11052022-TTC-03.qxd 5/11/2022 1:19 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 6 NO.129 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 LATE DICTATOR MARCOS’ SON IS PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT WORLD /thetribunechd PRESIDENT HONOURS COMMANDERS POSTED ALONG LAC J&K JSW, ADANI IN RACE TO BUY HOLCIM’S INDIA ASSETS BUSINESS SHAH: AFSPA WILL SOON BE REVOKED FROM ENTIRE ASSAM BACK PAGE wednesday | 11 may 2022 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com 2 detained for blast in Mohali, Pak terrorist’s role suspected Jupinderjit Singh & Gaurav Kanthwal SC to govt: Can sedition cases be kept in abeyance till review? Tribune News Service Satya Prakash Chandigarh, May 10 The Punjab Police have reportedly detained two persons in connection with the yesterday’s blast at the Intelligence Wing Headquarters in Mohali. They recovered a Russian rocket launcher used in the attack from a plot on the old Sohana road less than 1 km from the blast site. “All leads are being pursued. A number of suspects have been detained and being questioned,” the police said. Terming the incident “a big challenge”, DGP VK Bhawra said TNT (trinitrotoluene) explosive was used. “We have got strong leads and hope to crack the case soon,” he said. An official said it was suspected that Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Harwinder Singh, alias Rinda, was the mastermind. continued on page 9 Tribune News Service Punjab DGP VK Bhawra addresses the media in Mohali. PHOTO: VICKY ROCKET LAUNCHER FOUND ■ A Russian rocket launcher used in attack found from a plot near the blast site ■ DGP Bhawra said TNT (trinitrotoluene) explosive used in rocket-propelled grenade ■ Pak-based terrorist Harwinder Singh, alias Rinda, said to have masterminded attack NIA INSPECTS SITE, MAY INITIATE PROBE WILL ENSURE STRICT PUNISHMENT TO ACCUSED Culprits will be soon brought ❝exemplary punishment. to book and handed an Bhagwant Mann, CHIEF MINISTER IN BRIEF Pak appoints Trade Minister in Delhi Mission NEW DELHI: In a bid to revive trade ties with India, the new Pak- istan government has approved the appointment of a Trade Minister in Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. TNS India will need 1 lakh drone pilots: Scindia NEW DELHI: Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia has said the government is trying to boost the indigenous demand for drone services and India would soon need one lakh drone pilots. BACK PAGE Day after protests, structures razed in Delhi NEW DELHI: The South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Tuesday car- ried out an anti-encroachment drive at New Friends Colony. The action comes a day after protests at Shaheen Bagh. BACK PAGE Verdict on pleas to criminalise marital rape today NEW DELHI: The Delhi HC is scheduled to pronounce on Wednesday its verdict on a batch of petitions seeking criminalisation of marital rape. The HC had reserved judgement on February 21. PTI New Delhi, May 10 As the Centre decides to reexamine the law on sedition, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked it to spell out if all sedition cases filed across India could be kept in abeyance till the review of Section 124A of the IPC was completed. “We are making it very clear. We want instructions. We will give you time till tomorrow. Our specific queries are: first, about pending cases and, the second, as to how the government will take care of future cases…,” a three-judge Bench led by CJI NV Ramana told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The Bench, which was considering if petitions challenging the validity of sedition law should be referred to a seven-judge Bench, sought to know if future sedition CENTRE GIVEN 24 HOURS TO FILE RESPONSE ❝ We will give you time till tomorrow (Wednesday). Our queries are about the pending cases and how the government will take care of future cases. GOVT REPLY SOUGHT ON PROTECTING CITIZENS ❝ When govt itself has shown concern about its misuse, how will you protect citizens? There are people who are jailed…. Please clarify. CJI-led Bench cases could be kept in abeyance till the government reviewed the law. Mehta said the government was reconsidering the desirability of Section 124A. He, however, refused to give a definite time frame to complete the exercise. Mehta said he would take instructions from the government and inform it on Wednesday, when the matter will be taken up again. As the petitioners demanded that citizens’ interests should be protected by keeping the sedition law in abeyance, the Bench asked the Centre as to why can’t it issue a direction to states not to register FIRs under Section 124A of the IPC till the reexamination process got over. “Why don’t you instruct the states to not proceed with the matter till the issue is under reconsideration?” said the Bench, which also included Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli. The court’s comments came after Mehta said, “The filing of FIRs and investigation are done by states. The Centre does not do that… There are constitutional