05092025-TTB-01.qxd 9/5/2025 12:29 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 245 | 18 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI NEPAL IMPOSES BAN ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM & YOUTUBE WORLD /thetribunechd INSTALL ADDITIONAL WEATHER RADARS IN UT, IMD TOLD J&K GST 2.0: SMALL CARS INDIA TARIFFS VITAL TO END LIKELY TO SEE ~45K-~1L UKRAINE WAR: TRUMP ADMN PRICE DROP BUSINESS TO TOP COURT BACK PAGE friday | 5 september 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Centre, Manipur, Kuki-Zo groups sign pact for peace THE TRIBUNE RELIEF FUND FOR J&K, PUNJAB & HP KZC to reopen NH-2 | Militant camps to be relocated Animesh Singh Tribune News Service An Appeal to our Readers The devastating floods that have ravaged J&K, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in the past weeks have caused unprecedented destruction, sweeping away homes, crippling infrastructure, taking away lives, displacing families and leaving countless people in need for urgent relief and rehabilitation. In the past years, during such calamities, be it the floods in Kerala, the landslides in Uttarakhand, the floods in Jammu and Kashmir, the cloudburst in Ladakh, the Orissa Cyclone, the Kargil War or the Gujarat earthquake, Tribune readers have always come forward to make their valuable donations. The Tribune Trust appeals to its readers to do so once again. Their contributions will provide invaluable support for reducing the anguish of the families of those who have lost lives and their homes. The names of all those who donate ~500 and above will be published in the paper. These donations shall also qualify for deduction under the Income Tax Act, in accordance with the applicable provisions. Donations should be in the form of crossed cheques or demand drafts in favour of the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund and sent to The Tribune Trust, Sector 29-C, Chandigarh160030, or to The Tribune offices in various cities. All donations received by us will be duly sent to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. — President and Trustees of The Tribune Trust, Chandigarh Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP leaders Ravneet Singh Bittu and Tarun Chugh and others visit a flood-hit area of Amritsar. PTI ‘Water calamity’: Chouhan tours Pb’s ravaged fields, vows Centre’s help Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 4 Even as the flood situation in Punjab remained grim with increased inflows into the Bhakra, Pong, Ranjit Sagar and Shahpur Kandi dams necessitating additional releases, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday visited affected areas to assess the extensive crop damage. He described the devastation as a “jal pralay” (water calamity). Chouhan, the first Union Minister to visit flood-hit Punjab, toured Ajnala, Dera Baba Nanak, Kartarpur Sahib corridor, Dinanagar, Behrampur and Sultanpur Lodhi, and High-level teams arrive in state to assess damage 1 KILLED, 6 BURIED IN KULLU LANDSLIDE One person was killed while six others were feared buried beneath the debris after a landslide struck the Inner Akhara Bazar area of Kullu town on Thursday morning. Rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force, local police and the fire brigade managed to pull out three survivors from the rubble. INSIDE CM MANN TAKEN ILL, CANCELS VISIT CM Bhagwant Mann had to cancel his visit to flood-affected areas on Thursday after he developed high-grade fever due to a viral infection. A senior functionary in the CMO said: “Doctors are attending to him at his residence. He should be fine soon and will be chairing the meeting of his council of ministers on Friday.” interacted with residents hit by floods. He was accompanied by Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar and BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh. To reach submerged continued on page 8 Jhelum breach puts Valley on the edge, thousands rescued Srinagar, September 4 Even as weather conditions improved in the Kashmir valley on Wednesday evening, a breach in a bundh along the Jhelum on the outskirts of Srinagar early Thursday inundated several villages, with gushing waters entering houses. Officials said thousands of people were evacuated from low-lying areas following the breach. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday, visited the flood-affected areas to assess the situation. INSIDE New Delhi, September 4 More than two years after ethnic strife singed Manipur, leaving over 200 dead and 60,000 displaced, the Centre on Thursday renewed a tripartite agreement for one year with the Manipur Government and Kuki-Zo groups to restore peace in the state. The significant development comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely visit to Manipur on September 13, his first since the 2023 violence. The pact entails maintaining the territorial integrity of the state and relocating militant camps. The Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, which had been lying in cold storage for the past 18 months (since February 29, 2024, when the Manipur Government had withdrawn from it), was signed between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Manipur Government