08112026-TTC-01.qxd 11/8/2026 12:18 AM Page 1 c m y b 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 309 | 20 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 TN CM WRITES TO PM ON MEKEDATU DAM PROPOSAL >> NATION /thetribunechd WANGCHUK ALLEGES WITCH-HUNT IN LADAKH >> J&K KITCHEN KATHA: WARMTH OF HOMEMADE DIWALI TREATS >> SPECTRUM TRUMP NAMES MILLER CHIEF OF STAFF AFTER MIDTERM DEFEAT >> WORLD sunday | 8 november 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com PTI Oil Ministry rejects K’taka’s 26-31% ethanol charge as Rahul slams ‘petrol chori’ DIVINE RADIANCE 893 E20 samples across 27 states compliant:Centre Aditya Rangroo Tribune News Service Golden Temple illuminated on the eve of Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas in Amritsar on Saturday. VISHAL KUMAR HAPPY DIWALI TO OUR READERS The Tribune wishes its readers a happy and prosperous Diwali. Offices of The Tribune will remain closed on Sunday. There will, therefore, be no edition on Monday (November 9). The next edition of The Tribune will appear on Tuesday (November 10). New Delhi, November 7 The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Saturday rejected allegations by the Karnataka Government that petrol sold at some retail outlets contained ethanol levels of 26-31 per cent, asserting that fuel supplied by public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) across the country conforms to prescribed E20 standards. The ministry said nationwide testing of 893 samples had found ethanol content within the permitted range of 19-21 per cent, even as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted the Centre over the issue, demanding transparency on the actual compo- sition of petrol being sold. In a post in Hindi on X, Rahul said, “E20 turned into 420 – stealing petrol from the public’s cars!” The reference was to Section 420 of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, which dealt with cheating. Rahul cited test results of petrol samples collected by the Karnataka Government from seven districts, claiming that 11 of the 14 samples tested contained more than 20 per cent ethanol. “It’s 31.2 per cent at IOCL, 30.5 per cent at HPCL; IOCL, HPCL, BPCL, Nayara, Shell — whether governmentowned or private — all exceeded the limit,” he alleged. He further claimed that the companies’ own laboratories had not reported the ethanol content and questioned why fuel stations did not display labels disclosing the proportion of ethanol in petrol. The Congress leader alleged that excessive ethanol blending could affect vehicle performance, reduce mileage and increase maintenance costs. “Modi ji, tell us — what’s being put in the country’s tank? How much ethanol is actually in the petrol? When will action be taken against companies mixing more than 20 per cent ethanol?” he asked. He also reiterated his challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an open debate, saying ethanol blending could be included in the discussion. Rejecting the allegations, the ministry said the three public sector OMCs — Indian continued on page 8 Punjab announces 40% hike in DA for computerteachers Emergency a mistake, cried over Babri demolition: Sonia CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government has announced a 40 per cent increase in the dearness allowance (DA) of computer teachers of Punjab Information and Communication Technology Education Society. However, no update has been shared about the pending DA of government employees. INSIDE New Delhi, November 7 Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has described the decision by her mother-in-law and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to impose the Emergency as a mistake and said she cried while witnessing the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992. In an interview with British daily The Guardian ahead of the launch of her memoir, Sonia said she believed her mother-in-law had eventually Lawrence Bishnoi aide Harry Boxer detained in US NEW DELHI: Harry Boxer, alias Harichand Jat, an operative of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, has been detained by US authorities in California. Sources said the arrest followed inputs from Delhi Police Special Cell and Haryana STF Boxer allegedly . managed the gang’s extortion network from abroad. INSIDE Blast at Ghaziabad police outpost leaves one injured (UP): A blast in a police outpost in Ghaziabad left a person injured, prompting authorities to rush the anti-terrorist squad to the site. The police are verifying a social media post by ‘Tehrik Ul Mujahideen’, which has claimed responsibility for the blast that occurred on Friday night. INSIDE GHAZIABAD come to share her views on the Emergency. “I always feel she was a democrat at heart. I know many would laugh at this, but I believe she was never comfortable in the course of the Emergency. I think it was sitting heavy on her,” she said. The Guardian quoted Sonia as saying that her husband Rajiv Gandhi opposed the Emergency and urged his mother to wait until the next election. In contrast, she said, “his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi pushed for its imposition, arguing during a family dinner that the Oppo- sition would destroy their mother and insisting that they must be stopped”. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi criticised Sonia over her remarks that she had cried while witnessing the demolition of the Babri Masjid. “This shows that Babar was in the heart of the Congress back then, and he remains in its heart even today. The Congress has now narrowed its scope to Babar Raj, moving away from Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Ram Rajya’,” Trivedi said. The BJP also attacked Sonia and the Congress over the Emergency, describing it as a “murder of democracy”. Sonia also claimed that the country’s democratic fabric Parking row turns ugly, neighbour pumps 9 bullets into techie in F’bad 25 days after murder, Jhota’s postmortem conducted at PGI over the broken gate of their parking area, seeking repairs. Sharma allegedly told him on Friday, “I don’t talk to pups, send your father.” Following his son’s interaction with the accused, he reached the Ankhir police chowki and filed a complaint against Sharma, the sources said. When Sharma was called to the police post, he allegedly threatened to kill Dhankar the same night in front of police officials, the sources said. Considering the threat hollow, officials allegedly helped the two parties reach a compromise. On Friday night, Dhankar reportedly returned from the continued on page 8 Mansa, November 7 Twenty-five days after antidrug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was shot in Mansa, his postmortem examination was conducted at PGIMER, Chandigarh, on