24102023-TTC-01.qxd 10/24/2023 12:33 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 143 NO. 294 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 IMRAN INDICTED IN CIPHER CASE, MAY FACE DEATH PENALTY WORLD /thetribunechd TRAFFIC RESUMES ON SRINAGAR-JAMMU NH, MUGHAL ROAD J&K FINMIN: INDIA SET TO BE IAEA CHIEF PRAISES INDIA’S FASTEST-GROWING MAJOR RECORD AS RESPONSIBLE ECONOMY BUSINESS NUCLEAR POWER BACK PAGE tuesday | 24 october 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Israeli troops conduct limited ground raids in Gaza; Hamas offers resistance Sandeep Dikshit 266 PALESTINIANS Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 23 In a new stage in the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the Israeli military conducted limited ground operations in Gaza even as Palestinian militant group Hamas offered resistance. Israel also hammered Hamas positions from the air on Monday, killing more civilians, even as the second aid convoy of 14 trucks entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing. The UN said the aid was just four per cent of the daily requirement. As many as 266 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, taking the combined toll in Gaza and West Bank to 4,651, said the Gaza-based health ministry, adding that nearly half of them were women and children. In addition, over 1,000 are KILLED IN 24 HOURS PM TALKS TO JORDAN KING PM Narendra Modi called up King of Jordan Abdullah II and shared “concerns regarding terrorism, violence and loss of civilian lives”. HAMAS DEPLOYS DRONES Hamas said it had targeted two Israeli posts with drones even as Israeli military said two drones were fired from Gaza into Israeli territory and were destroyed. ISRAEL USES ‘IRON STING’ Palestinians who fled their houses take shelter in a tent camp in Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip. REUTERS reported missing. These include 29 UN health and aid workers. The Israeli authorities say 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed, among them 27 are children. At least 222 are held captive in Gaza. Israel said its ground forces have mounted limited raids to fight Palestinian gunmen. “During the night, there were raids by (Israeli) tank and infantry forces,” said Israel’s chief military spokesperson Will end boundary talks with Bhutan at earliest, says China Sandeep Dikshit Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 23 In a sign of the hardening of the geostrategic environment in India’s neighbourhood, China on Monday said it was ready to conclude boundary negotiations and establish diplomatic relations with Bhutan as soon as possible. “The two sides should seize historical opportunities, complete the important process as soon as possible and designate and develop the friendly relations between the two countries in legal form,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday in a meeting with Bhutanese Foreign Minister 12 NEIGHBOURS HAVE SETTLED BORDERS ■ Of the 14 nations sharing their land borders with China, 12 have settled their boundaries ■ Of the two standouts, Bhutan is currently engaged in resolving its boundary with China even as India’s issue in this regard is stalemated Tandi Dorji, who is in China for boundary talks. Wang’s observations came over a month after China and Bhutan set up a ‘Joint Technical Group’ (JTG) on delimitation of the China-Bhutan boundary as part of Beijing’s efforts to speed up the resolution of the boundary issue. China quoted Bhutan Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji as saying, “Bhutan is willing to work with China to strive for an early settlement of the boundary question and advance the political process of establishing diplomatic ties.” The decision to set up the JTG was taken at an ‘Expert Group Meeting’ (EGM) on China-Bhutan Boundary Issues held in Beijing from August 21 to 24. The meeting of the JTG was held on the concluding day of the 13th EGM itself. However, to India’s relief, the 25th Round of ChinaBhutan Boundary Talks has still not taken place despite intentions expressed at the continued on page 11 Israel has deployed its new and latest weapon system ‘Iron Sting’ to destroy Hamas rocket launchers in Gaza. Israel defined it as ‘innovative and accurate mortar bomb’. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. Israel also conducted airstrikes where Hamas was assembling to conduct ambushes. continued on page 11 Legendary spinner, tough taskmaster & heart of gold Kirti Azad B EDI Paaji was a class apart — God does not create men like him anymore. The man had a heart of gold. Exploits in cricket aside, Paaji was an avid reader and he conversed in impeccable English, which not many of us would perhaps easily understand. A multi-faceted figure, his loss is irreparable. He will forever stay in our hearts, be it for his acumen as a spin bowler or his contribution to cricket off the field. What he did for our cricket, for the cricketers from the North, is phenomenal. Be it Chetan Chauhan, Surinder Amarnath, Mohinder Amarnath, Surender Khanna, all would vouch for the fact that he made us realise the need to beat Mumbai, the serial