13072020-TTB-01.qxd 7/12/2020 11:34 PM Page 1 13 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | jammu | srinagar | vol.140 no.193 | 12 pages | ~4.50 | regd.no.chd/0006/2018-2020 established in 1881 EX-PM: WEAK PARTY NOT IN NEPAL’S INTEREST WORLD /thetribunechd REALPOLITIK COMES TO THE FORE INFOCUS A FIRST: TRUMP WEARS MASK IN PUBLIC BACK PAGE /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com monday, july 13,2020 With ‘30’ MLAs, Pilot bid to hijack Gehlot govt After MP, crisis in R’sthan I Dy CM not to attend CLP meet today I Sonia rushes 2 observers Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 12 Four months after the collapse of its government in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress found itself weathering another storm in Rajasthan with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot facing his worst crisis after Deputy CM Sachin Pilot claimed the support of 30 MLAs. Pilot, who was incommunicado for two days and is camping in Delhi, said late Sunday that the Gehlot government was in minority as 30 Congress lawmakers and some Independents had professed support to him. Sounding an open rebellion after receiving the Rajasthan Police summons over probe into allegations of toppling the Gehlot govern- RAJASTHAN ASSEMBLY TOTAL MEMBERS: 200 WITH CONGRESS MAGIC NUMBER WITH BJP 122 101 75 BJP+ CONG+ CONGRESS 107 IND 5 10 BJP 72 3 IND 3 PARTY-WISE MLAs: CONGRESS: 107 (includes seven from BSP BJP: 72 who switched over to the Congress last year) BJP PLUS: CONGRESS PLUS: Bharatiya Tribal Party 2 | CPM 2 | RLD 1 Rashtriya Loktantrik Party 3 INDEPENDENTS: 13 (10 supporting Congress) ment, Pilot also said he won’t attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur tomorrow. Gehlot, who called 107 Congress MLAs to his residence tonight in a show of strength, has also called a CLP meeting Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot. FILE PHOTO CONGRESS DOESN’T VALUE TALENT, SAYS SCINDIA ❝ Sad to see my erstwhile colleague Sachin Pilot, too, being sidelined and persecuted by Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. Shows that talent and capability find little credence in the Congress. Jyotiraditya Scindia, BJP LEADER tomorrow to show all is well. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has, meanwhile, sent two central observers — Randeep Surjewala and Ajay Maken — to Jaipur to meet the MLAs and assess the situation. Congress general secretary (Rajasthan) Avinash Pande, however, said all party lawmakers were in touch with him and he did not know what Pilot was talking about. Three Congress MLAs close to Pilot — Danish Abrar, Rohit Bohra and Chetan Dudy — meanwhile returned from Delhi to Jaipur tonight to pledge support to Gehlot. They said they had visited Delhi for personal reasons. Pande dismissed threat to the party’s government in Rajasthan, saying the BJP was trying to destabilise the government but the Gehlotled dispensation would last a full term. Pilot has been engaged in a power tussle with Gehlot ever since the government was formed. Top hawk Sehrai held, PSA slapped Arun Joshi Tribune News Service Jammu, July 12 In a blow to Pakistan plans of stoking trouble in the Kashmir valley ahead of the first anniversary of the scrapping of Article 370 on August 5, top-ranking separatist leader and Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Ashraf Sehrai was arrested in Srinagar early today and booked under the Public Safety Act. Pakistan had been trying to recreate a support base for street protests in the Valley ahead of the anniversary of the Centre splitting Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories. DGP Dilbag Singh told The Tribune the arrest was “preventive” and that Sehrai had been booked under the PSA. The Act is invoked against Fresh faces likely in Team Nadda 28,637casesin24hrs, Aishwarya, daughter recovery rate 62.93% +vetoo,inself-isolation Nirmala may be on Parliamentary Board New Delhi, July 12 BJP president JP Nadda’s new national team with “several fresh and young faces and talent” is expected to be announced soon, sources have indicated. Changes are also expected in the Parliamentary Board — the BJP’s highest decision-making body — where there are vacancies due to the passing away of senior leaders Ananth Kumar, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley and the election of veteran leader M Venkaiah Naidu to the post of the VicePresident of the country. Nadda, who officially assumed the charge in January, has been operating with the old team. The sources say We control every inch of our land: ITBP DG NEW DELHI: SS Deswal, DG of the BSF as well as the ITBP has , said the border situation is “absolutely under control” and every inch of the country's land is under “full possession of our security forces”. BACK PAGE Maoists blow up 12 buildings in J’khand CHAIBASA: Twelve buildings of the Jharkhand Forest Department were blown up by suspected Maoists in West Singhbhum, a top police official said. They made staff evict the buildings before the blasts. BACK PAGE Drug trial on humans completed in Russia MOSCOW: Russia has become the first nation to complete Covid vaccine trials on humans, a media report stated. The research proved that the vaccine is safe, said an expert from Sechenov University. IANS JP NADDA, BJP PRESIDENT it is customary for the new president to have a new team. Though Nadda’s team is ready, the announcement has been delayed due to the Covid outbreak. “The team will be a mix of new and existing to ensure the continuity,” the sources added. Given that Swaraj was the only woman member in the Parliamentary Board, speculation is rife over who will replace her in the prestigious body. