18082026-TTB-01.qxd 8/18/2026 ‘BOLD FIRST STEP’: TRUMP HAILS MECCA PACT WORLD /thetribunechd 12:07 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 227 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI tuesday | 18 august 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Manpreet, Smriti, Raje, Madhav GMADA to pay Gujarat firm get key positions in Team Nabin ~191 cr for raising ~15,000 cr BJP names minister Goyal as treasurer, drops IT cell head Amit Malviya Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 17 The BJP on Monday unveiled a new team of office-bearers, inducting fresh talent while retaining experienced leaders and ensuring representation in the organisation to cadres from across geographical regions and social groups. Party national president Nitin Nabin expanded the top rung organisational bracket from the current 29 to 38 officebearers, giving 10 positions — 26.31 per cent — to women as against 24.13 per cent (seven of 29) in the outgoing team. The BJP will now have 13 vicepresidents (six of them women), nine general secretaries (one woman) and 16 national secretaries (three women) as against 11 vice-presidents, seven general secretaries and 11 secretaries in the previous organisation. Prominent inclusions among BJP vice-presidents are former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat, former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, RSS veteran Ram Madhav, former Minister of State Bharti Pawar from Maharashtra and Kolkata-based oncologist Madhuchandra Kar. Nabin has retained former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje as BJP national vice-president alongside MPs D Puran- 18 MPs, 10 WOMEN IN REJIGGED BJP Former AAP strategist Pathak tapped ahead of Punjab election Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service Manpreet Singh Badal NATIONAL VP Smriti Irani NATIONAL GEN SECY Vasundhara Raje NATIONAL VP Sanjay Bhatia NATIONAL GEN SECY Ram Madhav NATIONAL VP Satish Poonia NATIONAL GEN SECY UP LEADS AMONG POLL-BOUND STATES Among poll-bound states, UP has got the maximum representation of eight leaders, followed by Uttarakhand (4) and Punjab (2). The team has no representation from Manipur and Goa. THREE FORMER CMs INCLUDED ■ Representation from 23 SHUTTLER AYUSH STUNS WORLD NO 1 SHI SPORT states, focus on N-E (Tripura, Nagaland, Assam represented; none from strife-torn Manipur) ■ 4 ST, 3 SC leaders; represen- tation to all faiths (one Sikh, 2 Christians, one Muslim, one Jain, one Parsi member) ■ Three ex-CMs included — Raje, Tirath Rawat, Biplab Deb deshwari and Baijayant Panda, former MP Rekha Verma and former Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor. The BJP national general secretary list saw a strong comeback by former Union Minister Smriti Irani, who was in the cold since her 2024 Lok Sabha poll loss to Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma in Amethi. Former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb, BJP’s Punjab Continued on page 9 New Delhi, August 17 Four months after he and other former Aam Aadmi Party MPs joined the BJP , Sandeep Pathak today found a place in the new team of BJP national president Nitin Nabin. Pathak has been named one of the 16 BJP national secretaries and is the only leader among recent defectors to be assigned a key organisational role in the party. Sources say BJP will rely on Pathak for its Punjab election strategy. The state goes to polls next year and Pathak, a former longtime aide of Arvind Kejriwal, is widely credited with scripting AAP’s 2022 Punjab landslide, in which the party won 92 of the 117 Assembly seats. A Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, Pathak is already learnt to be working on poll arithmetic for the BJP in the state. He is known to have close ties with a section of AAP MLAs and is expected to play a significant behindthe-scenes role in shaping the party’s strategy. It remains to be seen if Continued on page 8 THE TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE Ruchika M Khanna & Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 17 The once cash-rich Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has hired a Gujarat-based merchant banker to raise Rs 15,000 crore, which will be used not only for acquiring 5,000 acres of land but also depositing the funds thus raised with the Department of Finance. Once the money is raised, the merchant banker, Tipsons Consultancy Services Private Limited, will be paid an arranger fee of Rs 191.16 crore, an amount that is unprecedented in Punjab’s history. The money will be raised through bonds and bank loans, depending on whichever option is the 5,000 ACRES & UNPRECEDENTED ARRANGER FEE ■ GMADA to acquire land in ■ Of this, ~6,241.82 cr has been Aerotropolis project, Eco City 3 and Sectors 87, 101, 103 ■ Additional ~15,000-cr liability could mean annual interest burden of around ~1,200 cr ■ GMADA has already raised term loans & overdraft limit of ~7,653.23 cr from banks utilised at a weighted average interest rate of 7.14% ■ GMADA will pay unprecedented arranger fee of ~191.16 cr to Tipsons Consultancy cheapest. The proposal was approved following discussions at the development authority’s executive committee meeting held here Manikant Mishra New Delhi, August 17 After 24 days of student protests over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations in Ranchi, the Jharkhand Government on Monday night announced the