03022024-TTB-01.qxd 2/2/2024 11:42 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 33 | 24 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 HARYANA /thetribunechd DAY AFTER SUBDUED SHOW, NIFTY TOUCHES ALL-TIME HIGH BUSINESS ANATOMY OF A FALL: AS INDIA, MALDIVES AGREE HE FALLS, SHE RISES TO TO PULL OUT TROOPS THE OCCASION REVIEW BY MAY 10 BACK PAGE saturday | 3 february 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Dream of owning a house becoming a reality Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee Government of India अ धक जानकार क लए ै न कर� े More than 4 crore pucca houses built Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat Scan for more information cbc 22201/13/0246/2324 WON’T START WAR, BUT WILL RESPOND TO BULLIES: IRAN WORLD Uttarakhand set to enact UCC, may ChampainewJharkhandCM, gets 10 days to prove majority make it must to report live-in ties Alliance MLAs put up in Hyderabad resort ahead of vote Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service PANEL SUGGESTS BAN ON POLYGAMY, POLYANDRY Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 2 BJP-ruled Uttarakhand is all set to become the first state in India to enact a uniform civil code (UCC) law with the expert committee constituted to examine the issue presenting its report to the state government on Friday. The draft law based on the panel’s proposals will be finalised over the weekend, approved by the state Cabinet and tabled in the special Assembly session convened from February 5. “The enactment of the novel reform will begin from the holy land of Uttarakhand. We are ready to fulfil the promise made to the state people on the eve of 2022 Assembly elections. Once we bring the law, we hope other states will also take a cue,” Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ■ BJP moves to keep its only pending core promise of UCC after Article 370 abrogation and Ram Mandir construction ■ UCC report submitted to Uttarakhand Government on Friday exempts STs from its ambit ■ The expert panel has recommended blanket ban on polygamy and polyandry ASSAM TO BRING BILL TO BAN POLYGAMY UCC panel chairperson Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai hands over the draft to the Uttarakhand CM. ANI said after receiving the report in Dehradun. Dhami said the law was not being brought to criticise or target anyone. “The idea is to ensure empowerment and non-dis- crimination,” he said, appealing to all parties to “participate in the discussions on the constructive reform”. With the UCC law, the BJP would have taken the first steps towards fulfilling its only pending core Lok Sabha poll promise, the other two — Ayodhya Ram Mandir and Article 370 abrogation — already realised. After Uttarakhand, The Assam Government will introduce a Bill to end polygamy in the state during the upcoming budget session of the Assembly. BJP-ruled Gujarat, UP and Madhya Pradesh could also move forward on the UCC, using the instant expert committee draft as the model law. continued on page 9 New Delhi, February 2 Senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren took oath as Chief Minister of Jharkhand on Friday, two days after former CM Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED in connection with an alleged money laundering case related to a land scam. The new Chief Minister has been asked by Governor CP Radhakrishnan to prove his majority in the 81-member Assembly within 10 days. The 67-year-old Champai Soren is backed by 47 MLAs from the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance, many of whom took oath with their new leader today. Meanwhile, the MLAs of the ruling JMM-led alliance in Jharkhand have been put up at the Leonia Hotels on the outskirts of Hyderabad in the Congress-ruled Telangana ahead of the trust vote. The MLAs, who landed at the Begumpet airport on Friday in two flights, were taken to the resort in luxury buses. Nearly 40 legislators arrived at the Begumpet airport, Congress sources said. A senior coalition leader said in Ranchi that the decision to shift the MLAs to Hyderabad was taken considering that the opposition BJP might make attempts to "poach" them. (Inputs from PTI) MLAs of the JMM-led alliance board a flight in Ranchi for Hyderabad. PTI Junking Hemant’splea, SC directs him to HC Satya Prakash Tribune News Service Ranchicourtsendsex-CM to 5-day ED custody IN BRIEF Kota student dies by suicide, 3rd case in 2 weeks KOTA (RAJASTHAN) : A BTech student, Noor Mohammed (27), allegedly died by suicide at his paying guest room in Kota, the police said on Friday. This is the third suicide reported from Kota in two weeks. PTI Another Indian student dies in US, probe on NEW YORK: The police are probing the death of Indian student Shreyas R Benigeri in Ohio, the fourth such case in a month in the US. The Consulate General of India said no foul play was suspected. PTI UPI launched at iconic Eiffel Tower in France NEW DELHI: India on Friday launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) at the iconic Eiffel Tower, terming it as taking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “vision of taking UPI global”. TNS Govt to sell ‘Bharat Rice’ at ~29/kg from next week NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distri- bution on Friday said it would sell 'Bharat Rice' in the retail market at ~29/kg from next week to give relief to the common man. TNS ■ The Indian Navy secures the release of 11 Iranian and eight Pakistani nationals who were taken hostage by pirates off Africa’s Somalian coastline. ■ INS Sharada was deployed to intercept the hijacked fishing vessel, FV Omari. This is the fourth such operation carried out by the Navy in a week. PHOTO COURTESY: NAVY Justice Sanjiv Khanna told senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who represented Soren. Justice Khanna said it would be open to the petitioner to request the high court to expeditiously decide the matter. As Sibal urged the SC to direct the HC to decide the matter expeditiously, Justice Khanna said, “We will not control a constitutional court.” Meanwhile, a Special PMLA Court in Ranchi, on Friday remanded Soren to five-day ED custody in a money laundering case. HC refuses to stay ‘puja’ in Gyanvapi mosque cellar CBI books activist Mander, his NGO over FCRA ‘violations’ Satya Prakash ANOTHER RESCUE BY INDIAN NAVY New