06052022-TTC-01.qxd 5/6/2022 12:23 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 142 NO.124 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HARYANA RAJAPAKSA-BACKED CANDIDATE IS DEPUTY SPEAKER WORLD /thetribunechd CRAMPED GOVT SCHOOLS TO RUN IN DOUBLE SHIFT PUNJAB CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA TO SHUT 600 BRANCHES BUSINESS INFILTRATION CAN’T END WITHOUT LOCAL SUPPORT: SHAH IN WB BACK PAGE friday | 6 may 2022 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Kashmir gets 47 seats, Jammu 43 Delimitation panel’s report notified | Decks cleared for Assembly elections Tribune News Service New Delhi/Srinagar, May 5 The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission today submitted its final report to the government and subsequently a gazette notification was issued showing the details of the redrawn Assembly constituencies in the UT. The commission, formed in March 2020, recommended six additional Assembly seats to the Jammu region and one to the Kashmir valley while bringing areas of Rajouri and Poonch under the Anantnag parliamentary seat. Jammu division will now have 43 Assembly seats and Kashmir 47 in the 90member House. “The changes will come into effect with the notification by the Central government,” the commission said in a statement. With this report having been notified SEGMENTS RENAMED 47 43 1 6 ■ Tangmarg as Gulmarg seat I KASHMIR NEW SEAT Zoonimar as Zaidibal I Sonwar as Lal Chowk I Padder as Padder-Nagseni I Kathua North as Jasrota I Kathua South as Kathua I Khour as Chhamb I Mahore as Gulabhgarh I Darhal as Budhal ■ Rajouri & Poonch dists now under Anantnag LS seat JAMMU NEW SEATS 9 RESERVED FOR STs 3 KASHMIR 6 JAMMU ■ 6 new seats in Jam- ■ One new seat ERSTWHILE ASSEMBLY TOTAL: 87 SEATS 46 Kashmir | 37 Jammu 4 Ladakh Delimitation Commission head Justice Ranjana Desai (retd) flanked by ex officio members Sushil Chandra (L) and KK Sharma. PTI VOTER WILL PUNISH BJP NO CHANGE, BIAS AGAIN No amount of gerrymandering Kashmir has been discriminated will change the reality which is against as in the past. No change. that whenever elections are held Only the degree of disempowerment the voter will punish the BJP. NC is greater. People’s Conference ❝ today, decks are now cleared for holding the first Assembly elections in J&K after it was made a UT on August 5, ❝ 2019. Earlier, the erstwhile Assembly had 87 seats — 46 in Kashmir, 37 in Jammu and four in Ladakh. In the reor- ganisation of the erstwhile state, Ladakh was declared a UT without an Assembly. A gazette notification was Geetanjali Gayatri Cleared15yrsago, tendersfloatedfor Chd-Baddiraillink Solan, May 5 The Northern Railway has finally floated tenders for the much-delayed ChandigarhBaddi rail link and a 24month deadline has been set for laying the line after the award of contract. Once completed, the link will connect Himachal Pradesh’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) with the Amritsar-Kolkata corridor, which is expected to further boost industrialisation in the hill state. A sum of Rs 450 crore was allocated for the project. INSIDE Air surcharge: Leh and beyond Rs 2.00 Power subsidy for those who want it: Kejri tweaks policy NewDelhi: Changing the policy of providing subsidised power, the Delhi Cabinet on Thursday decided to provide the sop to only those consumers who opt for it from October 1. CM Arvind Kejriwal said many consumers were ready to forgo subsidy to help the government. — TNS Chandigarh, May 5 Wheat procurement in Haryana has dropped by nearly 50 per cent even as authorities claim farmers are holding on to their produce in the hope of better prices from private players, who have stepped into the market this season. Though wheat yield has been impacted due to early onset of summer and intense heatwave, the procurement is down to half of WAITING FOR PRICE RISE ❝ Farmers are getting a better deal outside mandis and expect the prices to go up due to Ukraine conflict. JP Dalal, AGRICULTURE MINISTER last year. So far, the agencies have procured 41 lakh MT