05012022-TTC-01.qxd 1/5/2022 12:02 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 6 NO.5 | 20 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 INDIA BOWL OUT SOUTH AFRICA FOR 229 ON DAY 2 SPORT /thetribunechd TWO MILITANTS KILLED IN KULGAM ENCOUNTER J&K FUTURE’S PLEA TO END WILL MAKE TRIPURA AMAZON ARBITRATION ‘GATEWAY OF NORTHEAST’, JUNKED BUSINESS SAYS PM BACK PAGE wednesday | 5 january 2022 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Omicron spread, stricter curbs may hit growth by 0.3% in Q4 Tribune News Service Indian soldiers pose with the Tricolour as part of New Year celebrations at Galwan valley in Ladakh. PTI Tricolour at Galwan valley, Army defies Chinese pitch Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 4 Within days of Chinese claims of unveiling their country’s flag at Galwan valley, it turned out that the Indian troops too had unfurled the Tricolour there on the New Year’s Day. Sources in the security establishment released a set of pictures that show fully armed troops of the Indian Army carrying US-made Sig Sauer rifles and holding a large Tricolour as part of New Year celebrations at Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh. ‘Bulli Bai’: Engg student held, woman detained New Delhi, January 4 The cyber cell of the Mumbai Police has detained a woman, believed to be the main accused in the “Bulli Bai” app case, from Uttarakhand and arrested an engineering student from Bengaluru. Vishal Kumar Jha (21), the student, and the suspect woman allegedly knew each other. A court in Mumbai remanded Jha in police custody till January 10. The police had earlier filed an continued on page 12 SRI LANKA CLEARS PACT WITH INDIA FOR OIL TANKS Sri Lanka’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a milestone deal to modernise most of its strategic Trincomalee petroleum storehouses jointly with India. The development comes before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Colombo after bad blood due to a soured deal for fertilisers. BACK PAGE The move is seen as a flagfor-flag response to a video by the Chinese state media purportedly showing PLA soldiers unfurling their national flag in the region three days back. The two armies had exchanged sweets and greetings on January 1 at 10 spots along the 3,488-km-long undemarcated boundary. Sources say the Chinese flag unveiling and sloganeering was not at Galwan valley where troops of both sides had clashed in June 2020. The video could have been shot anywhere along the Galwan river valley bed on the Chinese side. There are no geo coordinates to indicate that it was shot at the LAC, continued on page 12 Edit: china at it again NEW DELHI, January 4 The growth in the last quarter of the current fiscal (January to March 2022) might be impacted by up to 0.30 per cent because normal economic activities will be hindered by state-level restrictions in the wake of rising Omicron cases, said economists at HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private sector lender. The guarded outlook by HDFC economists tallies with the Reserve Bank of India’s latest Financial Stability Report (FSR) which had noted that global economic recovery had started losing momentum in the second half of 2021-22 itself (October 2021 to March 2022) in the face of resurfacing Covid infections, the new variant Omicron, supply disruptions and bottlenecks, elevated inflationary levels, and shifts in monetary policy stances in advanced and emerging market economies. “With states imposing Covid-related restrictions (night curfew on movement of people, restaurants continued on page 12 1L jobs a year: Channi launches employmentguaranteescheme Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Phagwara, January 4 Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi today launched the Punjab Government Rozgar Guarantee for Youth (PRAGTY) scheme that promises to generate 1 lakh government jobs each year for youngsters, a development that comes as his government pushes for re-election this year. The scheme was later approved by the Cabinet. IN BRIEF NEET-PG: SC to take up EWS quota case today NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is likely to hear on Wednesday the issue of EWS quota in NEET-PG admissions after the Centre sought an urgent hearing in view of protests by doctors. TNS Tirumurti assumes Chair of Security Council panel UNITED NATIONS: TS Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on Tuesday assumed the Chair of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee for 2022. PTI 30-yr-old Karnal resident found dead in Greece KARNAL: A 30-year-old man from Basant Vihar here reportedly died under mysterious circumstances in Greece. The deceased’s family has sought the government’s help to get back the body. TNS 7 sexual offence FIRs in WB post-poll violence NEW DELHI: The CBI on Tuesday said it had so far registered seven FIRs of 29 matters referred to it by the NHRC related to alleged sexual offences during the West Bengal post-poll violence. PTI CM Charanjit Channi at LPU in Phagwara. PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH Channi also promised free coaching for all competitive examinations, including IAS, PCS, armed forces and paramilitary services. He promised interest-free loans for people moving abroad and also for launching start-ups. Joining the NCC parade with the students of Lovely Professional University here, the CM said he had