10012023-TTC-01.qxd 1/10/2023 12:32 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 143 NO. 10 | 12 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 BUMRAH RULED OUT OF ODI SERIES AGAINST SRI LANKA SPORT /thetribunechd TCS PROFIT GROWS 11% EXPATS OUR BRAND TO ~10,846 CR IN DEC AMBASSADORS, SAYS QUARTER BUSINESS PM MODI BACK PAGE DOYEN OF KASHMIRI LITERATURE REHMAN RAHI PASSES AWAY J&K tuesday | 10 january 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com NCB busts Ludhiana-based int’l drugs syndicate, 2 Afghans among 16 held Anti-democratic riots in Brazil Two heroin processing units unearthed | 60-kg contraband, arms seized over 45 days Tribune News Service Security forces operate as supporters of Brazil’s ex-President Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia, Brazil, on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined several world leaders in condemning the assault on democracy. REUTERS INSIDE Pay OROP dues by March 15, Centre told New Delhi, January 9 The Supreme Court on Monday granted time till March 15 to the Centre to clear the One Rank-One Pension (OROP) dues of all eligible pensioners of the defence forces. A Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud asked the Centre to ensure that all arrears were paid expeditiously to the pensioners without any further delay. AG R Venkataramani said the Comptroller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) had already tabulated pensions of 25 lakh pensioners and it had been sent to the Ministry of Defence for final approval. “I will personally look into it…By March 15, the money will start flowing into the accounts of 25 lakh pensioners of the armed forces,” Venkataramani assured the Bench. — TNS Guj, U’khand can set up UCC panels: SC NewDelhi/Mohali, January9 The ongoing probe into drug rackets in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh and Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar led the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to bust an international drug syndicate linked to Punjab, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the agency said today. The NCB, in a statement, said it had succeeded in busting the “entire chain” of an international drugs syndicate, which was being operated from Ludhiana in Punjab, with the arrest of 16 persons, including two Afghan nationals, and seizure of about 60 kg of contraband and a cache of arms SHAHEEN BAGH, MUZAFFARNAGAR DRUG PROBES LED TO PUNJAB CARTEL ■ April 22, 2022: Narcotics haul in ■ 16 persons arrested between Nov Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh and Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar ■ International drug syndicate busted in Ludhiana following investigation into cases registered by NCB ■ Nov 15:This led NCB’s Chandigarh zonal unit to bust two heroin manufacturing units in Ludhiana with the seizure of over 20 kg of contraband 16, 2022, and January 6, 2023 NCB DDG Gyaneshwar Singh and ammunition over 45 days. Two factories and heroinprocessing hideouts in Ludhiana have been busted, which were being operated by the two Afghan chemists, the agency said. Those arrested till now from Ludhiana include Akshya Kumar Chhabra, Sandeep Singh, alias Deepu, Harsukhvir Singh, alias Raja, Ajay Kumar, alias Gora Grover, Jaspal Singh, alias Goldy, Hitesh Verma, Bhuvnesh Kapoor, Sandeep Singh, alias Chatha, Subhash Goyal, Qadri Hamidullah ■ Illicit drugs and arms seized from Nov 15 to Dec 25, 2022 ■ 30 properties purchased by syndi- cate members identified, necessary actions being initiated NO POLICE RECORD, SMUGGLERS ENJOYED CLEAN IMAGE BACK PAGE Yusufi (Afghan chemist), MD Hakim Salimi (Afghan chemist), Amandeep Chania, Gurmail Singh, alias Garry, Rawaljeet Singh, alias Rawal Wadala, Zaidu Haider Raji and Mohd Imran. The seized contraband and ammunition include 34.4 kg of heroin, 5.4 kg of morphine, 0.5 kg of opium, 23.6 kg of suspected narcotics powder, four bottles of HCL, one bottle of acetic anhydride, 31 live bullets and one magazine, the agency said, adding that around 30 properties purchased by the operatives of this drugs syndicate have been identified and the agency is expected to seize them. Noting that the syndicate was busted over one and a half months, NCB Deputy Director General (DDG) for Northern Region Gyaneshwar Singh said, “The agency’s probe into the Shaheen Bagh (Delhi) and continued on page 9 Junks PIL, says states have right to do so Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 9 The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a PIL challenging the decisions of the Uttarakhand and Gujarat governments