20092026-TTB-01.qxd 9/20/2026 12:06 AM Page 1 c m y b 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 260 | 22 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI NVIDIA CEO HUANG DISMISSES ‘AI DOOM’ FEARS WORLD /thetribunechd NO PRE-ARREST BAIL FOR EX-MINISTER’S FATHER IN SUICIDE CASE PUNJAB BAJWA’S LENS CAPTURED ARMY CHIEF’S RUSSIA SOUL OF PB’s LITERARY VISIT GIVES FRESH PUSH TO GIANTS SPECTRUM DEFENCE TIES BACK PAGE sunday | 20 september 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Trump signs Russia sanctions law; India faces fresh 100% tariff threat ASIAD QUEST Provision despite Delhi warning US of impact on ties, energy market From pharma to IT, exporters on edge, brace for impact Ujwal Jalali Tribune News Service Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker and kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat lead Indian contingent as flagbearers as the 20th Asian Games kick off in Nagoya, Japan. Mamata’s Rejinagar bypollnomineepulls out, retracts later KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee party’s Rejinagar byelection candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury on Saturday announced his withdrawal from the contest, only to retract his statement within a few hours, and assert he would be in the October 6 poll battle as per the wishes of the supremo. The development came a day after Mamata’s Nandigram bypoll nominee Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her candidature following a meeting with CM Suvendu Adhikari. INSIDE Centre appoints 14 judges to four HCs; 7 for Delhi, 1 J&K NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday notified the appointment of 14 judges to four high courts, including Delhi. According to law ministry notifications, two judges and five additional judges have been appointed to the Delhi High Court while one judge has been appointed to the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh HC. Three judges have been appointed to the Jharkhand HC and three additional judges to the Karnataka HC. BACK PAGE MP fuel stations to stop accepting UPI paymentabove~2K BHOPAL: Fuel pump dealers in Madhya Pradesh have decided to stop accepting UPI payments of more than ~2,000 for petrol and diesel purchases from October 16. MP Petrol Pumps Dealers’ Association president Ajay Singh said: “With 0.4 per cent MDR on UPI transactions, a petrol pump will have to bear a loss of ~17,700 monthly. There are 4,700 fuel stations in MP Our . margin is less so we can’t bear this extra expenditure.” — PTI India, with 503-strong contingent, will look to build on its outing at Hangzhou 2023, where it came fourth with 107 medals — 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze. PTI New Delhi, September 19 President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 into law on Friday, two days after India said it had repeatedly flagged with Washington the potential implications of the legislation for bilateral ties, trade and the international energy market. The law gives Trump expanded statutory powers to impose sanctions, tariffs and other restrictions, potentially exposing countries buying Russian energy to fresh trade pressure. For India, the immediate concern is the legislation’s provisions relating to countries that continue to purchase Russian oil and gas. The measure provides statutory authority for additional tariffs of up to 100 per cent on goods from countries meeting specified conditions related to purchases of Russian energy. The legislation, however, does not automatically impose a 100 per cent tariff on Indian exports. Any such duties would depend on the Trump administration exercising the authority provided under the Ajay Banerjee CM Bhagwant Mann releases the AAP poll pamphlet in the presence of Cabinet ministers, MLAs and party leaders in Ludhiana on Saturday. Tribune News Service TRUMP RENEWS $100K FEE ON H-1B VISAS ■ Trump has extended by a year ■ Indians remain the single $100K fee on employers for getting workers on H-1B visa ■ Trump said the 2025 decision for $1 lakh fee had led to a 92% dip in H-1B registrations largest beneficiary group of the US H-1B visa programme ■ The move has run into a legal challenge; the matter is before 2 federal courts BACK PAGE law and on the conditions specified in the legislation. The enactment comes at a sensitive point in the IndiaUS economic ties, with New Delhi having already warned Washington that measures targeting Russian energy purchase could have consequences for bilateral trade and the wider energy market. India had said on Thursday that the issue had been discussed at senior levels with US interlocutors in recent months and that it had “very clearly articulated” the potential implications for the bilateral relationship as well as the international energy market. New Delhi also made clear that its energy policy would continue to be driven by the need to ensure energy security for its 1.4 billion people. “India remains firmly committed to ensuring energy continued on page 6 New Delhi, September 19 The