been an NCC cadet in school. “My opponents say I go overboard speaking about myself, but it’s a fact I have ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ certificates of NCC,” continued on page 12 Acting Punjab DGP not on UPSC shortlist for post Jupinderjit Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 4 Disagreeing with the Punjab Government’s choice of having incumbent Siddharth Chattopadhyaya as the DGP , the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) today empanelled 1987-batch officers Dinkar Gupta and VK Bhawra and 1988-batch Prabodh Kumar for the top police post in the state. Among the three officers, Bhawra appears to be the frontrunner as Gupta and Dinkar Gupta, Bhawra, Prabodh Kumar on list STATE MAY MOVE SC ■ Punjab Govt may approach the SC against the UPSC panel to delay the appointment ■ Wants Sept 30 as the cut-off date to choose the panel ■ But the UPSC maintains the cut-off date is October 5 Kumar have opted for central posting. They, however, are continued on page 12 School sans teachers, Nuh village moves court Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service Gurugram, January 4 Irked over the “denial” of right to education to their children, residents of Beewan village in Nuh district have moved the court seeking the appointment of regular teachers at the local Government Middle School for Girls. The school has 121 students, but not a single regular teacher. Seeking an explanation, the court has issued a NOTICE TO EDU SECY ■ Govt school for girls at Beewan village in Nuh has 121 students, but no regular teacher ■ Locals have moved court, which issued a notice to the Secretary, Education ■ Students say only stopgap arrangement is made and they are not learning much notice to the Secretary, Education, and the department. Isab Khan, a village resi- dent who filed the plea, said, “The authorities think that people here are not literate and don’t want to educate their children. This is not the case. We are sending our daughters to school, but there is no regular teacher. Only a stopgap arrangement is made on and off.” A student said, “The temporary teacher doesn’t pay much attention. She just makes us sit together and do basic mathematics or draw- Today’s issue is of 20 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. ing. There is no difference in learning whether you are in Class IV or VII.” Over 100 schools in Nuh are without regular teachers. Most are in Punhana block (46), followed by Ferozpur Jhirka (34), Nagina (19), and Tawdu and Nuh (6 each). In all, district schools have around 4,300 vacant posts. “Schools in Nuh are neglected with no or little staff and infrastructure,” said Fatima Khatun, a local activist. NIGHT CURFEW BACK IN PUNJAB, SCHOOLS SHUT EC MULLS STRICTER CURBS FOR RALLIES The Punjab Govt on Tuesday decided to clamp night curfew, shut educational institutions and allow cinema halls and restaurants to operate at 50 per cent capacity. NEW DELHI: The Elec- ACTIVE CASES GO UP BY NEARLY 1 LAKH IN 8 DAYS tion Commission met here on Tuesday and discussed parameters to evolve fresh stricter Covid guidelines and protocol for political parties while organising rallies in the run-up to the Assembly polls in five states, including Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa. India added 95,989 active cases in 8 days with the load reaching 1,71,830 on Tuesday as against 75,841 on December 27 last. KEJRIWAL TESTS POSITIVE 50 AIIMS DOCS, 26 FROM SAFDARJUNG HOSPITAL +VE HARYANA CUTS OFFICE ATTENDANCE TO 50% The Haryana Govt has announced that only 50 per cent of government staff will physically attend office. However, all officers of the level of Under Secretary and above have to attend office regularly. It’s not common cold, warns WHO Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 4 As India battles Omicron spread with New Delhi set to see weekend curfew and national experts saying the third wave is here, the World Health Organisation on Tuesday warned nations against taking the new Covid-19 variant lightly and urged them to expand vaccination. US daily cases cross 1 mn, new variant IHU reported in France “Omicron is not common cold,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on Covid19, said today as daily cases crossed the 1-million mark in the US. India added nearly one lakh (95,989) active cases in eight days with the load reaching 1,71,830 on Tuesday as against 75,841 on December 27 last year. The active cases are the ones that need hospital or home care and reflect the rising burden on health systems. Kerkhove, in a fresh warning, said, “While some reports do show a reduced risk of continued on page 12 Edit: jabs for adolescents HPtownshipplan scrapped, govt to sell plots, flats Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, January 4 With the National Green Tribunal (NGT) restricting construction in the Greater Shimla Planning Area, the HP Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) has decided to abandon the modern township project at Jathiadevi, near Jubbarhatti airport, 18 km from here, and instead carve out plots and construct flats. The state government had signed an MoU with Singapore on February 27, 2017, for constructing the township. The project never took off as the NGT restricted construction to two and a half floors, which made the project economically unviable. “Since the Singapore government backed out of the project continued on page 12