07122024-TT-01.qxd 12/6/2024 11:09 PM TRUMP PICKS FORMER SENATOR PERDUE AS CHINA ENVOY WORLD /thetribunechd Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 338 | 24 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH saturday | 7 december 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Shambhu turns battleground again, 9 hurt as tear gas shells fired at farmers 101 protesters’ march to Capital halted;Vij says can’t allow pass without Delhi’s nod Ruckus in RS over unclaimed notes on Singhvi’s seat, probe on It’s bizarre, says Cong MP as ministers term matter ‘serious’ Tribune News Service CONTROVERSY OVER WAD OF ~500 NOTES ■ Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday said security staff had recovered a wad of ~500 notes (~50,000) from the seat allotted to Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi ■ Singhvi said it was bizarre that politics was being played on issues such as this ■ Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said the Chairman shouldn’t have named the MP without the probe being over during anti-sabotage checks in the House was shared with MPs by Dhankhar, much to the displeasure of the Congress and the MP concerned. continued on page 18 RBI keeps repo rate intact, lowers GDPforecastto 6.6% SC grants bail to 8 in Hashimpura case New Delhi, December 6 The Rajya Sabha witnessed disruptions and adjournment on Friday after a wad of Rs 500 currency notes was recovered from the seat of Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi, prompting Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to order a probe. The information regarding the suspicious bundle seized from the seat allotted to Singhvi Mohit Khanna & Nitish Sharma Tribune News Service Shambhu (Patiala), December 6 Nine farmers were injured, two of them critically, after the Haryana Police and paramilitary forces fired tear gas shells to disperse protesters at Shambhu on the PunjabHaryana border on Thursday. Earlier in the day, a “jatha” of 101 farmers began a march to Delhi to press for various demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP and debt waiver, from Shambhu. The “jatha” was stopped 200 metres short of the border on the Ghaggar bridge where multi-layered barricades had been placed by Haryana security personnel. The police asked the farmers not to proceed further, citing prohibitory orders clamped by the Ambala district administration under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) that prohibits the assembly of five or more persons. The unrelenting farmers, however, kept marching forward and crossed continued on page 18 FOREIGN SECY MISRI TO VISIT B’DESH ON DEC 9 BACK PAGE Haryana security personnel use tear gas to disperse protesting farmers at the Shambhu border in Patiala on Friday. PTI ‘Won’t give up, meeting today’ Sarwan Singh Pandher, president, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, said the farmers would make another attempt to cross the border on Sunday. “A meeting has been called on Saturday to chalk out the next course of action. We have also decided to launch a peaceful protest against BJP leaders across the state,” he said. Centre promises purchase on MSP, awaits panel report to bolster system Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 6 Amid Punjab farmers’ attempted Delhi march over legal backing for the minimum support price regime, the BJP-led NDA government today assured them of continued procurement on the MSP and further strengthening of the system. Official sources said the Centre was awaiting the report of the expert committee formed in 2022 after the withdrawal of the farm laws to further strengthen the MSP system. The committee chaired by former Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal has been asked to suggest ways to make the MSP system more effective and transparent; examine feasibility of granting greater autonomy to the continued on page 18 c m y b Chandigarh, December 6 The Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee (MPC) on Friday kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the 11th straight policy meeting. The RBI, however, cut the gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to 6.6 per cent for the current financial year from its earlier projection of 7.2 per cent. The RBI has maintained the repo rate at 6.5 per cent since February 2023. With the repo rate unchanged, all external benchmark lending rates (EBLR) that are linked to the repo rate will not increase, giving the borrowers some relief as their equated monthly EMIs TO BE UNCHANGED 6.5% 4.8% 4% Unchanged repo rate means relief for borrowers as EMIs won’t increase Retail inflation forecast for current fiscal from 4.5% projected earlier CRR (bank cash kept with RBI) cut from 4.5%; to unlock ~1.16L cr bank funds instalments (EMIs) will not go up. “High inflation reduces the disposable income in the hands of consumers and dents private consumption, which negatively impacts the real GDP growth. The increasing continued on page 18 NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has granted bail to eight convicts in the 1987 Hashimpura case involving the massacre of 38 persons by Provincial Armed Constabulary men. The counsel of convicts claimed that they had suffered prolonged incarceration after the HC reversed their acquittal. BACK PAGE Class 12 student shoots principal CHHATARPUR: A Class 12 student allegedly shot dead the principal of his school in MP's Chhatarpur on Friday after being admonished for coming late, the police said. The teen fled on the principal’s scooter but was later nabbed. — PTI