06022019-TT-01.qxd 2/5/2019 10:50 PM Page 1 13 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | jammu | srinagar | vol.4 no.36 | 20 pages | ~4.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2018-2020 established in 1881 | wednesday, february6,2019 AFTER CHINA, INDIA IS WORLD’S SECOND LARGEST LPG CONSUMER PAGE 12 DENIED ENTRY BY AIR, YOGI DRIVES INTO BENGAL PAGE 7 /thetribunechd Draft of Kartarpur pact for Pak soon Final legal modalities in a month Smita Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 5 India hopes to share a draft agreement on the Kartarpur corridor with Pakistan and complete legal modalities in a month. The Indian stakeholders held another meeting, chaired by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, today, aimed at fast-tracking implementation of the project ahead of the 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. Among those present were Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, BSF DG RK Misra, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria and senior officials from coordinating agencies. “We discussed all aspects of the agreement that we want to finalise with Pakistan. We are hopeful of sending the draft proposal and complete legal modalities in a month,” said Singh. According to officials, land acquisition for the highway and the integrated check post (ICP) were the key issues discussed. The ICP details are likely to be finalised by next week. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) will make available land to commence the preliminary work. “Land acquisition is in progress. This involves four stages, we are at the second stage. We are hopeful that in a monthand-a-half we will complete this process,” Singh said. While the preliminary notification for land acquisition for the highway has been issued, the notification to acquire land for the ICP would be issued tomorrow. India had earlier proposed February 26 and March 7 for visit of the Pakistan delegation here to finalise modalities. “The two sides remain in touch on the issue,” said a Pakistani diplomat. ! jammu & kashmir PRIYANKA GETS GOING, MEETS LEADERS PAGE 16 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Join probe, Kolkata top coptold SC: Faithfully cooperate with CBI, no arrest Dharna ends, our fight ❝ Satya Prakash I will not give up... Modi hatao, desh bachao. The dharna is a victory of the people of the country, of democracy. I will now take the fight to Delhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 5 The Supreme Court today ordered Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who headed a Special Investigation Team that probed the Saradha chit fund scam, to “faithfully” cooperate with the CBI team, but protected him from arrest. The order by a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi came a day after the CBI moved the top court accusing Kumar of tampering with electronic evidence and obstructing the probe into the case that was assigned to it by the court. “However, we make it clear that no coercive steps, including arrest, shall be taken against the Commissioner of Police,” said the Bench, which also included Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna. To avoid “all unnecessary controversy”, the Bench continued on page 7 more on page 7 Mamata Banerjee, WB CHIEF MINISTER Democracy is in danger. Everybody is under threat. If anybody raises his voice, you throw them in jail. Is it Emergency? It is worse than Emergency Chandrababu Naidu, ANDHRA CM RESTRAINT ON ‘DIDI KI DADAGIRI’: BJP With egg on her face, to celebrate it as a moral victory is a dichotomy available only to Mamata Banerjee’s realm of politics. The SC order has brought her political histrionics to a screeching halt. The order to appear before the CBI at Shillong shows a state of lawlessness exists in West Bengal. SC has put a constitutional restraint on ‘Didi ki dadagiri’. Smriti Irani, UNION MINISTER will continue:Mamata Kolkata, February 5 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called off her sit-in this evening after the Supreme Court forbade the CBI from taking coercive action against Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar. She, however, vowed to wage a relentless battle against the Modi government till it was ousted from power. Banerjee, who dramatically began the dharna on Sunday evening over the CBI's bid to question Kumar, said she was ending the protest following a “favourable” SC order after consulting leaders of like-minded parties. She had begun the protest claiming the spirit of “Constitution and federalism” was being stifled by the Modi government after a CBI team went to quiz the Kolkata Commissioner of Police on Sunday evening in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam, setting the Centre: Act against CP The Centre on Tuesday asked the West Bengal Government to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Kolkata Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar for “indiscipline” and violation of services rules. It said Kumar sat on a dharna with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in contravention of the provisions of rules. . stage for a fresh confrontation with the Centre. CBI officials were dragged by Kolkata police, bundled into vehicles and detained, in a development Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh dubbed as “constitutional breakdown”. Banerjee, one of the prime movers behind the effort to cobble together an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha poll, drew support from over 20 Opposition parties as continued on page 7 Punjab DGP panel: UPSC for legal nod Jupinderjit Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 5 A day after shortlisting three names for the post of DGP , the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has not sent the names formally to the Punjab Government. Sources in the Chief Minister Office said the UPSC was seeking legal clearance of the names. As the process of forming such a panel was undertaken for the first time following a Supreme Court order in January, the UPSC will get legal clearance first before sending the names to the CM, they added. The UPSC had, in a meeting on Monday, shortlisted three officers — Samant Goel, Mohd Mustafa and Dinkar Gupta. Both Goel and Mustafa are 1984-batch IPS officers while Dinkar Gupta is a 1987-batch officer. The list raised eyebrows as the UPSC had empanelled only 1987-batch officers for the Bihar DGP post. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar continued on page 7 Relief to CAPF officers, apex ‘Wrong answer key’ 20 villages in Sonepat record a to 7 judicial queries huge leap in female-male ratio court paves way for NFU To get same financial benefits as in other govt cadres HCS (Judicial) exam challenged Vijay Mohan Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 5 The Supreme Court today paved the way for grant of Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU) to officers of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) that function under the Home Ministry, thereby giving them the same financial benefits as are being enjoyed by officers in other government cadres. Ruling that CAPFs — CRPF BSF ITBP CISF RPF , , , , and SSB — are part of the Organised Group-A Services (OGAS), a Bench comprising Justices Rohington Fali Nariman and MR Shah upheld an earlier order of the Delhi High Court that had directed the Centre to NON-FUNCTIONAL UPGRADE ■ 2008 Non-Functional Upgradation scheme entitled IAS officers, other designated OGAS officers to get pay scale of highest promoted officer of batch even if they were not promoted ■ Affected non-promoted officers are given the higher grade two years after their batchmates are elevated ■ While almost all government organisations received benefit, it was denied to members of the defence forces and CAPFs grant NFU to officers of these uniformed forces. The NFU scheme, implemented in 2008, entitled IAS officers and other designated OGAS officers to get pay scale of the highest promoted officer of their batch even if they were not promoted. The affected non-promoted officers are given the higher grade two years after their batchmates are elevated. While almost all government organisations received the benefit of NFU, it was denied to members of the defence forces and CAPFs. Officers from the defence continued on page 7 Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 5 A candidate has questioned the queries posed in the judges’ examination. In a petition filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the candidate today claimed that the final answer keys to seven questions in the Haryana Civil Service (Judicial Branch) examination were incorrect and five were wrongly deleted. After preliminary hearing, the Bench of Justices Rakesh Kumar Jain and Harnaresh Singh Gill fixed February 8 for further consideration of the matter. Petitioner Snehil Sharma submitted that one of the questions was: “In 2017, the Supreme Court held that the right to privacy was protected under Article 21 in what context?” The options were: “State surveillance; power of search and seizure; homosexuality or Indian biometric identification scheme.” Sharma claimed the right answer was “State surveillance”. In the final answer key, the correct option had, on the other hand, been given as the Indian biometric identification scheme. The HCS (Judicial Branch) preliminary examination was held in December 2018 for filling the posts of Civil Judge (Junior Division) after the earlier test conducted in pursuance to an advertisement issued in June 2016 continued on page 7 Purkhas stands out with 1,327 girls to 1,000 boys Our Correspondent Sonepat, February 5 Sonepat district has witnessed a marked improvement in sex ratio with 20 villages recording an equal or more number of females per 1,000 males. Purkhas was adjudged the best village in the district