Delhi, February 2 In a setback to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain his petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case and asked him to go back to the state high court where his petition is already pending. “We are not inclined to entertain the petition under Article 32. We leave it open to the petitioner to approach the jurisdictional high court under Article 226,” a threejudge special Bench led by New Delhi, February 2 The CBI on Friday registered a case against social activist Harsh Mander and his NGO — Centre for Equity Studies — over allegations of violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act-2010. The agency also conducted searches at his residence and office, with sources alleging that the NGO had transferred approximately Rs 32,71,915, other than salary, wages and remuneration, from its FCRA account into accounts of individual(s) during 2020-21 in violation of the FCRA provisions. — TNS Tribune News Service One dead, 9 missing in BJP fumes over Cong MP’s ‘separate Barotiwala factory fire nation’ remark; all for unity: Kharge Ambika Sharma Tribune News Service Solan, February 2 A woman was killed while nine other workers are learnt to be missing after a massive fire broke out in a perfume-manufacturing factory at Jharmajri area of Solan district’s Barotiwala around 2 pm today. According to information, about 50 workers were on duty in the factory, Aroma Aromatics and Flavours, when the mishap occurred. The exact number, however, could not be ascertained till late evening as the blaze could not be fully controlled and a search was yet to be undertaken inside the factory, said an official. A team of the National Disaster Response Force from Nalagarh rushed to the spot while over 10 fire tenders were requisitioned from neighbouring Panchkula, Pinjore, Kalka and Army’s Chandimandir cantonment. Deputy Commissioner Manmohan Sharma, who reached the spot, said, “People jumped off the building’s first and second floors to save their lives and sustained multiple continued on page 9 A blaze engulfs a perfume unit at Barotiwala in HP. PHOTO: ADITYA CHADHA Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 2 The BJP on Friday sought an apology from the Congress for a controversial statement by its MP that suggested a call for a separate South nation over fiscal “injustice”. Leader of the Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, SOUTH INDIA FACING GRAVE INJUSTICE injustice. Money ❝ We are facing graveSouth is going to North. collected via taxes from If this continues, we will be forced to demand a separate country. DK Suresh, CONGRESS LOK SABHA MP however, said the party stood for a united nation and would not tolerate any such call. This came amid a walkout by Opposition INDIA MPs continued on page 9 New Delhi, February 2 The Allahabad High Court on Friday refused to stay the ongoing “puja” in Gyanvapi mosque’s southern cellar (known as Vyas Ji ka Tahakhana), saying the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the mosque, has not challenged the January 17 order appointing the District Magistrate as a receiver. Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal asked the committee to amend its appeal against the January 31 order of the Varanasi District continued on page 9 NEXT HEARING ON FEB 6 ■ Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee had moved HC hours after SC refused to hear its plea against a Varanasi court’s order allowing ‘puja’ in mosque cellar ■ Holding that Jan 17 order appointing DM as receiver had not been challenged by committee, HC asked it to amend appeal and fixed next hearing on Feb 6 ~100-cr cooperative project scam in Haryana; 14 held Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 2 The Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has busted a major scam in the Integrated Cooperative Development Project, unearthing a Rs 100 crore “corruption racket”. Fourteen persons, including 10 senior officials and four private individuals, have been arrested. A government spokesperson said the ACB team, upon investigation, exposed the scam where assistant registrars and district registrars of cooperative societies allegedly colluded with an auditor and misappropriated funds for personal gain. They allegedly misused government funds deposited in official accounts to purchase flats, land and other assets, the ACB said in a statement. “These officials further attempted to cover their FUNDS EMBEZZLED ■ Assistant registrars and district registrars allegedly colluded with an auditor to embezzle funds ■ Funds “embezzled” to buy flats, land & other assets ■ Ten government officials among 14 persons arrested tracks by forging government documents and bank details. Cases have been c m y b registered under various sections in Karnal and Ambala range,” it said. Those arrested include Audit Officer Balwinder, Deputy Chief Auditor Yogendra Aggarwal; District Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Karnal, Rohit Gupta; Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies Anu Koshish; Ram Kumar, Jitendra Kaushik and Krishna Beniwal. ICDPRewari’s Accountant Sumit Aggarwal, Development Offi- cer Nitin Sharma and Vijay Singh were also arrested. Stalin Jeet, Natasha Kaushik, Subhash and Rekha are the four private individuals currently in custody. The Cooperation Department of Haryana operates the Integrated Cooperative Development Project, focusing on development in rural and agricultural areas through various programmes and the development of cooperative societies. Justice Sandhawalia Acting CJ of Punjab & Haryana High Court Chandigarh, February 2 The Centre today notified the appointment of Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia as the Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court following the elevation of Justice Ritu Bahri as the CJ of the Uttarakhand HC. Justice Bahri had taken over as the Acting CJ in October last year after the retirement of the then CJ Ravi Shanker Jha. — TNS
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising four eminent persons as trustees.
The Tribune, the largest selling daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the paper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.
The English edition apart, the 133-year-old Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).