11012023-TTC-01.qxd 1/11/2023 12:35 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 7 NO. 11 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 BEIJING HALTS VISAS FOR JAPAN, S KOREA OVER COVID CURBS WORLD /thetribunechd RBI NOD TO BHARATPE DHANKHAR TO INAUGURATE FOR ONLINE PAYMENT PRESIDING OFFICERS’ MEET AGGREGATOR BUSINESS IN JAIPUR BACK PAGE RAJOURI ATTACK: OGWs IN 3 DISTRICTS UNDER SCANNER J&K wednesday | 11 january 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com To preserve Chandigarh’s heritage, ‘Speedy evacuation top priority’: NCMC SC bars floor-wise division of houses meet on Joshimath Prohibits conversion of single residential units into apartments in Phase 1 of city Tribune News Service ❝ WILL INJURE CITY’S ‘LUNGS’ The fragmentation/apartmentalisation of single dwelling units in Phase 1 of Chandigarh, in our view, will injure the ‘lungs’ of the city as conceptualised by Le Corbusier. SC Bench ❝ UT’S FUTURE IS SECURE NOW: COUNSEL This is a path-breaking judgment, which will secure the future of the city for generations to come. PS Patwalia, ADVOCATE form maximum height as deemed appropriate by the heritage committee keeping in view the requirement to maintain its heritage status. “The Chandigarh Administration shall not resort to formulate rules or bylaws with- FREEZE FLOOR AREA RATIO, SAYS COURT ■ SC asks the Centre & the UT Administration to freeze FAR and not increase it any further ■ Tells them to restrict the number of floors in Phase 1 to three with a uniform maximum height as deemed fit by the heritage committee ■ Asks the heritage committee to consider the issue of redensification taking into consideration its own recommendations that the northern sectors should be preserved in the present form out prior consultation of the heritage committee and prior approval of the Centre,” the Bench said in its verdict, At Guru’s Darbar IN BRIEF Recession looming threat for economy: World Bank WASHINGTON: The global economy will come “perilously close” to a recession this year, led by weaker growth in all the world's top economies, the World Bank warned on Tuesday. BACK PAGE Notice to Go First for leaving 55 flyers at airport NEW DELHI: The DGCA on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to Go First for leaving behind 55 flyers in a coach at Bengaluru airport after finding that “multiple mistakes” led to incident. BACK PAGE Nod to prosecute JNUSU ex-leader for Army tweets NEW DELHI: Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has granted sanction to prosecute former JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora for her tweets on the Army, officials said. TNS India first in world to hit $100 bn in remittances Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 10 Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said remittances sent to the country by overseas Indians were about $100 billion for the year 2022, an increase of 12 per cent in one year. The minister was quoting from last month’s World Bank report that had said the same thing. Though remittances to the rest of the South Asian countries declined by 10 per cent, these rose by 12 per cent in India’s case, it said. India was the largest Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pays obeisance at Golden Temple before kicking off the Punjab leg of his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. INSIDE which is expected to put an end to the practice of converting single residential units into apartments in Chandigarh. As Justice Gavai pronounced the verdict, senior advocate PS Patwalia, who represented the appellant Residents Welfare Association, Sector 10, Chandigarh, said, “The future is now secure.” Justice Gavai replied, “Let us hope so. We have done our duty.” He also apologised for the more than two-month delay in pronouncing the verdict after it was reserved on the completion of the hearing. The Bench directed the heritage committee to consider the issue of re-densification in Phase 1 of Chandigarh taking into consideration its own recommendations that the northern sectors of the city (Corbusian Chandigarh) should be preserved in their present form as also the impact of such re-densification on the parking/traffic issues. “After the heritage committee considers the issues, the Chandigarh continued on page 11 New Delhi, January 10 The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) on Tuesday reviewed the situation in Joshimath where cracks have appeared in buildings and other structures and stressed that the immediate priority should be to ensure complete and safe evacuation of all residents in the affected zone. At a meeting of the NCMC, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba stressed that priority should also be accorded to the demolition of vulnerable structures in a safe manner, an official statement said. The NCMC conveyed that all studies and investigations, including