Saturday. Members of the action committee supporting the family’s demand for justice said the body was likely to be taken to Mansa at 5 am on Sunday, with cremation scheduled for the afternoon. Meanwhile, Jhota’s father, Bhim Singh, who accompanied the body to Chandigarh, has reportedly been observing an indefinite fast, seeking the transfer of Mansa SSP Vaibhav Chaudhary. INSIDE Tribune News Service Sumedha Sharma, Tribune News Service Faridabad, November 7 The COO of a Singaporebased FTP software company who had returned to India just two days earlier for a family wedding was shot dead outside his Faridabad residence on Friday night, allegedly by a neighbour following a dispute over parking and a pet dog. Paramjeet Dhankar, who earlier worked with Tech Mahindra, was killed in Sector 21C when his neighbour Monu Sharma allegedly opened fire with a licensed pistol. The police said around 15 rounds were fired, nine of which hit Dhankar, killing him on the spot. Victim came from Singapore for nephew’s wedding; accused held Paramjeet Dhankar According to police sources, the dispute between the two neighbours was old and the most recent escalation occurred after Dhankar’s son Shaurya confronted Sharma ‘Great damage done to India’s fabric under Modi’ Leveraged Hry’s water needs to settle BBMB dues: Sukhu Subhash Rajta Tribune News Service Shimla, November 7 A day after the Supreme Court awarded Himachal Pradesh 11,973 million units of power in settlement of its long-pending BBMB dues, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu disclosed that some behindthe-scenes efforts helped secure the state’s claim. Speaking at his residence while celebrating the verdict on Saturday, Sukhu said his government strategically linked the proposed Kishau Dam project with the settlement of Himachal’s BBMB arrears and leveraged Haryana’s need for additional water from the project to break the deadlock in the case. “I had found out that Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan needed additional water that would come from the Kishau Dam. I saw an opportunity to remove the hurdles in our BBMB arrears case. We agreed to sign the MoU for the construction of Kishau Dam only after Haryana agreed to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that it had no objection to the settlement of the state’s dues,” Sukhu said. He said that ahead of the signing of the Kishau Dam MoU earlier this year, the state government had written to the Centre on December 16, Details ‘strategy’ behind SC award of 11,973 mn units to HP HP CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu CM CAN’T CLAIM CREDIT BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur criticised Sukhu for “attempting” to claim credit for the BBMB settlement. “The SC decision represents three decades of legal struggle, successive state governments’ efforts and Centre’s contribution,” he said. making it clear that Himachal would sign the agreement only if Haryana stopped creating hurdles in the settlement of its BBMB arrears. “We made it clear to the Centre that it would have to convince Haryana to agree to the settlement of our BBMB arrears if it wanted us to sign the Kishau Dam MoU,” Sukhu said. Highlighting his government’s resolve to settle the long-pending issue, the CM claimed previous governments had failed to pursue the matter with the required urgency. “The Supreme Court had decided the case in our favour in 2011, yet we did not get our rightful dues because Today’s issue is of 20 pages, including six-page Spectrum. c m y b there was a lack of political will. The urgency was missing and replies were not filed on time. Our single-engine government delivered what the double-engine government couldn’t,” he said. “Had we taken the arrears in cash, the benefits would have been far lower. Power prices will continue to rise with time, so the state stands to gain much more by receiving electricity,” he said. “We are already selling power to Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala at around Rs 1415 per unit. We would earn nearly Rs 10,000 crore if we sell the BBMB power even at Rs 10 per unit,” he said. and institutions had suffered a “great damage” over the past 12 years (since the BJPled NDA government came to power in 2014). In an interview with an India-based English daily, she said restoring institutions to health would take time and require “great effort from political parties”. “People are now beginning to be restless and recognising the damage. But I am optimistic and I know that the people of India will welcome a return to proper governance,” she said ahead of the launch of continued on page 8 An IAF IL-76MD heavy-lift aircraft makes a historic landing at the Nyoma airfield, at an altitude of 13,629 feet, in eastern Ladakh. This is the highest touchdown ever achieved by the aircraft type anywhere in the world. INSIDE All Agniveers eligible for regular enrolment after 2-yr extension: Rajnath Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 7 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said all Agniveers would be eligible for enrolment as regular soldiers after completing their extended two-year tenure, subject to their willingness and fulfilment of the selection criteria. The minister, who addressed troops during a ‘Diwali Milan’ event at the Indian Air Force Station in Bagdogra, West Bengal, called upon the defence forces to maintain the highest level of operational readiness, with a sharp focus on enhancing domain awareness, cyber resilience and information integrity to counter non-conventional security threats. Rajnath also reviewed the operational preparedness of the Army’s 33 Corps, headquartered at Sukna in West Bengal. He was briefed on infrastructure development along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China as well as the induction of advanced military equipment and emerging technologies. The 33 Corps is responsible for guarding the India-China border in Sikkim. Rajnath’s remarks on Agniveers came three days after the government announced that the personnel due to leave the military at the end of their four-year tenure would be granted a two-year extension and subsequent permanent enrolment, subject to meeting specific eligibility criteria. Chief of Defence Staff Gen NS Raja Subramani had on November 4 said the eligibility criteria would include a soldier’s willingness to continue in service, meeting the prescribed physical fitness and having no pending disciplinary cases. Introduced in June 2022, the Agnipath scheme provides for the recruitment of soldiers for a four-year term, with only 25 per cent of them retained in regular service upon completion of their tenure. General Subramani announced the changes to the scheme following a Cabinet meeting chaired by continued on page 8