25022024-TTC-01.qxd 25-02-2024 00:23 Page 1 123 NAVALNY’S BODY GIVEN TO HIS MOTHER WORLD /thetribunechd sunday | 25 february 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Cong, AAP seal Delhi, Haryana, Goa, Gujarat seat deal; to go solo in Punjab Congress to contest lone LS seat in Chandigarh, gets 9 of 10 Haryana constituencies Shubhadeep Choudhury & Samad Hoque Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 24 After Uttar Pradesh, the INDIA bloc has scripted its next success story in Delhi — the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday agreeed on a seat-sharing arrangement in the national capital. While AAP will contest for four Lok Sabha seats, the Congress will field candidates in three. The bloc also announced seatsharing arrangements for Gujarat, Goa and Haryana. The development comes close on the heels of the seatsharing agreement reached between INDIA bloc constituents — Congress and Samajwadi Party — in Uttar Pradesh, which was announced earlier this week. In a joint press conference held in New Delhi today, Congress leader Mukul Was- AAP and Congress leaders during a joint press conference in New Delhi on Saturday. MANAS RANJAN BHUI SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES IN PUNJAB ❝ Special circumstances exist in Punjab. In view of the challenges, AAP and the Congress have decided to fight the Lok Sabha elections separately in the state. — Mukul Wasnik, CONGRESS LEADER nik announced that AAP would contest for New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi seats, while the Congress would field candidates from Chandni Chowk, SEAT-SHARING PACT ■ Delhi (7): AAP 4 (New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi & East Delhi); Cong 3 (Chandni Chowk, Northeast Delhi & Northwest Delhi) ■ Gujarat (26): Congress 24; AAP 2 ■ Goa (2): Congress 2; AAP 0 Northeast Delhi and Northwest Delhi seats. In Gujarat, AAP would contest two seats — Bharuch and Bhavnagar — while the Congress would field candi- dates in the remaining 24. The Congress would contest both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa and the lone seat in Chandigarh. Wasnik also appealed to Congress work- Farmers firm on FIR, Punjab cops reluctant Barricades removed from Singhu, Tikri Aman Sood Tribune News Service Patiala, February 24 The stalemate between agitating farmers and the Punjab Government has led to a delay in the post-mortem of 22-yearold farmer Shubhkaran Singh, who allegedly died in police firing four days ago. Farmers have demanded an FIR against erring cops, but Punjab Police are reluctant as they claimed the incident took place inside Haryana’s territory. Sources said despite many rounds of meetings between agitating farmers and Punjab cops, an FIR had not been registered. “There are videos of the incident and cops from Haryana have already told us Barricades being removed from Tikri-Bahadurgarh border. SUMIT THARAN HARYANA KHAP FORMS PANEL TO UNITE FARMER BODIES INSIDE the death took place under the jurisdiction of the Jind police. Therefore, they will conduct a probe into the matter,” police officials said. A senior IPS officer confirmed that two days back, a DSP and the investigating officer from Haryana had reached Patiala to record the statement of Shubhkaran’s family. “However, as tempers were running high, they were continued on page 12 Indian consulate raises Jaahnavi case with US Punjab Chief Town Planner held for nod to illegal projects NEW DELHI: The Indian con- Gaurav Kanthwal sulate has sought review of the decision not to criminally charge a US police officer over the death of Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula. INSIDE Tribune News Service IN BRIEF Tractor-trailer falls into pond in UP, 22 dead KASGANJ (UP): Twenty-two persons, including eight children, died when their tractor-trailer overturned and fell into a pond in Kasganj on Saturday, police said. PTI Mohali, February 24 Officials of the Vigilance Bureau (VB) have arrested Punjab Chief Town Planner Pankaj Bawa and booked director of Bajwa Developers Limited, Kharar, Jarnail Singh Bajwa, along with revenue patwari Lekh Raj (now retired), in a cheating-cum-criminal conspiracy case pertaining to 179 continued on page 12 Vigilance:Colluded with realtor, caused govt loss Pankaj Bawa, Chief Town Planner Sonepat/Jhajjar, Feb 24 Giving relief to thousands of commuters, the authorities on Saturday started the process to partially reopen the Singhu and Tikri borders that were sealed ahead of farmers’ ‘Dilli Chalo’ march. At the Singhu border, the police removed concrete walls, cemented barricades, barbed fencing and barricades from the service lane of the Panipat-Delhi highway. At the Tikri border, the police have decided to open one lane each on both sides of the highway. INSIDE Haldwani violence kingpin held in Delhi Haldwani, Febraury 24 The police on Saturday arrested Abdul