09012023-TTC-01.qxd 1/9/2023 12:31 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 7 NO. 9 | 12 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 COVID RESTRICTIONS GO, CHINA WELCOMES TRAVELLERS WORLD /thetribunechd OVERPRODUCTION UNDERLINES NEED TO DIVERSIFY INFOCUS TWO TERRORISTS SHOT DURING INFILTRATION BID IN POONCH J&K EAM: WORK & TRAVEL ABROAD FOR YOUTH TO BE MADE EASIER BACK PAGE monday | 9 january 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Seven ministers join Sukhu Cabinet Vikramaditya makes the cut ; 6 sworn in as Chief Parl Secys Shimla gets 3 berths, Kangra just one; BJP flays regional tilt No representation for Mandi, Bilaspur, Lahaul & Spiti Subhash Rajta NEW MINISTERS Tribune News Service A man shows cracks in the wall of his house in Chamoli district. PTI Joshimath declared subsidence zone Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 8 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reviewed the unfolding crisis in Joshimath with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and directed that shifting affected people to safety should be the top priority. PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to the PM, held a detailed meeting to assess the situation even as Joshimath was declared a landslide-subsidence zone and 60 families living in damaged houses were moved to temporary relief centres. Another 90 families would be shifted soon. The high-level PMO meeting was briefed by Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu from Joshimath. He said a strip of land with 350 m width was affected. The PMO directed the Secretary, Border Management, and all four members of the National Disaster IN BRIEF DGCA to probe absence of staff at Lucknow ATC NEW DELHI: The ATC at the Lucknow airport remained largely unattended for nearly a year between midnight and five in the morning, an inspection has found. The DGCA said it would probe the matter. TNS Former Army Chief joins Rahul’s yatra KURUKSHETRA: Former Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor and several retired top officers of the defence services joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Haryana on Sunday. PTI Ludhiana blast: Pak man chargesheeted NEW DELHI: Five persons, including a Pak national, have been chargesheeted by the NIA in the December 2021 Ludhiana blast case that left a suspected terrorist dead. INSIDE Sandeep questioned for over seven hours CHANDIGARH:Haryana ex-Sports Minister Sandeep Singh was grilled for over 7 hours on Sunday by the SIT over sexual harassment charges levelled against him by an athlectics coach. INSIDE PMO holds review meet | 60 families shifted SCALE OF DAMAGE ■ ■ ■ ■ 60 families moved to shelters 90 more to be evacuated 5 sites for relief centres 610 buildings ‘unfit for living’ PIL BLAMES INFRA PROJECTS ■ A PIL filed in Delhi HC has sought direction to Centre to set up a panel headed by a retired judge to look into Joshimath issue ■ Petitioner advocate Rohit Dandriyal claims infrastructure projects worked as catalyst in present scenario Management Authority (NDMA) to visit Uttarakhand on Monday and assess the ground situation. “They will undertake a detailed assessment on the findings of the technical teams that have just continued on page 9 Edit: saving joshimath Shimla, January 8 Exactly a month after the election results, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expanded his Cabinet on Sunday with the induction of seven ministers, including Vikramaditya Singh — the son of former CM Virbhadra Singh and state Congress president Pratibha Singh. The strength of the Cabinet has now risen to nine. Only Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri were sworn in on December 11 following the Congress’ win in the hill state. Three berths are still vacant as the maximum Chander Kumar (Kangra) Harshwardhan Chauhan (Sirmaur) Jagat Singh Negi (Kinnaur) Rohit Thakur (Shimla) Dhani Ram Shandil (Solan) Anirudh Singh (Shimla) Vikramaditya Singh (Shimla) CHIEF PARLIAMENTARY SECYS The ministers with Governor Rajendra Arlekar and CM Sukhvinder Sukhu in Shimla on Sunday. LALIT KUMAR Sunder Singh Thakur ( Kullu) Mohan Lal Brakta ( Shimla) Ram Kumar Chowdhary (Solan) Ashish Butail (Kangra) Kishori Lal (Kangra) Sanjay Awasthi (Solan ) number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, cannot exceed 12. Governor Rajen- his close associates in this first Cabinet expansion. continued on page 9 487 trains hit as dense fog, cold wave persist in North Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 8 Dense fog over North India and eastern parts of the country on Sunday affected the movement of 487 trains even as an intense cold wave swept the plains. In Delhi, the minimum temperature plunged to 1.9 degrees Celsius. Delhi’s minimum temperature was lower than most places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for the fourth consecutive day, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Cold