16102026-TTB-01.qxd 10/16/2026 12:04 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 286 | 18 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI PAK PILOTS BARRED FROM ISRAELI AIRSPACE >> WORLD /thetribunechd DEVELOPMENT OF LADAKH A PRIORITY, SAYS PM MODI >> J&K AKASH: JIO SERVICES, NOT IAF TO GET OWN SATELLITE, TARIFF HIKES, TO DRIVE MoD INKS ~2,563-CR REVENUE >> BUSINESS PACT >> BACK PAGE friday | 16 october 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com SC issues notice to EC on Rahul’s petition seeking SIR suspension Converts can’t claim quota benefits: SC NEW DELHI: Hindus belonging to backward classes can’t claim reservation benefits after converting to Islam or Christianity, as their social backwardness cannot be carried over from the Hindu social order to a non-Hindu social order following conversion, the SC ruled. It dismissed the Tamil Nadu Government’s plea challenging the Madras HC’s June 25 order. BACK PAGE LoP, 9 other Oppn leaders allege wrongful deletion of 13 cr voters Tribune News Service 9HPcollegestudents suspendedforragging HAMIRPUR: Nine students of Dr Radhakrishnan Government Medical College and Hospital, Hamirpur, were suspended for two weeks on Wednesday following complaints of alleged ragging of junior students. A fine of Rs 50,000 each was imposed on three students, while six others were fined Rs 25,000 each. INSIDE Pb moves HC over France trip denial CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Gov- ernment has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging the Ministry of External Affairs’ decision to deny political clearance, allegedly without assigning any reason, for a delegation led by the Chief Minister to visit France from October 15 to 21 to promote trade. INSIDE Farmers block a road during a ‘Punjab bandh’ call, near the Sohana Gurdwara in Mohali on Thursday. RAVI KUMAR Markets & schools shut, roads blocked in Pb over Jhota killing Archit Watts Tribune News Service Mansa, October 15 Punjab observed a bandh on Thursday over the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, with the situation remaining largely peaceful across the state, barring reports of political hoardings being torn down and a tobacco kiosk set on fire in Mansa. Shops, several banks and educational institutions remained closed as protesters, including Nihangs and farmers, took to the streets, urging people to shut their business establish- All 4 accused in activist’s murder case held SHO SUSPENDED AMID MOUNTING PRESSURE The Mansa City-2 SHO, Inspector Beant Kaur, was suspended on administrative grounds on Thursday, two days after Jhota’s murder. Protesters had sought action against her over the drug menace. LUDHIANA DRUG STORE VANDALISED AFTER DEATH A mob on Thursday vandalised a medical store in the Old Sabzi Mandi area of Ludhiana, alleging that the chemist had sold prohibited intoxicating medicines to a man, Sahil, resulting in his death. ments. Mansa town remained shut for the third consecutive day as the agitation continued. Markets remained shut at several places in the state, including Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Sangrur, Barnala, Moga, Patiala and Mansa, and continued on page 9 First tranche of India-US Come Nov 1, phones to trade pact finalised, legal show names of all callers draftingunderway:Goyal as DoT issues fresh rules Aditya Rangroo Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 15 Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the first tranche of the proposed India-US trade agreement had been finalised and was currently undergoing legal drafting, with both sides hoping to operationalise it once India secured a competitive edge over peer nations. Goyal said the agreement was in its final stages. “The US bilateral trade agreement’s first tranche has been finalised. It is going through the final contours and legal drafting, and we hope to finalise that soon and operationalise it once we get comparable or competitive advantage over our peer countries,” he said. Goyal maintained that his position on the negotiations had remained unchanged. “What I have said today is Says eyeing competitive edge over other countries Piyush Goyal exactly what I said yesterday, a week ago and three months ago,” he remarked. His comments come amid prolonged negotiations between India and the US over the trade pact. A framework for a temporary trade agreement was announced in February, but shifting tariff policies in the US have delayed its finalisation. India has been seeking preferential market access and tariff treatment better than that continued on page 9 Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 15 The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has directed all telecom operators to display the caller’s name, not just the number, on the receiver’s phone screen across their 4G and 5G networks starting November 1. The DoT’s “calling name presentation” (CNAP) service is aimed at strengthening caller identification and helping curb online fraud by displaying the caller’s name alongside incoming call information. In a circular dated October 13, the department said operators had conducted trials for the introduction of the CNAP on 4G and highergeneration networks. “All telecommunication service providers... are hereby instructed to introduce calling name presentation service in their networks across all service areas with effect from November 1, 2026,” the circular stated. The DoT said the rollout of CNAP on wireless terrestrial networks operating on 2G and 3G technologies, as well as public switched telephone networks, would be considered separately after further examination. Under the system, recipients will first see the name saved in their contact list, followed by the name identified by the telecom operator with which the caller is registered. For domestic calls, the caller’s identity will be displayed, while calls originating from overseas will be marked as international calls. For bulk business connections, the service will display the entity’s preferred name. This may be a trademark registered in the user’s name, as reflected in the records of the relevant government department, or the trade name registered on the goods and services portal. continued on page 9 22L deleted WBvoters can’t appeal in spl camps Election officials say their pleas for relief still pending before tribunals Animesh Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 15 The Election Commission has said that 22 lakh West Bengal “voters” whose appeals against deletion from electoral rolls are pending before tribunals cannot participate in the special camps being organised by the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). The camps are meant for voters left out of the final rolls after the special intensive revision (SIR) who did not approach the tribunals. The Supreme Court is set to hear on Friday a petition of the 22 lakh “voters” seeking permission to participate in the camps. Sources in the EC said the 22 lakh deleted voters were ineli- DelhiHCrefusesto restrainCJPfrom CPprotesttoday Satya Prakash SPL SUMMARY REVISION IN PUNJAB, OTHER STATES ■ The EC has ordered annual ■ Revision will begin on Nov 2, special summary revision of poll rolls in 17 states and UTs ■ The states, UTs include pollbound Punjab, UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, Gujarat conclude with publication of final voter list on Jan 4, 2027 ■ The exercise aims to enrol eligible voters, particularly first-time electors INSIDE gible for the camps as their cases were already under adjudication before 19 tribunals, which were equivalent to courts, across the state. All these ineligible voters have moved the Supreme Court as the West Bengal municipal poll schedule is expected to be notified early next month. They contend that since their names were left out of the electoral rolls after the SIR and their appeals remained pending before tribunals, they were unable to vote in the Assembly elections earlier this year and in the recent Nandigram and Rejinagar byelections. They have now urged the Supreme Court to allow them to participate in the EC’s special camps so that they could be enrolled in time to vote in the upcoming municipal polls. The Supreme Court was earlier scheduled to hear their appeal on October 29, but will take it up on Friday on the request of their lawyers since the earlier date was too close to the announcement of the municipal poll schedule. In a note issued on October 12, the West Bengal CEO said that, in line with the Election Commission’s directions, all 24 district electoral officers (DEOs) had launched a “proactive campaign” to ensure that no eligible voter was left out of the electoral rolls. The note said special camps were being organised across the state and that anyone with a grievance could continued on page 9 Today’s issue is of 18 pages, including four-page Delhi Tribune. c m y b New Delhi, October 15 The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to the Election Commission and others on a petition filed by Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and nine other opposition leaders over alleged large-scale irregularities and deletion of 13 crore voters during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked the Election Commission, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to respond to the petition that sought suspension of the ongoing SIR exercise. The Bench ordered tagging of the matter with petitions already pending before it. “Issue notice. But one objection before that.... We would like to ask one of the petitioners about his conduct on the next date of hearing. Issuing notice does not mean that we are condemning anything. continued on page 9 CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and AISA national president Neha Bora during a joint press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. PHOTO: MANAS RANJAN BHUI Can’t browbeat judiciary: SC notice to Rahul, others Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 15 The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and others on a lawyers’ petition against their march to the court and entering its Registry on October 12 to file a plea against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Cops get notice on Jantar Mantar denotification Frowning upon the conduct of Rahul and others, who marched to the top court on October 12, a Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said these were feeble attempts that nobody took note of. “Nobody can browbeat the continued on page 9 New Delhi, October 15 The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to restrain the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and its founder Abhijeet Dipke from holding a protest at Connaught Place’s Central Park on Friday, even as the Delhi Police assured the court that it would take ‘appropriate steps’ to regulate the gathering and prevent disruption to business activity in the Capital’s commercial hub. The Central Park in Connaught Place will remain shut for the public on October 16 and 17. INSIDE ActorImranaskedto leaveIndiabyOct28 NEW DELHI: The Mumbai Police on Thursday issued a notice to actor Imran Khan (43), directing him to leave India by October 28 for allegedly violating provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act by participating in an anti-CEC protest. INSIDE