05082026-TTB-01.qxd 8/4/2026 PAK INVITES ARAGHCHI FOR TALKS WORLD /thetribunechd 11:53 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 215 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HARYANA wednesday | 5 august 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com SC asks RBI to devise SOP for muleIssuesdirectionstocurbrisingscams accounts, frauds DIGITAL ARREST MID-AIR ORDEAL Satya Prakash Tribune News Service At least 17 persons, including four crew members, suffered injuries when an Air India flight from Phuket to New Delhi faced turbulence and the aircraft suddenly lost 300 feet in altitude on Tuesday morning. The aircraft with 137 passengers and eight crew later landed safely at the Delhi airport. The DGCA is probing the incident. ANI BACK PAGE No third-party cover, no fuel: SC moots pilot plan Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 4 Noting that nearly 56 per cent of vehicles on Indian roads lacked a valid insurance, the Supreme Court on Tuesday proposed linking fuel supply with a valid vehicle insurance as part of a pilot project to stop uninsured vehicles from plying. “It is shocking to learn that nearly 56 per cent of vehicles (16.54 crore of 30.48 crore vehicles) plying on Indian roads remain uninsured… The consequent effect is that the statutory safeguard of victim compensation is often delayed, if B’DESH PM INVITED TO BRICS MEET BACK PAGE not defeated,” a Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra said. The number of road accidents stood at 4,87,705 in 2024; 4,80,583 in 2023; and 4,61,312 in 2022, it said, pointing out the magnitude of the problem. The Bench flagged the lack of compliance of provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, requiring all vehicles to have a valid insurance policy covering third parties. The top court directed the Centre to evolve a pilot project by which fuel can be refused at petrol stations to vehicles not having a valid insurance cover. continued on page 9 New Delhi, August 4 The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) for banks to deal with bank accounts linked to cyber frauds, including mule accounts, to help curb digital arrest scams. While issuing a series of directions to strengthen the prevention, investigation and redressal mechanisms relating to the menace, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked the RBI to formally adopt and circulate, within four weeks, an SOP prescribing the action to be taken by banks for placing temporary debit holds on Six NEET candidates move SC over OMR sheet‘discrepancies’ NEW DELHI: Six NEET-UG candidates approached the Supreme Court on Tuesday alleging discrepancies between the answers they had marked in their OMR sheets during the examination and the copies of those sheets made available by the National Testing Agency. The plea was mentioned before CJI Surya Kant, seeking an early hearing before the commencement of the counselling process. — TNS accounts linked to cyberenabled financial fraud. The SOP must incorporate a grievance redressal mechanism, a money restoration module and measures to raise public awareness about these mechanisms, said the Bench, which had earlier asked the Centre to consider formally defining digital arrest in criminal law and treat it as a standalone offence attracting stringent punishment. Digital arrest is a growing form of cybercrime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officers or court officials to intimidate victims through audio and video calls. They virtually hold the victims hostage and pressure them to transfer money. The Bench, which also included Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana, directed all states, union territories and law enforcement agencies to ensure the expeditious adoption and operationalisation of the grievance redressal and money restoration modules developed for victims of such frauds. Hearing a suo motu PIL titled “In Re: Victims of Digital Arrest Related to Forged Documents”, the top court asked an InterDepartmental Committee (IDC) constituted by the Centre to examine a framework for shared liability and victim compensation in such cases. The Bench said, “The mechanismalreadyputinplacerequires wider adoption, faster disposal and continued follow-up.” continued on page 9 Pb Assembly passes resolution against Centre’s E20 fuel policy Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 4 The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution opposing the Centre’s nationwide E20 petrol policy. The House urged the Union Government to suspend the mandatory rollout for vehicles not originally designed or certified for the higher ethanol blend until concerns over compatibility, consumer protection and state-specific impacts were addressed. The resolution, tabled by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema during the ongoing monsoon session, coincided with the Aam Aadmi Party’s protest in Delhi over the issue. While tabling the resolution, Cheema said consumers should be given the option to choose between Punjab mulls moving SC against HC order on clearing DA arrears Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 4 A day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed Punjab to clear pending dearness allowance (DA) dues of its 7.5 lakh employees and pensioners, the Aam Aadmi Party government on Tuesday said its legal team was exploring remedies, including filing an appeal c m y b Direction expected to cost govt ~20,000 cr before the Supreme Court. At the same time, the government said it was committed to paying all “constitutionally and legally valid” dues. The High Court order, if implemented, will cost the state exchequer Rs 20,000 crore. Addressing mediapersons, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said “certain constitutional benchmarks and judicial precedents appeared to have been overlooked in the court order”. “The government is surprised by the order as the state is already following a High Court-approved liquidation plan to clear dues amounting to Rs 14,191 crore,” he said. continued on page 9 AAP SIT-IN AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, along with party leaders Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia, protests with lakhs of signed public petitions after their march against E20 petrol was halted by the police en route to the PM’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday. MANAS RANJAN BHUI ethanol-free petrol and E20 petrol. “Owners of vehicles not designed to run on E20 fuel should not be compelled to buy it. Vehicle owners complain that repairing vehicles damaged by blended petrol costs anything between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000. There is little doubt that the fuel rollout has been advanced from 2030 to 2026 under pressure from global ethanol-producing conglomerates. The states should continued on page 9 Over 20L Pb voters dropped from draft rolls in SIR 1st phase CHANDIGARH: Over 20 lakh voters — more than 9 per cent of the state electorate — have been left out of the draft electoral rolls to be published on August 13 under the special intensive revision exercise in the state. According to Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra, 20.66 lakh voters have been categorised as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate under the first phase of the exercise. INSIDE STALIN JR HELD OVER REMARK ON ACTOR Former Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin was arrested for alleged doublemeaning remark alluding to actor Trisha, but released following bail. BACK PAGE