31102024-TTC-01.qxd 10/31/2024 12:30 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 302 | 18 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 KAMALA IN DAMAGE CONTROL MODE AFTER BIDEN’S ‘GARBAGE’ BARB WORLD /thetribunechd IN VALLEY, BACK TO NOV ACADEMIC SESSION FOR SCHOOLS J&K SUZUKI PARTNERS MODI UNVEILS ~280-CR WITH TOYOTA FOR FIRST INFRA PROJECTS IN ELECTRIC SUV BUSINESS GUJARAT BACK PAGE thursday | 31 october 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Disengagement complete at 2 friction points, patrolling next Ayodhya lights up Indian, Chinese troops to exchange sweets to mark Diwali today Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service A laser show on the banks of the Saryu river during ‘Deepotsav’ on the eve of Diwali in Ayodhya. PTI REPORT ON BACK PAGE PTI HAPPY DIWALI The Tribune wishes its readers a happy and prosperous Diwali. Offices of The Tribune will remain closed on Thursday. There will, therefore, be no edition on Friday (November 1). The next edition of The Tribune will appear on Saturday (November 2). Punjab announces 4% DA hike for govt staff & pensioners chandigarh, October 30 In a festival gift on the eve of Diwali, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday announced a 4 per cent hike in dearness allowance for state government employees and pensioners from November 1 onwards. At least 6.5 lakh employees and pensioners would benefit from the decision as the DA would increase from 38 per cent to 42 per cent, the Chief Minister said in a message on X. “Wishing all employees and pensioners a happy Diwali,” wrote Mann. — TNS Facing ‘harassment’ heat, Jind SP shifted CHANDIGARH: Jind SP Sumit Kumar, who has been facing allegations of sexual harassment of women police constables, was on Wednesday transferred as the SP (Railways), Ambala. The transfer order was part of a reshuffle of 35 officers. The Haryana State Commission for Women had on Tuesday recommended the transfer of the SP — TNS . Canada minister again names Shah for attacks on separatists Ottawa, October 30 A Canadian official has alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told Parliament members of the India has repeatedly rubbished Ottawa’s allegations as absurd national security committee that he had confirmed Shah’s name to ‘The Washington Post’, which first reported the allegations. “The journalist called me and asked if it was that person. I confirmed it was that person,” Morrison told the committee. Morrison did not say how Canada knew of Shah’s alleged involvement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence continued on page 10 New Delhi, October 30 Further reducing tensions, India and China have completed their scheduled disengagement process at Depsang and Demchok along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The two sides are now scheduled to exchange sweets to mark Diwali tomorrow. The local commanders will meet at the designated border meeting points along the LAC to exchange the sweets, sources said today. The sweets would be exchanged at all border meeting points, the sources said. There are five such points along the 3,488-km LAC. These are Depsang and Spanngur Gap in eastern Ladakh; Nathu La in Sikkim; and Bum La and Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh. Before the April 2020 military standoff, the two sides used to meet on ceremonial occasions. “Patrolling shall commence soon,” the sources said, adding that the patrolling routes and the modalities would be decided at the brigade commander Indian and Chinese tanks being withdrawn from the banks of the Pangong lake area in eastern Ladakh on Tuesday. ANI VERIFICATION PROCESS COMPLETE ■ Patrolling will commence soon and the routes and the modalities will be worked out at the brigade commander level, sources in the Army said level. Talks would continue on deciding a schedule for patrolling by troops of either side. The process of verifying the removal of all temporary structures, tents, vehicles, cameras, sensors and weapons had been completed, they said. The two sides have physically verified that the structures and man-made blockages on the patrolling routes Saini ‘clips’ wings of 3 Mahayuti, MVA shift focus to seniormost ministers wooing rebels in Maha battle Pradeep Sharma Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 30 Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini seems to have clipped the wings of three of his seniormost ministerial colleagues as they have not been included in a top