24082026-TT-01.qxd 8/23/2026 ‘DESPERATE’ US SANCTIONS WILL FAIL: IRAN WORLD /thetribunechd 11:11 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 233 | 12 PAGES | ~6.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 HIMACHAL PRADESH monday | 24 august 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Cong sees Centre’s delimitation push for ‘abnormal delay’ in LS prorogation Doval heads to China for talks with Wang Yi AskswhetherShahistryingtocobbleuptwo-thirdsmajorityforBill Dialogue on boundary issue ahead of Xi’s India visit Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 23 National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is set to travel to Beijing on Monday, just weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to India for the BRICS leaders’ summit scheduled for September 12-13. Doval will take part in the Special Representatives (SRs) talks on the boundary issue with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday. During his visit, Doval may also call on President Xi, sources said. While Beijing has not released any official statement on Xi’s visit to New Delhi, sources said that the trip was NSA Ajit Doval with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. FILE expected to go ahead. It would be Xi’s first visit to India since October 2019, when he attended an informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu. Bilateral ties subsequently came under severe strain following the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in April 2020. Before the BRICS summit, Modi and Xi are also expected to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on September 1. According to the sources, a bilateral meeting on the sidelines remained a possibility. Doval and Wang, the designated Special Representatives (SRs) on the boundary issue, are scheduled to hold the 25th round of SR talks on Tuesday. The mechanism is continued on page 8 PADIKKAL HITS SECOND TON IN A ROW SPORT Rinku Behera Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 23 Ten days after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, the continued absence of any announcement on its prorogation has opened a fresh political front, with the Congress questioning whether the delay was linked to a possible government effort to marshal the numbers needed to push through a constitutional amendment Bill on delimitation. ‘DIABOLICAL MOVES’ AFOOT, RAISE CONCERNS Ten days have passed since the LS was adjourned sine die, but there is no info on its prorogation. It’s true that the gap for the monsoon session in 2015 was 28 days. However, there were no diabolical moves afoot then. Jairam Ramesh, CONGGENSECY ❝ Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday questioned the “abnormal delay” in proroguing the Lower House and asked whether Union Home Minister Amit Shah was still attempting to cobble togeth- er the “tainted” two-thirds majority required to pass a constitutional amendment on delimitation in a possible special session of Parliament. In a post on X, Jairam said the gap between “adjournment sine die” and proroga- tion of the Lok Sabha was generally two to four days, although there had been instances when both had taken place the same day. “Ten days have gone by since this Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die but still there is no information on its prorogation,” the Congress general secretary said. Jairam added that a delay of this nature was not unprecedented, pointing to the monsoon sessions of 2015 continued on page 8 ConvictinGudiya casegetslifeterm forSirmaurrape Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 23 Reversing a Himachal Pradesh High Court verdict, the Supreme Court has sentenced Anil Kumar, alias Nilu — convicted of raping and attempting SUPREME COURT REVERSES HP HIGH COURT ORDER to kill a woman under the Pachhad police station in Sirmaur district of the state in 2015 — to life imprisonment. Nilu is also serving a life term in the infamous Gudia rapecum-murder case (the Kotkhai rape and murder case) that had continued on page 8 CHANDIGARH: Days after describ- New York, August 23 A 28-year-old man from Kapurthala, Gurdeep Singh, was shot dead in New York City by an unidentified person following an altercation. Gurdeep, who moved to the US more than a decade ago, was fatally shot around 10 pm (local time) near Stanley Avenue while delivering a pizza, the North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) said ing 1984 riots convict Sajjan Kumar a “role model” and his death as an “irreparable loss”, Congress Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda on Sunday said his statement had been “distorted and presented out of context”. Meanwhile, former Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma demanded Deepender’s removal from the Congress Working Committee. INSIDE Assailant flees | Motive unclear | Gurdeep moved to US 10 yrs ago on Sunday. The suspect fled the scene after the incident. When the police reached the spot, they found the victim with gunshot injuries in the chest. Paramedics rushed continued on page 8 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Punjab man shot while delivering pizza in NYC Bid to target CM: Gurpreet rejects ~5-cr bribe charge Sumedha Sharma RemarksonSajjan distorted:Rohtak MPamidoustercall Saini to seek ‘Meghwal’ tag for SC group in caste certificates Chandigarh, August 23 Dr Gurpreet Kaur Mann, wife of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on Sunday rejected allegations that she demanded Rs 5 crore to help scuttle a rape case, calling the charges baseless and meant to hit the CM politically. In her first public response to the controversy, she challenged those levelling allegations against her to substantiate them or be ready to face legal action. Flanked by Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh and Punjab State Commission for Women chairperson Raj Lalli Bawal (Rewari), August 23 Haryana will recommend to the Centre to allow members of a stigmatised Scheduled Caste community the option of using “Meghwal” in their caste certificates, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said here on Sunday. “We will recommend to the Centre that members of the ‘Chamar’ community be given the choice to use the word ‘Meghwal’ in their caste certificates, if they so wish,” Saini said. The announcement came in response to one of 10 demands placed before the Chief Minister by the Megh- c m y b Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini and others during ‘Samrasta Sammelan & Pratibha Samman Samaroh’ at Bawal in Rewari district on Sunday. PTI wal Utthan Samiti. Saini accepted all 10 demands, saying they would be forwarded to the departments con- cerned for approval and announced a grant of Rs 31 lakh for the organisation. continued on page 8 Ruchika M Khanna PTI Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur at a Teej event. Gill, Gurpreet said the allegations were nothing more continued on page 8
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