geotechnical, geophysical and hydrological, should be completed in a coordinated and timebound manner. The Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand briefed the NCMC about the current situation and informed that residents of severely damaged houses were being shifted to safe places. Relief shelters have been identified in Joshimath and Pipalkoti to accommodate Losing~1.33crdaily as toll, NHAI moves HC against Punjab Satya Prakash New Delhi, January 10 Highlighting the need for striking a proper balance between sustainable development and environment protection, the Supreme Court on Tuesday prohibited fragmentation/division/bifurcation/apartmentalisation of a residential unit in Phase 1 (Sector 1 to 30) of Chandigarh. “We hold that in view of Rule 14 of the 1960 Rules, Rule 16 of the 2007 Rules and the repeal of the 2001 (Chandigarh Apartment) Rules, fragmentation/division/ bifurcation/apartmentalisation of residential units in Phase 1 of Chandigarh is prohibited,” a Bench led by Justice BR Gavai ordered. Issuing a slew of directions to preserve the heritage status of Corbusian Chandigarh, the Bench directed the Centre and the Chandigarh Administration to freeze the floor area ratio (FAR) and not to increase it any further. It also directed them to restrict the number of floors in Phase I to three with a uni- Tribune News Service Roads sinking, McLeodganj could be next Joshimath, warn geologists Chandigarh, January 10 The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the State of Punjab claiming a daily loss of Rs 1.33 crore following the prevention of toll collection “illegally” by protesters in the state. The matter, listed today before Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj’s Bench, has been referred to a Division Bench for hearing after obtaining orders of the Chief Justice. After hearing senior advocate Chetan Mittal with counsel Raghujeet Madan on continued on page 11 Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, January 10 With Joshimath in Uttarakhand being declared an unsafe zone due to subsidence, geologists have set alarm bells ringing for McLeodganj in Dharamsala. AK Mahajan, a professor of environmental sciences and eminent geologist, told The Tribune that it was high time the state government and the local administration took steps to prevent a Joshimath-like situation in McLeodganj. He said landslides in McLeodganj had become common. The main road leading from Dharamsala Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 10 From a tea vendor’s son to a crorepati in a span of two years, the kingpin of an international heroin syndicate, Akshay Kumar Chhabra of Ludhiana, has turned out to be a big catch for the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Chhabra, who also worked for some time at a chemist shop, later became the owner of several commercial properties, the value of which is said to be in crores. Locals protest move to demolish damaged hotels in Joshimath. PTI PROCESS BEGINS TO RAZE UNSAFE HOTELS Joshimath residents on Tuesday staged a protest as the authorities began preparations to demolish Malari Inn and Mount View hotels that have leaned towards each other NO URGENT SC HEARING The SC refused to urgently list a petition seeking to declare subsidence a national disaster, saying all important matters needn’t land before it. But it agreed to take it up on January 16 the affected families and appropriate compensation and relief measures were being provided by the state government, the statement said. continued on page 11 NewDelhi, January10 In a rare show of unanimity, Nepal’s PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ today won the trust vote in the House of Representatives with the backing of nearly all MPs. He secured 268 of the total 275 votes. The twist came in the morning when Sher Bahadur Deuba, chief of SECURES 268 VOTES AFTER NEPAL CONGRESS’ U-TURN Nepali Congress (NC) that was opposing the vote, called for voting in Prachanda’s favour. The NC went along with Deuba’s suggestion though several leaders criticised the support to Prachanda, who had dramatically deserted its prepoll ally NC last month and joined hands with the KP Oliled CPN to stake claim for the premier’s post. — TNS ON BRINK OF DISASTER ■ Landslides in McLeodganj have become common ■ Main road from Dharamsala to McLeodganj (pic) is sinking ■ Number of structures on hill beyond its carrying capacity to McLeodganj was sinking at many places. A portion of the road near the Kotwali market caved in about two years ago and was yet to be fully repaired. A portion of the Khara Danda road, an alternative link to McLeodganj, also caved in during the monsoon this year and was under repair, he said. Mahajan said it was high time the district administration made an extensive plan for creating a proper drainage system in McLeodganj. The number of structures on the hill were already beyond its carrying