25092024-TTC-01.qxd 9/25/2024 12:43 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 8 NO. 266 | 18 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 ISRAEL KILLS HEZBOLLAH COMMANDER IN AIRSTRIKE ON BEIRUT WORLD /thetribunechd EXPLAIN STEPS TAKEN TO CURB POLLUTION: SC TO PANEL NATION SENSEX BREACHES 85K MARK, NIFTY HITS RECORD 26K BUSINESS wednesday | 25 september 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com HC restrains Sukhu govt from using university land for tourism village Legal Correspondent Dialogue the key: Modi in third meet with Zelenskyy since June Says India open to facilitating resolution of Russia-Ukraine war New Delhi, September 24 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, reiterated India’s consistent approach on the ongoing RussiaUkraine conflict for a “peaceful resolution through diplomacy and dialogue”. Modi-Zelenskyy met on the sidelines of the UN Summit of the Future, in New York, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) posted details of the meeting on its website on Tuesday morning (IST). This was the third meeting between the two leaders since June this year. The MEA said: “Prime Minister reiterated India’s clear, consistent and constructive approach in favour of a peaceful resolution of the conflict through diplomacy and dialogue as well as engagement between all stakeholders”. Modi, who was on a threeday visit to the US (September 21-23), while speaking at the summit in the UN echoed similar words. “Success of humanity lies in our collective strength and not the battlefield,” he had said. To Zelenskyy, Modi assured HC upholds Guv’s nod to prosecute K’taka CM Bengaluru, September 24 The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld Governor Thaawarchand’s approval for investigation against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a site allotment case. In his judgment, Justice M Nagaprasanna said the order of sanction for prosecution did not suffer from non-application of mind by the Governor. The Chief Minister had challenged the sanction granted by the Governor for an investigation against him in the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in a prime locality. The Governor on August 16 gave his nod under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, for the commission of the alleged Total fraud: SC junks Punjab’s appeal on NRI quota expansion MBBS ADMISSIONSSays benefit can’t be given to distant kin of NRIs Tribune News Service Shimla, September 24 The HP High Court today restrained the state authorities from transferring 112 hectares belonging to Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agriculture University, Palampur, to the Tourism Department for setting up a tourism village. While passing the interim order, a Division Bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma directed the Chief Secretary, Secretaries of Tourism and Agriculture Departments, Kangra DC and the Registrar of the university to file replies by October 17. The court passed the order on a PIL filed by the HP Agriculture Teachers’ Association, contending that the transfer of the university land to the department would adversely affect the interests of agricultural education and farmers. The association and locals had submitted representations to the Governor and the CM on August 29. It was further contended that seven former VCs had also requested the state not to transfer the land for the project as it would impact teaching and research. Satya Prakash Tribune News Service PM Modi with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York. PTI that India remained open to provide all support within its means to facilitate a lasting and peaceful resolution of the conflict. “The situation in Ukraine as well as the way forward on pursuing a path to peace also figured prominently in their discussions,” the MEA said. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had given details of the way forward during his media interaction in New York on September 21. Asked if India had a peace proposal related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Misri had said: “We are involved in a set of ongoing conversations with interlocutors on all sides.” It is obvious, people see value in India’s engagement in these conversations and we are able to talk to multiple interlocutors. “There is still quite a bit of work that remains to be done… but at the moment, these are very continued on page 10 New Delhi, September 24 The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the Punjab Government’s petition against a high court verdict quashing its decision to expand the definition of NRI quota for admissions in undergraduate medical courses. “It is a complete fraud and a money-spinning tactic… This fraud must come to an end now,” a Bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said. Through a notification issued on August 20, the Punjab Government had widened the definition of an NRI candidate to include distant relatives such as uncles, aunts, grandparents and cousins of NRIs for 15 per cent quota for admission to MBBS/BDS courses. On September 10, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the notification, saying