cancellation of all examinations and recruitment process conducted by private agency TDPL. Chief Minister Hemant NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ayodhya Ram Temple to complete its investigation expeditiously and take it to a logical conclusion. A Bench directed the SIT to file a status report in a sealed cover on the progress made in the investigation. INSIDE Twisha case: CBI charges husband, former MP judge this afternoon under the chairmanship of Punjab Chief Secretary and GMADA Chairperson KAP Sinha. continued on page 8 Jharkhand scraps exams conducted by pvt agency, protesters seek CBI probe Tribune News Service Speed up Ram Temple donation probe, SC tells SIT Govt announces exam reforms panel Soren took the decision after a prolonged meeting with protesting students, saying the government had decided to scrap “everything” linked to TDPL after considering all aspects of the controversy. The decision covers examinations conducted by the TDPL, results declared, candidates selected or appearing in the examinations and other activities undertaken by the agency. The JSSC-CGL examination, which had been at the centre of the students’ protest, will also be cancelled. The announcement triggered celebrations among sections of JPSC and JSSC aspirants who had been protesting Continued on page 8 NEW DELHI: The CBI has filed a chargesheet against Samarth Singh and MP exjudge Giribala Singh, the husband and mother-in-law, respectively, of former actor and model Twisha Sharma, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances at her marital home in Bhopal on May 12. — TNS Two more AI pilots fail drug test after Phuket flight fiasco NEW DELHI: Two more Air India pilots have tested “non-negative” in preliminary drug screening, widening scrutiny of the airline’s cockpit crew after the Phuket-Delhi flight incident in which its pilot-incommand tested positive for drugs. The two pilots have been de-rostered, while their samples have been sent for confirmatory testing. BACK PAGE Cash-strapped Himachal ENDURING TRADITION to approach Centre for trimming IAS, IPS, IFS cadre India-US ties in focus as Modi all set toattendMiamiG20SummitinDec Pratibha Chauhan Ujwal Jalali Tribune News Service THE TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE CUTTING EXTRA COST Shimla, August 17 CADRE APPROVED BEING SOUGHT To cut down its hefty expendi- IAS 153 130 ture on the bureaucracy, the IFS 118 83 cash-strapped Himachal Pradesh Government is plan- IPS 96 Not specified ning to approach the Centre for a reduction in the sanc~200 CRORE ANNUAL tioned strength of IAS, IPS BURDEN, CLAIMS CM and Indian Forest Service CM Sukhvinder Sukhu said (IFS) officers in the state. maintaining the large cadre Though successive governhad been costing the state ments have in the past about ~200 crore annually. flagged the “unnecessary Sukhu said Himachal did not burden” of the oversized need such a large bureaucrabureaucracy on the excheq- cy, but wanted officers “comuer, Chief Minister Sukhvin- mitted to implementing welder Singh Sukhu today said fare schemes with sincerity”. Himachal would formally move a proposal to the Centre for trimming delayed,” he said. the strength of all Burdened with a three All India Serdebt of over Rs 1 vices. He said lakh crore, maintaining the Himachal is explorlarge cadre cost ing ways to bring the state about Rs down expenditure. 200 crore annually. Nearly two dozen “Himachal will IAS officers and seek a reduction of more than a dozen 23 IAS posts, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu each from the IPS bringing the sancand the IFS are curtioned strength down from rently on central deputation. 153 to 130. Though I firmly A formal proposal to cut the believe it should be further posts is likely to be sent to the reduced to around 100-110, Centre by the Himachal we are seeking a cut of 23 Department of Personnel so owing to resentment among that the expenditure on IAS officers,” he said. salaries, support staff, official Similarly, the IFS strength vehicles, accommodation is proposed to be reduced by and other perks enjoyed by 35 posts, from 118 to 83. He these officers can be saved. said the IPS cadre that cur- The state is likely to cite facrently comprised 96 posts tors such as top-heavy Forest also needed to be downsized. Departments, which faces a Outlining the proposal, staff shortage at the lower Sukhu said Himachal did not level, hampering effective need such a large bureaucracy, management. but wanted officers “commit“The move is aimed at ted to implementing welfare ensuring better governance schemes with sincerity”. “The within the state’s available talent of several officers is resources,” said a senior offigoing waste as some have little cial. On average, more than or no work. We are now issuing Rs 50 lakh was annually NOCs and relieving officers spent on each officer, an instantly compared to the past amount that could be saved when approvals for central by trimming the cadre deputation were usually strength, the official said. Tribune News Service Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth being conferred the rank of Honorary General of the Nepal Army by President Ramchandra Paudel at a ceremony in Kathmandu on Monday. This is part of a time-honoured military tradition under which the two countries reciprocally confer the honorary rank on the chiefs of each other’s armies. ANI NTA removes 50 staffers, Centre orders