17072024-TTC-01.qxd 7/17/2024 12:44 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 197 | 20 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 REPUBLICAN MEET ENTERS DAY 2 WITH VANCE AS VP CANDIDATE WORLD /thetribunechd ULTRAS BEHIND JAMMU ATTACKS COULD BE PAK EX-ARMY MEN J&K IMF UPGRADES ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR INDIA BUSINESS KWATRA NOMINATED AMBASSADOR TO US BACK PAGE wednesday | 17 july 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com BlowtoPunjabCM, Prez returns Bill on varsity Chancellor Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 16 A Bill seeking to replace the Governor of Punjab with the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of state-run universities has hit the presidential hurdle. The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was returned without assent by the President of India to the Punjab Raj Bhawan last week, it is learnt. Official sources in the Raj Bhawan say they are also yet to hear about two other Bills sent for a presidential assent. In December 2023, the Bill SENT BY RAJ BHAWAN FOR APPROVAL ■ In Dec 2023, The Punjab Uni- versities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was reserved by Guv for consideration of President ■ Passed during special Assembly session in June last year, Bill seeks to replace Guv with CM as Chancellor of 11 staterun universities along with two others — The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023 — was reserved by continued on page 6 NIT grad among 2 held in NEET-UG paper leak Aksheev Thakur Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 16 The CBI on Tuesday arrested two persons, including an NIT-Jamshedpur graduate, for their alleged involvement in stealing and distributing the NEET-UG question paper. Pankaj Kumar, who graduated from the NIT-Jamshed- pur in civil engineering in 2017, is suspected to have stolen the paper from a trunk of the National Testing Agency (NTA) in Hazaribagh. He was arrested from Patna. His accomplice, Rajkumar Singh, alias Raju Singh, who is accused of having distributed the leaked continued on page 6 Capt among 4 soldiers killed in Doda gunfight; Army vows to wipe out terror Ambushed during search op in Desa forest area | Kashmir Tigers claims responsibility Arjun Sharma Jammu, July 16 Four soldiers, including a Captain, were killed in a gunfight with a group of terrorists armed with M4 carbines, AK assault rifles and night vision devices in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir late last night. The deceased were identified as Capt Brijesh Thapa of Darjeeling (West Bengal), Naik D Rajesh of Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh), and Sepoys Bijendra and Ajay Kumar Singh, both of Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan). The attack comes a week after a terrorist ambush on an Army patrol in the remote Machedi forest belt in Kathua district on July 8, which claimed the lives of five soldiers and injured as many. The Army, in a statement, said, “All formations of northern command are committed to eliminate the scourge of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for which relentless operations will continue.” continued on page 6 edit: No let-up in J&K terror OPINION: CaptThapa’s sacrifice shouldn’t go waste 28 SOLDIERS KILLED SINCE APRIL 2023 Army personnel pay respects to the mortal remains of the four martyred soldiers in Jammu on Tuesday. ANI At least 28 soldiers have been killed in terror-related incidents in J&K since April last year. The death of soldiers in action started last year on April 20 when an Army vehicle was ambushed in of Poonch district, killing five personnel. While a search operation was launched in the Kandi area of Rajouri district on May 5, five para-commandos were killed when militants triggered an IED in a dense forest area. Five Army personnel, including two Captains, died during an encounter in Kalakote, Rajouri, on November 22. INSIDE PROUD OF MY SON, SAYS RETIRED COLONEL Capt Brijesh Thapa Sepoy Bijendra J-K PARTIES SLAM DGP Parties in J&K took on DGP RR Swain over his remarks that “regional outfits are collaborating with terror leaders for political gains”. While the PDP sought his dismissal, the National Conference and the People’s Conference condemned the remark. INSIDE Sepoy Ajay Kumar Singh Naik D Rajesh BJPpoliciestoblame:Rahul New Delhi, July 16 Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the soldiers and their families “are bearing the brunt of BJP’s wrong policies”. “Today, our soldiers were c m y b martyred in another terrorist encounter in J&K. Such horrific incidents one after the other are extremely worrying,” Rahul said in a post on X in Hindi. “Our soldiers and continued on page 6 The parents of Capt Brijesh Thapa said they were proud of their son, who was killed while fighting terrorists in J&K. The deceased officer was born on Army Day, which is observed on January 15 in the country. Col Bhuwanesh K Thapa (retd) recalled that his son, a third-generation Army officer, was inspired by him and wanted to join the Army since his childhood. “I feel proud of my son,” the retired Army officer said. “This is an Army operation and there is always a risk,” he said. INSIDE Ahead of Budget, govt calls all-party meet on July 21 Nirmala Sitharaman at the ‘halwa’ ceremony for the Budget. PTI New Delhi, July 16 Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament commencing from July 22, the government has called an all-party meeting on July 21 to discuss the agenda for the session, which will primarily be devoted to the Union Budget. The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry said the meeting would take place at 11 am. The Union Budget will be presented on July 23 — TNS