and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) as well as United People’s Front (UPF) on re-negotiated ground rules, which will be effective from the day of the signing of the agreement for a period of one year, official sources said. The MHA said the KNO and the UPF also agreed to relocate seven designated camps The ethnic violence in Manipur has displaced over 60,000 since 2023. FILE AGREEMENT BARS LINK WITH ARMED GROUPS ■ The pact among the Centre, Manipur Government and Kuki groups (KNO & UPF) is aimed at maintaining the territorial integrity of the state & ensuring lasting peace ■ The KNO, UPF and their constituents won’t have association away from areas vulnerable to conflict and also to reduce their numbers. They also agreed to a stringent physical verification of their cadres by the security forces to delist foreign nationals, if any. The groups also agreed to surrender weapons with the nearest CRPF and BSF camps, the sources said. The Joint Monitoring Group (of all stakeholders) will closely monitor the enforcement of the ground rules, and violations would be dealt with firmly in future, IIT-Madras tops NIRF In flood-hit Punjab, Kejriwal Double dose of support: rankings for 7th time; promises ‘maximum’ relief Modi hails GST reforms PASS ON BENEFIT, IISc-Bengaluru second GOYAL TELLS INDUSTRY Tribune News Service Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Aksheev Thakur Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 4 The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has retained the top position in the overall category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for the seventh consecutive year while the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)-Bengaluru has been ranked second for the fifth time in a row. The IITs, AIIMS-Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have dominated the top 10 spots in different categories in the 10th edition of the NIRF list, which was released by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday. In the northern region, Panjab University (PU)Chandigarh bagged the third position in both pharmacy and state public universities categories. Chandigarh University-Mohali has secured the 32nd position in the overall segment while PU has been put at 57th rank. IIT-Madras has ranked first NONE FROM REGION FIGURE AMONG TOP 10 Educational institutes from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal have failed to feature among top 10 in the NIRF overall category. INSTITUTE RANK Chandigarh University 32 Thapar Institute 44 Lovely Professional University 49 IIT-Ropar 56 Panjab University 57 IIT-Mandi 58 IISER-Mohali 70 Punjab Agri University 81 for the 10th year in a row in the engineering category. In the universities category, IISc-Bengaluru has bagged the first rank for the seventh year in a row, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University at the second position. BITSPilani entered the top-10 list this year, up from 19 in 2024. Among colleges, Delhi University’s Hindu College has continued on page 8 Baupur (Sultanpur Lodhi), Sept4 AAP national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday visited flood-hit areas of Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala. Kejriwal said, “Maximum relief will be provided to the flood victims and no one will be left without assistance.” Terming the 2025 Punjab floods the state’s biggest in the past 37 years, Kejriwal said, “The Centre, which is assisting earthquake victims in Afghanistan, must step in with aid as Punjab is our own.” He highlighted the resilient spirit of Punjab, saying Punjabis had risen to the occasion and were actively helping those affected by the floods. A couple of days ago, former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had visited Sultanpur Lodhi to take stock of the flood situation. Kejriwal said as many as 1,400 villages and three lakh people had been affected by the floods. He said crops on 4.5 lakh hectares had suf- AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and MP Balbir Singh Seechewal visit a flood-affected area of Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala. MALKIAT SINGH CITES AFGHANISTAN QUAKE ASSISTANCE We just saw the Centre extending help to quake victims in Afghanistan…Punjab is our own. I hope the Centre extends help to Punjabis as well. Arvind Kejriwal, AAP CHIEF ❝ fered extensive damage. He said senior officers had been appointed in each village to ensure that the needy received immediate help. Speaking to the media, Kejriwal said, “We just saw the Centre extending help to earthquake victims in Afghanistan, which is a very good thing. Everyone across the world must be helped during difficult times. continued on page 8 New Delhi, September 4 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hailed the GST 2.0 reforms as a “double dose of support” for the economy, saying the changes were designed to bolster India’s progress in the 21st century. His remarks came a day after the GST Council approved a significant overhaul of the tax regime. During an interaction with National Teacher awardees, PM Modi said these reforms represented five key improvements or “panch ratna” (five gems) for the Indian economy. He noted that the GST system had been