08022024-TTC-01.qxd 2/8/2024 12:56 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 8 NO. 38 | 18 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 BLASTS ROCK PAK ON ELECTION EVE, 30 KILLED WORLD thursday | 8 february 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee Scan for more information Active participation of women in nation’s development Government of India India has 15% women pilots which is highest in the world Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat cbc 22201/13/0256/2324 /thetribunechd INDIA SET TO LEAD B’DESH FOREIGN MINISTER, GLOBAL OIL DEMAND DOVAL DISCUSS ROHINGYA GROWTH: IEA BUSINESS ISSUE BACK PAGE GUJJARS PROTEST ST STATUS TO PAHARIS, MAY APPROACH SC J&K PM Modi rips through Congress over North-South rant ‘to divide country’ Confident of winning third term, outlines vision for making India a developed nation Tribune News Service Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami speaks in Assembly. ANI U’khand House clears UCC Bill; no ordinary law: CM Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 7 The Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, which may serve as template for other BJP-run states to enact similar legislation. The Bill was passed by a voice vote after it was introduced in the Assembly by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday. OTHER BJP-RULED STATES LIKELY TO ENACT A SIMILAR LAW “This is no ordinary Bill,” Dhami said speaking on the code which seeks to ban polygamy, polyandry and mandatory registration of marriages and live-in ties. Uttarakhand is set to become the first state to implement the UCC, which provides for common laws for marriage, divorce, and inheritance in the state and for residents of the state living elsewhere. The Bill exempts STs and is therefore not uniform in a full sense. continued on page 9 edit: uniform civil code New Delhi, February 7 Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a frontal attack on the Congress besides laying out the NDA’s roadmap for growth in reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Accusing the Congress of creating fresh narratives to divide the country, PM Modi said the party was now trying to create a North-South divide. “The Congress party ceded large chunks of the country’s land to the enemy but is now giving sermons to us on internal security,” he PM DIDN’T MENTION JOBS, PRICE RISE: KHARGE Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the PM’s speech only focused on criticising the Congress and did not touch upon unemployment, price rise and economic inequality WHITE PAPER LIKELY TODAY PM Narendra Modi speaks in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. PTI said, picking up from where he left off in his reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The PM said the Congress and its government in Karnataka should stop attempting to create a North-South divide as that would jeopardise the FM Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to table a white paper on economy under the UPA govt in the LS on Thursday. In turn, the Cong plans to release a ‘black paper’ on economy under the NDA. country’s future. He was referring to the protest by the Congress led by Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in Delhi over the alleged “injustice” meted out by the Centre on devolution of tax share to the state. In his 90-minute speech, considered his last in Parliament before the Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi said: “The Congress has been against Dalits, Backward Classes and tribals, and had it not been for Babasaheb Ambedkar, they would not have got any reservation.” Citing a letter written by Jawaharlal Nehru to chief ministers, PM Modi said it clearly stated that the first Prime Minister was against reservation of any kind, especially in jobs, as it continued on page 9 Court calls Kejriwal for 5th Indian-origin student found dead ignoring ED directions in US this year, 2nd from Purdue varsity Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 7 Acting on a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him over non-compliance of its summons in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, a Delhi court on Wednesday asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear before it on February 17. Issuing sum- mons to the Delhi Chief Minister, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra said, "Cognisance of the complaint has been taken and summons are being issued to him (Kejriwal) to appear on February 17." The Delhi CM, who on February 2 skipped the fifth summons issued to him by the ED, had earlier written to the probe agency, terming the summons as "illegal”. Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 7 An Indian-origin man studying at Purdue University was found dead on Monday, making it the fifth such case in the US in recent weeks. US citizen Sameer Kamath, 23, was found dead at a nature reserve on Monday evening. He was a doctoral candidate at the Indiana-based university. It was the second such case involving Indian-origin students of the university in less ANOTHER STUDENT CHASED, ATTACKED IN CHICAGO ■ Indian student Syed Maza- ■ The Consulate General of hir Ali was attacked in Chicago on Sunday ■ Ali, who moved to the US from Hyderabad about six months ago, is pursuing Master’s at Indiana Wesleyan University Focus on space assets, India looks at ~25K cr budget Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 7 The Indian armed forces will focus on space assets for surveillance, long-range engagement (directing missiles) and future warfare while the budget for space is expected to be around Rs 25,000 crore in the coming years, said the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Anil Chauhan, while inaugurating “DEFSAT”, a three-day space seminar and exhibition, at the Manekshaw Centre here. The government had big targets for space augmentation and its exploration, he said. “We need a self-reliant space INDIA, AUSTRALIA INK AGREEMENT At ‘DEFSAT’, the Satcom Industry Association-India and the Space Industry Association of Australia signed a pact to deepen collaboration and drive mutual growth in the space industry. system as space is crucial for the survival of the armed forces. The forces will augment space-based capability for early warning systems. We are looking at space-based intelligence surveillance and continued on page 9 India said they were in touch with Ali and his wife in India & assured them of help ■ Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy voiced concern over the attack on the