21012023-TTC-01.qxd 21-01-2023 00:24 Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 143 NO. 21 | 22 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 ROZGAR MELA REFLECTS GOOD GOVERNANCE, SAYS PM NATION /thetribunechd ROSHNI SCAM: APEX COURT REFUSES TO STAY EVICTIONS J&K FOREX RESERVES ZOOM BY $10.42 BN TO $572 BN BUSINESS JAISHANKAR PUSHES FOR LANKA’S RECONCILIATION WITH TAMILS BACK PAGE saturday | 21 january 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com MUKESH AGGARWAL Chinese President inspects readiness of PLA troops along border with India Tribune News Service BORDER DEFENCE Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and others at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. IOA forms 7-member probe panel; WFI chief calls it Cong conspiracy Tribune News Service Have proof: Wrestlers New Delhi/Hisar, January 20 The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) today constituted a seven-member committee to probe the allegations of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by top grapplers. The committee comprises legendary boxer and former MP Mary Kom, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, archer Dola Banerjee, former shuttler Alaknanda Ashok, Indian Weightlifting Federation president Sahdev Yadav and advocates Talish Ray and Shlok Chandra. Most of the members are affiliated to the BJP . The allegations have been levelled by some of the country’s top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Ravi Dahiya. The decision to ON THE PANEL… Legendary boxer and ex-MP Mary Kom, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, archer Dola Banerjee, former shuttler Alaknanda Ashok, Indian Weightlifting Federation chief Sahdev Yadav and advocates Talish Ray and Shlok Chandra New Delhi, January 20 Chinese President Xi Jinping held a rare video conversation with soldiers deployed along the India-China border in eastern Ladakh and inspected their combat readiness, reported the Chinese official media on Friday. The conversation between the Chinese President and the troops took place on Wednesday. Xi spoke to the Xinjiang border command, a Chinese navy formation and an air force aviation brigade, asking them to “remain alert and be ready for combat”. Basing himself at the PLA headquarters in the capital, Xi’s only conversation with PLA ground forces was with troops at a border defence station in Khunjerab under ■ China has accelerated work on a virtual interaction with troops on Wednesday, reported Chinese media ■ Calling the soldiers ‘models of border defence’, he encouraged them to ‘persist’ in their efforts ■ A contingent leader told him troops were carrying out dynamic and roundthe-clock monitoring of the border huge dam on the Mabja Zangbo river, just short of the tri-junction between India and Nepal, says a Kathmandu-based online magazine. ■ This dam is very close to the Kalapani region of Uttarakhand which could help China establish complete control over the water in the region, intelligence analyst Damien Symon claims. ■ There are reports that China is also preparing to commence work on a massive dam near Arunachal on the Yarlung Tsangpo river. TNS the Xinjiang military command. Xi is also the commander-in-chief of the PLA. Xi observed that the area had been changing in recent years and asked the troops how it had impacted them on the ground. File photo of an Army truck at the LAC in eastern Ladakh. In reply, the contingent leader told the Chinese President that they were now carrying out dynamic and round-the-clock monitoring of the border. Xi asked them about their border patrol and manage- ment work and said the soldiers were “models of border defence” and encouraged them to “persist in their efforts and make new contributions”, reported the Chinese media. Troops from this command Chargesheet can’t be put in public domain: SC Tribune News Service form the panel was taken during the IOA’s emergency executive council meeting, attended by the likes of Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra and bronze medallist Yogeshwar, along with IOA chief PT Usha and joint secretary Kalyan Chaubey. Usha said that a “thorough investigation would be carried out to ensure continued on page 9 WATER WAR NEXT? ■ Chinese President Xi Jinping held a New Delhi, January 20 Holding that a chargesheet filed by an investigating agency was not a public document, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL seeking a direction to all states to enable free public access to chargesheets and final reports filed by investigation agencies on their websites. “If the relief as prayed in the present petition is allowed and NOT A PUBLIC DOCUMENT If chargesheets are put in public domain, it will be contrary to the scheme of the CrPC and it may violate the rights of the accused as well as the victim and/or even the investigation agency. Justice