further simplified, with only two-slab tax rates of 5 per cent and 18 per cent set to take effect from the first day of Navratri (September 22). He said without timely updates, the country could not secure its rightful place in the global landscape. “In my Independence Day speech this year, I stressed the importance of next-generation reforms to make India Describing the reduction in GST rates as the “biggest reform” since Independence, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday asked the industry to pass on the full benefit to consumers. He said the GST reforms would boost demand in almost all sectors and support the economic growth of the country. self-reliant. I also promised the people a ‘double blast’ of happiness before Diwali and Chhath Puja,” he said. The PM said during the previous Congress regime, even basic household items were heavily taxed, while the current government had worked to address these issues for the benefit of the common man. He said the updated GST structure would improve quality of life, boost consumption and strengthen economic growth. The reduced tax rates, he said, would help poor families, continued on page 8 edit: a leaner gst with any other armed group ■ The groups won’t undertake any offensive operation against security forces or public ■ The security forces won’t launch operations against the KNO & UPF as long as they abide by the pact including review of the SoO agreement, they said. The parties agreed upon the need for a negotiated solution to bring lasting peace and stability to Manipur. A statement issued by the MHA said, “In a significant decision, the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) on Thursday decided to reopen the National Highway2 for the free movement of commuters and essential goods. The decision came after a series of meetings between officials of the MHA continued on page 8 Interimbaildeniedto Shabir in terror case NEW DELHI: The SC has refused to grant interim bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmed Shah in a terror funding case even as it issued notice to the National Investigation Agency on his petition challenging the Delhi HC order denying him bail. INSIDE B’luru-boundAIflight calledoffafterbirdhit VIJAYAWADA: A Bengalurubound Air India Express flight was cancelled on Thursday after an eagle hit the aircraft’s nose while taxiing on the runway for takeoff, an airline official said, adding alternate arrangements were made for 90 passengers on board. — PTI Day after bail, Arora held in another case JALANDHAR: A day after AAP Jalandhar Central MLA Raman Arora got bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a corruption case, he was arrested in another case lodged against him at the Rama Mandi police station here. INSIDE Floodwaters devour Radcliffe Line, border fencing in Ferozepur SC puts Centre, states on Anirudh Gupta Barbed fencing is barely visible at the International Border in Ferozepur as floodwaters submerge the border pillars marking the Radcliffe Line. Ferozepur, September 4 The Sutlej floodwaters have submerged man-made markings, such as border pillars and barbed wire fencing along the Zero Line that divides India and Pakistan in the Ferozepur sector, completely transforming the landscape. The river waters have also inundated the joint IndiaPakistan checkpost at Hussainiwala, because of which Retreat ceremony cancelled at Hussainiwala the Beating the Retreat ceremony has also been indefinitely cancelled. Even the road leading to the checkpost has been severely damaged at various sources, BSF officials have told The Tribune. The submergence of the border fencing has forced the force to deploy its water wing, which is equipped with motorboats and surveil- lance drones. “The sheer volume of water has transformed the landscape,” a BSF official said. The BSF has been able to thwart several attempts by cross-border drug smugglers to take advantage of the flood situation and has seized a huge quantity of heroin in the last 10 days, sources said. The BSF also captured a per- Today’s issue is of 18 pages, including four-page Delhi Tribune. c m y b son belonging to Hazarasingh Wala who was trying to swim across to Pakistan near the Pachharian outpost. BSF men are reaching out to the affected people in this hour of distress despite their own border outposts being inundated. A BSF official said the troops were not only maintaining vigil but had also launched extensive rescue operations in flood-hit border villages. continued on page 8 notice over floating logs Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 4 Taking note of videos of timber logs floating in floodwaters, the Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to the Centre, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand and others over “illegal felling of trees” in the Himalayan region. “We have seen unprecedented landslides and floods in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. From media reports, it has also been noticed that in the floods, a large number of wooden logs were flowing along. Prima facie, it appears that there has been illegal felling of trees, which has been going on…,” a Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai continued on page 8 edit: tree slaughter