it opened the door for a potential misuse, allowing individuals who didn’t fall within the original intent of the policy to take advantage of NRI seats by bypassing more deserving candidates. “Let us put a lid on this. J&K PH-II TODAY, OMAR’S FATE TO BE SEALED Ahead of the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, security personnel stand guard outside a pink polling station near the Dal Lake in Srinagar. PTI 26 SEATS KEY CANDIDATES going to polls in second phase in J&K on Wednesday ■ OMAR ABDULLAH, NC leader, 6 DISTS COVERED president, from Nowshera ■ SARJAN AHMAD WAGAY, ■ TARIQ HAMID KARRA, JKPCC three in Valley (Srinagar, Ganderbal & Budgam) and as many in Jammu division (Rajouri, Poonch & Reasi) jailed separatist leader, from Beerwah & Ganderbal president, from Central Shalteng ■ ALTAF BUKHARI, Apni Party ■ RAVINDER RAINA, BJP J&K chief, from Channapora from Ganderbal & Budgam 2.5 MILLION VOTERS TO DECIDE FATE OF 239 CANDIDATES Chandigarh, September 24 Wary of anti-incumbency, the ruling BJP has put in place a new strategy ahead of the high-stakes October 5 Assembly poll in Haryana. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rendezvous with booth-level workers through the ‘NaMo App’ to a bigger role for the parent organisation — the RSS — to activating ‘panna pramukhs’, the saffron party is pulling out all the stops to counter the challenge. The primary objective of the strategy, being implemented over the next 10 days, is to consolidate the cadre vote in favour of party candidates. “With a well-knit organisational setup right up ‘ORGANISATIONAL SETUP ROBUST’ ❝ While the BJP has a well-knit to the organisational structure right up grassroots level, Congress lacks such a setup. Our party cadre’s commitment is our USP. Mohan Lal Badoli, STATE BJP CHIEF to the booth level, cadre votes will play a crucial role in the party candidates’ victory,” a party source said. Though it’s likely to be a two-way race between the BJP and Congress, there are at least 20 seats where candidates belonging to non-BJP and non-Congress parties, as also Independents may play a deciding role. In the event of multi-cornered contests, the cadre vote would be a This NRI business is nothing but a fraud. This must come to an end now... See the students who got three times higher (marks) and lost out. We can’t lend our authority to something which is blatantly illegal,” the Bench said, dismissing petitions filed by the Punjab Government and others. Holding that the high court’s decision was “absolutely right”, the apex court pointed out that most of the applicants under the widened NRI category were ■ On Aug 20, Punjab widened definition of NRI candidate to include distant kin of NRIs for 15% MBBS seat quota ■ HC quashed the move, saying it opened the door for its potential misuse from India. After hearing senior advocate Shadan Farasat for petitioners and senior advocates Abhimanyu Bhandari and DS Patwalia, representing other parties, the Bench said, “We must stop this NRI quota business now! This is a complete fraud and this is what we are doing to our education system. Judges know what they are dealing with. The high court has dealt with the case threadbare,” the Bench said. “Look at the deleterious consequences... the candi- dates who have three times higher marks (in NEET-UG) will lose seat,” the Bench said. “You (Punjab Government) say the nearest relation of an NRI will also be considered. A ward is also anyone’s ward. What is this? This is just a money-spinning tactic of the state,” said the Bench, which included Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra. Noting that distant relatives of a “mama, tai, taya” settled abroad will get admissions ahead of meritorious candidates under the widened definition of NRI, the Bench said it could not be allowed. On behalf of the petitioners, Farasat sought to defend the August 20 notification, saying other states, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh, followed somewhat similar definitions of NRI. But the Bench didn’t agree with his submissions. Of the total NEET-UG seats, 85 per cent are filled by the states in colleges under their jurisdiction, the counsel told the Bench. The Bench said now the Union Government would have to take note of this as well. Govt opens talks with farmers; MSP, crop insurance on table game-changer for the party, the sources asserted. In a bid to mobilise grassroots workers, Modi will interact with them on September 26 through the ‘NaMo App’ under the party’s ‘mera booth sabse mazboot’ programme. The saffron party has also decided to rope in RSS volunteers, who have a sizeable presence on the ground, to campaign for the party in ‘coordination’ with BJP office-bearers. In the wake of BJP’s belowpar showing in the Lok Sabha elections, in which it conceded five of the 10 seats to the Congress, the RSS had complained of lack of coordination between the two organisations. The issue was flagged during their coordination meetings last month. As a result, the RSS was able to secure party nominations for a sizeable number of candidates tracing their roots to the Sangh. These included a majority of the 40 new faces fielded by the