Malik, the alleged mastermind behind the Haldwani violence, from Delhi, said Nainital SSP Prahlad Narayan Meena. He said six teams had been formed to arrest Malik and his son Abdul Moid who is still on the run. Malik had allegedly built an “illegal” madrasa in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani. Its demolition led to the violence on February 8. — PTI ~5 cr HP temple land sold illegally, Prez seeks report Ravinder Sood The plaque outside the inn. FILE QUAD HERE TO STAY, GROW: EAM BACK PAGE CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 55 | 22 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 Palampur, February 24 The Office of President of India has ordered a probe into alleged illegal sale of land, building and temple belonging Shri Shri Mahalaxmi Trust at Dadh, near Chamunda temple, 20 km from here. The President’s Office in a communication to the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue), Government of STATE GOVT ASKED TO CONDUCT PROBE ■ Shri Shri Mahalaxmi Trust chief Ajay Rajput wrote to Prez alleging illegal sale of Trust property in connivance with revenue officials ■ An inn, a temple, a shop measuring 5,860 sq m and land valued at ~5 crore were sold illegally for mere ~85 lakh by land mafia ■ Sale deed registered in March 2023, but matter came to light in Jan 2024; President’s Office has asked HP Govt to conduct probe Himachal Pradesh, gave directions to look into the matter and submit a report. Acting on the directive, the state government asked Today’s issue is of 22 pages, including six-page Spectrum. Kangra Deputy Commissioner Hem Raj Bairwa to conduct a probe, which has already begun. Information continued on page 12 ers of Bharuch to vote for the AAP candidate. In Haryana, the Congress would contest nine out of the 10 Lok Sabha seats, while AAP would field candidate from Kurukshetra. Wasnik said Congress workers in Delhi would ensure INDIA bloc candidates’ victory in all seven seats. However, AAP and the Congress have mutually decided to fight on their own in the Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab. “Special circumstances exist in Punjab. In view of the challenges, AAP and the Congress have decided to fight the Lok Sabha polls separately in Punjab,” Wasnik said. On the occasion, AAP general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak said the “country comes first and the party was secondary”. Reacting to the development, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, “If the continued on page 12 AI tool ‘not reliable’: Google; no exemption under law, says Centre Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 24 A day after Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform “Gemini” generated “contentious” responses, the company today said “Gemini may not always be reliable”. This triggered a response from Minister of State, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and he posted on X, “Sorry, unreliable does not exempt you from law”. Chandrasekhar, who is MoS in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), added, “Our digital nagriks (citizens) are not to be experimented on with unreliable platforms/algorithms/ models.” “Safety and trust is a platform’s legal obligation,” he reminded Google. A news agency reported that Google said it had worked quickly to address the issue, and conceded that the chatbot ROW OVER AI RESPONSE Google, which is under fire over AI tool’s objectionable response and bias to a question on PM Narendra Modi, said it had worked quickly to address the issue. “may not always be reliable” in responding to certain prompts related to current events and political topics. On Friday, Chandrasekhar had warned that Google’s AI tool Gemini’s response to a question on “Prime Minister Modi being a fascist” was in direct violation of IT rules, as well as several provisions of the criminal code. A Google spokesperson was cited by continued on page 12 New criminal laws to be rolled out on July 1 Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 24 Three new criminal laws — Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Act — will come into effect on July 1, the government announced on Saturday. The three laws will replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure PROVISION ON HIT-&-RUN CASES PUT ON HOLD and the Indian Evidence Act. The three laws were passed by Parliament and President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent in December 2023. According to three identical notifications issued by the Union Home Ministry, provisions of the new laws will come into force from July 1. The three legislations aim to completely overhaul the criminal justice system in the country by giving definitions of various offences and continued on page 12
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.
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