14022025-TTB-01.qxd 2/14/2025 12:58 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 44 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 EU WARNS AGAINST QUICK-FIX DEAL ON UKRAINE WORLD /thetribunechd 60 RAJOURI FAMILIES IN QUARANTINE SENT HOME J&K AUTO EXPORTS IN TOP GEAR, WITNESS 40% GROWTH BUSINESS KEEPING WATCH ON DEVELOPMENTS: GOVT ON CHINA BACK PAGE friday | 14 february 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Hours before meeting Modi, Trump says India’s tariffs ‘among highest’ President’s rule in Manipur after 2 years of ethnic strife PM holds ‘fruitful’ talks with US NSA Waltz, discusses tech & space with Musk New Delhi, February 13 President’s rule was imposed in the strife-torn Manipur on Thursday, four days after N Biren Singh resigned as the Chief Minister of the state. This is the 11th time since 1951 that Manipur has come under the direct control of the Centre. The announcement comes as the state BJP failed to reach a consensus on the successor to Biren Singh and the sixmonth period within which the Assembly must convene lapsed on February 12. The Manipur Assembly, having a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation, said a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. A communique from the office of President Droupadi Imphal: A CRPF havildar allegedly killed two of his colleagues and injured eight others before taking his own life at a camp in Lamphel in Manipur’s Imphal West district on Thursday, official sources said. Sanjay Kumar from 120th Battalion opened fire from his weapon killing a constable and a sub-inspector. He later turned the gun on himself. The injured have been shifted to a hospital. The cause of the incident is being investigated. Z-category security cover for Dalai Lama After Delhi debacle, Mann clears 60,000 jobs, arrears, housing Tribune News Service Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 13 US President Donald Trump on Thursday said India had more tariffs than nearly any other country, the comments coming hours before his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said his reciprocal tariffs, for which he unveiled a roadmap, “aimed to bring back fairness and would level the playing field”. He said other countries could reduce tariffs or eliminate them. The meeting between PM Modi and Trump is expected to be dominated by tariffs and deportations along with expansion of ties for sharing military, space and semi-conductor technology. The PM, who arrived in Washington on a two-day visit, was scheduled to meet the US President at 3 am on Friday (India time) at the White House for their first bilateral meeting after Trump assumed the presidency for a second term last month. Before his meeting with Trump, Modi met US National Security Adviser (NSA) Micheal Waltz. External Adani withdraws from $1 bn Lankan wind power projects NEW DELHI: Adani Green Energy, the renewable arm of billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate, has withdrawn from two proposed wind power projects in Sri Lanka, following the island nation's new government deciding to renegotiate tariffs. “Adani Green Energy has conveyed its board's decision to withdraw from further engagement in the renewable energy wind energy project,” the firm said. BACK PAGE 28 farm leaders to meet Central team for talks today PATIALA: In a show of strength hours before their crucial talks with a Central team at Chandigarh, farm unions on Thursday held their third kisan mahapanchayat at the Shambhu border to mark the first anniversary of the Kisan Andolan 2.0. Twentyeight farm leaders will be attending the meeting with the Central team, led by minister Pralhad Joshi. INSIDE Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 13 Noting that 55 opposition MPs had given a notice for moving a motion to remove Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav as a judge of the Allahabad High Court for his alleged misconduct, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday asserted that only Parliament had jurisdiction to deal with the issue. In a suo motu statement in the Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar said the Rajya Sabha Secretary General had been asked GOVT TO BLAME FOR STATE’S SITUATION: CONG The Congress said it had been demanding imposition of President’s rule in strife-torn Manipur for the past 20 months and the Central Government did so only after the fabric of state’s society was allowed to be “severely damaged”. Murmu said that after considering Governor Ajay Bhalla’s report and other information, “I am satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of that state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India.” As per Article 174(1) of the Constitution, state Assemblies must convene within six months of their last sitting. In Manipur, the last Assembly session had been convened on August 12, 2024, thereby setting February 12 as the deadline for the next session. However, Governor Bhalla had continued on page 10 PM Narendra Modi at a meeting with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who was accompanied by his three kids, in Washington DC. PTI Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Indian NSA Ajit Doval too were present. “Had a fruitful meeting with NSA Waltz. He has always