08012025-TTC-01.qxd 1/8/2025 12:42 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 9 NO. 8 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 SHAH LAUNCHES CRIME REPORTING PLATFORM BHARATPOL NATION /thetribunechd TRUMP RENEWS OFFER TO MAKE CANADA 51ST US STATE WORLD META REPLACES INDIA, US JOIN HANDS ITS FACT-CHECKING TO MAKE DEVICE TO PROGRAMME BUSINESS TRACK SUBS BACK PAGE wednesday | 8 january 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Delhi votes on Feb 5, results on Feb 8; AAP eyes hat-trick 9 ASSAM MINERS TRAPPED, NAVY JOINS RESCUE OP CEC asks parties to uphold decorum, vows to check money misuse Tribune News Service Efforts underway on Tuesday to rescue nine labourers trapped inside a coal mine in Dima Hasao district of Assam. The state requisitioned Navy divers to assist the local authorities in rescuing the workers. The water level inside the quarry has risen to nearly 100 feet. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a person had been arrested after the registration of a case as the mine appeared to be illegal. PTI New Delhi, January 7 The Election Commission of India (EC) on Tuesday announced single-phase Delhi Assembly elections on February 5, with the counting of votes on February 8. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Arvind Kejriwal, is pushing hard for a third consecutive term, while the BJP is going all out to turn the tables on the ruling party. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, while announcing the election schedule, urged the political parties to uphold decorum during the elections and emphasised that necessary steps would be taken to ensure free and fair polling. The EC would conduct RACE FOR NATIONAL CAPITAL TOTAL SEATS 70 GENERAL RESERVED 58 12 DELHI POLLING STATIONS 13,000 1.55 CRORE EVMs TAMPER-PROOF ❝ Courts have noted there is no evidence of unreliability in EVMs. There is no question of introducing a virus or bug… Evidence inspires confidence that EVMs are tamper-proof and foolproof devices. Rajiv Kumar, CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER checks to prevent any misuse of money, the CEC asserted. “We will check everyone to ensure money-free elections. During recent polls, there was ELIGIBLE TO VOTE MEN 83.49L 3RD GENDER WOMEN 71.74L TOTAL 1,261 1.55 CR YOUTH: 25.89 LAKH| FIRST-TIMERS: 2.08 LAKH a hue and cry that some helicopters were checked. People even threatened polling officers but we control ourselves because it disturbs a level playing field,” he said. The CEC asked political leaders, especially star campaigners, to set a positive example. continued on page 8 30L membership target unmet, BJP drops GDPgrowthmayslip Punjab from party poll; Jakhar stays chief to 4-year low of 6.4% THE TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE BIG SLIDE IN MEMBERSHIP, DOWN FROM 18L TO 6L Aditi Tandon 126 dead as quake measuring 6.8 jolts Tibet; felt in India too BEIJING: A massive earthquake struck near one of holiest cities in southern Tibet on Tuesday, killing at least 126 persons and injuring 188 with tremors forcing people to rush out to the streets also in parts of Nepal and India. China Earthquake Networks Centre said the quake was of 6.8 magnitude while the US Geological Service put it at 7.1 magnitude. The quake jolted Dingri county in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. INSIDE SC givesinterimbail to Asaram till Mar 31 on health grounds DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim bail till March 31 to controversial godman Asaram in a 2013 rape case to enable him to avail of medical treatment to various ailments he has been suffering from. However, the self-styled godman can’t be released as he was in jail in another rape case in Jodhpur. Asaram (86) has been told not to meet his followers in a group. INSIDE ■ Before the BJP’s fresh membership drive began on September 2 Tribune News Service last year, the party had nearly 18 lakh members in Punjab. The party conducts a fresh membership drive every five years ■ Against the target of 30 lakh members in Punjab, the BJP has so far managed to get only 6.6 lakh primary membership forms filled. This is an achievement rate of barely 22%. New Delhi, January 7 Struggling with its membership drive in Punjab, the ruling BJP has dropped the state from the party’s organisational election schedule drawn up for 29 other states and UTs, including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh in the North. The Tribune has learnt that against the target of 30 lakh members in Punjab, the BJP has so far managed to get only around 6.6 lakh primary membership forms filled. This is an achievement rate of barely 22%. The party has a lot of catching up to do in the state and continues to face multiple