with 1,327 females to 1,000 males in a survey conducted in January. The health authorities have decided to give it a reward of Rs 1.5 lakh for the achievement. Dr JS Punia, Civil Surgeon, Sonepat, on Tuesday said there were 20 villages in the district where the number of girls had either equalled or was more than boys. These included Malikpur (1,304), GENDER PROPORTION Villages Females Malikpur 1,304 Gohana city 1,224 Bega 1,135 Khanpur 1,130 Panchi Jatan 1,128 Bhainswal Kalan 1,125 Kharkhoda city 1,101 Gohana city (1,224), Bega (1,135), Khanpur (1,130), Panchi Jatan (1,128), Bhainswal Kalan (1,125) and Kharkhoda city (1,101). Recalling that the district was awarded by the Prime Minister in 2018 for a commendable performance in the implementation of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ programme, Dr Punia said the sex ratio had increased from 830 girls per 1,000 boys in 2014 to 930 girls in 2018. “It has become possible by taking various steps, including crackdown on sex-determination test rackets, 100 per cent registration of newborns, arrangements for safe delivery and creating awareness against the evils of foeticide,” he said. No tech upgrade, Punjab brick kilns operate illegally ‘Gave warriors outdated machines’ Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 5 Brick prices in Punjab have gone up by 20 per cent over the past three months. With 2,700 brick kilns across the state remaining closed for three months following an order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), prices have gone up from Rs 4,600 per 1,000 bricks to around Rs 5,500. Keeping in view soaring prices and depleting stocks, most of the brick kilns in the state have gone operational since yesterday, many of them illegally. Commercial operations have been restarted without any technology upgrade — allegedly under political patronage. Sources said since the shortage of bricks could snowball into a major controversy ahead of the General Election, kilns had been allowed to operate. The NGT had banned brick kiln operations unless and until the owners shifted from the present carbon and pet coke emitting manufacturing technology to the “high draft zigzag technology”. Last year, the Punjab Pollution Control Board had ordered that brick kilns would remain closed from October 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, to NGT BAN VIOLATION NGT deadline for technology upgrade: January 31 2,700 1,000 the number of brick of them have upgraded kilns in Punjab to the latest technology allow time for the upgrade. The NGT, however, ruled that kilns would have to upgrade by January 31, and those missing the deadline would not be allowed to operate. Sources said while 1,000 kilns had adopted the technol- 500 are still in the process of doing so ogy, around 500 were in the process of doing so. “Yesterday, we received messages from the brick kiln association that we could begin operations even if we haven’t upgraded. From what we hear, some ‘understanding’ has been arrived at with political authorities. Thus, we have started operations,” said a kiln owner in Ludhiana, who is yet to upgrade. Member Secretary, Punjab Pollution Control Board, Pawan Garg said a survey would be started soon to see how many kilns had upgraded. “In case we find any violations, the kilns concerned will be issued closure notices,” he said. Meanwhile, with legal mining underway at just 23 quarries, the rate of sand continues to hover around Rs 2,000-2,200 per 100 cubic feet, and that of aggregate around Rs 2,600 per 100 cubic feet. Today’s issue is of 20 pages, including four-page Jobs and Careers. Message by kin of Sqn Ldr Abrol, who died in crash, goes viral New Delhi, February 5 “We give our warriors outdated machines to fight, they still deliver it with all their prowess and might,” read a message that went viral in the name of Garima Abrol, wife of Squadron Leader Samir Abrol, who died in a Mirage-2000 crash along with colleague Siddharth Negi on February 1. But Samir’s brother Sushant said it was he who penned the message, overcome by emotions while flying back with his brother’s coffin. “It was a comment on the system in general, with no reference to anyone Kin of Sqn Ldr Samir Abrol during his funeral. PTI FILE specific,” he said. “Never had he breathed so heavy, as for the last time, while the bureaucracy enjoyed its corrupt cheese and wine,” read the message, but Sushant said the word “corrupt” has been taken in a wrong sense. He said there were eight other officers on that flight and he saw tears in their eyes as they were his brother’s course mates. “I realised it could have happened to one of them,” he said. It is a loss for the Air Force, for his friends, he said. Abrol and Negi were highly trained Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) test pilots. The accident has brought HAL under an accountability cloud. The aircraft was upgraded by HAL and was on an acceptance sortie. — IANS