remedies available against the misuse of the provision.” “I don’t think in the history of this country this court passed an order directing a penal provision not being used,” Mehta added. “We can’t ask everyone to go continued on page 9 edit: sedition law Don’t waver on minority status to SC junks Majithia’s plea to Hindus, consult states, govt told drop cases; says move HC Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 10 The Supreme Court on Tuesday took exception to the Centre changing its stand on declaring Hindus as minority in the nine states and union territories where they are numerically lesser in number, saying that taking different stands won’t help. A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul which had on January 7 imposed a cost of Rs 7,500 on the Centre for not spelling out its stand Next hearing in top court on Aug 30 despite repeated reminders said these were matters which required resolution and everything couldn’t be adjudicated. The comments came as the Bench noticed that the Centre, in departure from its earlier stand, had said the power to notify minorities was vested in it and any decision in this regard would be taken after discussion with states and other stakeholders. “If the Centre wants to consult states, it will have to take a call. Solution can’t be that everything is so complex…. This can’t be the answer from the Government of India. You decide what you want to do. If you want to consult them, do it. Who is stopping you from doing so? These are matters which require resolution. Taking different stands doesn’t help. If consultation is required, it should have been continued on page 9 Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 10 The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia’s petition seeking quashing of cases registered against him by the Punjab Police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and asked him to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court. “Why a writ petition under Article 32 here? You have other remedies. Can’t you Bikram Majithia move the high court...,” a Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who represented Majithia. “We are not inclined to entertain the petition filed under Article continued on page 9 Bagga gets relief tillJuly6,HC nodto conditionalgrilling Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 10 Directing against the initiation of coercive steps till the next date of hearing on July 6, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that the Punjab Police could interrogate BJP leader Tajinder Singh Bagga, but only at his residence in Delhi. Justice Anoop Chitkara also made it clear that the interrogation team would comprise of maximum three persons led by an officer not below IPS rank. Taking up Bagga’s petition for quashing the FIR registered against him and related matters, Justice Chitkara also barred the police from submitting the final investigation report or the challan in the matter under Section 173 of the CrPC. The direction would remain in operation at least till next date of hearing. continued on page 9 500 trees uprooted for farmhouses Shoot-on-sight orders in Lanka Hillocks illegally levelled in Nayagaon | Punjab Forest Dept lodges FIR Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Firms not keen, 26 hydel projects scrapped in HP Shimla, May 10 The Himachal Government has cancelled 26 hydel projects after the respective companies showed no interest in executing these. The Cabinet, at its meeting yesterday, decided to give another chance to 191 overshoot deadline, get extension companies for completing formalities with regard to other 191 hydro power projects under the amnesty scheme. RD Dhiman, Additional Chief Secretary, Power, said, “The companies allotted these projects had failed to sign agreements related to connection, long-term open access and power purchase.” They have now been given time till July 31 to complete the formalities, he said. In case they fail to sign the agreements for reasons beyond their control, the Power Department has been authorised to give additional time. Dhiman said the Cabinet approved the cancellation of 26 hydel projects after the companies failed to come forward to continued on page 9 Chandigarh, May 10 The Punjab Forest Department has lodged an FIR against a Chandigarh-based real estate promoter for illegally carving out farmhouse sites in a forest area near Nayagaon here and allegedly uprooting 500 trees in the process. In the FIR, the department alleged that promoter Lt Col Baljit Singh Sandhu (retd) engaged workforce to level hillocks on about 30 hectares and uprooted around 500 trees with the help of tractors and JCB machines. The project, offering farmhouses ranging from half 30 HECTARES OF LAND IN QUESTION Farmhouses built in forest area near Nayagaon. PRADEEP TEWARI BARRED BY LAW NO CONNECTION Non-farming do ❝allowed. activities ❝ Nothing toinchwith it... not don’t own an of land. Praveen Kumar, PRINCIPAL CHIEF CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS acre to 2.5 acres, is located near Masol village along the Nayagaon-Tandi-Masol road. Lt Col BS Sandhu (retd), NAMED IN FIR When contacted, Lt Col Sandhu claimed he had “nothing to do with the land in question and didn’t own even an inch of it”. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Praveen Kumar said on getting information about the illegal activity, a team was rushed to the spot and the FIR was lodged. “There is no ban on the sale of privately owned forestland, but only activities subservient to agriculture are allowed. Any change of land use is allowed only by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,” said Kumar. Forest officials pointed out that with the craze for farmhouses catching up, realtors had continued on page 9 Ex-PM, family flee to naval base | Violence toll eight Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 10 Sri Lanka witnessed a tense day under curfew with troops on shoot-on-sight orders on Tuesday, a day after anti-government mobs set ablaze properties of ministers and a ruling party MP killed himself after critically wounding two protesters. All night long, the police fired teargas shells to disperse restless mobs trying to break into the PM's official residence. In the morning, the police fired warning shots while the army moved the PM and his family to a naval base in Trincomalee. A FULLY SUPPORTIVE OF DEMOCRACY, SAYS INDIA Charred vehicles of Lanka’s ruling party supporters in Colombo on Tuesday. REUTERS mob has now surrounded the base demanding that he be told to leave. The violence left at least eight persons dead and 200 injured after supporters of for- India on Tuesday said it was “fully supportive” of Sri Lanka’s democracy, stability and economic recovery. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “India will always be guided by the best interests of the people of Sri Lanka expressed through democratic processes. As a close neighbour of Lanka, India is fully supportive of its democracy and stability.” mer PM Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked anti-government protesters in Colombo. The army was ordered to shoot at continued on page 9 edit: lankan crisis obituary 2 years on, students in Maestro from Jammu took santoor to dizzying heights Nuh await free books STRADDLING CLASSICAL & POPULAR STRAINS Pandit Shivkumar Sharma JANUARY 13, 1938 — MAY 10, 2022 Sreevalsan Thiyyadi T PANDIT SHIVKUMAR SHARMA WO major coincidences took place in the life of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, enabling the artiste to first enhance the status of a string instrument from folk to classical and then introduce its ethos to his country’s popular music. Thus, just into his early twenties, the wizard from Jammu got the santoor slotted in Hindustani concert circuit and soon spread its resonance across Hindi film songs as well. Born into a heritage-rich Jammu family, Shivku- Barely into his twenties, Shivkumar Sharma got the santoor slotted in Hindustani concert circuit and soon spread its resonance across Bollywood as well mar’s early initiation into vocal and tabla classes helped the boy gain a good sense of tunes and rhythms from the age of five. The unique twin drill came in handy as an early teenager, when his father-guru Uma Dutt Sharma introduced him to the 100-string santoor. With its 25 bridges, the trapezoid-shaped instrument caught Shivkumar’s fancy with its parallel demand for virtuosity in melody and meter. He went on to improvise the santoor, and debuted at an illustrious festival in Bombay in 1955. Serendipitously, that was the year Bollywood was sprucing up to release a dance film which starred an array of maestros. Vasant Desai, who was assigned the background scores of ‘Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje’ directed by V Shantaram, invited 22-year-old Shivkumar to chip in with his santoor. A quarter century later, in 1981, Yash Chopra-produced ‘Silsila’ saw the emergence of a tunesmith duo named Shiv-Hari, where Sharma paired with equally celebrated flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia. In fact, one and a half decades before that movie tryst, Shiv-Hari had continued on page 9 Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service Gurugram, May 10 Two months into the new academic session in Haryana, the students of government schools in Nuh are yet to receive free textbooks from the Education Department. The wait for books, in fact, has been continuing for two years as the students didn’t get books during the Covid pandemic. The primary students have been the worst sufferers as they, in view of the government’s no-detention policy, were promoted to the next class and they can hardly read or write, says a teacher. The district has 499 primary, 306 middle, 23 high and 115 senior secondary schools. It also has five Kasturba Gandhi, five Aarohi Model and 11 Sanskriti Model schools. As per records, there are 1.40 lakh primary students, 55,000 in Classes VI to VIII and over 2.30 lakh in continued on page 9 Today’s issue is of 16 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune.