03082026-TTC-01.qxd 8/3/2026 SHOE HURLED AT PAPPU YADAV IN DELHI NATION /thetribunechd 12:41 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 10 NO. 213 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 monday | 3 august 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Drug-free youth crucial for Viksit Bharat: PM unveils 100-week drive First major public outreach post stir vide a temporary “high” but ultimately damaged careers, perNew Delhi, August 2 sonal lives and families. “To Prime Minister Narendra achieve the goal of a Viksit Modi on Sunday urged the Bharat, the youth must be physcountry’s youth to stay away ically and mentally fit and stay from substance away from drug abuse and become abuse,” he stressed, ambassadors of posiadding “if a youth tive social change in gets addicted to their communities. drugs, his aspirations Addressing young take a hit, and his fampeople via video conily gets shattered”. ference, the Prime Questioning the Minister launched a social stigma associNarendra Modi 100-week ‘Nasha ated with drug Mukt Yuva for Viksit addiction, he said Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan’ in those who came out of drug what is being seen as his first addiction were fighters and major public engagement after should be honoured by society. the student protest at Jantar “Society should respect them, Mantar in the national capital embrace them and give them over NEET paper leaks. a second chance,” he said. continued on page 8 Modi said drugs might pro- Tribune News Service 7-DAY PUNJAB SESSION FROM TODAY Oppn set to corner Mann on anti-sacrilege law, paper leak Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 2 The seven-day monsoon session of the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha will begin on Monday, with the anti-sacrilege law amendment and paper leak issues likely to pit the government against the Opposition. This may be the last session ahead of the Assem- BILLS ON AGENDA ■ Bill to regularise 65,000 contract staff to be tabled ■ Legislation to cap annual fee hike by pvt schools at 5% bly polls early next year. Though the AAP government had promised to make continued on page 8 500 days, 70K arrests: Pb CM says drug war to go on “introduced drugs” in Punjab, while the Congress had “patroLudhiana, August 2 nised the menace”. He claimed Marking 500 days of the AAP governthe AAP government had “broken ment’s anti-drug the back” of the drive, Punjab Chief drug trade through Minister Bhagwant strict enforcement, Mann on Sunday said rehabilitation of the ‘Yudh Nashian addicts and a susVirudh’ campaign tained public awarehad led to the arrest of ness campaign. 70,000 smugglers and Bhagwant Mann “Punjab, once that the crackdown branded as ‘Udta would continue until the men- Punjab’, is now transforming ace was completely eradicated into ‘Padhta te Tandrust from the state. Punjab’,” he said, citing the Launching a sharp attack on state’s top ranking in school previous governments, the education, record performChief Minister alleged that the ances in JEE and NEET and continued on page 8 Shiromani Akali Dal had Tribune News Service Bajrangi, Manesar kept out ofNuh yatra Gurugram, August2 Cow vigilantes Raj Kumar, alias Bittu Bajrangi, of Faridabad and Mohit Yadav, alias Monu Manesar, of Gurugram, along with 100 others, have been barred from attending the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra in Nuh on August 3. Both were named as accused in the 2023 Nuh violence, which was triggered by their alleged provocative social media posts and public announcements. INSIDE ‘US HELD OFF IRAN STRIKE FOR QUICK DEAL’ WORLD Protester’svideoan afterthought:Police refuteassaultclaim SC to take up pleas on police ‘excesses’ today Rahul Gahlawat Satya Prakash Tribune News Service Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 2 A senior Delhi Police officer has refuted the claims made in a video post by a woman protester of being prodded in the back by a cop during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) march last month. Sachin Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police, told The Tribune that the video, posted almost 12 days after the incident, seemed an afterthought. “Almost the entire area is under CCTV coverage. Anything and everything outside the shadow zones is caught on camera,” he said. The student, who participated in the “Sansad Chalo” march called by the CJP on July 20, had alleged that police personnel had abused her. She claimed other women protesters had also faced a similar treatment. continued on page 8 New Delhi, August 2 The Supreme Court will on Monday hear petitions alleging police brutality during the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests over the NEET paper leak. The matter will be taken up by a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, which had earlier indicated that it may constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a former Supreme Court judge, to probe allegations made by protesters and pelletgun victims and determine whether attacks on police personnel were carried out by students or by “miscreants”. On July 28, the court restrained states from taking any coercive action against protesters and directed the release of those below 18 years of age, provided they had no criminal antecedents. ‘GREATEST GIFT’: TEEN’S MOTHER THANKS PM The mother of the minor whose abusive remarks against PM Narendra Modi during a student protest sparked widespread controversy on Sunday publicly thanked the PM for choosing forgiveness over retaliation. She described it as the “greatest gift” her daughter could ever receive. INSIDE The Bench observed that a fair and independent investigation was necessary and that anyone found to have committed excesses or taken the law into their own hands should be held accountable. The Bench also directed the states concerned to preserve CCTV footage, drone recordings, body-camera footage, wireless communication records, PCR logs and other digital evidence related to the protests. Punjab’s Tanvi youngest Taipei Open champ Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi Tanvi Sharma Hoshiarpur, August 2 Teenage badminton prodigy Tanvi Sharma from Hoshiarpur scripted history on Sunday by winning the BWF Taipei Open Super 300 women’s singles title. At just 17 years and 222 days old, she became the youngest champion in the Taipei Open history, surpassing the legendary Tai Tzu Ying. Tanvi defeated Vietnam’s Today’s issue is of 16 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. c m y b Ends India’s 18-yr wait for title; Mann hails shuttler sixth seed Nguyen Thuy Linh in straight games 21-16, 21-16 in a commanding final to clinch the biggest title of her career. The triumph also ended India’s 18-year wait for a women’s singles title at the Taipei Open since Saina Nehwal’s victory in 2008. Tanvi’s latest success crowns a meteoric rise in world badminton. The Hoshiarpur shuttler, who trained under her mother and coach Meena Sharma, has emerged as one of India’s brightest prospects after becoming World Junior No. 1, winning multiple international junior medals and breaking into the top-35 of the senior BWF world rankings. Her consistent performances over the past year have established her among the world’s continued on page 8 Justice Liberhan, who probed Babri Masjid demolition, passes away at 87 Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 2 Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, former Chief Justice of the Madras and Andhra Pradesh high courts, and former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, passed away here on Sunday. He was 87. Best known for heading MS Liberhan the Liberhan Commission that inquired into the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Justice Liberhan occupied a unique place in India’s judicial and constitutional history. His legal career spanned more than four decades. His cremation will take place at the Sector 25 cremation ground here at 11 am on Monday. When the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992, the country was searching for answers. Just over a week later, the Central Government turned to Justice Liberhan, entrusting him with the task of heading the Commission of Inquiry into one of independent India’s most defining and divisive events. What was expected to be a relatively brief exercise stretched over nearly 17 years, making the Liberhan Commission perhaps the longest-running commission of inquiry in the country’s history. By the time its report was submitted in 2009, the continued on page 8