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is believed to be the front-runner as the probable replacement, but that also means she will have to give up her position in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers. So far, there is no word on who are on board at various levels of the organisational machinery. However, if Sitharaman is moved to the organisation, it would mean a reshuffle in the PM’s Cabinet. — TNS Software in, sifarishout forHPteachers’transfer Tribune News Service COVID-19CASES INDIA New Delhi, July 12 India's Covid caseload today reached 8,49,553 after a record 24-hour surge of 28,637 cases in a clear sign of a swiftly progressing disease that has claimed 22,674 lives so far. The government again harped on improved recoveries saying 5,34,620 persons have been cured as against 2,92,258 on disease management. "The recovery rate has gone up to 62.93 per cent," the Health Ministry said. Meanwhile, the Director General of Health Services has allowed pharmaceutical firms to import drugs with residual shelf life of up to 60 per cent. The relaxation has been given up to October 31 in view of the Covid pandemic that has been causing delays in clearance of COUNT RECOVERED 5,34,620 FRESH FATALITIES 551 TOTAL DEATHS 22,674 8,49,553 TOTAL RECOVERED DEATHS WORLD 1,29,44,315 75,40,426 5,69,347 IN GOOD POSITION ❝ We are in a good position in this battle and will continue this fight with determination and there is no atmosphere of fear. Amit Shah, HOME MINISTER import consignments. The DGHS order came after importers urged for relaxations citing delays in processing of assignments. Mumbai, July 12 With actor Amitabh Bachchan, 77, and three members of his family testing positive for Covid, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation today sealed and sanitised the four bungalows of the Bachchan family — Jalsa, Pratiksha, Janak and Vatsa. After Amitabh and his son Abhishek, 44, the megastar’s daughter-in-law Aishwarya, 46, and his granddaughter Aaradhya, 8, too have tested positive, Maharashtra’s Health Minister Rajesh Tope said. Amitabh’s wife Jaya Bachchan has tested negative. Amitabh and Abhishek are in the isolation ward of Nanavati Hospital. Dr Abdul Samad Ansari, who heads critical care services at the hospital, said: “Both are comfortable and feeling better. General blood chemistries are acceptable Tribune News Service Shimla, July 12 The Himachal Pradesh Education Department has prepared a software to effect transfer of teachers. The step is aimed at eliminating political interference in transfers and putting an end to hegemony of influential teachers with political backing, who manage to stay put at stations of their choice for long. The service record of teachers has been computerised, including posting details ever since their entry into the service. According to Director, Higher Education, Amarjeet Sharma, the state has been divided into five zones (A, B, C, D and E) on the basis of topographical conditions. Zone “A” includes district headquarters, while zone “B” and zone “C” cover insti- Parameters have been set for postings; state divided into 5 zones those believed to be involved in activities prejudicial to peace and public order and those indulging in antinational activities. The arrest comes 13 days after Syed Ali Shah Geelani resigned from his own faction continued on back page Punjab to impose more stringent curbs, says Capt Chandigarh, July 12 Amid the rise in Covid cases, Punjab is all set to impose more stringent curbs, including further restrictions on public gatherings. The guidelines will be issued tomorrow. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said he did not want Punjab to go the Mumbai or Delhi way. He attributed the increase in Covid cases in the state to increased testing and the large number of people coming from outside. “From 700 tests a day initially, testing had gone up to more than 10,000 a day,” he said. Capt Amarinder Singh announced a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged Covid-test scam by Amritsar’s Tulli lab. He ruled out Haryana-type quota in jobs. On university exams, he said the UGC should leave it to the states to take a call. — TNS tutions within 20 km and 30 km, respectively, of the headquarters. Tribal areas have been placed in zone “D” and extremely backward areas in zone “E”. The software prepared by the NIC will also put to end the practice of transfers through mutual consent. Teachers having served at category “A” stations for long might now have to move to remote areas. Women teachers will, however, not be posted at faraway