02112020-TTB-01.qxd 11/1/2020 11:53 PM Page 1 13 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.140 no.304 | 12 pages | ~5.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2018-2020 established in 1881 BIDEN NEARS FINISHING LINE WITH LEAD: SURVEY WORLD /thetribunechd VILLAGE-BASED PROCUREMENT PAYS DIVIDENDS INFOCUS XI: PLA TO BE ON PAR WITH US ARMY BY 2027 BACK PAGE /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com monday, november 2,2020 PM Modi mocks ‘double yuvraj’ Says Rahul,Tejashwi fighting for survival | Calls NDA double-engine growth BIHAR ELECTIONS Tribune News Service Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar share a light moment during an election rally in Samastipur district. The PM addressed four rallies on Sunday. PTI New Delhi, November 1 Prime Minister Narendra Modi today blazed through the electoral battleground in Bihar, mocking Tejashwi Yadav and Rahul Gandhi as “double yuvraj” who stood for “jungle raj” and were pitted against the NDA’s “double-engine” growth. He said the Phase I had already given “blessings” in BYPOLLS: SCINDIA MISTAKENLY SEEKS VOTES FOR CONG Bhopal: In a slip of the tongue, BJP Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia asked people to vote for his former party Congress. He was campaigning for the November 3 byelections in favour of BJP candidate Imarti Devi from Dabra in Gwalior. A video of the incident has gone viral. BACK PAGE PHASE-II: POLLING FOR 94 SEATS TOMORROW favour of the NDA, thereby “proving poll pundits wrong”. The PM addressed rallies in Chhapra, Samastipur, Motihari and Bagaha on the last day of campaigning for Phase II of polling. He lauded women’s contribution in Bihar’s progress. “Political pundits had pre- dicted a low turnout in Phase I ..... The turnout in Phase I shows the NDA is ahead. Women are ensuring NDA’s win,” he claimed. He said voters should remember how people of Uttar Pradesh were treated by “double yuvraj” (Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav). “In Bihar, two yuvrajs are fighting for their political survival... they are not concerned about state’s welfare,” he said. He asked youngsters to remember “jungle raj ki sachai”. Attacking “parivarwaad”, he questioned if “any relative of Nitish Kumar or Narendra Modi has reached the Rajya Sabha”. Mentioning Pakistan’s claim on Pulwama, he said Islamabad’s admission of complicity had “taken masks off” the faces of those in India who never cared for the “sons of Bihar” who lost their lives in the assault, he said. BJP-JJP’s Dutt, Cong’s Capt writes to Nadda, objects Narwal in direct fight to farmers beingcalled ‘Naxals’ US to pursue autonomy for Tibet: Destro Geetanjali Gayatri Tribune News Service Hizb chief killed in encounter SRINAGAR: Hizbul Mujahideen chief Saifullah was killed in an encounter on the outskirts of the city on Sunday, the police said, describing it as a huge success for the security forces. Saifullah, who had taken command of the outfit after the killing of Riyaz Naikoo in May this year, was involved in several attacks on the security forces. “This is a huge success for the police and security forces,” said Vijay Kumar, IGP INSIDE . Chandigarh, November 1 The Bharatiya Janata PartyJannayak Janta Party (BJPJJP) alliance and the Congress are locked in a direct contest in the Baroda bypoll for which the campaigning ended today. The voting for the Assembly seat will be held on November 3 while the counting is scheduled for November 10. While the BJP-JJP combine made all its leaders aggressively campaign for wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, the fatherson duo of Congress Legislature Party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and MP son Tribune News Service BARODA BYPOLL INLD, LSP could play the spoilers Deepender Hooda were seen in a combative mode in a constituency that lies in their pocket borough as they canvassed for Induraj Narwal. With Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar out in the field, Deputy CM and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala making it to the constituency towards the end of continued on back page DEMEANING THEIR ROLE IN FOOD SECURITY By comparing the farmers’ stir with ‘naxalism’, they (BJP leaders) have demeaned their contribution to the nation’sfood security. Capt Amarinder Singh, PUNJAB CM New Delhi, November 1 The US is committed to advocating autonomy for Tibet within China and to foster the middle way approach for a dialogue with Beijing proposed by the Dalai Lama, the firstever American Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Robert Destro, has said. The US has followed up the appointment of the Special Coordinator on Tibet with the first-ever invitation to “Tibetan President (in-exile)” Lobsang Sangay to the US State Department. “While they (China) have the right to continued on back page Chaos at mahapanchayat, 10 cops hurt HARYANA MULLING LAW AGAINST ‘LOVE JIHAD’ NIKITA MURDER Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service Faridabad, November 1 A mahapanchayat organised by various social organisations in Ballabgarh today to seek justice for 21-year-old college student Nikita ended abruptly without making any concrete statement though the various speakers condemned the incident in one voice. It ended in a chaos as members of two opposing groups got into an altercation while some youth, disillusioned with the proceedings, walked out and tried to block the national highway only to be dispersed by the police. Nikita Protesters take to stone-throwing on the Delhi-Agra National Highway at Ballabgarh in Faridabad district on Sunday. PTI was shot dead outside her college in the town on Monday. The situation turned volatile after over 200 youths left the mahapanchayat to