01072025-TT-01.qxd 6/30/2025 10:58 PM CHINA, PAKISTAN MULL SAARC ALTERNATIVE WORLD /thetribunechd Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 180 | 14 PAGES | ~6.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH BRICS EXPECTED TO DENOUNCE PAHALGAM ATTACK BACK PAGE tuesday | 1 july 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Punjab to raise ~8,500-cr loan during July-Sept ‘Terrorist guide’ held along LoC in Rajouri RAIN MAYHEM IN SHIMLA Arjun Sharma Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 30 The Punjab Government will raise a loan of Rs 8,500 crore in the second quarter of the ongoing fiscal year (July to September). The market borrowings to be undertaken by the state government have been approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to information available with The Tribune, the cash-strapped government would raise a loan of Rs 2,000 crore in July, Rs 3,000 crore in August and Rs 3,500 crore in September. After these borrowings, the total loan raised by state government during this fiscal year will go up to Rs 14,741. 92 crore. In April and May, the government had raised Rs 6,241.92-crore loans. The state government targets to raise Rs 34,201.11crore loans this year. By the end of March 2026, the state’s total debt is likely to touch Rs 4 lakh crore. This means that each Punjabi (considering the state population to be 3 crore) will have an average debt of Rs 1.33 lakh by the end of this fiscal year. A senior functionary in the Finance Department told The Tribune that the borrowings were within the permissible limit set by the RBI. “We are State’s total debt to touch ~4 lakh crore by March ’26 BORROWING PLAN JULY 8 JULY 15 JULY 22 JULY 29 AUG 5 AUG 12 AUG 19 SEPT 2 SEPT 9 SEPT 23 SEPT 30 ~500 CR ~500 CR ~500 CR ~500 CR ~1,500 CR ~1,000 CR ~500 CR ~1,500 CR ~500 CR ~500 CR ~1,000 CR A five-storeyed building collapsed due to heavy rain at Bhattakufar in Shimla on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: LALIT KUMAR ■ The building collapsed in the suburbs of Shimla. Fortunately, ■ HP has suffered a loss of ~75.69 crore due to rain in the past 10 no lives were lost in the incident, as the residents had vacated the building on Sunday night after cracks appeared in it. days. As many as 23 deaths have occurred in flashfloods, cloudbursts and other rain-related incidents since June 20. INSIDE Jammu, June 30 A Pakistani national, suspected to be a “terrorist guide”, was apprehended by the Army in the Manjakote area of Rajouri district along the Line of Control on Sunday. It is suspected that he was leading a group of Jaish-eMohammad (JeM) terrorists when he was overpowered by the Indian troops. The infiltrators accompanying him, however, escaped as soon as they noticed Indian soldiers. Sources said a group of ultras was seen retreating from the area by soldiers, but fire was not opened due to the presence of Pakistan army posts in the area. The suspected guide has been identified as Mohammad Arif. Army troops and Border Security Force (BSF) personnel stationed along 4 shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Blast in T’gana pharma Manipur; Kuki body claims responsibility unit, 12 killed, 34 hurt raising loans at the lowest rate of interest prevailing in the market,” he added. Till March 2024, the state’s total outstanding debt stood at Rs 3.82 lakh crore, which is over 44 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). Earlier this year, a report on debt-stressed states in the country, tabled in Parliament by Union Minister of State for continued on page 10 Churachandpur/Imphal, June 30 At least four persons, including a 72-year-old woman, were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Manipur’s Churachandpur district on Monday, the police said. The ambush took place near Mongjang village around 2 pm when the victims were travelling in a car, a police officer said. Mongjang is about 5 km Additional security forces rushed to area from Churachandpur town. Preliminary reports suggest that they were shot from point-blank range, another official in the Churachandpur district headquarters said. In a statement issued on Monday evening, the United Kuki National Liberation Army (UKNLA) claimed responsibility for the attack. The deceased were identified as Thenkhothang Haokip, alias Thahpi (48), Seikhogin (34), Lengouhao (35) and Phalhing (72), sources said. More than 12 empty bullet shells were also recovered from the spot, the police said. Additional security forces have been rushed to the area, they added. — PTI c m y b Sangareddy (Telangana), June 30 Twelve persons died and 34 suffered injuries in a blast in a pharma plant in Telangana’s Sangareddy district, about 50 km away from Hyderabad, on Monday. About 90 persons were working in the plant of Sigachi Industries when the tragedy occurred, state Health Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha, who visited the accident site along with Labour Minister G Vivek Venkatswamy, told reporters. The cause of the accident would be known after examination by the technical experts, he said. Venkatswamy said 12 of the 34 injured were critical and put on ventilator support in the hospitals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the continued on page 10 Militants accompanying Pakistan national flee the LoC reportedly acted after noticing suspicious movement of a group of suspected terrorists. “A joint interrogation of the suspected guide is underway in Rajouri. He is being questioned about the terrorists being led by him into the Indian side,” sources said. Arif, a resident of Datote village in Pakistan-occupied J&K (PoJK), was arrested from the forward Hajura post in the Gambhir area under the Army’s Ace of Spades division. Being a resident of a village near the LoC, he has good knowledge of the local topography. A mobile phone, Rs 20,000 in Pakistani currency and some keys among continued on page 10 Govt keeps interest rates unchanged on small savings plans NEW DELHI: The government on Monday left interest rates unchanged for various small savings schemes, including the Public Provident Fund (PPF) and NSC, for the sixth straight quarter beginning July 1. As per a notification, the interest rates for popular PPF and post office savings deposit schemes have been retained at 7.1 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. INSIDE