16092026-TTB-01.qxd 9/16/2026 12:00 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 256 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HARYANA B’DESH SENTENCES SEVEN HASINA ALLIES TO DEATH WORLD /thetribunechd BRING UCC BILL IN PARL IF YOU HAVE NUMBERS: CM OMAR TO BJP J&K GATES VOWS $1 BN TO MISHRA APPEARED FOR TRIM AI’s RICH-POOR RAM TEMPLE INTERVIEW, DIVIDE BUSINESS SAYS TRUST BACK PAGE wednesday | 16 september 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com UPI transactions above ~2K to attract 0.4% levy Covers only person-to-merchant transfers, starting Oct 15 Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 15 Starting October 15, merchant payments made through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) above Rs 2,000 will attract a merchant discount rate (MDR) of 0.4 per cent, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced on Tuesday. UPI will continue to be free for person-to-person (P2P) transactions, as will personto-merchant (P2M) transactions of up to Rs 2,000, which make up for more than 95 per cent of total volume of UPI merchant transactions. The government said a nominal MDR of 0.4 per cent would be levied on person-to-merchant UPI merchant transactions above Rs 2,000. For payments worth Rs 75,000 and above, the MDR will be capped at Rs 300 per transaction. To counter criticism from the Opposition over the move, the government said the UPI MDR was structured significantly lower than fees charged on traditional card-based payments. “Standard credit card MDRs typically range from 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent per transaction, while debit card MDRs are UPI MDR FEE STRUCTURE FROM OCT 15, 2026 CATEGORY P2P* P2M** TRANSACTION SLAB Any amount Up to ~2,000 Over ~2,000 ~75,000 & above Up to ~1 L/month (via UPI QR code) Over ~2,000 P2PM# (Small vendor) Specific merchant categories (Rlys, telecom, insurance, fuel, agri) Utility bills Over ~2,000 & edu fee Capital market Any amount transactions (Mutual funds, securities, stockbrokers) Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 15 Meta has agreed to report cases related to child sexual abuse and other child safety concerns to the appropriate law enforcement agencies in India as the government steps up pressure on social media platforms to take stronger measures to protect children online, government sources said on Tuesday. The sources said the government was continuously engaging with social media platforms to curb harmful and illegal information and ensure a safer online environment for children. “The online safety of children is a fundamental principle for any social media platform to operate in India and it is non-negotiable,” they said. Officials said Meta’s decision to report child safety-related matters to law enforcement agencies was an important step, but stressed that significantly more needed to be done to address risks faced by children online. They also said it remained engaged with other social media platforms to encourage them to proactively identify and remove harmful content involving children. The government has warned that platforms that fail to take Flat ~5/transaction Flat ~5/transaction 0.02% (Capped at ~300) *Person-to-person; **Person-to-merchant; #Person-to-person-merchant IT’S A MODI TAX: CONG SLAMS FEE The charge should be called ‘Modi tax’. He popularised UPI, wanted all the credit for a cashless system and now he is taxing people for using it. Pawan Khera, CONGRESS LEADER ❝ capped at 0.9 per cent. By setting the UPI MDR at 0.4 per cent on transactions above Rs 2,000 and capping it at Rs 300 for high-value purchases, UPI remains the most affordable Meta agrees to report childsafetycasestolaw enforcement agencies Rinku Behera APPLICABLE FEE Nil Nil 0.4%/transaction Capped at ~300/transaction Nil digital payment acceptance mechanism for merchants,” the government said, adding that the lower MDR would help continued on page 12 Edit: Sustaining UPI Odisha Govt junks Dara Singh’s plea for release from jail inStaines’murders Bhubaneswar, September 15 The Odisha Government has rejected the plea of Hindutva activist Ravindra Pal, alias Dara Singh, for premature release from prison in the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons in Keonjhar in 1999, officials said on Tuesday. Singh, who is serving life imprisonment, had made the appeal for his premature release from prison as he had already spent around 25 years in jail. The Supreme Court had asked the Odisha Government to take a decision in this regard. The state took the decision at a special meeting of the State Sentence Review Board (SSRB) on August 31, the officials said. The meeting resolved that “in view of certain facts and circumstances, the Board is not inclined to recommend his premature release at this stage”, they added. The government, while rejecting the plea, said Singh’s plea had earlier also been turned down by the SSRB — on November 24, 2016; June 24, 2019; December 24, 2020; January 12, 2022; and February 20, 2023 — “on various grounds, including the societal ramifications in apprehension of communal disturbance in the area”. — PTI Two women shot in Manipur violence UP CM Yogi Adityanath with HP & Haryana counterparts Sukhvinder Sukhu and Nayab Singh Saini in New Delhi. ANI 6 states ink Kishau agreement; Centretobear90%projectcost Animesh Singh & Manikant Mishra Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 