26092023-TT-01.qxd 9/25/2023 10:59 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 143 NO. 266 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH RUSSIAN COMMANDER KILLED IN STRIKE: UKRAINE WORLD tuesday | 26 september 2023 IAF inducts first C-295 aircraft 56 medium-lift planes on procurement list | To boost logistics capacity Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service BATTING PROWESS Indian players after winning the gold in the women’s cricket event in Hangzhou. PTI SHOOTERS STRIKE GOLD Rudrankksh Patil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar &Divyansh Singh Panwar win gold in men’s 10m air rifle team event. Break world record with aggregate score of 1893.7. INDIA’S MEDAL TALLY 6 RAHUL: WILL HOLD CASTE CENSUS IF VOTED TO POWER BACK PAGE /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com India’s golden debut RANK MEGA HOME LOAN SUBSIDY SCHEME ON ANVIL BUSINESS TOTAL 02 03 06 11 Ties important, but India must join Nijjar probe, says Canada Sandeep Dikshit Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 25 Voicing concern over the measures taken by India, including the suspension of visa services for Canadians, its Defence Minister Bill Blair has asked India to cooperate fully in the probe into Sikh terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing. Ottawa’s relationship with India is “important” but to get to the truth, New Delhi needs to join the probe, said Blair, who gave interviews to the Canadian media on Sunday. India has strongly rejected the charges as “absurd” and “motivated”, and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat after Ottawa did the same to an Indian official. India has Voices concern over visa suspension CREDIBLE INTELLIGENCE We received and believe we have very credible intelligence that causes us to be deeply concerned. ❝ —Bill Blair, CANADIAN DEFENCE MINISTER also suspended the issuance of visas from Canada but permitted travel on the existing OCI cards and visas to continue. “We received and believe we have very credible intelligence that causes us to be deeply concerned and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have now initiated an investigation,” continued on page 11 Ottawa hails Nazi veteran as ‘war hero’, apologises New Delhi, September 25 In a major embarrassment for Ottawa, the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons has apologised for felicitating and praising Yaroslav Hunka, who it emerged had fought in World War II as a member of the brutal SS (Schutzstaffel), an armed vigilante organisation directly under dictator Adolf Hitler and responsible for execution of civilians in Nazi Germany. The felicitation took place in the presence of PM Trudeau and visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on September 22. — TNS New Delhi, September 25 The first Airbus-built transport plane, C-295 MW, was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) following a formal ‘Sarv Dharm Puja’ (multi-religious ceremony) at the Hindon Air Force Station, east of Delhi, today. The mediumlift tactical aircraft is capable of taking off and landing from unprepared landing grounds. Rajnath in a post on X said the C-295 would bolster medium-lift tactical capability of the IAF He termed the . defence and aerospace sectors as the two important pillars for making India selfreliant in the coming years. The first IAF squadron to be equipped with the aircraft, 11 Squadron (The Rhinos), is based in Vadodara. The first plane was handed over to the IAF on September 13 at Seville, Spain. It can carry 40 paratroopers or 71 passengers, and land or take off from short runways. India has procured 56 C-295 transport aircraft under a Rs 21,935-crore project sealed two years ago. Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its assembly line in Spain by 2025 and the subsequent 40 continued on page 11 PHOTO: MANAS RANJAN BHUI /thetribunechd MANPREET USED HIS POLITICAL CLOUT TO BUY PLOTS, SAYS VB PUNJAB IAF showcases drone power Defence Minister Rajnath Singh performs puja during induction of C-295 at Hindon Air Force Station. ~21,935 CR 5-10 TONNE COST OF PROJECT NEEDS SHORT RUNWAY Can operate on unprepared landing grounds; needs short runway; has rear ramp door Jalandhar, September 25 With Punjabis constituting 60% of the Indians going to Canada on student visa, a prominent NRI businessman and philanthropist who hails from Patara village in Jalandhar has a word of advice: Do not send students to Canada till you can spare Rs 50 lakh as expenses for them for the next five years, besides paying the college fee and Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) fee