against 85 lakh MT last year, for Kashmir valley to be carved out from Kupwara district ❝ Karnal, May 5 The police arrested four Punjab-based terror suspects from Bastara toll plaza on National Highway-44 in the early hours on Thursday. They were travelling in a Toyota Innova and were on their way to Adilabad in Telangana to deliver explosives. Tribune News Service mu to be carved out from Rajouri, Doda, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Kathua and Samba DIVISIVE GAME PLAN Have always maintained the commission was meant to execute the BJP game plan in Jammu and Kashmir and divide people. PDP 50% decline in procurement, Haryana Govt says farmers holding on to stock The police seized three IEDs in metallic cases, each weighing 2.5 kg, one pistol, 31 live cartridges and Rs 1.3 lakh, said Ganga Ram Punia, Superintendent of Police (SP). Those arrested were identified as Gurpreet Singh, Amandeep Singh and Parminder Singh, all residents of Vinjoke village in Zira continued on page 9 Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service 90-MEMBER HOUSE 4 terror suspects nabbed in Karnal, explosives seized CLAIM DRONES FROM PAK DROPPED ARMS IN PUNJAB Covid toll 10 times higher, says WHO; India objects while just over 4 lakh MT has been “officially” procured by private players after payment of market fee. Speaking with The Tribune, Agriculture Minister JP Dalal said the farmers were not bringing their produce to mandis as they were getting prices higher than the MSP of Rs 2,015 per quintal. “The farmers are getting a better deal outside the mandis and are expecting the prices to rise even further due to the Ukraine conflict. continued on page 9 issued after the three-member delimitation panel headed by Justice Ranjana continued on page 9 New Delhi, May 5 New estimates from the World Health Organisation show that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with Covid between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, was approximately 14.9 million, representing 9.49 million more deaths than those globally reported as directly attributable to Sars-Cov2 virus. The globally reported deaths during the period were 5.42 million, with excess deaths nearly three times higher than known. The WHO estimates show that 20 countries, representing approximately 50 per cent of the global population, account for over COUNTING THE DEAD* Deaths India Global Estimated Confirmed 47 lakh 4.81 lakh 1.49 cr 54.2 lakh *WHO DATA FROM JAN 2020-DEC 2021 FLAWED MODEL ❝ Despite objections, WHO has released excess mortality estimates on basis of one-size-fits-all model. Government statement 80 per cent of the estimated global excess mortality for the 24-month period. These continued on page 9 IN BRIEF Telangana man lynched over interfaith marriage WHEAT ARRIVAL IN PUNJAB LOW 100.72 LMT arrival so far 32.56 LMT less than last year ~7,200 cr expected loss INSIDE HYDERABAD: A 25-year-old man was lynched by relatives of his wife over interfaith marriage here on Wednesday. BACK PAGE Power crisis: Rlys cancels 42 passenger trains NEW DELHI: The Railways on Thursday said it has cancelled 42 pas- senger trains to prioritise coal rake movement for thermal plants. PTI MLA Mevani gets 3-month jail for ‘Azadi’ march MEHSANA: A court has sentenced Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani and nine others to 3-month jail for holding an 'Azadi’ march. PTI SC to examine if sedition law pleas need larger Bench Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 5 The Supreme Court on Thursday decided to examine if petitions challenging the validity of the sedition law under Section 124A of the IPC needed to be referred to a seven-judge Bench as a five-judge Bench had upheld its constitutionality in 1962. Asking the petitioners and the Centre to file their written submissions on the question of reference, a threejudge Bench led by CJI NV Ramana posted it for further hearing on May 10. A five-judge Constitution Bench in the Kedar Nath Singh versus State of Bihar (1962) case had upheld the continued on page 9