05022024-TT-01.qxd 04-02-2024 23:10 Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 35 | 12 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 HIMACHAL PRADESH RISHI SUNAK OPENS UP ABOUT BATTLING RACISM WORLD FODDER CHALLENGES PREVIOUS GOVT IGNORED OFFER MUCH FOOD INDIA’S CULTURE, HOLY FOR THOUGHT INFOCUS PLACES: PM BACK PAGE monday | 5 february 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee Government of India H Honoring the skills of Vishwakarma brothers and sisters Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat Collateral-free loan of up to ₹3 lakh under PM Vishwakarma, 18 traditional trades included Scan for more information cbc 22201/13/0250/2324 /thetribunechd GILL SLAMS TON AS INDIA SET TARGET OF 399 IN 2ND TEST SPORT ISI ‘agent’ working at Indian Embassy in Moscow nabbed MEA says aware of arrest, coordinating with probe authorities Animesh Singh PASSED ON DEFENCE, MEA INFO TO PAKISTAN Tribune News Service People push a car on a slippery road leading to Patnitop in J&K following fresh snowfall on Sunday. PTI Heavy snow disrupts air & road traffic in parts of J&K, Himachal Jammu/Shimla, February 4 Normal life was disrupted in most parts of the northern region today as heavy snow affected air and road traffic to Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh while most parts of Punjab and Haryana were lashed by rain. A major landslide brought the traffic to a standstill at Sherbibi in Jammu’s Ramban district on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, though it was partially restored after several hours in the evening. In Kashmir, all flights to and from Srinagar airport were cancelled due to the snow. The J&K Disaster Management Authority has issued an ava- RAIN IN MOST AREAS OF PUNJAB, HARYANA ■ Light to moderate rain occurred in most parts of Punjab and Haryana over the past 24 hours ■ This led to the day temperature remaining below normal at a few places; the night temperature was a few degrees above normal at several places lanche warning for Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Kupwara, Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch and Ramban districts. In Himachal, a fresh spell of snow amid an orange alert has led to the closure of 475 roads. As many as 333 power transformers are yet to be restored. The ManaliLeh highway, which had been restored yesterday, has been closed again for the vehicular traffic following fresh snowfall. In Kinnaur, the district administration has stopped the vehicular movement from 7 pm to 5 am near the landslide-prone Nigulsari, for the safety of the commuters. The precipitation is likely to continue across the continued on page 9 New Delhi, February 4 The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested a person working at the Indian Embassy in Moscow for his alleged involvement in antinational activities with Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. The MEA has said it is aware of the arrest in UP and is working with the investigative authorities in the matter. The UP ATS has alleged Satendra Siwal, who had been working as “India-based Security Assistant” in the Moscow mission since 2021, was ■ Satendra Siwal of UP’s Hapur Russia on leave recently, UP ATS questioned him at field unit in Hapur on January 26 and again on February 3 ■ However, Siwal failed to give satisfactory answers to queries and confessed to his crime, UP ATS said in a statement trapped by ISI handlers who enticed him to part with important confidential information regarding the strategic activities of the Defence and External Affairs Ministries as well as Indian military establishments. Siwal has also been described as MTS (multi-tasking staff) and Security Assistant at the Indian Embassy. continued on page 9 Missing workers’ kin try to enter Baddi unit Solan: Kin of several missing workers on Sunday tried to enter the gutted perfume manufacturing unit, NR Aroma, at Jharmajri in Barotiwala industrial zone of Himachal’s Baddi, in search of their family members. Though the police on Sunday claimed that five workers were missing, kin of at least seven workers gathered outside the factory and sought information about their relatives. INSIDE UCC draft gets approval ‘Sextortion’ racket busted of Uttarakhand Cabinet in Bhiwani; 728 trapped Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 4 The Uttarakhand Cabinet on Sunday approved the muchanticipated Uniform Civil Code draft Bill paving the way for the Himalayan state to become the first in India to enact a common personal law. The draft Bill will be tabled in the state Assembly on Tuesday and passed during the special Assembly session called exclusively to debate the UCC from February 5 to 8. The UCC is the only pending core Lok Sabha poll promise of the BJP which has fulfilled the other two SPECIAL ASSEMBLY SESSION FROM TODAY A special Assembly session begins on Monday to pass the UCC legislation and make it an Act. If the UCC is implemented, BJPruled Uttarakhand will become the first state in the country after Independence to do so. UNIFORM LEGAL MARRIAGEABLE AGE FOR GIRLS & BOYS ON TABLE pledges — Abrogation of Article 370 in J&K and construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Instead of pushing continued on page 9 Tribune News Service Hisar, February 4 An investigation into the alleged Rs 37 lakh “sextortion” from an elderly man in Bhiwani has led the Haryana Police to the busting of a racket wherein the accused would blackmail people by morphing the recording of video calls made through WhatsApp. Bhiwani SP Varun Singla said they had arrested eight persons and recovered 19 mobile phones that were used for the video calls. The accused would call the victims, record the video and transpose the faces of vic- ~3 CRORE EXTORTED ■ Accused would make a What- sApp video call to the victim and show a porn clip being played on another phone when the call was answered ■ The video call was recorded and the victim’s face morphed into the porn clip ■ Morphed videos were then sent to victims with a threat to upload these on social media ■ Then came the extortion calls tims in porn clips to extort money, said the police. The police officer said they had so far found that the continued on page 9 3 years on, Tokyo hockey heroes get PCS, PPS jobs Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 4 Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today handed over appointment letters for the posts of Punjab Civil Services (PCS) and Punjab Police Service (PPS) to 11 players, among them nine hockey stars who won a historic bronze at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The list inludes Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur and shotputter Tejinder Toor. The players who opted for CRICKET ICON HARMAN, TOOR ALSO ON LIST ■ Punjab Police Service (7) Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann with the players in Chandigarh. PPS jobs are Harmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Varun Kumar, Shamsher Singh and Dilpreet Singh (all hockey); Harmanpreet Kaur (cricket) and hockey ■ After Siwal returned from had been working as Security Assistant in Moscow mission since 2021; this was his first overseas stint in 6-yr service ■ Motivated by ‘greed’, he allegedly passed on confidential info on activities of MoD, MEA and Indian military establishments to Pak’s ISI Harmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Varun Kumar, Shamsher Singh and Dilpreet Singh (all hockey); Harmanpreet Kaur (cricket) and Tejinder Toor (shot-put) ■ Punjab Civil Services (4) Rupinder Pal Singh, Simranjit Singh, Hardik Singh and Gurjant Singh (all hockey players) players Rupinder Pal Singh, Simranjit Singh, continued on page 9 c m y b Thirdstafferheld in seven months New Delhi, February 4 The arrest of Satendra Siwal on espionage charges is the third case in seven months of a Ministry of External Affairs staffer being held for links to Pakistani spy agency ISI. The Delhi Police had arrested a driver working with the MEA in November last year for allegedly passing on confidential information to his handlers in Pakistan. During interrogation, the driver said he was honey-trapped over continued on page 9 IN BRIEF Mayoral poll: SC to take up AAP’s petition today NEW DELHI: The SC will take up on Monday an AAP councillor’s plea challenging a HC order refusing to stay the Chandigarh mayoral election result. TNS Arrested BJP legislator booked in another case THANE: Arrested for shooting at a Shiv Sena leader, BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad has been booked in new case under the SC/STAct. PTI
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising four eminent persons as trustees.
The Tribune, the largest selling daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the paper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.
The English edition apart, the 133-year-old Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).