decision-making body — the High-Powered Purchase Committee (HPPC). The committee is mandated to decide all purchases of stores and services valued at above Rs 5 crore, besides rate contracts for various purchases. The trio — Anil Vij, Energy, Transport and Labour Minister; Krishan Lal Panwar, Development and Panchayats and Mines and Geology Minister; and Rao Narbir Singh, Industries and Commerce Minister — are conspicuous by their absence in the apex body. These senior ministers, who are placed at number two, three and four in the order of precedence after the Chief Minister in the Council of Ministers, have not been included in the HPPC, while two other ministers, placed at Trio not part of revamped key purchase panel; juniors make the cut WHO IS IN, WHO IS OUT ■ 3 seniormost ministers — Anil Vij, Krishan Lal Panwar & Rao Narbir — placed at number 2, 3 and 4 in order of precedence after CM, not part of the HighPowered Purchase Committee ■ Mahipal Dhanda and Vipul Goel, number 5 and 6 in the Saini Cabinet, made members of the committee the number five and six slots, have been included in the committee. The two ministers, who are part of the reconstituted committee are Mahipal Dhanda, Parliamentary Affairs, School Education and Higher Education Minister, and Vipul Goel, Revenue and Disaster Management, Urban Local Bodies and Civil Aviation Minister. Besides the Chief Minister, who is the chairman of the committee, the minister in charge/administrative secretary of the department concerned, administrative continued on page 10 Tribune News Service King Charles pays visit to Bengaluru BENGALURU: Britain’s King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla paid a private visit to Bengaluru for wellness treatment at an integrative medical facility here, local sources said. The couple made a city stopover en route to the UK from Samoa after attending a Commonwealth meeting. — PTI Amritsar, October 30 Traditionally, Diwali and sweets go hand in hand. The celebrations are incomplete without a visit to the neighbourhood ‘mithai wala’. But over the years, this has changed. The thought of sweets is now clouded by news of frequent seizures of spurious khoya and other ingredients. In this season, the Punjab Health Department has seized 700 kg khoya, 250 kg cheese, 200 kg fruit cake, 400 SEIZURES IN PUNJAB 700 kg 250 kg 200 kg 400 kg khoya (report awaited) cheese fruit cake rotten eggs and coloured sweets kg rotten eggs and coloured mithai across the state so far. Among these seizures, 1,000 kg khoya was confiscated in Amritsar from a bus that arrived from Bikaner in Rajasthan last week. The lab result confirmed the presence of starch powder, skimmed milk powder and sugar in it. removal of all temporary structures, tents, vehicles, cameras, sensors and weapons has been completed have been removed at Demchok. However, adverse weather prevented the aerial verification of one spot. These structures and equipment were set up to stop each other’s patrolling routes along the LAC. The process to remove the temporary structures had started last Wednesday at Demchok and last Thursday at Depsang. The re-opening Punjab ministers protest BJP fighting highest number of seats, Congress lowest so far Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 30 The stage is set for a tough battle in Maharashtra where opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) featuring the Congress-NCP(SP) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) is seeking to upstage ruling Mahayuti coalition comprising the BJP , Shiv Sena and NCP . Both parties are now actively focused on placating rebels who have the potential to disturb the applecart on both sides. In an election where the two rivals appear evenly pitched ahead of the last date of withdrawal of candidates on November 4, the number of dissidents in the fray could turn the tables for either side. As of today, there are a whopping 7,995 candidates who have filed nominations for the November 20 elections to the 288-member state Assembly. The last date of filing of nominations was October 29. An interesting facet of this Shiv Sena nominee Milind Deora, who was earlier with Congress. PTI year’s Maharashtra election is, while the BJP is contesting the highest number of seats (148) among all parties as expected, the Congress, under pressure from allies to concede electoral space, is fighting on only 103 segments — a historic low for the grand old party in Maharashtra. Post Haryana, the Congress has lost significant bargaining