protest against the incident. They tried to block the nearby national highway. On the way, they took to stone-throwing and vandalised shops of a particular community. The police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters, who blocked the national highway for over 30 minutes. Nearly 30 persons were detained for the violence and stone-throwing and over 200 New Delhi, November 1 The goods and services tax (GST) collected in October rose to Rs 1.05 lakh crore, crossing the Rs 1-lakh-crore mark for the first time since February, said the Finance Ministry today. The GST collection in September was at least Rs 10,000 crore lower at Rs 95,480 crore. “The trend shows that we are on the path of recovery. In September, the GST collection was 4 per cent higher than that in the corresponding period last year. In October, it has risen by 10 per cent year on year with a collection of above Rs 1.05 lakh crore,” said Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey. —TNS Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 1 Expressing concern over the continued suspension of goods trains, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday wrote to BJP president JP Nadda, calling for a collective will to resolve the issue. Referring to the statements by BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh and party’s Punjab unit chief Ashwani Sharma, the CM wrote: “Their frivolous allegation of Congress government’s connivance with the so-called ‘naxal forces’ shows lack of maturity and understanding. By comparing Punjab farm- GST collection ~1.05L cr; on recovery path Chandigarh: A day after UP CM announced he would bring a law against “love jihad”, his Haryana counterpart ML Khattar said his government too was considering legal provisions against it. Speaking in Karnal, the CM said, “This (Ballabgarh) incident needs to be condemned strongly.” TNS were booked for disrupting traffic on the national highway, said ACP (HQ) Adarshdeep Singh. As many as 10 cops were injured in the incident, he added. The role of anti-social elements from outside the district could not be ruled out, the police said. ❝ FARMERS IN AMRITSAR ‘SEIZE’ TRUCKS Protesting farmers in Amritsar ‘impounded’ several trucks on Sunday, alleging the corporate house for which the consignment was meant had evaded taxes. INSIDE IN BRIEF ers’ agitation with ‘naxalism’, these leaders have demeaned their contribution to the nation’s food security.” He said the suspension of goods trains could have “dangerous consequences” also for the armed forces in Ladakh and Kashmir. He said no cargo movement meant huge losses to Punjab’s industry and agriculowing owing to critical shortages of raw material. This, he said, was likely to cause unrest in the state. “Pakistan could exploit the situation,” he warned. India firmly rejects Pakistan move on Gilgit-Baltistan Active cases 6.9 pc; Pb, Hry, HP on track New Delhi, November 1 The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has criticised Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s promise at an election rally in Gilgit-Baltistan to provide it the status of a provisional province. It asked Pakistan to immediately vacate these territories. “The UTs of J&K and Ladakh, including the area of so-called Gilgit-Baltistan, are an integral part of India by virtue of the legal, complete and irrevocable accession of J&K to the Union of India in 1947,” said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava. He said such attempts by Pakistan were intended to camouflage its illegal occupation.— TNS New Delhi, November 1 The active cases dropped to a record low of 6.97 per cent of the total Covid cases (81,84,082) today even as toll surged to 1,22,111 with 470 more deaths over the past 24 hours. The number of active cases stood at 5,70,458 with cases per million in India being among lowest in the world at 5,930, against a high of 26,745 in the US. Seventeen states and UTs have cases per million lower than the national average of 5,930. These include Himachal Pradesh (2,960), Punjab (4,434) and Haryana (5,928). With 18,71,498 cases, October registered a decline of 28.6 per cent over the figure for September (26,21,418). — TNS COVID-19CASES INDIA COUNT 81,84,082 TOTAL RECOVERED DEATHS RECOVERED 74,91,513 FRESH FATALITIES 470 TOTAL DEATHS 1,22,111 WORLD 4,65,52,933 3,35,93,556 12,02,545 AYURVEDIC INTERVENTIONS Doctors from the All India Institute of Ayurveda have found that Ayurvedic interventions can be effective in mild-to-moderate cases. TN MINISTER DEAD Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister R Doraikkannu died at a private hospital in Chennai where he was being treated for Covid-19. Deposit interest on interest: RBI to banks NEW DELHI: Ahead of Monday’s hearing on PILs on loan moratorium, the RBI has directed banks to credit into eligible borrowers’ accounts the difference between compound and simple interest collected on loans of up to Rs 2 crore during the moratorium period. TNS Indian woman, 2 kids found dead in Dublin MYSURU: An Indian woman, Seema Banu (37), and her two children were found dead in Dublin, Ireland. Banu’s husband Syed Sameer is a software engineer. The family had gone to Ireland seven months ago. PTI CRPF security for Hathras victim’s kin NEW DELHI: Keeping in view directives of the Supreme Court, a team of 80 CRPF jawans has been deputed to provide security to the family of the Hathras gang-rape victim. Until now, the UP Police were providing the security. TNS BCI: Law varsities may hold physical exam NEW DELHI: The Bar Council of India (BCI) has allowed law universities to conduct physical examination. Students who are unable to appear in the exam amid the pandemic can take the exam after the universities are reopened. PTI