22032023-TT-01.qxd 3/21/2023 11:01 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 143 NO. 79 | 12 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH PARTYGATE: MISLED HOUSE UNINTENTIONALLY, SAYS BORIS WORLD wednesday | 22 march 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com All-partymeets by Dhankhar, Birla fail to end Parl logjam BJP slams Cong for skipping RS Chairman’s meeting Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 21 The ongoing impasse in Parliament continued on Tuesday despite presiding officers of both Houses convening all-party meetings in an attempt to break the logjam. After the entire Opposition barring TDP BJD and YSR, CP boycotted a morning meeting called by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to find a way to run the House, the BJP slammed the Congress-led Opposition of “insulting the Chair repeatedly and misleading the country with unfounded allegations”. Another meeting, which Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla called, was attended by Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Choudhury and other Opposition parties but did not achieve a breakthrough. By the end of the day, the BJP and the Opposition appeared even more distant, as the former stuck to the demand for an apology from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his London remarks on India’s alleged democratic decline, and the Congress 28 held guilty of Nabha jailbreak chandigarh: A local court on Tuesday held 28 accused, including over10 gangsters, guilty in the 2016 Nabha jailbreak case. Four gangsters and two terrorists had escaped from the maximum security jail at Nabha after gangsters, dressed in police uniform, fired indiscriminately at jail guards. Additional Sessions Judge HS Grewal will announce the quantum of the sentence on March 23. INSIDE HC grants Sukhbir anticipatory bail chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana HC on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in the 2015 Kotkapura police firing case. “Till the next date of hearing, the petitioner is directed to appear before the trial court within 15 days from Tuesday. In the event of his appearance, the court shall release the petitioner on interim bail subject to its satisfaction,” it said. INSIDE ❝ Running House a priority. Other issues can be resolved outside House. Om Birla, LS SPEAKER ❝ It is ourto prime duty 80K cops, still he fled: HC raps Punjab as Mann pats own govt Severest of severe action taken: CM | Amritpal’s lawyer alleges illegal custody run proceedings of the House in orderly manner. Tribune News Service J Dhankhar, RS CHIEF Cong president Mallikarjun Kharge speaks in the RS on Tuesday. PTI BJP CALLS RAHUL ‘MIR JAFAR’, CONG REACTS WITH ‘JAI CHAND’ BARB remained firm on a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue. In fact, even before the Parliament commenced today, both sides had taken irreconcilable positions, dampening hopes of the logjam ending. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra in an early morning statement accused Rahul Gandhi of being “the Mir Jafar of Indian polity who went to London and sought CRACKDOWN ON AMRITPAL’S ‘WARIS PUNJAB DE’ Europe and US’ help to bring a change of guard in India”. Congress’ Pawan Khera hit back with the BJP is “full of Jai Chands” barb, saying party leaders were known apologisers of the British. Once Parliament commenced, both Houses, in a repeat of past days, saw the first adjournment until 2 pm and then for the day. The Opposition MPs minus the continued on page 9 Chandigarh, March 21 Four days after the Punjab Police launched a crackdown against pro-Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh and arrested several of his associates, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said “severest of severe” action was being taken against those conspiring to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state. This even as the Punjab and Haryana High Court took the Punjab Government to task over its inability to apprehend Amritpal despite having 80,000-strong police force and five-six FIRs having been registered in the matter. Stating that it seemed to be an “intelligence failure” if Amritpal could not be apprehended, the High Court asked the state to file a status report on the police operations being undertaken to nab him. Chief Minister Mann, in a video message in Hindi, asserted that Punjab was in “safe and firm hands”, and continued on page 9 UNCLE, TWO OTHERS FLOWN TO DIBRUGARH ■ Amritpal’s uncle Harjit, 2 oth- ers shifted to Dibrugarh jail ■ In all, 7 shifted to the high-security Assam jail since March 19 MOBILE NET RESTORED PARTIALLY IN PUNJAB ■ Mobile Net services restored partially in Punjab on Tuesday ■ Curbs remain till March 23 in CCTV footage shows Amritpal Singh fleeing on a motorcycle. Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga & Sangrur districts, Ajnala (Amritsar), areas adjoining Mohali’s YPS Chowk, Airport Road Amritpal hid in gurdwara, fled on bike Jupinderjit Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 21 The Punjab Police today said pro-Khalistani activist and “Waris Punjab De” chief Amritpal Singh escaped on a motorcycle wearing western clothes after hiding in a gurdwara at Nangal Ambian village in Jalandhar district. Disclosing this, Punjab Police spokesperson Inspector General Sukhchain Singh BOOKED UNDER STRINGENT NSA ■ On March 18, Amritpal aban- wara at a Jalandhar village and changed into western clothes before fleeing ■ The police say he was booked under the NSA on March 18 doned his Mercedes car, sat in a Brezza and then used a bike to escape, say police ■ He reportedly hid in a gurd- 154 from Amritpal’s group held 450 were on his beck and call Gill said here today that Amritpal had already been booked under the National Security Act (NSA) and would be dealt with accord- ingly once detained. He said Amritpal and others were booked under the NSA on March 18 night on the orders continued on page 9 Post violence, US to beef up security at Indian missions New Delhi, March 21 The US condemned the mob attack on India’s consulate in San Francisco and vowed to ensure the safety of premises and the security of its diplomats. “That vandalism, it’s just absolutely unacceptable,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday. UK MP: RIOTERS A SMALL SECTION OF COMMUNITY “The US State Department’s diplomatic security service is working with local authorities. I can say that it is working with local authorities to properly investigate and the State