Ranji Trophy winners, if we had any ambition of playing for the country. He turned us into a fighting unit. Kapil Dev and Yashpal BISHAN SINGH BEDI Sept 25, 1946 – Oct 23, 2023 ILLUSTRIOUS 5-WKT HAUL TEST CAREER 14 1 LED INDIA FOR 4 YEARS (1967 TO 1979) MATCHES 67 10-WKT HAUL WICKETS 266 AVERAGE 28.71 ■ 22 Tests as Indian skipper from 1975 to 1979 ■ 6 wins as skipper, including 2 during 1977-78 Oz tour Sharma, the only ones in the North Zone team who were not from Delhi, also owed him big. In fact, Bedi Paaji captained Kapil in his first tour of Pakistan in 1978. He was a hard taskmaster, but also loved you more than your parents did and was magnanimous. I remember I had scored a century in the 1979-80 Ranji Trophy finals against Mumbai, where I went from 82 to a 100 with three sixes and we won it on account of the first innings lead. I walked into the dressing room and Bedi Paaji opened his kitbag, asking me to take my pick. I chose a GrayNicolls bat and a pair of Patrick shoes. Those were prized possessions back in the day. We used to have Firefly shoes that would get worn out very soon and there was this man, who was happy to help us out. He would spend on us from own pocket and personally visit injured players to check on them. He led from the front and fought for us. He would take on the authorities if we were put up in rat-infested continued on page 11 Punjab sees 502 farm fire cases in four days Mohit Khanna RECENT INCIDENTS Tribune News Service Vehicles ply on a road in New Delhi amid heavy smog on Monday. ANI At 346 AQI, Delhi has ‘most toxic’ air in world Samad Hoque Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 23 The air quality in the national capital saw an alarming increase in pollution level on Monday. The air quality index (AQI) rose to 346 in the early hours of the day, the highest among the 110 cities tracked by Swiss company IQ Air, making Delhi the most continued on page 11 Patiala, October 23 After witnessing a lull in the second week of October, farm fires have picked up again in the region. As many as 502 fire incidents were reported in Punjab in the past four days. Experts monitoring farm fires said that stubble-burning incidents may pick up pace from Dasehra and may peak on Diwali, worsening the air quality in the region. As many as 174 fire incidents (highest in the season so far) were reported in the state on October 20, followed by 146 on October 21, 30 on October 22 and 152 today. Taking note of the rising fire incidents and the deteri- October 20 October 21 October 22 October 23 174 146 30 152 orating pollution level in the National Capital Region (NCR), the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to identify the worst-affected areas within the hotspot districts and focus on those areas with continued on page 11 AF-MAZING VICTORY In yet another World Cup upset, Afghanistan beat Pak by 8 wickets in Chennai after earlier having shocked defending champions England; Ibrahim Zadran (87 off 113) was declared Player of the Match SENSEX TANKS 825.74 NY Sikh man punched Suspend 372 cops over pending POINTS after car accident, dies cases: Haryana minister to DGP CRICKET WORLD CUP Pak: 282/7 (50); Afghan: 286/2 (49) TODAY’S TIE TEAMS VENUE TIME S Africa vs Bangladesh Mumbai 2pm RUPEE FALLS FOUR PAISE VS USD CLOSES AT 64,571.88 ■ The Nifty fell 260.90 points to close at 19,281.75 points ■ JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, TCS, NTPC, Wipro and SBI were major losers ~31 cr assistance to 3,800 hit by rain fury in Mandi dist Mandi, October 23 Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today distributed Rs 31 crore financial assistance as first instalment in the first phase to 3,800 disaster-affected families of Mandi district under the state government’s ‘rehabilitation scheme’. Under the special relief package, he provided Rs 3 lakh each as the first instalment for reconstruction of completely damaged houses and the entire amount of compensation to other affected people. Addressing the audience, the Chief Minister said Himachal had suffered huge losses amounting to more than Rs 12,000 crore due to torrential rains that wreaked havoc in July and August. INSIDE New Delhi, October 23 The family of an elderly Sikh man, who died of head injuries after being brutally assaulted following a minor car accident in New York, has demanded hate crime charges against the accused who has been arrested and charged with manslaughter and assault. Jasmer Singh, 66, was attacked by Gilbert Augustin, 30, after their vehicles collided in Queens last Thursday. Jasmer fell to the ground after being punched three times in the head and face. He was taken to a local hospital in a critical condition where he died of brain injury. The police reportedly arrested Augustin about two Second attack on person from community in week miles from the crash site and revealed the trigger for the incident. Augustin had tried to physically stop Jasmer from calling the police as he had a suspended driver’s licence and his Alabama licence plate did not match his New York registration. The New York administration will soon meet Sikh leaders to discuss