to constitute committees for introduction of Uniform Civil Code (UCC). “What is wrong with it? They have only constituted a panel under executive powers that Article 162 gives... It gives such power to the states to form a committee. Setting up such panels cannot be said to be ultra-vires the Constitution,” a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud said. Terming the PIL filed by Anoop Baranwal as “devoid of merit”, the Bench, which also included Justice PS Narasimha, dismissed it. CONVERSIONS: TOP COURT SLAMS TN GOVT Describing fraudulent religious conversions as a serious and important issue, the SC on Monday slammed the Tamil Nadu Government for politicising it and asked it to restrict itself to the point under consideration. BACK PAGE Uttarakhand and Gujarat have set up separate panels to look into the implementation of UCC governing matters of divorce, adoption, inheritance, guardianship, succession of all citizens equally regardless of religion, gender and sexual orientation. Several pleas are pending before the top court seeking uniform ground and procedures of divorce, adoption and guardianship for all communities. Canada-based Aarshdeep tagged ‘individual terrorist’ New Delhi, January 9 The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today issued a notification designating Canada-based Aarshdeep Singh Gill as “individual terrorist” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for his alleged involvement in targeted killings, terror financing and extortion in Punjab. In a notification, the MHA alleged that Ludhiana-born Gill, alias Arsh Dala, who is currently based in Canada, was involved in cross-border smuggling of drugs and continued on page 9 Citing Pant car crash, govt issues advisory to TVchannels over ‘disturbing’ visuals NewDelhi, January9 The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting today issued an advisory to all television channels against reporting incidents of accident, death and violence in a manner that grossly compromised on “good taste and decency”. In the advisory, the ministry mentioned several instances of “lack of discretion” by television channels. It said in most cases, videos were being lifted from social media and broadcast without editorial FOLLOW CODE OF ETHICS ■ I&B Ministry says videos lifted from social media being shown without editorial discretion ■ Asks broadcasters to display responsibility and discipline as enshrined in Programme Code ■ Calls for ‘blurring’ of visuals showing blood, violence, death discretion. The ministry cited the road accident of Rishabh Pant in which “distressing images and videos of the injured cricketer were shown without blurring”. It also mentioned the “disturbing” footage of a man dragging the body of a victim with blood on the face and around. It said another “distressing” incident was the one showing a Patna teacher brutally thrashing a five-year-old boy until the child lost consciousness at a coaching classroom. It also flagged videos being repeatedly shown over several minutes, including by circling the actions and thereby making these even more ghastly, without taking the precaution of blurring images or showing these from long shots. Another crucial issue concerned invasion of privacy, which could be “potentially maligning and defamatory”, the advisory said. — TNS Expect snow, showers in PCS officers go on mass leave DGCA slaps notice on Himachal from Jan 11 despite CM’s word on fair probe Air India, 2nd in 5 days Subhash Rajta Tribune News Service Shimla, January 9 The prolonged dry spell in HP is likely to end soon with the weather department sounding an alert for heavy rain and snowfall at isolated places and light to moderate rain or snow at several places in the districts of Chamba, Kangra, Mandi, Kullu, Shimla, Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur for January 12. A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from the night of January 10 and there FOG DELAYS TRAINS 267 trains, 30 flights delayed, five flights diverted MIN TEMP Srinagar Bathinda Narnaul New Delhi Shimla 0.9°C 2°C 2.4°C 3.2°C 10.3°C would be appreciable precipitation from January 11-13, continued on page 9 IN BRIEF Interim bail to Chanda Kochhar in loan fraud case MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday granted interim bail to Tribune News Service Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 9 The Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officers went on a mass casual leave for five days starting Monday in protest against the “illegal” arrest of a colleague in Ludhiana. The development came even as the anguish of