03102023-TTB-01.qxd 10/3/2023 12:04 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 143 NO. 273 | 12 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HARYANA EU DIPLOMATS MEET TO REVIEW SUPPORT TO UKRAINE WORLD /thetribunechd FOUR GANGSTERS HELD FOR SONEPAT KILLING HARYANA EX-VICE CHIEF OF NITI AAYOG EXPECTS 6.5% GDP GROWTH BUSINESS PRESIDENT, PM PAY TRIBUTE TO MAHATMA GANDHI BACK PAGE tuesday | 3 october 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Bihar firststate to come out with caste survey; OBCs, EBCs account for 63% of its population Aditi Tandon SHARE IN SOCIETAL PIE Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 2 In a development that could reshape political narratives ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Mahagathbandhan (JD-U, RJD, Congress, Left)-led Bihar Government on Monday unveiled caste survey data that put the population of Backward Classes (BCs) in the state at a whopping 63.13%. The survey reveals Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) are numerically the largest population group in the state at 36%, followed by Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at 27.13%, Scheduled Castes (SCs) at 19.65%, unreserved general categories at 15.52% and Scheduled Tribes (STs) at 1.7%. Among the OBCs, Yadavs — the group Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav represents — are the largest, accounting for 14.27% of the population. The state has 81.99% Hindus, 17.70% Muslims, with Christians, Sikhs and Jains at numerical margins. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the JD-U hailed the survey publication, which makes Bihar the first Indian state to do so. Telan- GENERAL CATEGORIES 15.52% SCHEDULED TRIBES EXTREMELY BACKWARD CLASSES 1.68% 36% 19.65% OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES WILL GIVE IMPETUS TO NATIONWIDE CENSUS Findings will provide impetus for nationwide census of all social groups… We will focus on making policies targeted at castes needing greater assistance. All castes will benefit, without exception. Nitish Kumar, BIHAR CHIEF MINISTER ❝ 27.13% BIHAR’S RELIGIOUS MIX HINDUS 81.99% Caste MUSLIMS OTHERS 17.70% 0.31% DOMINANT CASTES %age Yadav START OF ‘MANDAL 2’ POLITICS? Dushad ■ Move signals start of ‘Mandal 2’ politics with Chamar INDIA bloc seeking national-level caste census Koiris ■ Calls by Mandal parties like JD-U, RJD, SP to Brahmin get louder for raising 27% OBC quota ceiling ■ Demand grew after SC in 2022 upheld a 2019 constitutional amendment for 10% quota for economically weaker sections in gen category Population 14.27 5.31 5.25 4.2 3.65 1.86 cr 69.43L 68.69L 55.06L 47.81L Caste %age Population Rajput Mushar Kurmis Bhumihars Bania 3.45 3.08 2.87 2.86 2.3 45.10L 40.35L 37.62L 37.5L 30.26L TOTAL STATE POPULATION 13.07 CRORE gana, Odisha and Karnataka have commissioned caste surveys but none has published the statistics yet. The move signals the com- mencement of ‘Mandal 2’ politics with the anti-BJP INDIA bloc (consisting of Mandal parties and the Congress) demanding a national- Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service SCHEDULED CASTES Bihar CM Nitish Kumar speaks with the media regarding the caste-based census report in Patna. PTI Realpolitik behind Cong’s caste census, OBC push level caste census. Calls are also set to become louder for raising the 27% OBC quota ceiling in government jobs Continued on page 9 New Delhi, October 2 It was in May 2022 that the Congress, on a losing spree across states, officially backed the demand for a caste-based census for the first time. The support for the call, conventionally associated with Mandal parties — the JDU, RJD, SP and DMK — was stated , firmly in the Congress’ Udaipur Chintan Shivir declaration. In the same declaration the Congress also, in a first, eschewed past reservations to socialist parties’ demand for a quota within quota under the Women’s Reservation Bill — something the Congress reiterated during the passage of the Bill recently. The recalibration of strategy was neither sudden or unexpected for the Congress, which has progressively lost the support of major social groups across national election cycles. The grand old party’s rethink on OBC politics began right after the 2019 Continued on page 9 Ajay Banerjee Nanded: In a shocking development, at least 24 persons, including 12 