the needs of the community in “this challenging moment”, said New York City Mayor Eric Adams The local Sikh community is continued on page 11 Chandigarh, October 23 Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij has written to state DGP Shatrujeet Kapur to suspend 372 investigating officers (IOs) for not disposing of pending cases. Among the 372 cops, 66 are from Sirsa, 60 from Gurugram and 57 from Yamunanagar. Earlier, Vij had written to the ACS (Home) on May 11 seeking information on cases pending for more than a year. It came out that 3,229 cases had been pending for more than a year. Later, explanation was sought from the IOs. The reasons given by 372 IOs were not found satisfactory. In his note to the DGP Vij , said, “I asked many times for Vij says explanation given by them not satisfactory MAXIMUM IN SIRSA District No. of IOs District Sirsa 66 Gurugram 60 Y’nagar 57 Faridabad 32 Karnal 31 Rohtak 31 Ambala 30 Jind Hisar P’kula Sonepat Rewari Panipat TOTAL No. of IOs 24 14 10 9 5 3 372 early disposal of the FIRs registered in the state. Last month, I ordered that an explanation be sought from all IOs who had not finalised/disposed of the FIRs in a year. The number of cases was very high which is almost above 3,229.” He added, “I am pained to know that despite my instructions, 372 IOs have not finally disposed of cases and the reasons quoted by them are not satisfactory. They are making people move from one pillar to another for action on their complaints.” Vij further said, “This is a very serious matter and cannot be ignored. I will like that all these investigating officers be put under suspension immediately and their cases be transferred to respective DSPs for final disposal in a month. Otherwise, action will be taken against those officers also.” — TNS IN BRIEF Trying to escape dogs, Wagh Bakri group scion dies AHMEDABAD: Wagh Bakri Tea Group executive director Parag Desai died at a hospital here of severe brain injuries that he suffered after a fall while trying to escape from stray dogs during an evening walk. PTI Cop beaten to death by four ex-kabaddi players SANGRUR: Out to settle a dispute over an eatery bill, a head constable posted at Barnala city-1 police station was beaten to death on Sunday night allegedly by four drunk former kabaddi players. INSIDE NCEL to share profit with member farmers: Shah NEW DELHI: Cooperation Minister Amit Shah has said the National Cooperative for Exports Ltd has bagged ~7,000 crore orders and will share at least 50% profit above MSP with member farmers. PTI 6 heart attack deaths during garba in Gujarat AHMEDABAD: Six persons, including a teen student, died of heart attack in Gujarat in last one week while performing garba during Navratri celebrations, as per kin and 108 ambulance service. PTI Forget foreign breeds, Indian canines to help CAPFs take a bite out of crime New Delhi, October 23 Indian canine breeds such as Rampur Hound, Gaddi and Bakharwal are likely to be deployed as police dogs, till now the exclusive domain of foreign varieties, and will be tasked to sniff out suspects, narcotics and explosives, besides patrolling risk-prone areas, officials said. The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are all set to recruit the Indian breeds for police duties as trials have either concluded or are underway. An order has been issued for testing Himalayan mountain canines. At present, almost all police dogs, including German Shepherd, Labrador, Belgian Malinois and Cocker Spaniel, are of foreign breed. “The trial of Indian dog breed Mudhol Hound has already been concluded by the SSB and the ITBP The . K9 DOG SQUAD, A 4,000-STRONG UNIT ■ Trials of Indian breed Mudhol Hound have already been concluded by SSB and ITBP ■ The trials for Rampur Hounds, Himachali Shepherds, Gaddis, Bakharwals and Tibetan Mastiffs (left) are underway ■ Indian dogs to replace foreign trials of a few other breeds such as Rampur Hound, Himachali Shepherd, Gaddi, Bakharwal and Tibetan Mastiff are underway at the training centres of the CRPF , c m y b breeds such as German Shepherd, Labrador, Belgian Malinois and Cocker Spaniel ■ With nearly 4,000 dogs in K9 squad, CAPFs are the largest police canine users in the country ■ CRPF has the highest 1,500 dogs, CISF 700 and NSG 100 SSB, ITBP and the BSF a ,” Home Ministry official said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in the past spoken about promoting local dog breeds through scientific means. All dogs hired by the CAPFs — BSF CRPF CISF , , , ITBP SSB, NSG and Assam , Rifles — are part of the Police Service K9 (PSKs) squads. “Police dogs are trained for tasks like the detection of explosives such as IEDs and mines, narcotics and fake currency, besides patrolling. Dogs are also sometimes used in search operations to locate terrorists,” the official said. The Home Ministry has also taken a few vital steps to strengthen the culture and ecosystem of mutual learning and cooperation among the CAPFs and other police and law enforcement organisations on the issue of PSKs. The CAPFs, with nearly 4,000 dogs, are the largest police dog users in the country. continued on page 11