20022021-TTB-01.qxd 2/20/2021 12:11 AM Page 1 13 chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.5 no.50 | 24 pages | ~6.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2021-2023 established in 1881 READY FOR TALKS WITH IRAN TO REVIVE N-DEAL: US WORLD /thetribunechd GOVT TO APPEAL AGAINST CAIRN TAX AWARD RULING BUSINESS PILOT, PRIYANKA LEAD PUSH FOR REPEAL OF AGRI LAWS BACK PAGE /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com saturday | 20 february 2021 HISTORIC MARS LANDING ■ NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance land- ed safely inside a vast crater on the Red Planet on Friday in its search for traces of ancient microbial life ■ “Touchdown confirmed!” rang out the voice of Swati Mohan, an Indian-American scientist, inside the space agency’s control room back in the US. She leads the guidance, navigation and controls operations of the spacecraft ■ Mohan moved to the US when she was a year old; was raised in N Virginia-Washington DC Moments after touchdown, Perseverance beamed back its first ■ Over the next two years, black-and-white images from the Mars, one of them showing the the rover will use its 7-foot rover’s shadow cast on the desolate, rocky landing site. arm to drill down and 7 MINUTES OF TERROR DURING DESCENT collect rock samples with possible signs of bygone There were “7 minutes of terror” during entry, descent and landing of microscopic life the rover, the most challenging feat in the annals of robotic spaceflight Announces posthumous awards I PLA deaths in June clash possibly more Tribune News Service 7 MONTHS the robotic vehicle sailed through space before landing on Mars 472 MILLION KM distance covered 19,000 KM/HOUR speed at which it entered Mars atmosphere Media coverage prejudicial: HC Toolkit Wants balance between right to privacy, free speech & sovereignty New Delhi, February 19 Advocating a balance between right to privacy, freedom of speech and sovereignty and integrity of India, the Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Delhi Police to abide by their affidavit that they won’t leak personal information about activist Disha Ravi, who was arrested from Bengaluru in the toolkit case last week. Acting on Ravi’s petition seeking to restrain the Delhi Police from leaking to the media any probe material in relation to the FIR lodged against her, a Bench of Justice Pratibha M Singh said IN BRIEF Woman weightlifter found dead in Rohtak ROHTAK: The body of a young woman weightlifter, working as a physical training instructor at a school in Bhopal, was found near Dhamar village in Rohtak. Preliminary probe indicated murder. INSIDE Shah summoned by Kolkata court NEWDELHI:A Kolkata court on Fri- day issued summons to Union Home Minister Amit Shah in connection with a defamation case filed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee. BACK PAGE Disha Ravi (centre) arrives at a court in New Delhi. REUTERS DISHA RAVI SENT TO 3-DAY JUDICIAL CUSTODY Freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest are non-negotiable human rights. Greta Thunberg, ACTIVIST certain media coverage of the investigation indicated “sensationalism and prejudi- cial reporting” of the case. “The media shall ensure that telecasts are from veri- fied and authentic sources. Channel editors to ensure proper editorial control so that investigation is not hampered,” Justice Singh said, posting the matter for further hearing in March. The HC also asked the 22year-old climate activist to ensure that people connected to her didn’t indulge in unnecessary or scandalising messages and the parties didn’t go on a maligning course during the investigation. On behalf of Ravi, senior advocate Akhil Sibal wanted the court to order certain TV channels to take Continued on Page 7 Pb session from March 1, Budget on March 8 Look forward to J&K Assembly elections: EU Chandigarh, February 19 The Punjab Government plans to unveil its Budget on March 8. A Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, today approved the holding of Budget session from March 1 to 10. The government has sent a recommendation in this regard to Governor VP Singh Badnore. An official spokesperson said the CM had been authorised to approve the Governor’s Address for the 14th session of the Vidhan Sabha. — TNS New Delhi, February 19 The European Union on Friday said it had taken note of recent steps such as district council elections and the resumption of 4G Internet services in Jammu and Kashmir, and was looking forward to a number of other important steps, including holding of early Assembly polls. The comments by a spokesperson of the EU came a day after a number of top diplomats from the 27-member bloc returned from J&K after a twoday visit as part of a trip by 24 foreign envoys. — PTI CABINET DECISIONS JOBS FOR KIN OF MAUR MANDI BLAST VICTIMS Govt approves spl provisions in rules to give jobs to kin of 4 minors killed in 2017 Maur Mandi bomb blast RECORD OF PROPERTIES WITHIN ‘LAL LAKIR’ Nod to Mission ‘Lal Lakir’; will help villagers monetise property rights & avail benefits provided by banks NOW ON, CARRY DIGITAL COPIES OF LICENCE, RC Two cops shot dead in Decks cleared for Kangra upscale Srinagar area varsity’s satellite campus Srinagar, February 19 A terrorist gunned down two unarmed policemen in broad daylight in an upmarket Srinagar area on Friday. The incident was witnessed by several people and captured on CCTV cameras. The two policemen were on duty at Baghat on the highsecurity airport road when they were attacked. The terrorist, identified as Saqib, can be seen pulling out an assault rifle hidden inside his Continued on Page 7 Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service A suspect detained in Srinagar. PTI Shimla, February 19 Decks have finally been cleared for the construction of the satellite campus of Central University, Kangra, with the Union Ministry of Environment allowing the “land user” tag to be transferred from the state’s Department of Higher Education to the Central University, which is under the HRD Ministry. Suneet Bhardwaj, Assistant Inspector General of Forest, FUNCTIONING FROM RENTED BUILDING ■ Construction of Dharamsala and Dehra campuses of Central University delayed ■ Announced by the UPA in 2007, varsity still running from rented accommodation conveyed to the Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) that state’s request for change in the name of the user of 81 hectares had been accepted. Continued on Page 7 Waiver to fraudster a fraud on investors: HC Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 19 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that waiver of part or entire bank loan obtained by a fraudster is a fraud on the Constitution and investors. Describing it as impermissible, the High Court asked the police chiefs of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to prepare and circulate within three months SOPs for probing such cases. DGPS DIRECTED TO PREPARE PROBE SOP ■ RBI’s 2019-20 annual report ■ A fraudster is required to be vigi- shows frauds involving a sum of ~1 lakh and more by banks shot up by 28% ■ Public sector banks topped the list with 4,413 cases involving ~1,48,400 cr lantly prosecuted and disqualified for future loans from other banks till re-payment ■ The delay in probe enabled offenders to tamper with/destroy evidence “There cannot be any charity or laxity by the banks at the expense of tax payers or investors. It is common experience that banks do not gen- erally waive even a single penny, not to speak of any part of principal or interest, to an honest borrower who makes re-payment as per re-payment Today’s issue consists of 24 pages, including 8-page additional pullout. China admits 4 Galwan casualties schedule, but waive substantial amounts under ‘one time settlement’ or ‘compromise’ in lok adalats in favour of the defaulters,” Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi asserted. The Bench also directed Chief Secretaries of the two states and UT to examine the matter as a substantial number of bank frauds involved execution of mortgage deeds on the basis of forged revenue record or Continued on Page 7 New Delhi, February 19 Eight months after the clash in Galwan in eastern Ladakh, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China acknowledged for the first time the gallantry of five of its soldiers. Four of the five were awarded posthumously for acts of “bravery”. The clash between the PLA and the Indian Army occurred on June 15 last year and it is the first time the PLA has publically stated a number —- only of the gallantry awardees. And, that does not denote the number of soldiers killed in the fierce faceoff. The award count does not mean that the PLA casualty MILITARY TALKS TODAY A grab of the Galwan clash video released by China. PTI figure during the Galwan clash was restricted to that number, sources in India said, reacting to the development which was made public this morning by PLA’s official newspaper PLA Daily. “In any operation, gallantry Senior commanders of India and China are slated to meet on Saturday to ratify their respective troop positions on both banks of Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh. The commanders will assess whether the pullback has been conducted as per the agreement. They will also discuss the disengagement from other contentious areas like Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang. awards are not given to all, but only a few of those involved are decorated. The Indian Army lost 20 soldiers, only six were decorated with gallantry awards,” an official said, adding that the PLA lost anywhere between 35 and 40 soldiers in the operation in June last year. PLA Daily said China’s military authorities had honoured two officers and three soldiers, including four who received the award posthumously. Edit: China’s climbdown Surge in cases; Maha,Kerala hotspots US immigration Bill to benefit techies New Delhi, February 19 In a major cause of worry for the government, daily new Covid cases today touched a three-week high with 13,193 new infections being witnessed — more than 72 per cent of these in Maharashtra and Kerala alone. India’s daily new cases were 12,408 on February 5 and lower a week before. The case surge came even as India crossed the milestone of administering one Washington, February 19 The US Citizenship Act of 2021 proposing a pathway to citizenship to 11 million undocumented workers, elimination of per country quota for employment-based green cards and work authorisation for dependents of H-1B foreign workers, was introduced in the Congress. After being passed, the Bill would benefit hundreds and thousands of Indian IT professionals and their families. — PTI 1 CRORE VACCINATED INDIA TOTAL DAY’S COUNT ADVERSE EVENTS 1,04,49,942 2,61,935 0 crore Covid vaccine doses to healthcare and frontline workers with Health Minister Harsh Vardhan publicly appealing to eligible benefi- PATANJALI’S FLIP-FLOP ON CORONIL APPROVAL New Delhi: Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved on Friday launched Coronil, claiming it had Ayush certification. Hours later, it retracted the claim after WHO distanced itself from the issue. ciaries to ignore misinformation and accept vaccines. The six states reporting 86.6 per cent of the new cases Continued on Page 7