MR Shah-led Bench ❝ all the chargesheets and relevant documents produced along with the chargesheets are put in the public domain or on the websites of the state governments, it will be contrary to the scheme of the Criminal Procedure Code and it may as such violate the rights of the accused as well as the victim and/or even the investigation agency,” a Bench led by Justice MR Shah said. “Therefore, the chargesheet/ documents along with the chargesheet cannot be said to be public documents under Section 74 of the Evidence Act, reliance placed upon Sections 74 & 76 of the Evidence Act is absolutely misplaced,” the Bench said, dismissing a PIL filed by one Saurav Das. Relying on the verdict in Youth Bar Association of India’s case — in which the top court had directed copies of FIRs to be published within continued on page 9 NGTslaps ~100 cr fine on crushers in Charkhi Dadri, Mahendragarh dists Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 20 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh each on stone crushers in Charkhi Dadri and Mahendragarh districts of Haryana for violating environmental norms. With 343 identified crushers in Charkhi Dadri and 162 in Mahendragarh, the total fine amounts to over Rs 100 crore. GET ONE MONTH TO PAY ■ NGT fixes ~20 lakh penalty for each stone crusher ■ Suggests coercive action if fine not paid within a month ■ 343 crushers in Charkhi Dadri, 162 in Mahendragarh The penalty has been slapped on the basis of “Polluter Pays” principle in two separate cases. The compensation would be collected ret- rospectively for five years preceding the filing of the petition. “The amount may be collected by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB)… coercive action may be initiated if the amount is not deposited within a month. The amount is to be used for environment restoration,” the NGT said in its order. The final penalty could rise as it would be continued on page 9 New Delhi, January 20 The Centre on Friday notified the appointment of Justice Sabina as the acting Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. Justice Sabina, the senior-most judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, will assume charge as the acting Chief Justice on Saturday following the retirement of Justice Amjad Ahtesham Sayed, the Department of Justice said in a notification. Justice Sayed retired on Friday on attaining the age of 62 years. After his retirement, the Himachal Pradesh High Court will be functioning with only nine judges against a sanctioned strength of 17. “In exercise of the power conferred by Article 223 of continued on page 9 Fresh five-judge Bench to hear pleas against polygamy NewDelhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to set up a fresh five-judge Constitution Bench to hear petitions seeking to declare Islamic practices of polygamy and ‘nikah halala’ unconstitutional. “There are very important matters which are pending before a five-judge Bench. We will constitute one and bear this matter in mind,” a Bench led by the CJI said. INSIDE New Delhi, January 20 The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India in connection with the urination incident. It also imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on the airline’s director of in-flight services. The aviation regulator suspended the licence of the pilot-in-command of the flight for three months. Air India said it respectfully acknowledged the gaps in reporting with respect to the incident and that relevant measures were being taken to address the matter. It further said it was strengthening crew’s awareness about policies on handling incidents involving unruly passengers. “Air India is committed to stand by the safety and wellbeing of our passengers,” a spokesperson said. On November 26 last year, a woman passenger was traumatised when co-passenger Shankar Mishra, reportedly in an inebriated state, allegedly urinated on her on a flight from New York to Delhi. — TNS After rigorous review, Google to axe 12,000 workers: Pichai SNOWFALL JALORI JOT ROHTANG PASS ATAL TUNNEL CHAURDHAR KHADRALA MANALI KUFRI 60 CM 45 CM 30 CM 25 CM 16 CM 11 CM 10 CM People walk through a snow-covered path after fresh snowfall in Shimla on Friday. LALIT KUMAR Justice Sabina appointed DGPs chided for inaction on FIRs against netas acting CJ of Himachal HC WHY CASES NOT TAKEN TO LOGICAL END, ASKS HC Chandigarh, January 20 Rapping the investigating agencies of Punjab and Haryana for inaction and not taking to logical conclusion the FIRs registered against MPs and MLAs, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has summoned the DGPs of the two states. In a scathing order on the functioning of the investigating and prosecuting agencies, the Bench of Justice Augustine George Masih and are among those manning the border areas along eastern Ladakh in the western sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), where the Galwan valley incident and continued on page 9 ~30 lakh penalty imposed on AI for urination incident ■ The Punjab and Haryana HC has summoned the DGPs of Punjab and Haryana ■ Punjab DGP admonished for Justice Vikram Aggarwal asserted: “Strangely enough, where a public servant is being prosecuted, months have been taken for giving such a sanction/approval or at least taking a decision thereof.” accepting as ‘just’ reasons for not proceeding with probe ■ Haryana DGP rapped for filing affidavit for the sake of it The Punjab DGP was also virtually admonished for accepting as “just and reasonable” the reasons for not proceeding with the investigations. The Bench asserted the reasons reflected in the documents appended along with the DGP’s affidavit showed a “very grim picture” regarding the competence of the investigating agencies. “It appears that the law is not known to them and they have, in fact, not been trained properly. Strange enough are the reasons which have been mentioned,” it said. The Bench asserted there was some semblance of light in the dark horizon when the case was taken up on a previous continued on page 9 New York, January 20 Google will lay off 12,000 jobs across the globe, its CEO Sundar Pichai announced on Friday, becoming the latest tech giant after Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon to retrench staff en mass amid the global economic downturn. In an email to employees, the Indian-origin CEO said: “I have some difficult news to share. We’ve decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles.” Pichai said the layoffs at Google were carried out after a “rigorous review” of its operations. The jobs being eliminated “cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions”, he said. “Over the past two years, SWIGGY SLASHES 380 JOBS New Delhi: Online food delivery platform Swiggy announced on Friday that it had laid off 380 employees as part of a “restructuring exercise” due to tough macroeconomic conditions. It would soon shut down its meat marketplace as well. The company apologised to the sacked employees. TNS we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today,” continued on page 9 IN BRIEF ‘Kali’ poster row: No action against filmmaker NEW DELHI: In a reprieve to filmmaker Leena Manimekalai, the SC has protected her from coercive action in connection with FIRs against her over a controversial poster of documentary film 'Kali'. BACK PAGE Women Agniveers’ induction into Navy in 3 months NEW DELHI: In three months, the Navy will induct women Agniveers on warships and all operational platforms. However, the decision to deploy them on submarines has not been made yet. BACK PAGE Roll of honour for 3 young bravehearts from Punjab Karam Prakash Tribune News Service KUSUM AZAAN AMANDEEP KAUR Jalandhar girl bravely fended off cellphone snatchers Amritsar lad saved lives at Jammu & Kashmir camp Sangrur teen rescued 4 from burning schoolbus New Delhi, January 20 Age doesn’t come in the way of bravery. This has been proved by three children from Punjab who have been selected for National Bravery Award ahead of Republic Day. Sixteen-year-old Amandeep Kaur displayed exemplary courage by risking her life to pull out four children from a burning school van in Sangrur district, while 15- year-old Kusum bravely fended off mobile snatchers in Jalandhar and 11-year-old Azaan from Amritsar saved several lives during a landslide in Kashmir. Recalling the harrowing incident of February 15, 2020, Amandeep said she was seated along with other students in a school van when it caught fire on the way to the institution in Longowal village. Losing no time, she smashed the glass pane and jumped out. Without Awardees will take part in R-Day parade a thought for her own safety, she managed to pull out four kids from the burning vehicle. The same year, Kusum too made headlines for her act of courage. She bravely fought two mobile snatchers who targeted her on her way home in Jalandhar. One of the snatchers even attacked her with a sharp-edged weapon and injured her. The brave teen, however, kept fighting till some people came to her rescue and got hold of the snatchers. “One of the snatchers attacked me with a knife. I didn’t stop fighting until they were caught. I didn’t fear them,” Kusum told The Tribune. Azaan, with his spontaneous and brave act during his visit to Amarnath shrine last year, saved several lives by alerting people at a campsite about a landslide in Kashmir. The people at the camp were immediately shifted. “I was serving langar at a camp when I saw huge rocks and water gushing towards the site. I rushed and informed police personnel, saving many lives,” the braveheart said. The national bravery awards are given annually to children below 18 years of age for their meritorious acts of courage against all odds.