Department is going to be working from an infrastructure perspective to repair the damage, but it’s unacceptable,” he said in response to a question. continued on page 9 Oppn, Khattar slug it out US intel helped India repulse PLA Japanese PM in Kyiv as Xi, over unemployment data incursion in Tawang sector: Report Putin continue peace talks Geetanjali Gayatri Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 21 Amidst the Opposition quoting the “high” unemployment rate reported by different agencies in Haryana, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar maintained that the state’s unemployment graph was continuously declining and the latest report pegged it at 6.46 per cent. Answering a question during the ongoing Budget Session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha by Congress MLA Chiranjeev Rao on whether or not unemployment had increased in the past eight years, Khattar said that not only had it come down but was also lower in comparison to the unemployment rate in the previous government’s rule. Quoting the Periodic Tribune News Service FLUCTUATING NUMBERS ■Quoting PLFS figures, Congress MLA Chiranjeev Rao said that the unemployment rate in Haryana stood at 9.3 per cent ■ Rao claimed CMIE data showed that it was 29.4 per cent ■ Khattar, armed with the latest government figures, said it had come down to 6.46 per cent in Feb Labour Force Survey (PLFS) figures tabled in the House as part of the reply to his question, Rao said that the unemployment rate in Haryana stood at 9.3 per cent. However, Khattar, armed with the latest government figures, said the unemployment rate in the state had come continued on page 9 Tribune News Service White House refuses to comment on claim New Delhi, March 21 The White House has refused to comment on a media report which claimed that India was able to repel a Chinese military incursion in Tawang sector on December 9 last year due to “unprecedented intelligence-sharing” with the US military. The US government for the first time provided real-time details to India of the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion. The information included actionable satellite imagery and was more detailed and delivered more quickly than anything the US had previously shared with the Indian military, claimed the report. The act caught the PLA off FILE /thetribunechd RBI: UNLIKE GLOBAL ARMY: FORCES TO UNITEDLY ECONOMY, INDIA WON’T TACKLE INTERNAL SECURITY SLOW DOWN BUSINESS CHALLENGES BACK PAGE SRINAGAR MAN HELD IN TERROR-FUNDING CASE BY NIA J&K US PROVIDED SATELLITE IMAGERY ■ US provided real-time details ■ Info included actionable satel- to India of Chinese positions ahead of the PLA incursion lite imagery & was given more quickly than ever before guard, enraged Beijing and appears to have forced the Chinese Communist Party to reconsider its approach to land grabs along its borders, said the report in US News. The basis for the new intelligence-sharing arrangement stems from the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial continued on page 9 ‘Will honour all 10 poll guarantees’: Sukhu on 100 days of govt Tribune News Service Shimla, March 21 Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said his government was committed to honouring the 10 guarantees promised to the people of the state, with five guarantees having been included in the Budget within 100 days of the formation of the Congress regime. “The government has honoured the promise on OPS WORD ON OPS KEPT The government has honoured the promise on OPS restoration… Also, budgetary provision of ~461 cr has been made to provide ~1,500 to 2.37 lakh women between 18 & 60 years. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, HIMACHAL CM ❝ restoration for 1.36 lakh employees, which would be implemented from April 1, 2023. Also budgetary provision of Rs 461 crore had been made to provide Rs 1,500 to 2.37 lakh women between 18 and 60 years,” he said on the completion of 100 days of the Congress regime. He said the day boarding school promise too had been fulfilled in the Budget and all 10 guarantees would be honoured in the next five years. “The Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission will start the recruitment process for filling 2,000 posts of various categories within 10 days. And results of the already held papers will be declared shortly,” he said. Neither will the over-age criteria apply, nor fee from applicants who had already applied for these posts before the HP Staff Selection Commission would be charged, he said. “It is our commitment to change the system and we have set the ball rolling for ensuring the welfare of every section of society, be it women, farmers, youth or continued on page 9 New Delhi, March 21 Presidents of Russia and China Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping continued their talks in Moscow for the second day on Tuesday that also included a surprise visitor in the form of Japanese PM Fumio Kishida in neighbouring Ukraine where he arrived secretly after a meeting with PM Narendra Modi in Delhi on Monday. The Chinese peace proposal for Ukraine was believed to be the main subject matter of discussion although the US has tried to sabotage any movement towards a ceasefire. Speaking of the Putin-Xi meeting, spokesperson for the powerful US National Security Council John Kirby said, “If coming out of this meeting, there’s some sort of call for a ceasefire, well, Japan PM Kishida pays a floral tribute to civilians killed in war, at Bucha. AP/PTI 12-POINT PEACE PLAN ■ The 12-point Chinese peace proposal calls for de-escalation and eventual ceasefire in Ukraine ■ Chinese Foreign Ministry said the Xi-Putin meet would help bring peace that’s just going to be unacceptable because all that’s continued on page 9 edit: Xi in Russia IN BRIEF Strong tremors jolt Delhi, parts of North India NEW DELHI: Strong tremors jolted parts of North India, including Chandigarh and Delhi-NCR, on Tuesday night as an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan. PTI Punjab CM orders girdawari to assess crop loss CHANDIGARH: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has ordered a girdawari to assess the damage to wheat crop due to rain in the state. Adequate relief will be given to the affected farmers, he said. INSIDE Restore red corner notice against Choksi: CBI NEW DELHI: The CBI has asked an Interpol body to restore the red corner notice against fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, saying its earlier decision to drop his name had “shortcomings”. BACK PAGE