10012024-TTC-01.qxd 1/10/2024 12:58 AM Page 1 13 AT 34, ATTAL YOUNGEST FRENCH PREMIER WORLD /thetribunechd CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 10 | 20 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 wednesday | 10 january 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com India-UAEgrand show in Gujarat ■ Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed held a 3-km-long roadshow in Ahmedabad on Tuesday ■ The UAE President reached India a day ahead of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Gandhinagar BACK PAGE IN BRIEF NEET-PG examination postponed to July 7 NEW DELHI: The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences on Tuesday announced that the 2024 edition of NEETPG for medical courses will take place on July 7. The earlier tentative date was March 3. TNS PM Modi greets UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on his arrival in Ahmedabad. PTI Muizzu turns to China for tourists,saysformerMaldiviandefenceminister faces ire at home India our 911 call, Sandeep Dikshit HC upholds life term for ex-IPS officer SanjivBhatt AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt against his conviction in a 1990 custodial death case in which he was sentenced to life term. INSIDE ED chargesheets 3 of Lalu’s family in job scam NEW DELHI: The ED has filed its first chargesheet in the landfor-jobs scam naming RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi and their daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, among others. BACK PAGE Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 9 Even as his request for a visit to India remains pending, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu sought more tourists from China and described it as one of country’s closest allies. New Delhi let it be known today that the Maldivian government had conveyed to the Indian High Commission in Male about Muizzu’s wish to travel to India next month. The request was put before a spat on X led to a diplomatic row between India and the Maldives. Muizzu did not make India his first overseas destination after becoming President and had opted to first visit Turkey. The domestic after-effects continued in Maldives from the derogatory remarks Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaks at an event in Fuzhou, China, on Tuesday. PTI about PM Modi posted by the now-suspended three junior Maldivian Ministers. The opposition was pressing for a no-confidence vote against Muizzu while many Maldivian figures pointed out how India had always stood by the Maldives. “India has been our 911 call, whenever we need it, we give a call and you all come to our rescue. When you see such disparaging remarks about friends like this, it is sad for everyone concerned,” said former Maldives Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi. Alarmed over the possibility of losing some of the two lakh Indians visiting the Maldives every year after the spat prompted several Indian celebrities to begin promoting Indian leisure destinations, all the country’s tourism associations condemned the comments against PM Modi. Makemytrip, in which the largest shareholding is of the Chinese but the top executives are Indian, blocked bookings continued on page 7 Edit: Tourism pitch Plastic bottle can have 3.7L toxic particles Aksheev Thakur Tribune News Service New Delhi January 9 In a one-litre plastic water bottle, scientists have discovered that there are thousands of particles of nanoplastics, posing potential risk to health. A peer-reviewed study, “Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy,” published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to have evaluated bottled water for the presence of nanoplastics using a new microscopy technique. Nanoplastics in bottles pose a health risk, says US study CAN INVADE BODY CELLS ❝ Nanoplastics are believed to be more toxic (than microplastics) as due to their smaller size these can invade body cells. — Study Microplastics refers to pieces of plastic that are smaller than 0.5mm in diameter, which is roughly equivalent to a grain of rice. Nanoplastics are smaller, at just 100 nanometres or less. The study said the entry of nanoplastics could be at the time of packaging the bottles. The researchers found the presence of nanoplastics in polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which many water bot- tles are made from, and polyamide that is used to purify water before it is packaged. “The existence of microplastics and possibly even nanoplastics has recently raised health concerns. In particular, nanoplastics are believed to be more toxic since their smaller size renders them much more amenable, compared to microplastics, to enter human body,” the study said. The researchers analysed 25 one-litre plastic water bottles from three different brands sold in the United States. continued on page 7 Start-up CEO kills her HCjunksHimachalDGP’s 4-yr-old son in Goa, held pleato recall transfer order Panaji, January 9 The chief executive officer of an artificial intelligence start-up allegedly killed her four-year-old son at a service apartment in Goa and stuffed his body in a bag before taking it to neighbouring Karnataka in a taxi, the police said on Tuesday. Soon after the gruesome crime that took place between January 6 and 8, the accused woman, Suchana Seth, also tried to end her life by cutting her wrist with a sharp object, they said, adding that the motive behind the murder is not yet clear. Seth was arrested from Vijay Arora Suchana Seth being taken to a court in Goa on Tuesday. PTI Chitradurga in Karnataka on Monday night and brought continued on page 7 Shimla, January 9 The HP High Court today rejected the pleas of Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Kundu and Kangra Superintendent of Police (SP) Shalini Agnihotri for recalling its order of December 26, 2023, directing the Himachal Government to transfer them so that they don’t influence probe into a case pertaining to alleged harassment of a Palampurbased businessman. The court also rejected their request to transfer the investigation to the CBI. Says no to CBI probe; asks govt to set up SIT ‘HARASSMENT’ CASE ■ Himachal HC had on Dec 26 told govt to shift the DGP, Kangra SP ■ Order came on a plea by a busi- nessman, alleging harassment ■ Later, DGP Kundu moved the SC, which stayed the HC order ■ SC directed the HC to give him a chance to be heard in 2 weeks A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua directed the Principal Secretary continued on page 7 54 Rohtak villages record sex ratio below 800 Ravinder Saini Tribune News Service Rohtak, January 9 As many as 54 villages in Rohtak district recorded sex ratio at birth below 800 in 2023, the affected area up 28 per cent compared to 42 villages in 2022. Rohtak was the worst-performing district across Haryana in 2023 in terms of WORST-PERFORMING DISTRICT IN 2023 ■ With 883 sex ratio at birth in 2023, Rohtak fared the worst among all 22 districts of Haryana ■ It had 934 ratio in 2022, taking the sixth position ■ Rohtak district authorities have decided to intensi- fy monitoring as well as tracking of pregnant women the gender ratio as 883 females were born against 1,000 males. With the count standing at 934 in 2022, Rohtak slipped to the last position from sixth in the sex ratio tally in 2023 after a considerable drop of 51 points. INDIA, UK SIGN PACT ON DEFENCE R&D BACK PAGE “Singhpura Khurd, Ladhaut, Bayyapur, Morkheri, Garnavathi, Humayunpur, Sunariya Khurd, Ritoli, Samchana, Bahu Jamalpur, Atayal, Gandhra, Garhi Majra, Baland, Bedwa, Khidwali, Pahravar, Kakrana, Khairanti and Kutana were among the worst-performing villages in the district in 2023,” continued on page 7 c m y b