student than 10 days. Kamath’s death, as yet unexplained, was preceded by Indian IT student Syed Mazahir Ali being chased and attacked by unidentified men near his CDS Gen Anil Chauhan with Australian envoy Philip Green. ANI house in Chicago on Sunday. In videos, Ali can be seen with a bloodied nose and face with blood stains on his clothes as he describes his continued on page 9 Security personnel at the attack site in Srinagar. TRIBUNE PHOTO Farmers’ Feb 13 Delhi march leaves Haryana bizmen worried Sonepat/Jhajjar, February 7 The February 13 Delhi march called by farm organisations in support of their demands has left industrialists of Sonepat and Jhajjar districts worried, as they had suffered huge losses during the 2021 agitation against three farm laws. SEC 144 IMPOSED IN SONEPAT Protesting farmers mainly from Punjab and Haryana camped at Delhi borders in Sonepat and Jhajjar for over a year after the Delhi Police did not let them enter the Capital. Industrialists of both the districts said they don’t want to face such a situation again. The Bahadurgarh Footwear Association has written to Jhajjar DC and SP urging , them not let the farmers sit on the Tikri border again as it may hit their industries. “Bahadurgarh has more than 7,500 industries. All industries suffered a total loss of Rs 5,000 crore during a yearlong farm agitation in 2021,” said Narinder Chhikara, senior vice-president of the Association. — TNS AAP MLA acquitted in 4 of 9 cases in two months Accused gets leeway as prosecution fails to establish charges, some witnesses turn hostile Deepkamal Kaur REALITY COMING OUT NOW All cases had been lodged against me due to political pressure. Thankfully, the reality is coming out now. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, February 7 A local court has acquitted Aam Aadmi Party leader and Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural in a case of wrongful restraint of public from entering city police headquarters in 2017, making it the fourth case in which he has walked free in less than two months. A study of all the judgments showed that either the prosecution had failed to establish charges, or witnesses turned ❝ Sheetal Angural, JALANDHAR WEST MLA hostile, giving him a leeway. The MLA had been facing trial in as many as nine cases till exactly two years ago as per his affidavit submitted during filing of nomination papers ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls. The charges against him included attempt to murder, mischief committed by fire or explosives, abduction, gambling, cheating, fabrication of false evidence, causing disappearance of evidence and use of assault to deter public servant from discharge of duty. While he continues to face trial in five cases, he has managed to get acquittal in four cases - gambling, abduction and illegal confinement of a minor, defamation against the city police and another under Sections 341 (punishment of wrongful restraint) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC. Tuesday’s order by the court of Jalandhar CJM Gagandeep Kaur came in his continued on page 9 IN BRIEF Punjab man shot dead EC allots new name to Sharad Pawar’s party by militants in Srinagar NEW DELHI: A day after the EC declared that Ajit Pawar's faction was the "real" NCP, veteran politician Sharad Pawar's party was given a new name — Nationalist Congress Party Sharadchandra Pawar. TNS Our Correspondent India-EU dialogue today on misuse of drones NEW DELHI: The first-ever Euro- pean Union-India roundtable on countering terrorist exploitation of unmanned aerial systems will be held here on Thursday. BACK PAGE Srinagar, February 7 In a targeted attack, terrorists shot dead a worker from Punjab while another sustained injuries here on Wednesday evening. The deceased has been identified as Amritpal Singh, 31, from Amritsar. Rohit, 25, received bullet injuries and is undergoing treatment at SMHS Hospital in Srinagar. He also continued on page 9 Another worker injured TARGETED KILLINGS ■ In 2023, circus worker from Udhampur was shot by terrorists on May 30 in Anantnag ■ 3 labourers were hurt in terror attack in Shopian on July 13 ■ A worker from Bihar was shot on October 31 in Pulwama ■ In 2022, 9 migrant workers and a teacher were killed and at least 12 were injured in militant attacks He guarded his master’s body for 48 hours, fought off wild animals Ravinder Sood German Shepherd dog Alpha stands beside the bodies of its master and his friend in the Bir area of Kangra district. TRIBUNE PHOTO REFUSED TO EAT FOOD Palampur, February 7 “A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” These words seem apt in the case of Alpha, a German Shepherd who stood guard next to the body of his master Abhinandan Gupta at a height of 9,000 ft in the Bir area of Kangra in freezing cold for 48 hours. The pet not only saved itself but also the bodies of its ■ It was a heart-wrenching scene when the police found the dog howling and moving around its master’s body ■ When the police offered food to the dog, it refused to accept it; later accompanied bodies till Bir in Palampur master and his friend from wild animals such as black bear and leopard, which are common in the area. Braving the cold, the dog sustained injuries while protecting the bodies against attack by wild animals as indicated by the mauled bodies of the two. Today’s issue is of 18 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. c m y b Family members of Abhinandan reached Baijnath to take his body and his pet to Pathankot. They said Alpha was now the only memory of Abhinandan they had. Abhinandan, who was from Pathankot, and his friend Parnita Bala Sahib, who hailed from Pune, had gone to Billing, a popular tourist spot near Palampur, on Sunday afternoon by a car. Because of heavy snow, they left the car mid-way and moved on foot to reach Billing along with Alpha. While returning to their base camp at Chogan near Bir, both slipped in heavy snow and fell into a deep gorge. They tried to come out of the gorge as indicated by footprints on snow, but in vain. Later, because of severe cold and injuries, they died. A rescue team comprising the police and para-gliders found the dog sitting next to the bodies. The dog’s continuous howling reflected its desperation and grief as if it was hoping that the team would save its master. Alpha, who too sustained injuries, survived and continued to guard the two bodies for 48 hours till Tuesday when the rescue team reached the spot. “Around 7 pm, we got a call continued on page 9
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).