infants, have died in the past 24 hours at a government hospital at Nanded in Maharashtra. BACK PAGE Air surcharge: Leh and beyond Rs 2.00 MILESTONE ACHIEVED We have achieved a milestone. It not only has castebased data but also highlights economic status of people. Tejashwi Yadav, BIHAR DEPUTY CM IT’S MERE EYEWASH Caste survey is an eyewash. The state govt is cheating people by releasing data based on only a few castes. Giriraj Singh, BJP MP FROM BIHAR HOLD NATIONWIDE SURVEY Survey should be conducted across nation. BCs, SCs and minorities have been demanding it for a long time. Sanjay Singh, AAP RAJYA SABHA MP Tribune News Service Churachandpur, October 2 Arrest of four persons, including two women, by the CBI on Sunday in connection with the murder of two students may have been welcomed by people in the Imphal valley of Manipur, but the action has triggered protests in Kukidominated areas of the state. A complete shutdown was observed in Churachandpur district, having Kuki majority, on Monday bringing normal life to a standstill. Kuki organisations had called for the bandh to protest the arrests. The four suspects — all of them belonging to the Kuki tribe — were arrested in connection with the kidnapping and killing of two Meitei teenagers who went missing in July. Public vehicles were off roads, and markets and business establishments remained shut. In Churachandpur town, barriers were erected on the main road by youths to prevent movement of vehicles. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), a joint platform of tribes of Manipur, had called for an indefinite shutdown from 10 am on Monday to protest the arrests. It demanded release of the suspects within 48 hours. Churachandpur-based Joint Continued on page 9 IN BRIEF ISIS terror suspect, 2 accomplices arrested NEW DELHI: Mohd Shahnawaz Alam, an ISIS terror suspect, has been arrested along with two others in Delhi. BACK PAGE Pro-Khalistan groups protest at UK mission LONDON: A group of Khalistan supporters protested on Monday outside the High Commission of India here. PTI Congress’ Rahul Gandhi performs ‘sewa’ at Golden Temple. INSIDE ROHIT MAHAJAN Tribune News Service 12 INFANTS AMONG 24 DEAD IN MAHA HOSPITAL Narendra Modi, PRIME MINISTER Shubhadeep Choudhury Ancy lights up night, Parul settles for silver in steeplechase 5G drives India’s speed ranking up 72 places New Delhi, October 2 The mobile download speeds in India have seen significant improvement since 5G telecom services were rolled out on October 1 last year. The country jumped 72 places to clinch 47th spot on the Speedtest Global Index, according to Ookla, a global internet speed testing agency. “India’s speed performance has seen a 3.59 times increase, with median download speeds improving to 50.21 Mbps in August 2023, from 13.87 Mbps in September 2022, a 259 per cent increase,” it said, adding in August 2023, Jammu and Kashmir emerged as the leader in mobile median download Continued on page 9 ❝ BID TO DIVIDE SOCIETY They played with emotions of the poor and divided society on caste lines. They are committing this sin even now. Manipur district shuts down over arrests by CBI IN HANGZHOU A BACK ON TRACK: A toy train runs on the Kalka-Shimla heritage rail track on Monday after installation of the plate girder bridge near the Summer Hill railway station where the track was totally damaged due to a landslide on August 14 in Shimla. PTI Fight against drugs, not any party: Kejri in Punjab Aman Sood Tribune News Service Patiala, October 2 Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal today came out in support of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, who is facing Opposition heat over the arrest of Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in a drugs case, saying the fight was not against any party or leader, but against drugs. At a rally here, Kejriwal, without naming anyone, said, “Three-four days back, a big person was caught who was facing an accusation of drug trafficking. All parties Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal at the launch of ‘Sehatmand Mission’. ~550-CR SEHATMAND MISSION ■ ~550 crore Sehatmand Mis- sion Punjab launched to upgrade healthcare in state ■ Under the mission, Punjab will are targeting Mann, asking him why he did it. I want to ask whether drug traffickers give a facelift to govt hospitals ■ Sehatmand Punjab app launched to enable people to locate nearby Aam Aadmi Clinics should be arrested or not?” “I appeal to all parties to support us in this fight against drugs and corruption. If someone in your party is involved in such cases, please throw him out,” he added. Tension is brewing between the Punjab Congress and AAP over Khaira’s arrest. While some Congress leaders claim “a probable INDIA alliance won’t be affected”, a large majority of the state leaders are against any such alliance. “Till recently, Punjab was known as the land of drugs. I don't say the menace has been completely eradicated. A lot still needs to be done. But the state has done exceedingly well," Kejriwal claimed. NCY SOJAN, all of 55kg and a little above five feet tall, is usually bursting with nervous energy. After winning the women’s long jump silver, she was on cloud nine — she said she was going to celebrate by dancing the night away. Shortly after winning silver, the 22-year-old, asked to comment on her performance, had a question: “English or Malayalam?” English it was, and Ancy spoke rapidly, words of positivity tumbling out of her mouth — the ground was good, the crowd was good, the jumps were good. “I was improving with each jump,” she said. Ancy began with 6.13 metres, then hit 6.49m, then 6.56m, securing silver with a 6.63m — a personal best for her. Shaili Singh finished fourth with a best of 6.48m. Ancy, from Thrissur in Kerala, declared that she was going to stick to her ‘processes’ — as per (according to her) the wise words of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, which she heard once and now swears by. Continued on page 9 HUGE LEAP Ancy Sojan makes grand entry on the big stage with a long jump silver, leaps 6.63 m STELLAR SHOW In 3,000m steeplechase, UP’s Parul (R) clocks 9:27.63 seconds to bag a silver, while Haryana's Priti Lamba takes bronze INDIA’S MEDAL TALLY RANK 4 TOTAL 13 24 23 60 Cash-strapped, Himachal recalls 50% Nobel in medicine to two scientists behind Covid vaccines welfare funds from urban local bodies ‘GROUNDBREAKING FINDINGS’ Ambika Sharma Tribune News Service Solan, October 2 Financially strapped Himachal Pradesh has issued orders for the withdrawal of 50 per cent grant-in-aid totalling to Rs 143.8 crore from its 60 urban local bodies (ULBs) on the plea that instead of the annual funding, a monthly grant would be released. The ULBs, comprising 26 nagar panchayats, 29 munic- 60 civic bodies told to deposit ~143. 8 cr to govt ipal councils and five municipal corporations, were issued directions by the Director, Urban Development Department, on September 23, asking them to deposit 50 per cent of the grant-in-aid within two days with the state government. Hence, the nagar panchayats will have to surrender Rs 76.8 crore, municipal councils Rs 33.3 crore and municipal corporations Rs 33.74 crore. The grant, including funds for General Development Plan and Scheduled Caste Development Plan, was received by the ULBs under the Sixth Finance Commission for the current financial year on July 25. Terming the withdrawal Continued on page 9 Stockholm, October 2 Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. Hungarian-born American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman were cited for contributing “to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” according to the panel that awarded the prize in Stockholm. ■ The pair’s groundbreaking find- ings fundamentally changed understanding of how mRNA interacts with the immune system, said the Nobel panel ■ With the mRNA technology, vac- cines can be made in large quantities since their main components are created in laboratories Drew Weissman and Katalin Kariko. The panel said the pair’s “groundbreaking findings fundamentally changed our c m y b understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system”. Tradition- ally, making vaccines required growing viruses or pieces of viruses — often in giant vats of cells or, like most flu shots, in chicken eggs — and then purifying them before next steps in brewing shots. The messenger RNA (mRNA) approach is radically different. It starts with a snippet of genetic code that carries instructions for making proteins. Pick the right virus protein to target, and the body turns into a mini vaccine factory. But simply injecting lab-grown mRNA Continued on page 9