11082025-TTB-01.qxd 8/11/2025 12:35 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 221 | 12 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 NETANYAHU VOWS TO ACCOMPLISH GOALS IN GAZA STRIP WORLD /thetribunechd KATRA-AMRITSAR VANDE BHARAT TRAIN FLAGGED OFF J&K LAND ACQUIRED, HEALTHCARE, EDUCATION BULLET TRAIN PROJECT BEYOND PEOPLE’S REACH: PICKS PACE NATION RSS CHIEF BACK PAGE monday | 11 august 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com India’s growth not liked by those assuming to be ‘everyone’s boss’: Rajnath’s dig at US Calls trade tariffs a conspiracy to make country’s goods expensive abroad Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 10 In the first direct response from India’s top political leadership to the US trade tariffs, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said some people who assumed themselves to be “everyone’s boss” were not liking the country’s rapid economic growth. Without naming the US or President Donald Trump, who recently slapped 50 per cent punitive tariffs on imports from India over Russian oil purchase, Rajnath described the country’s economy as the world’s “most dashing and dynamic”. In his address after performing the ‘bhoomi pujan’ of a rail coach manufacturing unit of Bharat Earth Movers Limited in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district, the minister said, “They think ‘sabke boss toh hum hain’ (we are everyone’s boss) and how is India growing at such a fast pace? Many people are trying to do something so that when Indiamade goods go to countries across the world, they become more expensive than the locally manufactured things and people do not buy them.” However, the speed at which India was moving ahead, no power in the world could stop it from becoming a big power globally, he said. Though the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had put out two statements over the past week on the US tariffs, Rajnath’s response is crucial as he is part of the Cabinet Committee on Security, which is chaired by continued on page 8 BikersopenfireatPb influencer’s house HOSHIARPUR: Panic gripped the Model Town area here in the wee hours of Saturday when two masked assailants opened fire at the residence of an NRI social media influencer, Simran Sikand, aka Sam. The assailants arrived on a motorcycle and fired two rounds at his gate and fled the place. The incident took place at 12.38 am. The act was captured on CCTV cameras installed at the house. INSIDE Terrorists trapped in Kishtwar encounter JAMMU: In yet another encounter between the security forces and terrorists in Kishtwar district, a group of militants is believed to be trapped in the mountainous Dul forest area. Contact with the terrorists was established on specific intelligence inputs and gunfire was exchanged. The operation is currently in progress. INSIDE Over 2,400 flights disrupted since Jan NEW DELHI: Indian airlines have cancelled or rescheduled over 2,400 flights this year due to regulatory constraints and geopolitical disturbances, according to data tabled in Parliament. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said from January to June, Air India reported 662 affected flights, IndiGo 1,017, Akasa Air 18, SpiceJet 334 and Air India Express 427. BACK PAGE Cong steps up ‘vote chori’ stir with portal as EC rebuts claim Animesh Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 10 Upping the ante over Rahul Gandhi’s poll rigging claims, the Congress has launched a web portal for people to register and seek accountability from the poll panel against what it called “vote chori” and back the demand for digital voter rolls. In a post on X, Rahul said, “Our demand from the EC is clear. Show transparency and make the digital voter list public… support this demand by registering on votechori.in/ecdemand.” Rahul will lead a march from the Parliament House Complex to the EC office on Monday as part of the “vote chori” campaign. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge will later host a dinner for MPs of the INDIA bloc, sources said. The move Rahul-led march to poll body office in Delhi today NO RULE TO PUBLISH DELETED ROLLS: EC On the charge of deleting lakhs of voters from Bihar rolls, the EC told the SC that there’s no legal requirement to publish a separate list of voters excluded from draft rolls or give reasons. INSIDE NOTICE TO BIHAR DY CM OVER 2 VOTER CARDS Bankipur poll officer issued a notice to Bihar Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav claimed he held two voter ID numbers. Sinha has been asked to submit his response by August 14. is seen as a united effort by the Congress-led Opposition against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and alleged large-scale rigging in polls. The EC on Sunday once again fact-checked Rahul’s claims on alleged manipulation in the voters’ list of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency. It dismissed the claim that a woman voter, Shakun Rani, had voted twice, saying, “In the Election Commission inquiry, it was found that Shakun Rani only voted once, not twice as claimed by Rahul Gandhi.” On August 7, Rahul had levelled allegations of “vote theft”, including the case of a 70-year-old woman who, he claimed, registered twice as a voter within two months using Form 6, meant for first-time voters. During his presentation, he alleged two votes were cast using Rani’s continued on page 8 edit: onus on eci If we go down, we’ll take down half Make-in-India tech powered Op Sindoor: PM the world: Munir plays N-card in US PM Modi interacts with people during a Metro ride in Bengaluru on Sunday. He also flagged off 3 Vande Bharat trains, including one from Amritsar to Katra. ANI Tribune News Service hours,” Modi said, crediting indigenous defence technology and the role of Karnataka’s youth for the success. He urged Bengaluru and the state to play a greater role in achieving a “zero defect, zero effect” standard in manufacturing, producing defectfree goods without harming the environment, as part of the vision for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. He said the next big priority was a “Tech Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, focused on rapidly developing new products for India’s needs. Modi also highlighted Bengaluru’s contribution to the country’s digital transformation, noting that more than half of the world’s real-time transactions now take place through India’s UPI platform. He said the government