power, as was evident in prolonged parleys with coalition partners Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP). So far, on the ruling Mahayuti side, the BJP is contesting 148; Shiv Sena 80; NCP 53; other allies 5 and the rest are undecided. On the opposition MVA side, the Congress is fighting on 103 seats. Uddhav Sena on 89, NCP (SP) on 87; allies 6 (SP 2, PWP 2, CPM 2) and three are undecided. In the 2019 Maharashtra elections, the Congress had fought on 147 segments, winning just 44. The undivided Shiv Sena at that time fought 126, and won 56 while the undivided NCP fought 121 and won 54. The BJP had, in 2019, posted the highest strike rate in Maharashtra, winning 105 seats of the 164 segments it contested. Shock defeat in Haryana this year undermined the Congress’ bargaining power leading to the party having to give away seats its cadres wanted to contest. For instance, in the Mumbai region alone, nearly 10 of the 36 seats are being contested by Uddhav’s party, continued on page 10 Diwali dampener: 1,000 kg spurious khoya seized from bus Neeraj Bagga ■ The process of verifying the of the patrolling routes at Depsang and Demchok was announced on October 21. The sources said patrolling, which was suspended in April 2020, was expected to resume soon. The patrolling would be coordinated in a manner that troops of both sides inform each other before a patrol is launched. “This means the patrolling will be coordinated and schedules decided in advance,” they said. These coordinated patrols were part of the measures put in place to prevent a face-off at the LAC, the sources said. The new arrangements are to re-open routes for Indian troops to patrol at patrolling point 10, 11, 12 and 13. These routes go eastwards of “Bottleneck” — the name of a geographical feature — on the 972-sq km Depsang plateau in eastern Ladakh. The present arrangements do not mention resumption of patrolling at any other contentious spot in eastern Ladakh, where disengagement has been done. These are Gogra, Hot Springs, Pangong Tso and Galwan. DP Reddy, a retired IAS officer and adviser to the Public Adulteration Welfare Association, said widespread adulteration was a pressing issue, affecting essential items like milk, tea, cooking oil and medicines. While offenders continued to endanger public health, nearly 50 per cent of daily food consumption is reported as adulterated at an annual rate of 22 per cent, he claimed. Hospitals were seeing a significant increase in patients suffering from ailments continued on page 10 Amritsar health officials impound a bus loaded with spurious khoya. c m y b AAP ministers Tarunpreet Sond & Harbhajan Singh ETO being detained during a protest against tardy lifting of paddy in Chandigarh. INSIDE Amritsar air most polluted in Punjab Industrial city Ludhiana fares better Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, October 30 Amritsar remained the most polluted city in Punjab during the week prior to Diwali. The city’s air quality index (AQI) ranged between “moderate” and “poor” category. As per data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Amritsar district’s AQI for five days from October 26-30 remained 228, 310, 160, 185 and 185, respectively. On October 30 last year, the AQI in Amritsar was 195. On October 27, when Amritsar’s AQI (310) dipped to the “very poor” category, other cities where air pollution is being monitored by the Punjab Pollution Control Board i.e. Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Patiala, Jalandhar and Khanna recorded much better air quality. The AQI in these cities was 152, 219, 202, 157 and 136, respectively. Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawney said higher PAK PUNJAB CM FOR JOINT ANTI-SMOG PLAN LAHORE: Pakistan’s Punjab province CM Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday called for united efforts with Punjab province of India against what she described as the common enemy ‘smog’, saying it was “not a political but a humanitarian issue”. REPORT ON BACK PAGE pollution levels in Amritsar could be mainly due to the changing weather condition since very few incidents of stubble burning were reported in the district. KK Gill, an expert with the agrometeorology department of the PAU, said as compared to districts like Ludhiana or Patiala, temperature in Amritsar was generally low due to its being a border district. “When the mercury drops, it leads to temperature inversion, a phenomenon where cold air gets trapped near the ground continued on page 10