04112023-TTC-01.qxd 11/4/2023 12:28 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 143 NO. 305 | 20 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 GOVT STAFF BARRED FROM TAKING PART IN DEMONSTRATIONS J&K /thetribunechd PAKISTAN SPEEDS UP REPATRIATION OF AFGHANS WORLD DETECTIVE DRAMA MINUS FRENZY REVIEW BJP UNVEILS MEGA SOPS TO COUNTER CONG NATION saturday | 4 november 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com As Delhi AQI falls to ‘severe plus’, L-G tells vulnerable people to stay home Hamas attack ‘terror’ act, need two-state solution: Jaishankar Appeals to Punjab, other neighbouring states to check crop residue burning G’gram hospitals Tribune News Service asked to establish CAPITAL AQI AVG Nov 3 468 New Delhi, November 3 smogOPDs,wards A toxic smog blanket covered Nov 2 392 Sandeep Dikshit the national Capital on Friday as the air quality index hovered in the “severe plus” category and Swiss real time pollution monitor IQAir listed Delhi as the world’s most polluted city, followed by Pakistan’s Lahore. B’DESH CRICKETERS CANCEL TRAINING DUE TO POLLUTION Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena took stock of the “extremely worrying” situation and urged people to avoid unnecessary travel. The meeting, attended by Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai, appealed to Punjab and other Delhi neighbours to curb crop residue burning as the 24-hour average AQI in the Capital deteriorated to 468 as against 392 yesterday. At 12 noon, the average AQI of Delhi was 475. This improved to 456 at 5 pm. The Centre’s air quality panel, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), also reviewed the situation, with a continued on page 8 edit: blanket of haze Sumedha Sharma BREATHLESS Locality Sirifort Okhla Phase-2 RK Puram New Moti Bagh Najafgarh Nehru Nagar Tribune News Service AQI 489 481 479 468 466 466 AQI above 450 SEVERE PLUS Vehicles ply on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway amid hazy weather conditions in Gurugram on Friday. PTI Farm fires near13K, AQI worse than 2022 Mohit Khanna PUNJAB AIR QUALITY Tribune News Service City Bathinda Amritsar Jalandhar Patiala, November 3 Though the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) claims to have brought down farm fires by about 50 per cent, there is not much improvement in air quality compared to the corresponding period last year. In fact, the air quality index (AQI) in some cities of Punjab has deteriorated compared to 2022. 2023 2022 353 238 238 223 275 215 SOURCE: PPCB FIGURES FOR NOVEMBER 3 According to the PPCB data, Bathinda was the most polluted city in Punjab on November 3 with an AQI (air quality index) of 353, higher than the AQI of 238 the same day in 2022. In Ludhiana, the AQI today stood at 238, compared to 319 last year. The comparative figures for this year and last year stood at 238 versus 223 in Amritsar, 237 versus 278 in Patiala and 275 versus 215 in Jalandhar. As per the AQI standards, the air quality from 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 continued on page 8 Gurugram, November 3 With air quality constantly deteriorating in the National Capital Region (NCR), authorities in Gurugram have directed all private and government hospitals to set up smog OPDs and wards. As there has been a sudden spurt in cases of pulmonary diseases, especially among newborns, children, and cardiac and COPD patients, the hospitals have also been asked to remain well equipped with bronchodilators, nebulisers and steroids. Air quality in Gurugram remained very poor today with poor visibility and AQI of 350. Majority of private schools and offices functioned online. “Air quality is bad and expected to deteriorate further. The situation is worse in other parts of the NCR, and Gurugram being a medical hub gets patients from all continued on page 8 New Delhi, November 3 The Supreme Court on Friday asked suspended AAP lawmaker Raghav Chadha to meet Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar and tender an unconditional apology to him over the select committee row. The SC said the latter may consider it “sympathetically”. A Bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the submissions of lawyer Shadan Farasat, appearing for the Rajya Sabha MP from continued on page 8 FILE SCasks Chadha to tender Baghel got ~508 cr from apology to RS Chairperson app promoters, says ED Raghav Chadha SUSPENDED ON AUG 11 ■ Raghav Chadha has been under suspension since August 11 ■ Some MPs had accused him of adding their names to a motion without consent ■ Motion had sought constitution of a select panel to examine the Delhi Services Bill New Delhi, November 3 The Enforcement Directorate on Friday claimed forensic analysis and a statement made by a “cash courier” have led to “startling allegations” that Mahadev betting app promoters paid around Rs 508 crore to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel so far, and that “these are subject matter of investigation”. The alleged agent, 38-yearold Asim Das, has been arrested by the agency in Raipur after it recovered Rs 5.39 crore cash from him. He continued on page 8 CRICKET Nodal officers appointed DUST to act against film piracy WORLD CUP Dutch bite New Delhi, November 3 In a bid to curb film piracy, the Ministry of