15 After years of dispute on issues related to cost-sharing and water allocation, a memorandum of agreement for the Kishau Multipurpose Project was signed on Tuesday between the chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil. Himachal Pradesh, which is one of the two states (the other being Uttarakhand) where the proposed dam and reservoir will come up, claimed that its key concern regarding the sharing of the PILOTING TRUCE HIMACHAL CM Sukhu says the state will get 1,000 million units of power a year from the project, which amounts to over ~1,000 crore HARYANA The state will receive 836 cusecs of water, UP 543.2 cusecs, Rajasthan 163.52 cusecs, while Delhi will get 105.28 cusecs financial burden of the project had been resolved. It had long argued that as an upstream state bearing the direct impact of the proposed dam, it should not be made to shoulder a disproportionate financial burden when much of the water would benefit downstream states. NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted three weeks’ interim bail to Hindutva influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj in connection with the alleged assault on the father of a student activist during a protest at Jantar Mantar. The court said Bhardwaj’s regular bail plea would be decided only after observing his conduct. — PTI USjudgeblockscapon foreignstudents’stay WASHINGTON: A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Trump administration rule that sought to put a cap on stays of foreign students, journalists and exchange visitors, a day before it was to come into effect. A Massachusetts judge ruled that the new policy would probably cause ‘catastrophic’ damage to the economy. BACK PAGE Punjab cops arrest Deol on his arrival in Delhi from Canada Jupinderjit Singh Tribune News Service In a public display of unity, Congress leader Sachin Pilot, former CM Charanjit Singh Channi and PPCC chief Raja Warring join hands during a protest in Chandigarh on Tuesday. The party is demanding the resignation of Finance Minister Harpal Cheema over the suicide of farm labourer Gulzar Singh. RAVI KUMAR Chandigarh, September 15 In a major operation conducted in coordination with the FBI and Canadian law enforcement authorities, the Punjab Police have arrested gangster Karamveer Singh Deol. A Ludhiana resident, Deol is an expert in making fake passports. He had allegedly facilitated the escape of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol Bishnoi to the US days before the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in May 2022. 4 DEPORTED FROM CANADA Canadian authorities have deported four Punjab-origin individuals for their alleged involvement in organised crime, including extortion-related violence. ~200 CR EXTORTION CALL A 50-year-old woman in Delhi allegedly received a call from a foreign number in the name of Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, demanding ~200 crore as extortion money, the police said. After a four-year pursuit involving Indian security agencies and sustained diplo- matic efforts with Canadian authorities, Deol was deported from Canada on Monday night and taken into custody by the Punjab Police upon his arrival in New Delhi. Sources said the operation, code-named “Long Reach”, involved close coordination among the Punjab Police, central agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities. Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said Deol, a resident of Bahadur Ke village in Ludhiana, was the same individual whose continued on page 12 PakknowswhereAzharis,shouldarresthim:India ‘100% case of dismissal’: Ujwal Jalali Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 15 India on Tuesday dismissed Pakistan’s decision to increase the bounty on Jaishe-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a “phony announcement”, saying Islamabad knew where the UN-designated terrorist was and should arrest him instead. “Such gimmicks and hoodwinking by Pakistan is not new. We have seen such gimmicks in the past as well,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing. He was responding to a question on Pakistan’s recent decision to raise the bounty on Azhar, who has been wanted for nearly two decades. Jaiswal said a state sponsor of terror could not gain credibility by making announcements that had no meaningful consequences. “They must take action and not make phony announcements which are of no consequence. They know where he is. They should arrest him,” he said. Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had reportedly increased the reward for information leading to Azhar’s arrest to PKR 70 lakh, from PKR 50 lakh earlier. Azhar, the founder and chief of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, is wanted in India in connection with several major terror attacks, including the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack. He is also among the key accused in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. The development comes ahead of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in Paris next month, where Pakistan’s record on countering terrorist financing and money laundering is expected to come under scrutiny. India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of harbouring and supporting terror groups operating against it. Islamabad has denied sheltering Azhar and has previously