03052025-TTC-03.qxd 5/3/2025 12:55 AM GOVT HAD TO BOW DOWN ON CASTE CENSUS: KHARGE NATION /thetribunechd Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 9 NO. 121 | 22 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 THAROOR ON DAIS, PM FIRES ‘SLEEPLESS’ SALVO BACK PAGE saturday | 3 may 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Sonia,Rahulget Delhicourtnotice inHeraldcase Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 2 Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were today issued notices by a special Delhi court in the National Herald alleged money laundering case. Special Judge Vishal Gogne, while hearing the matter, said their “right to be heard” was available at the time of cognisance of the chargesheet. “The right to be heard at any stage breathes life into a fair trial,” the judge said, posting the matter for May 8. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had filed its chargesheet in the matter recently, has named the Gandhis as accused. The agency had initiated its investigation in 2021 after a magistrate court took cognisance of a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on June 26, 2014. The complaint, the ED continued on page 6 US tells Pak to assist in Release more water for Hry, Centre hunting down terrorists advises Punjab at stakeholders’ meet Wants India not to trigger wider regional conflict Tribune News Service PAHALGAM BILAWAL ADMITS TO PAK TERROR LINKS MASSACRE Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 2 Toughening its stance towards Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the US has called on Islamabad to cooperate with New Delhi in hunting down the terrorists responsible for the massacre of tourists. At the same time, it expressed hope that New Delhi’s military response would not trigger a wider regional conflict. US Vice-President JD Vance, in an interview to media house ‘Fox News’, said, “We hope that India responds to this terrorist attack in a way that doesn’t lead to a broader regional conflict. And frankly, we also As part of defence readiness, the IAF holds a ‘land & go’ drill on Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur. ANI Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 2 Staring at deportation to Pakistan, six members of a family from Jammu and Kashmir on Friday got a reprieve from the Supreme Court as it asked the Centre DEPORTATION FEAR LOOMS OVER 3 JAMMU FAMILIES INSIDE not to take any coercive action against them. A Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh asked the authorities Pakistan has a past with extremist groups and suffered because of this, PPP chief Bilawal said to a query on Islamabad backing terror outfits. He was asked by Sky News if he agreed with Defence Minister Khwaja Asif’s remarks that his country did the West’s “dirty work” for decades. INDIA BANS SHEHBAZ’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s YouTube channel was banned in India on Friday. The Instagram accounts of Pakistani singer Atif Aslam and cricketers Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Hassan Ali, Imam Ul Haq and Muhammad Rizwan were also banned. OPINION: HOW TO SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE PAKISTAN hope that Pakistan, to the extent it is responsible, cooperates with India to ensure that terrorists, who sometimes operate from its Verify documents: SC comes to rescue of J&K family staring at deportation to Pak Satya Prakash Says Bhakra board will compensate state during dams’ filling period Animesh Singh Pb got 22% extra New Delhi, May 2 water in 20 years: The Centre on Friday advised the Punjab Government to Ministercitesdata implement the decision of to verify the identity documents of the petitioners who allegedly overstayed their visa. It gave the petitioners liberty to move the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, if aggrieved by the document verification order. continued on page 6 territory, are hunted down.” Asked if he was concerned about the India-Pakistan tensions, Vance said he was continued on page 6 WillprobeNepalese pupil’s death: MEA NEW DELHI: Stating that India takes the safety and security of all foreign students “very seriously”, the MEA on Friday said an inquiry would be conducted into the death of an 18-year-old Nepalese girl student at KIIT University. The girl was found dead in her hostel room. A suicide note was found. BACK PAGE the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to release 4,500 cusecs of extra water from the Bhakra dam to Haryana for the next eight days to meet its urgent water requirements. At a high-level meeting to resolve the water-sharing dispute between the two states, it was also agreed that during the filling period of the dams, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) will provide this excess water to Punjab to fulfil any additional requirements of the state. The Centre, however, took serious note of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s decision to deploy police at the Bhakra dam site. Sources familiar with the developments said Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, while presiding over the meeting, expressed displeasure over the heavy police deployment at the dam site. He reportedly pulled up Punjab officials present at the meeting and emphasised that the issue should be resolved through dialogue. The meeting was attended by top officials from all four partner states of the BBMB — Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan — as continued on page 6 Today’s issue is of 22 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. c m y b Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service CM Bhagwant Mann, BJP’s Sunil Jakhar and SAD’s Balwinder Singh Bhunder at a press conference in Chandigarh on Friday. VICKY Oppn backs AAP govt in rare display of unity Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 2 Leaders of various political parties in Punjab today unanimously decided against giving a single drop of extra water from the Bhakra dam to Haryana even as the state government planned to take legal recourse on the issue, said sources. Representatives of all recognised parties, in a rare show of unity at an all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, rejected the order by the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to release additional water to Haryana by overlooking provisions in the rules governing the operation and maintenance State weighs legal options HARYANA, TOO, CONVENES MEET Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini has also convened an all-party meeting on the ongoing water dispute with Punjab. Representatives of eight parties, including Mohan Lal Badoli (BJP), Udai Bhan (Congress), Ram Pal Majra (INLD), Dushyant Chautala (JJP) & Sushil Gupta (AAP), have been invited. The BSP CPM and National , People’s Party have also been invited to decide the future course of action. of the Nangal dam and Nangal hydel channel. continued on page 6 Chandigarh, May 2 Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Shruti Choudhry has firmly rejected Punjab’s claim that Haryana exceeded its allocated water share by March 2025, calling the allegation “completely wrong and unjustified”. The response came after Punjab told the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) on April 30 that Haryana had consumed 104 per cent of its share. Choudhry countered the claim with data showing that as of 2024 (filling and depletion period), Punjab had actually received 9.3 per cent more than its allocated share, while Haryana received 0.198 per cent less. “Over the last 20 years, Punjab has consistently received 22.44 per cent more than its allocation, whereas Haryana got just 7.67 per cent more,” she noted. The water-sharing issue has been simmering since March this year. Due to urgent BBMB repairs, the Bhakra Main Line (BML) canal was partially closed from March 25 to April 20, while Haryana’s Western continued on page 6