state bureaucrats over their colleagues being booked and arrested by the Vigilance Bureau, allegedly without taking mandatory clearances, Vijay C Roy TN Guv walks out of House in face-off with govt Chandigarh, January 9 After more than a decade at the helm, RS Sodhi resigned as the Managing Director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns the Amul brand. Jayen Mehta, who has been with the federation for 32 years, replaced him. walkout from the House following a face-off with CM MK Stalin over the former’s address in the first session of the year. BACK PAGE Lt Col kills wife, shoots self at Ferozepur unit FEROZEPUR: Lt Col Nishant Tomar (44) allegedly killed his wife Dimple and then “shot himself” at the Army unit here. Hailing from Shimla, the duo were reportedly engaged in a marital dispute. INSIDE ■ PCS officers up in arms over Ludhiana RTA’s arrest ‘without nod’ ■ IAS officers resentful over FIR against colleague in PSIEC land case ■ CM Bhagwant Mann meets them, promises to look into concerns ■ IAS officers ‘relent’, but PCS body refuses to buy CM’s assurances met with a “humble appeal” by CM Bhagwant Mann. While the PCS officers are protesting the arrest of Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, posted as Regional Transport Authority in Ludhiana, for allegedly taking bribes from transporters, IAS officers are resentful over the registration of a case against their colleague Neelima in the PSIEC land bifurcation case. During their meeting with Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua, some IAS officers even threatened to resign. continued on page 9 New Delhi, January 9 Stating that the response of Air India with regard to two incidents of passenger misbehaviour aboard its Paris-New Delhi flight on December 6 was “lackadaisical and delayed”, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday slapped a show-cause notice on the Tata Groupowned airline for not abiding by the regulatory obligations. This is the second such notice given to Air India in five days. 2 HELD FOR DRUNKEN BRAWL ON INDIGO FLIGHT Two drunk flyers caused havoc on a Patna-bound IndiGo flight from Delhi. Both of them have been arrested. BOMB THREAT, MOSCOW-GOA FLIGHT LANDS IN JAMNAGAR GO FIRST FLIGHT LEAVES 50 PASSENGERS BEHIND IN B’LURU Two incidents of passenger misbehaviour on the December 6 flight have come to the notice of the DGCA. While a continued on page 9 Sodhi, who took Amul to new heights, steps down as MD former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in the Videocon-ICICI Bank loan fraud case. PTI CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi staged an unprecedented BUREAUCRATS ALLEGE VB HIGH-HANDEDNESS Tribune news Service His initiatives changed fortunes of lakhs of farmers FROM ~8K CR TO ~71K CR DURING MD STINT When I joined Amul in 1982, its turnover was ~121 cr... was ~8,000 cr in 2010 when I joined as MD... will be ~71,000 cr this fiscal. RS Sodhi Talking to The Tribune over the phone, Sodhi said, “I was already on extension for two years, which ended on December 31, 2022. Since I am also president of the Indi- an Dairy Association, I will continue to render my services to the industry.” Hailing from a village near Ferozepur in Punjab, Sodhi said he never aspired to have a career with the GCMMF leave , alone being its boss. He joined the federation in 1982 and for the last 30 years, he was positioned at the Amul headquarters and held various posi- tions. He was elevated to the MD’s post in June 2010, when the federation’s turnover was Rs 8,000 crore. Sodhi realised with growing demand, Amul would not be able to expand, so he decided to procure milk from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, MP UP Bengal, , , Haryana and Punjab. This resulted in changing the fortunes of lakhs of farmers. Drones catch Karnal farmers’ fancy, spray on crops made easy Parveen Arora Tribune News Service Karnal, January 9 Farmers in the district are switching over to technology to effectively spray water-soluble fertilisers and pesticides on crops. At least 15-20 farmers approach officials of Maharana Pratap Horticulture University (MHU) here every day with queries on the use of drones and requests for a demonstration. The officials have so far given demonstrations on 400 acres of land to around 150 farmers. “Fertilisers and pesticides can be evenly sprayed on crops with drones. Besides being a cost-effective process, it helps save time,” said Surinder Lather, a progressive farmer. Vijay Kapoor, another farmer, said spraying with drones was effective even on tall crops like sugarcane and paddy. continued on page 9