for the first year. Sukhi Bath, a resident of Surrey in British Columbia, Canada, says he has been closely monitoring the Punjabi students in Canada for long as he has been living there for the last 50 years. He has observed that the students who do get sufficient funds for their maintenance for the first five years many a time fall into the trap of earning money through illegal means. “The rents have gone up to 1600 Canadian dollars a month. Five to Visiting NRI bizman says country seeing job crunch, high rentals ❝ The rentals have gone up to 1,600 Canadian dollars a month. There are not as many jobs available as the number of students. —Sukhi Bath, RESIDENT OF SURREY Shimla, September 25 The Himachal Pradesh Government today announced the setting up of a special investigation team (SIT) headed by a top police officer to investigate the rising cases of cryptocurrency fraud in the state. Replying to a question asked by Dehra Independent MLA Hoshyar Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri (in the absence of the Chief Minister in the Assem- Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 25 As the creation of joint theatre commands inches closer to reality, the Indian armed forces have discussed among themselves in what could be the possible joint operations. They also reviewed the “joint doctrines” needed to execute mili- Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 25 The AIADMK on Monday quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in a major upset for the saffron forces in Tamil Nadu on the eve of 2024 Lok Sabha elections where they were hoping to enter a pre poll deal. The AIADMK leadership passed a unanimous resolution today at a high-level meeting chaired by party president E Palaniswami in Chennai. Although the resolution did not blame any individual AIADMK leader KP Munuswamy speaks to media in Chennai. ANI WHAT WENT WRONG ■ Blames BJP state leadership for defaming Annadurai, Jayalalitha & party chief Palaniswami for the break-up of a fouryear-old alliance, it hinted at BJP state chief K Annamalai. The development comes LIQUOR REVENUE ■ ~1,296.93 cr revenue from auction of liquor vends in last year of previous BJP regime ■ ~1,825 cr earned during Congress government’s first year—a rise of 40% ■ Info given in reply to question asked by Shahpur Congress MLA Kewal Singh Pathania bly) said the SIT would be headed by DIG (Northern Range) Abhishek Dullar. Agnihotri said cryptocurrency frauds were rising globally. “To make a fast buck, people fall prey to allurements by fraudsters. Fiftysix complaints have been received in cyber police stations over the last two years. Six FIRs have been registered and five persons arrested, three in Himachal and two in Punjab,” he said. Three cyber police stations had been set up in Shimla, Mandi and Kangra to check continued on page 11 70 PASSENGERS 40 TO BE PRODUCED UNDER ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ ■ Airbus will make 15 more in Spain, complete deliveries by 2025 ■ Tata firm to make 40 in Vadodara; first delivery in 2026, rest by 2031 ■ Most parts, assembly components slated to be made in Hyderabad Brainstorm gaps in execution of ops tary plans in joint operations. This was the first such review of joint doctrines by the forces, the aim being to understand the gaps, if any, in planning and execution of operations. The future wars are expected to be fought in the domains of space, cyberspace and long-range missiles aided by pin-point surveillance. The review conference spanned over two sessions: Brainstorming the joint doctrine formulation process and reviewing ongoing as well as future joint doctrines continued on page 11 after AIADMK leaders met BJP president JP Nadda in the Capital recently and complained about “the aggressive nature of Annamalai’s politics”. The resolution today sufficed to say, “With an ulterior motive, the BJP state leadership deliberately defamed Aringar Anna (Annadurai) and late party matriarch J Jayalalithaa as well as incumbent party chief Palaniswami.” The AIADMK also lamented that the BJP had been critical of its policies. “Such continued on page 11 Senior IPS officer to monitor UP slapgate probe, orders SC New Delhi, September 25 Questioning the delay in lodging FIR and omission of communal allegations in the slapping of a Muslim student of a Muzaffarnagar school in UP by his classmates at the behest of their teacher, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered a senior IPS officer to monitor the probe. The SC asked the IPS officer— to be nominated by UP Government within a week — to submit its report in three weeks. It posted