Information of Broadcasting on Friday authorised selected nodal officers to block any webHashmatullah Shahidi & Azmatullah site, app or link carrying Omarzai celebrate after the win. PTI pirated film content. The government has Netherlands: 179 (50); Afghan: 181/3 (31.3) appointed 12 nodal officers in TODAY’S TIES the I&B Ministry and the CenTEAMS VENUE TIME New Zealand vs Pakistan Bengaluru 10.30 am tral Bureau of Film Certification (CBFC) with whom com- England vs Australia Ahmedabad 2 pm INDUSTRY FACING ANNUAL LOSS OF ~20,000 CRORE plaints related to film piracy can be lodged and action will be taken within 48 hours. I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said, “content creators spend a lot of time and energy in making good content and people who are involved in piracy take the content away continued on page 8 Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel MEANT FOR POLLS (Agent) Asim Das has admitted seized funds were arranged by Mahadev app promoters to be delivered to politician ‘Baghel’ for upcoming poll expenses in Chhattisgarh. ED statement ❝ IN BRIEF ‘Hard’ to remove census part from quota law: SC NEW DELHI: The SC has said it would be “difficult” for it to strike down a part of women’s reservation law that says it will come into effect after census. INSIDE Plea against transfer of Gyanvapi case junked NEW DELHI: The SC on Friday dismissed the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s plea challenging HC decision to transfer the Gyanvapi case. INSIDE 11nurses, 200 beds: Healthcare ails at Shimla hospital Subhash Rajta 1:20, BUT 1:7 NEEDED Tribune News Service Shimla, November 3 As a mere 11 staff nurses are available at the 200-bedded Civil Hospital at Rohru in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla district, the health facility has stopped elective surgeries and has been admitting only “very serious” patients. Dr Ravinder Sharma, officiating Medical Superintendent at the hospital, said against the sanctioned strength of 31 staff nurses, ■ The Rohru Civil Hospital has Nurses are working in three shifts at Civil Hospital, Rohru. TRIBUNE PHOTO only 14 were available. “Two of them are on maternity leave and one is stationed in a blood bank. So, we are left with only 11 nurses to cater to the admitted patients and a nurse-patient ratio of around 1:20 against 1:7 recommended by authorities ■ Due to the acute staff shortage, the hospital has stopped elective surgeries ■ Situation worsened after 10 nurses recruited on outsource basis were ousted in Sept keep the emergency services running. As it was getting continued on page 8 c m y b Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 3 In the first comprehensive observation from the government on the Israel-Hamas conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the Hamas attack on October 7 was a “terrorist act”, but there is also an issue of Palestine for which a solution must be found. “What happened on October 7 is a big act of terrorism and the subsequent happenings after that... this has taken the entire region into a very different direction. But surely it must be everybody’s hope that eventually the conflict cannot be normal in the region... that it comes back to some stability, some cooperation. Within this, we have to find a balance in between different issues... we all find terrorism unacceptable, and we have to stand up on terrorism,” Jaishankar said while addressing members of an Italian Senate’s committee in Rome. “But there is also the issue of Palestine. There has to be a solution to the problems being faced by the Palestinian continued on page 8 Readytojoinprobe, butensuredecency maintained:Moitra New Delhi, November 3 Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, who accused the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee of asking humiliating questions during a “cash-forquery” hearing on Thursday, has expressed her readiness to cooperate with the probe while stressing the importance of protection from misogyny and maintaining a standard of decency. ‘CASH-FOR-QUERY’ HEARING EAM S Jaishankar with Italian Dy PM Antonio Tajani in Rome. ANI PM MODI, SUNAK DISCUSS WEST ASIA PM Narendra Modi on Friday spoke to his British counterpart Rishi Sunak and exchanged views on developments in West Asia. Both leaders expressed deep concern over terrorism, worsening security situation and loss of civilian lives. They agreed on the need for regional peace and stability. Earlier, the PM and UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed discussed the West Asia situation. AVOID CIVILIAN CASUALTIES, BLINKEN URGES ISRAEL WIDER WAR LIKELY IF GAZA ASSAULT STAYS: HEZBOLLAH INSIDE Speaking in Kolkata on Friday, Moitra dubbed the ethics committee probe a “political witch-hunt” and said the sole intention was to “suspend her” from Parliament. Moitra, who alleged she was asked irrelevant questions about her personal life during the committee’s hearing, said: “I am always ready for the probe and to answer all questions. But there has to be a line of decency which needs to be maintained. I need protection from cheap questions. I have written about this to the LS Speaker too,” she said. The Krishnanagar MP affirmed her willingness to answer any question related to the continued on page 8