new US law empowering President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on Indian goods is a concern across sectors — from engineering to energy and from pharma to software. Even a fledgling industry like defence exports, where Indian companies are part of the global supply chain for big players like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, is unsure on how this will play out. The Commerce Ministry’s trade data for merchandise shows the exports to the US were $87 billion in the last fiscal. The exports to the US accounted for 19.78 per cent of all global exports from India. As per the RBI data released yesterday, India’s software exports to the US, classified separately from merchandise exports, were estimated at $120 billion in the current fiscal. A likely impact on Indian exports can be assessed only continued on page 6 Citing over 4-year record, Mann seeks second term; rolls out AAP campaign Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 19 The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday formally launched its campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections from Ludhiana, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann releasing the party’s election pamphlet. Pitching its over four-year record as its biggest electoral asset, Mann urged voters to return the party to power. Addressing the gathering, Mann launched a sharp attack on the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP claiming that voting for , these parties would be detrimental to Punjab’s interests. “If an Akali-BJP alliance is forged in Punjab, it will mean Delhi CM, Kejriwal get IIT-B student dies by suicide, kin allege caste bias roll discrepancy notices Tribune News Service Over 31L electors flagged New Delhi, September 19 in SIR exercise; AAP Delhi Chief Minister Rekha alleges BJP ‘game’ Gupta and former CM Arvind Kejriwal are among more than 31 lakh electors who roll for AC-14 (Shalimar have been issued notices over Bagh), scheduled for publicadiscrepancies in their records tion on November 4, 2026. during the ongoing Special In Kejriwal’s case, his Intensive Revision (SIR) of details could not be linked electoral rolls. with records from the previThe office of the Chief Elec- ous SIR. Similar notices have toral Officer (CEO), Delalso been issued to his hi, has made public the wife Sunita Kejriwal, list of electors issued his parents and son notices, nearly three Pulkit over the “no weeks after the draft mapping” issue. electoral roll was pubAccording to the eleclished on August 31. tion office, the entries Gupta was served a of Kejriwal and his Arvind Kejriwal notice over a discrepfamily members, regisancy in the recorded age gap tered as electors in AC-40 between her and her parents, (New Delhi), were placed in which was shown as being the “no mapping” list on the less than 15 years. The Elec- basis of details furnished in tion Commission (EC) said their enumeration forms. It after verification of her docu- said the forms submitted by ments and other relevant Kejriwal and his family did details, her entry had been not contain sufficient details validated and would be to enable their linkage with continued on page 6 included in the final electoral new delhi, September 19 A 22-year-old student of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay died by suicide in his hostel room after he was allegedly caught using his mobile phone during an examination, the police said on Saturday. Sahil Ravindra Wakode, a native of Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, was found Officials say was caught using ChatGPTin exam hanging from the ceiling fan in his room in Hostel Number 4 on the Powai campus on Friday evening, an official said. Wakode’s mother alleged her son was tortured. “My son was killed, tortured. I want justice,” she told reporters. Wakode was a second-year BTech student in the Energy Science and Engineering department, he said. According to a statement from IITBombay, the student had allegedly uploaded the examination question paper to ChatGPT to seek answers during the exam. The official said ABVP sweeps DUSU poll again; IIM-Jammu pupils get notice Ind’s VP post win stuns rivals for skipping Modi’s b’day event Harsh Yadav Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 19 The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) retained its dominance in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) for the second consecutive year, winning three of the four central panel posts. However, an Independent candidate upset the traditional ABVP-NSUI contest by clinching the vice-president’s post. ABVP’s Yash Dabas was elected president, Riya Chhawdi secretary and Lakshya Raj Singh joint secretary. The results gave ABVP three of the four key central panel posts, replicating the organisation’s strong performance from last year. The biggest surprise of the election came in the vice-presidential contest, where Independent candidate Deepanshu Shokeen emerged victorious with 30,615 votes. He defeated