the matter for October 30. — TNS Sandeep Dikshit Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 25 RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said there had been “excessive dominance” by one or two board members even in “big commercial banks” and asked the regulated entities (REs) to desist from such practices. Board discussions have to be free, fair and democratic, Das said, addressing directors of urban cooperative banks (UCBs) at a meeting organised by the RBI. “There should not be an over-dominance or excessive dominance by one or two members of the board, or the chairman or the vice-chair- NOT COMFORTABLE WITH NPAs ■ Shaktikanta Das says RBI “not comfortable” with the gross non-performing assets ratio of 8.7% in UCBs ■ Asks them to work towards improving it by raising governance standards and focusing on credit risks man. We have seen this even in big commercial banks… wherever we have seen this, continued on page 11 IN BRIEF Bihar CM Nitish Kumar rules out return to NDA PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday ruled out returning to the NDA, an alliance he parted with a year ago, to which the BJP retorted he would not be welcome even if he begged for another chance. PTI Monsoon starts withdrawing, 8 days behind date NEW DELHI: Monsoon started withdrawing from India on Monday, eight days behind the normal date of Sept 17, the India Meteorological Department said. This year is the 13th consecutive delayed monsoon retreat. PTI Issue Aadhaar to those who lost it in Manipur: SC NEW DELHI: The SC on Monday ordered issuance of Aadhaar number to those who lost it during the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur even as it emphasised the need for prior necessary verification. BACK PAGE INDIA stands ‘divided’ as Cong, AAP skip INLD’s show of strength Deepender Deswal six students are being adjusted in one room because of space crunch. There are not as many jobs available as the number of students. The employers too are exploiting them, paying them less for the hours put in. The students are getting stressed, with some taking to drugs and even losing their lives. It is so painful to continued on page 11 CAPACITY Jolt forBJPasAIADMKquitsNDA RBIraises dominance by few on bank boards Tribune News Service Tribune News Service 40 PARATROOPERS Experts review joint war doctrine ‘Students mustn’t go to HP forms SIT to probe crypto Canada till they’ve ~50L frauds; 56 complaints in 2 years to spare besides fee’ 40% INCREASE IN Deepkamal Kaur PAYLOAD New Delhi, September 25 Bharat Drone Shakti-2023, a first-of-its-kind drone exhibition-cum-display, was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Air Force Station, Hindon. Organised by Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Drone Federation of India (DFI), the two-day event (September 25 and 26) features over 75 drone startups from across the country. The featured drones can be employed for a variety of military and civil applications. During the event, the Defence Minister was also briefed on the latest in-house innovations of the IAF — TNS . Tribune News Service Former Haryana CM OP Chautala and J&K ex-CM Farooq Abdullah during the INLD rally in Kaithal on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO Hisar, September 25 The opposition INDIA bloc failed to put up a united show in Kaithal today as key constituents Congress and AAP skipped the INLD’s rally that was organised to mark the 110th birth anniversary of former Deputy PM Devi Lal. KC Tyagi, a leader of INDIA ally JD(U), sought the INLD’s inclusion in the c m y b 3 SEPARATE EVENTS BY DEVI LAL’S FAMILY ■ Devi Lal’s son and ex-CM OP JJP rally in Sikar (Rajasthan) Chautala along with son Abhay holds INLD rally in Kaithal ■ OP Chautala’s second son Ajay along with son Dushyant holds ■ Another Devi Lal son and opposition grouping and even indirectly targeted the Congress leadership saying “some people were ready to lose all 10 Haryana Lok Sabha seats, but not willing to strike a compromise”. “It’s not possible to win Haryana without taking the INLD along,” he maintained. Former J&K CM and National Conference leader Independent MLA from Sirsa, Ranjit Singh, holds a function at his residence in Sirsa Farooq Abdullah also called for unity and urged the Congress, INLD and the SAD (party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal attended the rally) to “sink their differences and unite for a larger cause”. Trinamool leader Derek O’Brian too advocated the INLD’s inclusion in the opposition alliance. There had been speculation that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, continued on page 11