capacity. If remedial measures were not taken, a Joshimathtype situation might occur continued on page 11 12% ANNUAL RISE 2019 2020 2021 2022 $82.69 bn $82.73 bn $89 bn $100 bn* (*APPROX) Delhi most polluted city of country in 2022 Vij loses 2 portfolios F’bad, Ghaziabad too fare poorly in air quality rankings | Srinagar cleanest in Haryana reshuffle Tribune News Service remittance receiving country in 2021 as well while Mexico was second and China third. India received remittances worth over $89 billion in 2021, about 8 per cent higher than $82.73 billion in 2020. Despite the world having been affected badly by Covid in 2020, the remittances in continued on page 11 INDIAN CITIES WITH WORST AIR New Delhi, January 10 The National Capital has been declared the most polluted city of India in 2022 by the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) Tracker. The Tracker is a joint project of Climate Trends and Respirer Living Sciences to create an online hub for latest updates Delhi Faridabad Ghaziabad Patna Muzaffarpur 99.71* 95.64 91.25 90.88 86.92 Noida Meerut Gobindgarh Gaya Jodhpur 80.44 77.68 72.39 70.84 69.3 * PM2.5 MICROGRAMS PER CUBIC METRE on India’s clean air policy. As per the data, the average PM2.5 (ultra-fine particulate matter) concentration in Delhi was 99.71 micrograms per cubic metre last year even though India’s annual average safe limit for PM 2.5 is 40 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3). PM2.5 is tiny particulate matter that is less than 2.5 microns in diameter and can enter the lungs and bloodstream. Faridabad has been ranked the second-most polluted city with a PM 2.5 level of 95.64. Faridabad is followed by Ghaziabad where continued on page 11 Ludhiana druglord rose from tea seller’s son to ‘crorepati’ in 2 yrs Nikhil Bhardwaj Prachanda wins trust vote, nearly all MPs back him Before becoming rich, he, along with his family, used to live in a small house in Janta Nagar, Shimlapuri. After starting the business of heroin smuggling and manufacturing, he bought a palatial house at Nitesh Vihar. Along with the house, he also bought plots. He constructed a big farmhouse on one of these to spend his leisure time. With the drug money, Chhabra reportedly also bought several luxury vehicles and used to flaunt these in his neighbourhood. Oil, rice business served as front for illegal trade Akshay Chhabra A sealed godown in Ludhiana where drugs were kept. TRIBUNE PHOTO During a visit to Chhabra’s trading firms and godowns at the New Grain Market, Gill Road, it was found that he runs “Guru Kirpa Trading Firm” there from where he used to do wholesale trading of ghee, edible oils, rice and other products. Chhabra’s neighbours were not aware that he was running an international drug syndicate that had links in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now, this trading firm has been sealed by the NCB. “Around two years ago, Chhabra’s father used to run a tea stall in the New Grain Market and his father was feeding his family with a meagre income. His mother and father even used to supply “chappatis” and “paranthas” to workers at FCI godowns. Within two years, Chhabra earned a fortune from illegal drug business and opened big trading firms,” said a shopkeeper in the market on condition of anonymity. He said, “His trading firms had returns worth crores and other firms dealing in similar products suffered setbacks as Chhabra’s firm would offer cheap deals to retailers.” Interestingly, drug kingpin Chhabra was running most of his trading continued on page 11 edit: drug scourge Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 10 Cabinet ministers Anil Vij, Kanwar Pal Gujjar and Devender Singh Babli emerged as “losers” as the Haryana Government reallocated departments. The recent merging of departments had necessitated the reallocation. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has left Public Health Engineering; Information Technology, Electronics and Communications; and Environment and Climate Change. Vide a notification, dated January 1, the government had dissolved the Information Technology, Electronics and Communication Department and the functions of this department, Electronics Manufacturing, Private IT and Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (HARTRON) have been brought under the purview of the Industries and Commerce Department. The Environment and Climate Change Department has Tech Edu, Science & Tech taken away from him; Higher Edu from Gujjar DOESN’T BOTHER ME doesn’t matter ❝ Itcontinue to workto me. I will even if left with no dept. Anil Vij NOT THE FIRST TIME ■ CM Khattar took away CID from Anil Vij in Jan 2020 ■ Vij also lost Local Bodies Dept to Kamal Gupta when latter joined Cabinet in Dec 2021 been merged with the Forests and Wildlife Department. Khattar has got the newly formed Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of continued on page 11