ABVP’s Ishu Maurya, who secured 16,910 continued on page 6 Arjun Sharma Jammu, September 19 Several students at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Jammu who skipped the September 17 lamp-lighting ceremony to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday have been issued show-cause notices and warned of a Rs 500 fine. The notices were issued by the IIM Students Council, directing students to submit written explanations for their absence from the event. IAF veteran Cooke, who tamed three Pak jets, dies at 87 Vijay Mohan Vir Chakra awardee known for daring Kalaikunda aerial combat Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 19 Go beyond the training manual and be innovative. That was the message Flight Lieutenant Alfred Tyrone Cooke, awarded the Vir Chakra during the 1965 India-Pakistan war for taking on three enemy aircraft, left for a younger generation of IAF officers when he presented his medal to his squadron, 50 years after fighting over the skies of Kalaikunda. “You need to know the training books, your capability and the capability of your machine backwards, but you also need to go beyond the books,” he told officers of No. 14 Squadron AVIATION FOLKLORE Intercepting six Sabres over Kalaikunda during the 1965 war, Cooke engaged three in a fierce dogfight, forcing the enemy formation to retreat << Flt Lt Alfred Tyrone Cooke donates his Vir Chakra to Air Vice Marshal SJ Nandokar, then Commodore Commandant, No 14 Squadron, in Ambala in 2015. FILE at Ambala in September 2015. Cooke passed away on September 18 at the age of 87 at Wakode’s death came to light after his hostel mates got no response from his room and alerted the authorities, who then informed the police. The deceased student’s parents arrived in Mumbai from Yavatmal and claimed their son was subjected to institutional harassment and castebased discrimination prior to continued on page 6 Base Hospital in New Delhi, 61 years after he shot down a Pakistani Sabre and engaged another aircraft, forcing an enemy formation attacking Kalaikunda to flee in confu- Today’s issue is of 22 pages, including six-page Spectrum and four page Delhi Tribune. c m y b sion. He was then flying the Hunter. Growing up in Agra during the Second World War, Cooke developed an interest in flying after watching aircraft like Hurricanes, Spitfires and Mustangs operating in the area. Commissioned in December 1961 as part of the 80th Pilots Course, he served for seven years before leaving the Air Force in December 1968 and settling in Australia. He often used to visit India and his old unit, No.14 Squadron, the Bulls. Raised in August 1951 on the Spitfire, the squadron converted to the Hunter in 1959, with continued on page 6 “This is to inform you that you were marked absent from the ‘Deepak Lighting Ceremony’ held on September 17, despite attendance being mandatory. You are hereby required to submit a written explanation stating the reason for your absence,” the notice read. It further stated that exemptions were to be granted only on medical grounds. Students were asked to submit their replies by September 18. IIM Students Council president Akul continued on page 6 Claimsrivalswouldreverse AAP’s welfare measures the return of the three black farm laws, the diversion of Punjab’s water to Haryana and Rajasthan, and the entry of the RSS into the state’s affairs,” he alleged. The Chief Minister further claimed that a BJP government would pave the way for the Centre to take control of Chandigarh and Panjab University. Mann also alleged that drugs would make a comeback in the state and that corruption in government recruitment would return if rival parties formed the next government. He asserted that continued on page 6 HCreliefforHaryana teachers,HSSCcan’t displace appointees Chandigarh, September 19 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has protected serving teachers from displacement following the Haryana Staff Selection Commission’s (HSSC) revised recruitment result. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar held that the commission had gone beyond the limited mandate of an earlier court order and the exercise, carried out without notice or opportunity of hearing to the affected appointees, violated the principles of natural justice. The court also directed that candidates recommended under the revised result be accommodated against available vacancies in their respective subjects, cadres and categories. It had earlier stayed the operation of the revised final result for recruitment to the posts of trained graduate teachers (TGTs) after observing that it had led to adverse civil consequences for around 711 candidates, including 291 serving teachers allegedly ousted without notice. INSIDE STUDENT OUTREACH Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi interacts with Bhupendra Jaj, the father of deceased DU student Arpit Jaj, during the “Chhatron Ki Goonj” event in Indore on Saturday. Arpit lost his life in the Satya Niketan building collapse in Delhi. ANI BACK PAGE