been a great friend of India,” Modi said in a post on X. “Defence, technology and security are important aspects of India-US ties and we had a wonderful discussion around these issues. There is strong potential for cooperation in sectors like AI, semiconduc- tors, space and more,” he said. The PM also met billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is a key aide of the US President. Musk, rather unusual for such formal meetings, came with his three small children. “We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’,” Modi said in a post on X. Modi is staying at Blair House, the US presidential guest house at the heart of the American capital city. As PM Modi reached Blair House, the President’s guest house, he was accorded a rousing welcome by members of the Indian-American diaspora. The Modi-Trump meeting is happening in the backdrop of a controversy in India over the handcuffing and shackling of deportees by the US. Waltz and Doval jointly head the Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), which was launched in Washington in January 2023 to foster collaborations and research in various fields, particularly AI, quantum, telecom, space, biotech and continued on page 10 NEW DELHI: The Centre has provided a Z-category armed protection cover to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in view of potential security threats to him, official sources said on Thursday. The MHA has directed the VIP security wing of the CRPF to take charge of the 89-year-old leader. — TNS Panel report on Waqf Simplified new Income Tax Bill Bill tabled in Parl amid brought in LS, sent to select panel uproar on dissent notes Tribune News Service Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 13 The report of the joint panel on the Wakf Amendment Bill was tabled in Parliament on Thursday amid uproar by the opposition, which walked out of both Houses in protest against their dissent notes not being incorporated. The Opposition termed the report “biased and one-sided”. In the face of the protests, Home Minister Amit Shah assured the Lower House that the government had no objection if the dissent notes were included in the report without redaction. The minister left it to Speaker Om Birla’s discretion to take a call. The Lower House was later adjourned till March 10, marking the end of the first session of the Budget session. As panel chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal rose to table the report in the Lok Sabha, opposition members raised slogans which were VP:Only Parl entitled to deal with Justice Yadav’s removal Satya Prakash CRPF MAN SHOOTS 2, KILLS SELF AT CAMP to share the information with the Supreme Court Secretary General. “Hon’ble members, I am seized of an undated notice for motion received on December 13, 2024, bearing 55 purported signatures of members of the Rajya Sabha seeking the removal from office of Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court under Article 124(4) of the Constitution,” Dhankhar said. “The jurisdiction of the stated subject matter constitutionally lies in exclusivity with the Chairman continued on page 10 Shah says BJP not opposed to inclusion of all Oppn objections countered by the thumping of benches by the treasury side. The opposition members then staged a walkout. Amid noisy protests by the opposition, Shah said: “Some opposition members have objected to their dissent notes not being annexed fully. I wish to request you on behalf of my party that whatever their objections, you can attach the same to the report as per parliamentary practice as you feel appropriate.” “My party has no objection to it,” he added. Earlier, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm soon after it was convened for the day amid protests by opposition members over alleged cronyism on part of the government in allocating the Khavda renewable continued on page 10 New Delhi, February 13 The simplified Income Tax Bill-2025 was introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and was immediately referred to a select committee of Parliament. The committee, whose terms and conditions are to be formulated by Speaker Om Birla, will submit its report on the “first day of the next session”. However, it wasn’t made clear whether the “first day” was the beginning of the second part of the Budget session—first half ended on Thursday—on March 10 or when the monsoon session commences in August. The Bill, which will replace the Income Tax Act-1961, was introduced amid objections by Congress MP Manish Tewari, RSP’s NK Premachandran and TMC’s Sougata Roy. With Sitharaman terming the objections “untenable”, the Speaker immediately referred continued on page 10 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha. PTI AIM TO MINIMISE LITIGATION ■ New Bill aims to minimise the scope of litigation and fresh interpretations ■ Consolidates provisions pertaining to salary at one place for ease of understanding ■ Key words retained, especially where courts rulings have come ■ Deductions like gratuity, leave encashment, commutation of pension, compensation on VRS and retrenchment now part of salary chapter ■ ‘Tax year’ eliminates the con- cepts of ‘previous year’ and ‘assessment year’ MAKING IT CRISPIER NEW BILL WORDS OLD ACT 2.6 LAKH 5.12 LAKH SECTIONS 536 