challenges in recruiting new members on the back of anx- ieties around prolonged farmers’ protests among other factors. Earlier, the BJP drew a blank in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll but bagged 18.5% vote share. These gains slipped in the November Assembly bypolls when the BJP candidates lost all four seats they contested, forfeiting deposits in three. The BJP’s organisational base in Punjab has traditionally remained low. Since 1997, the party contested all elections in a pre-poll pact with the Shiromani Akali Dal, choosing to stay its junior ally. The SAD quit the BJP-led NDA in 2020 over the contentious farm laws and the parties never quite made up. In the 2019 LS poll, the BJP had won two seats in a prepoll alliance with the SAD. Before the BJP’s fresh membership drive commenced from September 2 Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 7 India’s economic growth rate is estimated to hit a four-year low of 6.4 per cent in 2024-25, mainly on account of sluggish growth in the manufacturing and services sector, according to government data released today. The estimated gross domestic product (GDP) rate in the current fiscal is significantly lower than 8.2 per cent witnessed in 2023-24. “The real GDP has been estimated to grow by 6.4 per cent in FY 2024-25 as compared to 8.2 per cent in the Provisional Estimate of the GDP for FY 2023-24. The nominal GDP has witnessed a growth of 9.7 per cent in FY 2024-25 as against 9.6 per cent in FY 2023-24,” said the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in a statement. According to the data, the real GDP or the GDP at constant prices is estimated to attain a level of Rs 184.88 lakh crore in 202425 as against the Provisional Estimate of the GDP of Rs 173.82 lakh crore in 2023-24. The GDP rate of 6.4 per cent will be the lowest since the Covid year (2020-21) when the country witnessed a negative growth of 5.8 per cent. Later, it bounced back, as the GDP growth was 9.7 per cent in 2021-22, 7 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. According to the data, the manufacturing sector output is expected to decelerate to 5.3 per cent from a high of 9.9 per cent recorded in the previous fiscal. Similarly, the services sector, comprising trade, hotels, transport and continued on page 8 Subhash Rajta Tribune News Service Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 7 Amid the row between the BJP and the Congress over a memorial to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Modi government has allocated a site for a memorial to Congress leader and former President Pranab Mukherjee, who passed away in 2020. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in a letter to Mukherjee’s daughter Microsoft to invest $3 bn in AI, cloud expansion in India BENGALURU: Microsoft will invest $3 billion (about Rs 25,700 crore) to expand its cloud computing and artificial intelligence capabilities in India, its chief executive officer Satya Nadella said on Tuesday. The tech giant will also train 10 million people in AI skills in India by 2030, Nadella said, addressing a conference attended by startup founders and executives from technology firms. Nadella is the latest in the list of tech tycoons to have visited India. INSIDE Sharmistha, said a site within the Rajghat precincts had been earmarked for a memorial to the former President. “The competent authority has approved the earmarking of a designated site within the Rashtriya Smriti complex (a part of the Rajghat precincts) for a samadhi of the late Pranab Mukherjee,” said the letter, dated January 1. Sharmistha, a former Congress leader, met PM Narendra Modi to thank him for the step. “Called on hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji to express thanks and gratitude from the core of my heart for his govt’s decision to create a memorial for baba. It’s more cherished considering that we didn’t ask for it. Immensely touched by this unexpected but truly gracious gesture by the PM,” Sharmistha wrote on X. “Baba used to say that state honours shouldn’t be asked for, these should be offered. continued on page 8 Shimla, January 7 As many as 125 schools in Himachal are without a teacher while 2,600 have just one. However, the number of schools having no teacher or just one has been on the decline for the past two years. “When our government took over in 2022, the number of schools without a teacher was around 350, and 3,400 schools had just a single teacher. Through rationalisation and recruitments, we have managed to signifi- our government the ❝ Whenwithout a teachertook over in 2022, andnumber of schools was around 350, 3,400 schools had just a single teacher. Rohit Thakur, EDUCATION MINISTER cantly reduce the number of