claimed that he was hiding in Afghanistan, a charge denied by Kabul. Satish Gujral Foundation roped in to preserve artist’s 60-yr-old murals Manikant Mishra Tribune News Service Satish Gujral’s murals at Shastri Bhawan being studied for relocation. As per the terms of the agreement, the Centre will bear 90 per cent of the cost of the project, while the remaining 10 per cent will be borne by the participating states in accordance with the 1994 agreement. Regarding the Kishau Multipurpose Project, Shah said an agreement reached on May 12, 1994, required separate agreements to be signed for each storage project coming up in the basin. Without that arrangement, this would not have been possible. Subsequently, after the disputes concerning the Lakhwar and Renukaji projects were resolved in 2019, work on Kishau moved forward, he said. A formal agreement on the project was continued on page 12 Hindutva influencer gets interim bail Fake passport expert, who helped Anmol Bishnoi flee to US, deported Govt says safety of kids fundamental principle proactive measures to protect children online will face appropriate government action. The latest development follows a meeting in August between the representatives of Meta and the government where a range of issues were discussed, including compliance with Indian laws, safeguards for the removal of posts involving prominent personalities and concerns over child sexual abuse material. During the meeting, the government had also asked Meta executives to demonstrate in specific terms how their platforms were complying with Indian laws with respect to freedom of expression, privacy, content moderation and trust around digital spaces. In July, a Meta team had met Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology officials after a notice was issued to them on the issue of the rollout of the ‘usernames’ feature on WhatsApp in India. Meanwhile, child rights watchdog NCPCR has again summoned Meta India’s managing director over objectionable advertisements. Edit: online child abuse WHAT’S IN IT FOR CHURACHANDPUR: In fresh violence, suspected militants on Tuesday gunned down two women and burnt a few farmhouses outside a village in Manipur’s Tamenglong district. Armed militants shot the two women from the Kuki community when they had gone out to an isolated field in the interior village of Leisangphai to collect firewood. INSIDE New Delhi, September 15 The Centre has engaged the Satish Gujral Foundation to help preserve the murals created by legendary artist Satish Gujral on the façade of the soon-to-be-vacated Shastri Bhawan government office complex, an iconic structure that is to be demolished under the next phase of the Central Vista redevel- Adorn facade of soon-to-be-razed Shastri Bhawan opment project. The Tribune has learnt that the foundation, which works to preserve the artist’s legacy, has been appointed a knowledge partner by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). The Ministry of Culture has tasked the NGMA with ensuring the careful removal, transportation and c m y b reinstallation of the murals, which were created nearly six decades ago. Gujral Foundation representatives said the search for a new home for the artworks was underway. They said the murals, conceived by Satish Gujral on an architectural scale for public viewing, would be carefully docu- mented, removed and conserved before being transported to a new location. “The future home has not yet been decided,” a foundation spokesperson said. The foundation also expressed hope that the eventual relocation of the murals would not only ensure their preservation but also retain their architectural scale and public character. continued on page 12 SC on Bhullar’s bail plea witnesses. On April 10, the top court had refused to grant bail New Delhi, September 15 to Bhullar and asked him to As suspended Punjab Police approach the Punjab and DIG Harcharan Singh Haryana High Court again if Bhullar moved his second the trial did not commence bail plea in a corruption case within two months. being probed by the CBI, the It had noted that the High Supreme Court on Tuesday Court appeared to be correct said, “It’s a 100 per cent case in denying him bail, as some of dismissal.” material witnesses were yet Bhullar has been in to be examined. custody since October Bhullar had sub16, 2025, when he was mitted that the arrested by the CBI in alleged offence under connection with a corthe Prevention of ruption case. “It’s a 100 Corruption Act carper cent case of disried a maximum senmissal. Do you want tence of seven years dismissal now or later,” and that he had a three-judge Bench already undergone Harcharan Singh Bhullar led by Chief Justice of substantial incarceraIndia Surya Kant asked. tion since his arrest. Deferring the hearing for Based on a complaint filed four weeks, the Bench indicat- by Akash Batta on October ed that it would examine the 11, 2025, accusing Bhullar of bail plea after certain material demanding illegal gratificawitnesses were examined. tion through Krishanu in Bhullar’s counsel argued exchange for ensuring that that the complainant and a no coercive steps would be material witness had not yet taken against the combeen examined. He requested plainant’s business in an the top court to permit the FIR registered at the Sirhind continued on page 12 examination of two shadow Satya Prakash Tribune News Service