22102020-TT-01.qxd 10/21/2020 11:05 PM Page 1 13 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.140 no.293 | 12 pages | ~5.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2018-2020 established in 1881  haryana BRITAIN, EU TO RESUME TRADE TALKS WORLD /thetribunechd FOCUS ON MODERNISATION OF POLICE: SHAH BACK PAGE SBI ANNOUNCES UP TO 25 BPS REBATE ON HOME LOAN RATES BUSINESS /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com thursday, october 22,2020 On doorstep of economic revival: RBI Members of farmer organisations at a press conference in Chandigarh on Wednesday. MANOJ MAHAJAN Farm unions to take stir beyond Punjab borders Meeting in Delhi on Oct 27 | Goods trains won’t be stopped Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 21 Representatives of Punjab’s farm unions will attend a meeting of farm organisations in Delhi on October 27 in a bid to take their stir against the Centre’s new farm laws beyond Punjab’s borders. In the meantime, the farmers will continue to hold dharnas outside the residences of Punjab BJP leaders as well as outside toll plazas, fuel stations and retail businesses run by three corporate houses which farmers believe are the intended beneficiaries of the Centre’s move to “corporatise” agriculture. Representatives of 30 unions (other than the largest BKU continued on back page NO LET-UP, SAY LEADERS ❝ We are holding dharnas at 60 places, including outside the houses of 10 BJP leaders. Joginder Singh, BKU EKTA UGRAHAN ❝ The passing of the three farm Bills in the WHAT IS BOTHERING Punjab Vidhan Sabha on THE STATE FARMERS Tuesday is our first victory. ■ Who will bear the procurement costif the Centre ends the MSP regime? But misgivings on MSP the persist. Satnam S Sahni, BKU DOABA Capt Amarinder had said instate did House on Tuesday that the Since we do not want not have ~70,000 crore to buy crops. Punjab’s economy to be hit ■ If the MSP is made mandatory,severfurther, we have decided al corporates may shun Punjab manPunjab’s high to allow the movement of dis. Already, The purchase taxes are a deterrent. of wheat goodstrains. and non-basmati paddy by pvt play- ❝ Jagmohan Singh, BKU (DAKAUNDA) ers has so far been negligible. New Delhi, October 21 Despite forecasts of a double digit decline in the Indian economy this fiscal, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said accommodative monetary and fiscal policies had brought the country on the “doorstep of economic revival”. “We are almost on the doorstep of the revival process. It is very important that the financial entities Vijayalakshmi Ramanan COURTESY: IDDN-INDIAN DEFENCE AND DEVELOPMENT NEWS/FACEBOOK IAF’s first woman commissioned officer dies at 96 Bengaluru, October 21 Wing Commander Dr Vijayalakshmi Ramanan (retd), the first woman commissioned officer of the Indian Air Force, has died at the age of 96. Ramanan, a recipient of Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM), died peacefully due to old-age ailments on Sunday at her daughter’s home here, her son-in-law SLV Narayan said. Born in February 1924, she did her MBBS and later was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps on August 22, 1955, and was seconded to the Air Force with effect from the same day. Her husband late KV Ramanan was also an Indian Air Force officer. — PTI M’garh private schools reopen, violate norms Mahendragarh, October 21 Private schools in Mahendragarh district have been putting the lives of children at risk by conducting elementary classes in violation of Covid norms. The violation came to the fore on Tuesday when officials raided a school following complaints. They found 25 students of Class II being taught in a room. Sources said this was not the only school flouting norms in the district. Several other schools in Narnaul, Nangal Choudhary, Ateli and Kanina blocks were also conducting elementary classes. INSIDE Had crossed LAC in Demchok on Monday nese military on Tuesday night at Chushul-Moldo border point in eastern Ladakh. A statement by the Chinese ❝ Once the pandemic is contained, the government will certainly have to spell out a fiscal roadmap that India should adopt Shaktikanta Das, RBI GOVERNOR FINANCE MINISTRY HINTS AT ANOTHER STIMULUS BUSINESS have adequate capital (to support growth),” the RBI Governor