such schools,” said Education Minister Rohit Thakur. All these schools are in the primary and upper primary categories. Ashish Kohli, Director, Elementary Education, said such schools were being managed through deputation of teachers. “We have initiated a rationalisation process. We are identifying schools where we’ve surplus teachers. The extra teachers will be sent to these schools, and that will address the problem to a large extent,” said Kohli. The Director said a majority of these schools had low enrolment. Over the past two years, the government has either denotified or merged 1,194 schools having zero enrolment or low enrolment. “Of these 1,194 schools, 675 had zero enrolment, and others had a low enrolment. By shutting down such unviable schools, the government managed to send hundreds of teachers deputed in these schools to the schools where they were actually needed,” said Thakur. Thakur claimed that the closure or merger of these schools had not affected the students, as alleged by the BJP “There were around 670 . students in the denotified or continued on page 8 No room for hunger strike in Sikhism, but Dallewal protest justified: Akal Takht Tribune News Service SEATTLE: In a significant devel- opment, a Seattle police officer who killed Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula in January 2023 when the patrol vehicle he was driving struck her, has been fired from the police department, officials said. Kandula (23) from Andhra Pradesh was struck by a police vehicle driven by officer Kevin Dave when she was crossing a street in Seattle on January 23, 2023. BACK PAGE In Punjab, the state chief’s election cannot be held along with other state units of the BJP because the membership process is yet to conclude Vijay C Roy Centre allots site at Rajghat for Pranab 125 HP schools have no teacher, 2,600 just1 SITUATION BETTER THAN BEFORE memorial, daughter thanks PM Modi NEW US cop whose car fatally hit Indian girl fired from job STATE CHIEF’S ELECTION DELAYED last year (BJP conducts a fresh party membership drive every five years), the party had nearly 18 lakh members in Punjab. Top BJP sources today acknowledged that the party’s current membership drive in Punjab was going slow, and was the reason why the internal election process in the state could not be commenced. Some party leaders attribute the delay to Assembly bypolls and municipal elections in Punjab. Accordingly, the party has not appointed a returning officer for the election of state president and national council members in Punjab, which means incumbent Sunil Jakhar will continue for now unless someone else is nominated in his place. State chiefs and national continued on page 8 Amritsar, January7 Expressing concern over the deteriorating health of fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, the Akal Takht said though the hunger strike concept had no place in Sikhism, it was highly condemnable that the “anndata” (food-producing farming community) had to go on a fast for the sake of their rightful dues. Speaking on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Sri Guru Gobind Singh on Monday, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh said, “There is no concept of hunger strike in Sikhism. But it’s shocking to note that farmers who work tirelessly to feed the humankind are being forced to give up food for the acceptance of their demands.” The Jathedar said “nothing could be more appalling than this for the government”. Samyukt Kisan Morcha FARMERS ANNOUNCE NATIONWIDE PROTESTS ■ In the wake of Dallewal’s deteriorating health, the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and SKM (Non-political) announce nationwide protests ■ Nationwide effigy-burning protest will be held in villages on Jan 10 ■ Copies of the draft policy on agri marketing to be burnt on Lohri ■ Farmers planning nationwide protest on tractors on January 26 (Non-political) leader Dallewal (70) has been on an indefinite fast for the past more than 40 days at the Khanauri protest site on the border between Punjab and Haryana. The farmers are demanding a legal guarantee for the MSP of their crops. Meanwhile, the Akali Dal has said it was shocking that even though the Supreme Court was monitoring the fast-unto-death of the farmer c m y b leader almost on a daily basis, both the Union and the state governments were “resorting to blame game and playing politics”. “Efforts are also on to polarise the entire issue, which is condemnable and could be dangerous for a border state like Punjab,” said Akali leader Daljit Singh Cheema. He appealed to PM Narendra Modi to take the lead and create an atmosphere that could lead to the end of Dallewal’s fast. Doctors examine Jagjit Singh Dallewal in Khanauri on Tuesday.