was investing in advanced technologies such as AI-powered threat detection to ensure the benefits of the digital revolution reached every citizen. Linking this growth to wider continued on page 8 edit: missing chapter Day on, 3 missing Shimla school students found; ‘kidnapper’ held Vadra got ~58 cr from G’gram land deal: Chargesheet Boys from Mohali, Karnal, Kullu had failed to return after day out Ujwal Jalali Shekhar Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 10 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said Operation Sindoor had demonstrated a new, assertive face of India, forcing Pakistan to yield within hours and proving the strength of Indian technology and the “Make-inIndia” initiative in defence. Speaking at a public event in Bengaluru during the foundation-laying ceremony of Metro phase-3, Modi said the military offensive was a decisive blow to terror hubs deep inside Pakistan. Tribune News Service Shimla, August 10 Three 11-year-old students of Shimla’s prestigious Bishop Cotton School who had gone missing on Saturday were located at Chaithla village of Kotkhai tehsil in the district on Sunday, the police said. The police have arrested a 45year-old man, Sumit Sood of Kokunala village in Kotkhai, for allegedly kidnapping the children. Kotkhai is about 58 km from the Himachal capital. The Class VI students of the boys-only boarding In B’luru, Modi says self-reliance next big priority He noted that the operation marked a turning point in India’s counter-terror posture, as the armed forces destroyed targets several kilometres across the border in a short span of time. “This is my first visit to Bengaluru after Operation Sindoor. The whole world saw India’s resolve against terrorism. Our forces crossed the border, destroyed terrorist hideouts and compelled Pakistan, which stood behind terrorism, to give in within SUSPENSE OVER VIRTUAL CALL FROM CALIFORNIA ■ A call from a California-based virtual number is under probe ■ The Shimla police are also investigating other phone call records and CCTV footage ■ Boys found locked in a room at a village house in Kotkhai school were on a weekly day out along with other boarders when they were reported missing. Sources said one student is from Punjab’s Mohali, another from Karnal in Haryana and the third from Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. The boys left the school at 12.09 pm on Saturday and did not return by 5 pm, prompting the school authorities to inform the police. On a complaint from the school principal, a case was registered under Section 137(B) (kidnapping) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the New Shimla police station. The parents of the boys reached Shimla on being informed that their sons had gone missing. The police launched a massive continued on page 8 New Delhi, August 10 Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, who is on a visit to the US, the second in less than two months after the India-Pakistan conflict, has reportedly played the nuclear card, threatening that if Islamabad goes down, it will take down half the world. Munir was at an event hosted by a Pakistani national at Tampa, Florida, on Saturday when he said, “We are a nuclear nation. If we go down, we’ll take down half the world with us.” Sources in India confirmed Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 10 The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its chargesheet filed recently, has alleged that businessman Robert Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, received Rs 58 crore as proceeds of crime from a controversial Gurugram land deal. “These funds, derived from the scheduled offence, were allegedly utilised by Robert Vadra to acquire immovable properties, make investments, advance funds/loans, and settle liabilities of his various group companies,” an excerpt from continued on page 8 Delhi’s crime world sees surge in women bosses Ujwal Jalali & Shekhar Singh RUTHLESS REIGN OF LADY DONS Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 10 On the dusty streets of Delhi, fear doesn’t always come in the shape of a broad-shouldered man with a pistol. Sometimes, it wears a saree or salwar kameez, lines its eyes with kohl and carries a name whispered like a curse. The brutal stabbing of a 17year-old boy on April 17 laid bare this new reality. As three attackers pounced on their victim, a 19-year-old woman stood motionless nearby — Zikra Khan, the notorious “Lady Don” of Seelampur. Women like Zikra have moved from the fringes to ZIKRA KHAN SONU PUNJABAN ZOYA KHAN At just 19, this former From flesh trade to high- When her gangster bouncer is Seelampur’s profile trafficking rings, husband got jailed, most feared don. the widowed ‘queenpin’ she transformed Recruited teen killers built an empire on from housewife to & orchestrated brutal exploitation before drug lord. Was murders. Currently POCSO cases ended arrested with heroin lodged in jail her ruthless reign & lodged in jail the forefront of Delhi’s criminal underworld. Gone are the days when police files featured only male gang- sters. Today’s crime lords include women running drug empires worth crores, ordering hits and trafficking women and children. “Women criminals can be colder than men. While male gangsters want to prove themselves, these women focus solely on results,” says a Delhi Police officer. Their paths to power vary — some clawed their way up from poverty through petty crime, while others fell for gangsters and inherited empires after their partners were jailed or killed. What sets them apart, the police say, is their ability to weaponise both vulnerability and fear, vanishing into a crowd as an ordinary woman, then reappearing as a shadow in someone’s final moments. Zikra’s recent murder continued on page 8 c m y b E On IWT, says if India builds dam, Pak will destroy it with 10 missiles Field Marshal Asim Munir with US Gen Michael E Kurilla at the latter’s retirement. COURTESY: X media reports regarding the outrageous remarks made by the Pakistan army chief in the US. Munir also questioned India’s decision to hold in abeyance the Indus Waters Treaty. The sources quoted Munir as having said, “We will wait for India to build a dam, and when it does so, we will destroy it with 10 missiles”. Officially, Munir is in the US to attend the retirement ceremony of the outgoing commander of the US Central Command, Gen Michael E Kurilla, and the change of command ceremony for the continued on page 8