BJP to beat anti-incumbency. In fact, the RSS volunteers are reportedly managing the campaign of certain BJP candidates, the continued on page 10 New Delhi, September 24 The BJP-led NDA government on Tuesday opened a dialogue with farmer leaders, pledging to make “honest attempts” to resolve their outstanding concerns, including the minimum support price (MSP) regime. At least 50 representatives of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Apolitical) from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra met Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and recommended a solution to the controversial issue of statutory backing to the MSP . Farmers of Punjab and Haryana have been holding a sit-in at the Shambhu border for over 200 days, demanding legal backing for the MSP . After the meeting, Chouhan said, “I have decided to meet Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chouhan with farm leaders in New Delhi. farmers and union representatives from across the country every Tuesday to hear their problems, which cannot be understood sitting in the office. We need to talk to farmers to understand their concerns. We promise to make honest attempts to resolve their issues.” In Tuesday’s meeting, the union leaders suggested the inclusion of the MSP under the Essential Commodities Act 1955, which empowers the Centre to declare minimum reserve price at which essential commodities can be purchased or sold. Section 3 of the Act deals with the Centre’s powers to control the production, supply and distribution of essential continued on page 10 Punjab teachers to train in Finland, but parents, ex-students’ nod must Party pulls out all stops to beat anti-incumbency factor in Haryana Tribune News Service ❝ GOVT HAD CHALLENGED HIGH COURT VERDICT Tribune News Service The Karnataka Governor had granted sanction to investigate CM Siddaramaiah in the alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority in a prime locality. NaMo app, bigger RSS role part ofBJP poll push Pradeep Sharma MONEY-SPINNING TACTIC This is a complete fraud, a money-spinning tactic. And this is what we are doing with our education system... We must stop this NRI quota business now. SC Bench Aditi Tandon SITE ALLOTMENT CASE offences as mentioned in the petitions submitted to him by complainants Pradeep Kumar SP TJ Abraham and , Snehamayi Krishna. On August 19, Siddaramaiah moved the high court challenging the legality of the order. Accusing the NDA government of indulging in vendetta politics, Siddaramaiah rejected the opposition’s demand for his resignation. Alleging conspiracy against him, the CM said he would decide on the next course of action after consulting legal experts. — PTI CCTVs, MASKS, GLOVES MUST: YOGI’S DIRECTIVE TO EATERIES BACK PAGE Tribune News Service Kangana’s pro-farm law remark ruffles Haryana parties CHANDIGARH:The Haryana Congress has latched onto actress Kangana Ranaut’s recent statement about bringing back farm laws, saying the state will respond to it in the upcoming October 5 Assembly poll. During her Mandi tour, Kangana, who is a BJP MP said, , “The three repealed farm laws should be brought back. This could be controversial, but I think the pro-farmer laws should be reinstated. In fact, the farmers themselves should demand it.” INSIDE Today’s issue is of 18 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. c m y b Chandigarh, September 24 In a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at honing teaching and learning skills at the primary school level, the first batch of 72 primary school teachers are set to embark on a three-week training programme at University of Turku, Finland, renowned for primary school teaching techniques. The Education Department has allocated Rs 60 lakh for the programme. The AAP government in Delhi had also undertaken a similar training programme for its teachers in Finland. Apart from new skills, the teachers would also get insight into the latest techniques to brush up learning Education Dept allocates ~60 lakh for programme skills of students in their formative years. The memorandum of understanding between the department and the University of Turku is expected to be signed in the coming days in Delhi. Every year, two-three batches of teachers would be sent to Finland in this regard. So far, about 200 school principals and 100 headmasters have been trained at institutions in Singapore, besides the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. “They were middle, high, and secondary schoolteachers, but the Finland pro- gramme is for primary teachers, where the foundation of students is laid. For a transparent selection process, we are seeking online applications from the desirous teachers,” said Harjot Bains, Punjab Education Minister. Keeping in mind that those trained are going to be resource persons, the age limit for the applicants has been fixed — 43 years for a head teacher, and 48 for centre head teachers and Block Primary Education Officers. Every applicant must have recommendations of 10 parents and 10 former students, and the department would undertake background verification of the recommendations. KM Yadav, Secretary continued on page 10