stations. Parameters have been set for giving points to teachers in recognition of their stints in tribal, hard, inaccessible, backward and other areas. NGT crackdown on illegal mining in Ropar, orders~315crrecovery Tribune News Service A probe team in Kanpur’s Bikru village, where 8 cops were ambushed by gangster Vikas Dubey on July 3. PTI RETIRED JUDGE TO PROBE DUBEY AMBUSH; INVESTIGATION TEAM VISITS VILLAGE ■ Retired Allahabad High Court ■ A Special Investigation Team ■ Meanwhile, wife of SI Krishna judge Shashi Kant Agarwal will probe the ambush and police encounter with gangster Vikas Dubey on Sunday visited Bikru village near Kanpur where eight policemen were killed in the July 3 ambush Kumar Sharma, suspended for being an informant, has moved the SC fearing her husband may be eliminated Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Srinagar, July 12 Three militants, including a top Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander, were killed during a day-long encounter with security forces in the Rebban area of Sopore in north Kashmir today. The Pakistani militant, identified by the police as Usman of the LeT, was involved in the attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) team in Sopore on with stable vitals. Both slept well. They are stable.” Abhishek said his wife and daughter would be “self quarantining at home”, while he and his father would “remain in hospital till the doctors decide otherwise”. — PTI ASHRAF SEHRAI Bhanu P Lohumi Pak LeT militant among Locust keeps Hry farmers on tenterhooks 3 shot in Sopore gunfight Agri Minister Dalal announces girdawari Tribune News Service Aishwarya with daughter Aaradhya ‘Preventive’ arrest ahead of Art 370 anniv July 1. A jawan and a civilian were killed in the encounter. Though a cordon and search operation was launched at midnight after the security forces received inputs on the presence of the militants in the area, the encounter began at 4 am. The police termed Usman’s killing a big success and said arms and ammunition and incriminating material had been found at the encounter site. Meanwhile, two grenades were hurled in Awantipora. Chandigarh, July 12 For the third consecutive day on Sunday, swarms of locust continued to keep farmers and officials of the Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department on the tenterhooks. A large swarm, 4 km in length and 2 km in width, settled on the fields in Karkhara Bass, Dhanonda, Aghiar and Pathera villages of Mahendragarh district. Another 3-km-long swarm was spotted over the Behal block of Bhiwani and Loharu Locusts hover over a field at a Mahendragarh village. PHOTO: SUMIT block of neighbouring Charkhi Dadri and a third, a scattered one, over Sirsa’s Ellenabad area.Surender Dahiya, Additional Director, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said while the first swarm was moving towards Charkhi Dadri, the one in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri was moving towards Rajasthan. On Saturday, eight locust swarms — two each in Mahendragarh and Jhajjar and one each in Rewari, Sirsa, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri — are reported to have damaged the standing crops extensively. Haryana Agriculture Minister JP Dalal said a special girdawari would be conducted to assess the loss. He visited the locust-affected area of Charkhi Dadri today. “We have reports that about 50 per cent of the swarm has been eliminated with tractormounted spray guns,” he said. Ropar, July 12 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Punjab State Pollution Control Board to recover Rs 315 crore from the contractors found guilty in illegal sand mining at three sites in Ropar district. The July 10 order pertains to the illegal mining reported at Swarha, Baihara and Harsa Bela sites. The order comes in response to the report submitted by the Mining Department to the NGT highlighting illegal mining at the sites under question. The order came in the wake of a complaint lodged by RTI activist Dinesh Chadha. In November 2017, residents of Baihara village, accompanied by Chadha, had lodged a complaint with then Deputy Commissioner Gurneet Tej, alleging a contractor was digging the riverbed using heavy machinery. On inspection, it was found the riverbed was dug up 18 feet against the permissible 10 feet. In another inspection on February 8, 2018, at Swarha and Harsa Bela, senior officials, including then ADC Lakhmir Singh and Ropar SDM Ruhi Dugg, found the Pollution board to recover losses from erring contractors ILLEGAL MINING TILL 2018 SITE Swarha Baihara Harsa Bela MINOR MINERALS 91.4 lakh MT 32.6 lakh MT 40,000 MT riverbed was dug up 40 feet deep, but digging was also carried out outside the allotted quarry area. After Chadha moved the NGT in 2018 to seek action against the offenders, the tribunal asked a joint committee of the Central Pollution Control Board, Director (Mining) and the Punjab Pollution Control Board to take necessary measures to stop illegal mining. That time, too, the NGT had directed the committee to take action against the erring officials within two months, but nothing has been done in the matter till now.