819 CHAPTERS 23 47 TABLES 57 18 Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 13 Days after the Aam Aadmi Party’s defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections, the Punjab Cabinet today announced plans to fill 60,000 vacancies in the government and private sectors, clear Rs 14,000crore pending pay arrears and provide housing for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The decisions appeared aimed at wooing the youth, nearly 6 lakh government employees and pensioners, and the marginalised sections. The Cabinet also approved the establishment of special fasttrack courts to handle cases of NRIs, a crucial voter base for the AAP in Punjab. The courts are expected to be set up in Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr, Ludhiana and Moga. Of the 60,000 posts to be filled, 2,000 would be in the Education Department, said a government spokesperson after the three-hour meeting, which was chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Though the next Punjab Assembly elections are still two years away, the Cabinet decisions suggest efforts to woo the electorate by promoting a “Punjab model of governance”. However, the cash-strapped government may struggle to generate resources to implement the populist steps. It owes Rs 14,000 crore to the nearly Bhagwant Mann POPULIST MEASURES ■ 60,000 jobs to be given in govt and private sectors ■ ~14,000 cr arrears of employ- ees, pensioners to be cleared ■ EWS families to be provided houses in various cities ■ Special fast-track courts to be set up for cases of NRIs three lakh employees and as many pensioners in the form of Sixth Pay Commission arrears from January 1, 2016, to July 1, 2021. Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said from March onwards, they would start releasing Rs 200 crore in arrears each month. “The dues of pensioners will be cleared first. Those above 85 years will get their arrears first, followed by the 75-85 and 60-75 age groups. We aim to clear all dues by 2027-28,” he said. Cheema said the payments could be cleared even earlier if the government managed to secure higher revenue receipts. To gather funds for the housing scheme, the government aims continued on page 10 ‘Bharat, not India’: RSS to back campaign for name change Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 13 The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), ideological mentor of the ruling BJP is , set to back a national campaign advocating the renaming of India as Bharat, aligning with the country’s civilisational heritage. RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, which played a key role in shaping the National Education Policy, will lead the month-long campaign in March. The initiative aims to collect 10 lakh signatures from citizens across various sectors, including education, government, law and industry, before presenting a petition to President Droupadi Murmu. Announcing the campaign, Atul Kothari, national general secretary of Nyas, emphasised that the name Bharat carries deeper historical and cultural significance. “India is merely a name, whereas Bharat is a sentiment, a legacy of our ancestors. We will collect 10 lakh signatures in March and submit a petition to the President, urging a constitutional review for renaming the nation as Initiative aims to collect 10L signatures from citizens Bharat,” Kothari stated at a Nyas event in Delhi. The campaign received strong backing from senior RSS leaders, including general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale and joint general secretary Krishna Gopal, both of whom were present at the announcement, signalling institutional support for the movement. The India vs Bharat debate first gained national attention during the G20 Summit in September 2023, when PM c m y b Narendra Modi’s nameplate at the summit read “Bharat” instead of “India.” Further fuelling speculation, President Murmu sent official G20 dinner invitations under the title “President of Bharat” instead of “President of India.” At the time, there was speculation that the government might introduce amendments to Article 1 of the Constitution, which currently states: “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.” However, no formal legislative action was taken. The current campaign appears to be a revival of that discussion, with RSS-affiliated groups now taking the lead. Historical records show that the Bharat vs India debate dates back to the Constituent Assembly discussions in September 1949. Several members favoured Bharat, citing references in ancient texts such as the Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, and various Puranas. In one notable instance, HV Kamath, a member of the Forward Bloc faction of Congress, moved an amendment to Arti- cle 1, proposing that the Constitution read: “Bharat, or in the English language, India, shall be a Union of States.” The amendment was defeated, and the dual-name formulation — India and Bharat — was adopted instead. Since then, both names have been used interchangeably, as seen in official documents such as passports, which bear the descriptions “Republic of India” and “Bharata Ganarajya” side by side. With the latest push from the RSS, the debate over a potential renaming is once again gaining momentum.