said, while speaking at the launch of a book “Portraits of Power: Half a Century of Being at Ringside”, written by former bureaucrat and incumbent Chairman of the Finance Commission NK Singh. The RBI chief said the Centre had taken prudent measures to provide financial support to weaker sections and small businesses. Das said India followed the fiscal expansion path to deal with Covid-related challenges. “I think once the pandemic is contained, the government will certainly have to spell out a fiscal roadmap that India should adopt,” he said. — TNS Sindh cops revolt against In 14 states, fatality Pak army over ‘coercion’ rate dips below 1% Islamabad, October 21 In a show of open defiance against the Pakistan Army, police officers in Karachi threatened to go on mass leave on Wednesday after the Sindh police chief was allegedly kidnapped and coerced to act against PML (N) vice-president Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Sources in Islamabad said with the ongoing tussle between Opposition and the Army, Pakistan was slipping into a civil war-like situation. The Sindh police alleged they were pressured to arrest Maryam’s husband Safdar Awan. Sindh is headed by CM Syed Murad Ali Shah of the Pakistan People’s Party. — IANS PLA soldier handed over to China New Delhi/Beijing, October 21 The Chinese soldier, who was apprehended by the Indian Army in the Demchok sector of eastern Ladakh on Monday, has been handed over to China, sources said today. Corporal Wang Ya Long was handed over to the Chi- FISCAL ROADMAP KEY TO RECOVERY Ministry of Defence said, “According to the relevant agreement between China and India, the Chinese PLA soldier, who went missing while helping local herdsmen find a lost yak, has been returned to the Chinese border troops by the Indian Army.” — PTI POLITICAL CRISIS ■ Maryam Sharif’s husband Safdar Awan was arrested on Monday but later let off after the daughter of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif criticised the Imran Khan govt BAJWA ORDERS PROBE Pak Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa ordered an inquiry into Safdar Awan’s arrest after Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari questioned the Army and the ISI on the incident in a tweet New Delhi, October 21 India on Wednesday sustained the declining trend in active Covid cases, which remained below 7.5 lakh for the second straight day and below 8 lakh for the fifth day. This marks a steep decline from mid-September when active cases had peaked to 10, 17,754. Daily cases remained below 60,000 for the third day today, settling at 54,044. The Centre has advised states to bring the fatality rate below 1 per cent by testing and treating infections quickly. Fourteen states have managed to attain less than 1% CFR (case fatality ratio). These are Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Telangana, COVID-19CASES INDIA COUNT 76,51,107 TOTAL RECOVERED DEATHS RECOVERED 67,95,103 FRESH FATALITIES 717 TOTAL DEATHS 1,15,914 WORLD 4,12,95,044 3,07,79,507 11,32,825 AT 10.83 LAKH, INDIA TESTING 2ND HIGHEST The ICMR conducted 10,83,608 tests in 24 hours and India’s cumulative tests on Wednesday climbed to 9.72 crore, the second highest globally. Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. — TNS Cabinet okays bonus for govt employees NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to give bonus to 30 lakh non-gazetted government employees, including those working in commercial organisations like the Railways, ahead of Dasehra. TNS Kamal Nath gets EC notice on ‘item’ jibe NEW DELHI: The Election Com- mission on Wednesday issued a notice to Congress leader Kamal Nath on his “item” jibe at BJP candidate Imarti Devi, saying his remarks were in violation of the poll code. PTI Solan disrupted, 3 protests in 10 days SOLAN: Agitations appear to have become a new normal in Solan with three protests, which disrupted town’s peace, taking place over the past 10 days. Two factions of beopar mandal are vying for supremacy. INSIDE JKCA scam: Farooq quizzed again by ED NEW DELHI: National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah was again quizzed by the ED in connection with the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) scam. INSIDE NOD TO ADOPTION OF J&K PANCHAYATI RAJ ACT INSIDE