exam audit NEW DELHI: A day after the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced to reconduct the UGC-NET exams for English, sociology, and commerce owing to errors in the question papers, the testing agency removed more than 50 of its staff members. In a meeting with the Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Director General of NTA, on Monday, Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi directed that the testing agency should conduct a thorough audit of all exam processes and submit a report on corrective action taken in a month. The minister was apprised that the testing agency has advertised for 10 new professional leadership positions, including chief technology officer, chief finance officer, chief information security officer, general manager, test security, research and development and psychometrics. BACK PAGE New Delhi, August 17 Amid strains in the India-US relations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to Miami in December to participate in the G20 Summit, with a government document revealing that preparations for his proposed visit are under way. The document, accessed by The Tribune, specifically refers to the proposed “visit of the Prime Minister” and the “accompanying official delegation” and lays down arrangements for their trans- Narendra Modi portation during the trip, suggesting that logistical planning for Modi’s participation has already begun. The proposed visit would come amid a difficult phase in the India-US relations, with trade and tariffs, India’s continued purchase of Russian oil and Washington’s growing engagement with Pakistan emerging as key irritants. The US has been pressing India over its purchases of Russian oil while the US Senate recently passed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia Act, which seeks to penalise major buyers of Russian energy (India and China) and gives President Donald Trump powers to impose heavy tariffs on them. The trade relationship has also come under strain, with the two sides engaged in negotiations over tariffs and market access despite their broader strategic partnership. India and the US had agreed on a framework for an interim Continued on page 8 Jind family shells out ~15Lto send SC defers HC hearing son abroad,~10Ltobringbodyhome in Rahul’s assets case Deepender Deswal Tribune News Service Hisar, August 17 A 22-year-old youth from Chandpur village in Jind district, Nihal Singh, who had gone to Europe on a study visa reportedly drowned in the Nistru river in Moldova on July 31. The youth had gone to Moldova for study after completing his schooling. The family had spent about Rs 15 lakh for the purpose. The youth’s tragic death brought immense misery to the family, costing them an additional Rs 10 lakh just to bring the body back. Nihal was cremated yesterday. The village sarpanch, Rajesh Narwal, told The Tribune that Nihal had gone to Europe on a study visa around seven months ago. He said Nihal had gone out with friends on a weekend trip when the boat they were travelling in sank. He drowned in the incident. He was pursuing a hotel Nihal drowned in a Moldova river on July 31 Nihal Singh of Chandpur village with his mother Sunita Devi. FILE management course in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, and used to work part time as a delivery boy at a hotel to support himself. His family had pinned hopes on him as his father, Krishan Kumar, died of a heart attack seven years ago. His mother, Sunita Devi, raised him. The family runs a small grocery shop. Today’s issue is of 16 pages, including four-page Delhi Tribune. c m y b It took 17 days for his body to be brought back to the village. The family and others arranged Rs 10 lakh to bring the body back from Moldova. According to the victim’s cousin, Praveen Kumar, the family had spent around Rs 15 lakh to send Nihal abroad and had borrowed money from relatives and acquaintances. Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 17 In a relief to Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Allahabad High Court to defer proceedings on a BJP worker’s petition accusing the Congress leader of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also ordered the CBI, ED or any other agency not to submit any report to the high court on BJP worker S Vignesh Shishir’s petition. Issuing notice to Shishir and the central agencies on Rahul’s petitions, the Bench said: “Meanwhile, no report shall be submitted by the CBI or the ED or any other authority to the high court pursuant to the impugned orders. The high court shall defer the next date of hearing till further orders”. The Bench — which also Wonders why Cong leader not heard included Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana — wondered why the high court passed the impugned orders without giving Rahul an opportunity to be heard. “Suppose somebody commits murders, etc., the police do not need permission. But what appears to us is, subject to the assistance provided to us from both sides, if courts want to issue a direction, they are expected to follow the principles of natural justice,” CJI Kant noted. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the CBI, said principles of natural justice did not apply at the pre-FIR stage. The Bench, however, said if the CBI had knowledge of any disproportionate assets belonging to any individual, it could proceed on its own and that it did not require court orders.