snap straining power grids I Homeless & animals worst hit likely to abate after 48 hours ■ Dense to very dense fog con- ditions in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, UP & Bihar likely during the next 48 hours, says IMD ■ 25 flights delayed, two diverted on Sunday, IGI officials said “At least 335 trains have been delayed, 88 cancelled, continued on page 9 Dhangri toll 7, NIA probe demanded Our Correspondent Kin mourn the death of Prince Sharma, in Jammu on Sunday. PTI Police Officers (SPOs) in the Police Department under the garb of civilian cover; continued on page 9 Jammu, January 8 Another victim of the terror attack at Dhangri village in Rajouri district, who was under treatment since January 1, succumbed to his injuries on Sunday, taking the toll to seven. He was recently airlifted to the Government Medical College, Jammu. The deceased, Prince Sharma (22), had received bullet injuries when two terrorists entered his house and opened continued on page 9 After SC declares Kathua ‘rapist’ an adult, J&K Police file chargesheet Jammu/New Delhi, January 8 Shubam Sangra, declared an adult by the Supreme Court, has been formally chargesheeted by the J&K Police’s crime branch in a case related to the gangrape and murder case of an eightyear-old in Kathua in 2018. Though the trial is expected to start in neighbouring Pun- ‘INVOLVEMENT IN GANG RAPE AND MURDER’ ■ Shubam Sangra was involved in the abduction, gang rape and killing of the 8-year-old in Kathua, says chargesheet ■ He was responsible for an overdose of sedatives forcibly given to the victim, rendering her ‘incapacitated’ to resist the assault jab’s Pathankot, as ordered by the Supreme Court in 2018, the crime branch submitted its chargesheet under various sections, including those related to murder, rape, kidnapping and wrongful confinement, continued on page 9 Ghost consumers burn hole in PSPCL’s pocket Aman Sood Tribune News Service Patiala, January 8 Despite getting subsidised power worth crores of rupees, ghost consumers continue to cause huge losses to Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL). While the corporation has managed to check some pil- Power worth ~800-1,000 cr stolen every year Most losses in 12 divisions, including Tarn Taran, Patti, Ajnala, Amritsar, Bhikhiwind, Sangrur, Patran, Lehragaga and Malout ferage, it continues to incur huge transmission loss. As per an official assessment, the border zone (including Amritsar and Tarn Taran) has 79 feeders where transmission loss is more than 70 per cent. Of ministers at Raj Bhawan. Sukhu has apparently rewarded party loyalists and 0.4°C IN HISAR, COLDER THAN MANALI 2.8°C ADAMPUR COLDEST IN PUNJAB ■ Cold wave over northwest India Post killing spree, LeT front warns Sikhs New Delhi, January 8 At a time when the Centre has gone on a spree of antiterror crackdown by banning two proxy organisations of the dreaded Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad and declared four individuals “terrorist” in the past four days, one of the LeT proxies, The Resistance Front (TRF), has issued a warning to the Sikh community living in Jammu and Kashmir against helping the police. In an open letter, the proxy for the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba, has recently said that several Sikh youth in J&K have been “working as Special dra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office to the newly inducted these, 13 feeders have more than 90 per cent loss. The west zone has 57 feeders with 70-90 per cent loss. “For every 100 units supplied to these feeders, there is no accountability for 70-90 units. We feel helpless as our inspection teams have to face the wrath of farm unions and continued on page 9 A woman walks on rail tracks on a cold Sunday morning in New Delhi. PTI VISIBILITY POOR: Bathinda 0 metres I Patiala, Chandigarh, Hisar 25 m I Amritsar, Ludhiana, Ambala, Bhiwani, Palam 50 m VAT up, diesel to cost more in Himachal Dharamsala, January 8 The HP Government today hiked VAT on diesel, making it costlier. VAT has been hiked from 6.40 pc to 9.96 pc. The minimum tax on diesel, that was Rs 4.40 per litre, will now go up to Rs 7.40 — a Rs 3/litre hike. Diesel in the state will now be just Rs 3/ litre cheaper than in Punjab. — TNS Airline’s response should have been swifter: Tata Group Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 8 Air India’s response to the incident of a drunk passenger urinating on a woman on one of its international flights last year should have been “much swifter”, Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Sunday. In a statement, which came days after aviation regulator DGCA pulled up the Tata Group-owned full-service carrier, Chandrasekaran said, “We fell short of addressing this situation the way we should have.” In a shocking incident, dubbed “pee-gate” by the media, an inebriated man urinated on an elderly female copassenger in the business class of the Air India continued on page 9