bring greater transparency, fairness and credibility, and inspire confidence in the public examinations system. “In recent years, there have been some incidents of question paper leaks and malpractices in examinations conducted by public examination authorities, which tend to affect the transparency and continued on page 7 Aksheev Thakur Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 25 With Dharmendra Pradhan resigning as Union Education Minister amid student protests over the NEET paper leak and irregularities in the CBSE's on-screen marking system, he joins a long list of education ministers who have faced intense public scrutiny. Before him, Murli Manohar Joshi, Arjun Singh, Kapil Sibal and Smriti Irani all confronted major student agitations during their tenure. From Joshi to Irani, student protests have repeatedly rocked ministry Murli Manohar Joshi Between 1999 and 2004, the then Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Murli Manohar Joshi was accused of saffronising NCERT textbooks. On January 9, 2002, Joshi said the main objective behind the new curriculum and the consequent revision of NCERT textbooks was to lighten the continued on page 7 Surya S Pillai Amritpal seeks Speaker’s Haryana set to roll out ‘no pollution nod to attend Parl session certificate, no fuel’ policy in NCR dists Tribune News Service Mohit Khanna Sumedha Sharma New Delhi, July 25 Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday filed a police complaint after a deepfake video purportedly showing him making inflammatory remarks against the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) went viral on social media. In a post on X, he said the video was fake and had been manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI). In the said video, Goyal can be heard “threatening” protesting students. Many social media links related to the video had been taken down, government sources said. continued on page 7 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service FIR over Goyal’s deepfake video; links removed his constituency and fulfilling his parliamentary duties, Chandigarh, July 25 according to the representation. ‘ Waris Punjab De’ chief and Tarsem Singh alleged that Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Amritpal had also been denied Singh has sought permission access to MPLAD funds, which from the Speaker to was hampering develattend the ongoing opmental work in monsoon session of Khadoor Sahib. Parliament. He further pointed out Sharing a letter writthat even after the revoten by Amritpal to the cation of the National Lok Sabha Speaker, Security Act (NSA), his father Tarsem Amritpal Singh Amritpal remained Singh said despite lodged at Dibrugarh being an elected MP since 2024, Central Jail, Assam. He claimed his son had not been allowed to this detention was aimed at preattend any Parliament session. venting Amritpal from disThis denial had prevented charging his constitutional continued on page 7 Amritpal from raising issues of Today’s issue is of 24 pages, including six-page Spectrum and four page Delhi Tribune. c m y b Gurugram July 25 To curb vehicular pollution across the National Capital Region (NCR), the Haryana Government is set to enforce a strict policy of denying fuel sale to vehicles without a valid Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) across Gurugram and other NCR districts of the state. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini directed authorities to roll out such a policy without delay at a high-level pollution review meeting with Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav here on Friday. Saini instructed all departments to ensure time-bound implementation of the policy, along with expansion of the continuous ambient air quality monitoring system, stricter action against old and polluting vehicles and strengthening of the EV charging infrastructure. He said there would be no laxity in enforcing the policy, framing it as a key lever to cut vehicular pollution in the NCR belt. State Forest and Environment Minister Rao Narbir Singh was also present at the meeting, which reviewed the state’s broader air pollution action plan covering management of construction/demolition (C&D) waste, solid waste disposal, industrial emissions and stubble burning. Yadav pressed for tighter Centre-state coordination on air quality, directing officials to focus on scientific management of C&D waste, curbing biomass burning and stepping up village-level awareness drives against stubble burning, with clear and monitored targets set for local units and deputy commissioners. Saini used the meeting to announce that Haryana continued on page 7