29122024-TTC-01.qxd 29-12-2024 00:35 Page 1 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 8 NO. 360 | 24 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 TRUMP ASKS TOP COURT TO DELAY TIKTOK BAN UNTIL HE TAKES OFFICE WORLD /thetribunechd NGT GIVES FOUR WEEKS FOR STONE CRUSHERS’ VERIFICATION HARYANA LITERARY, CINEMATIC EAM MEETS TRUMP NSA RELEASES TO LOOK AHEAD OF JANUARY 20 FORWARD TO SPECTRUM TAKEOVER BACK PAGE sunday | 29 december 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Goodbye,Manmohan Ex-PM cremated with full state honours | Eldest daughter lights pyre as nation pays last respects Tribune News Service Hospitalise Dallewal or face contempt: SC to Punjab Chief Secy, DGP Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, December 28 Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who helped redefine India’s place in the world, was cremated with full state honours here today in the presence of top dignitaries from the country and abroad. Singh’s eldest daughter Upinder Singh lit his funeral pyre at the Nigambodh Ghat crematorium in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Mauritius Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ramful. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, central ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, and Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were among those present. Draped in the Tricolour, Singh’s body was carried through the national capital on a flower-decked carriage pulled by a ceremonial Army truck. Priests and family members recited religious hymns from the Gurbani while chants of “Satnam Waheguru” filled the air as Singh was cremated according to Sikh rituals. Before Singh’s mortal remains were consigned to flames, the security forces gave a salute of three volleys of small arms and the buglers sounded the “Last Post” as a mark of honour for the former two-term PM, who ruled the country from 2004 to 2014. Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and the continued on page 7 Haryananodto~1-cr aid to kin of martyrs CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Cabinet on Saturday approved the revision of the ex-gratia amount to be given to the families of battle casualties of armed forces and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel. The amount has been raised from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore. This decision follows the announcement made by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini in his Budget speech. INSIDE 29 drug samples fail quality test in HP SOLAN: The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation declared 29 drug samples, including three injections, manufactured by 22 firms in Himachal Pradesh as substandard on Friday. The 29 drugs figure among 113 samples that had failed to conform to quality parameters nationally and were listed in the monthly alert issued by the regulator. INSIDE President Droupadi Murmu pays tributes to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday. PTI No separate cremation site insult to 1st Sikh PM: Cong Tribune News Service Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi lends a shoulder to the mortal remains of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. PTI Ghat,” Rahul wrote on X. Earlier, Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, wrote to Prime Minister Modi urging him to allocate a site for the cremation of Manmohan Singh “that would be a sacrosanct venue for a memorial to the great son of India”. On Friday night, the Home Ministry announced allocating a site for Manmohan Singh’s continued on page 7 MAHAPANCHAYAT ON JANUARY 4 The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have decided to convene a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ on January 4 at Khanauri border morcha on the demand of farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal that he wants to meet the farmers of the country. Kaka Singh Kotra, leader of SKM (Non-political), said Dallewal had also expressed a desire to address farmers during the mahapanchayat. INSIDE including (IV) drips, saying that it will undermine the cause of the movement… The farmers are keeping a close vigil around the protest site,” the AG said. “Conciliation has to happen before confrontation… In case the Centre negotiates with the farmers, then maybe the situation will ease out,” Singh said, adding “We are helpless and we are saddled with the problem.” “If state machinery says you (officials) are helpless, then do you know what the repercussions are! The court is not saying use unwanted force…do you want us to record the statement?” asked the Bench which had on Friday directed the Punjab Government to file a compliance report by Saturday on its December 20 order on shifting Dallewal to a hospital. Sinha and Yadav filed separate affidavits in the court explaining their respective continued on page 7 Putin apologises for ‘tragic’ Azerbaijan airliner crash L-G orders probe into AAP’s ‘Mahila Samman’scheme Heavy snowfall surprises Valley, cripples life Moscow, December 28 Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible Putin’s apology came amid mounting allegations that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defences attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya. An official Kremlin statement issued on Saturday said that air defence systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane. The statement said Putin apologised to Azerbaijani Presi- Tribune News Service Srinagar, December 28 Normal life was thrown out of gear in Kashmir on Saturday as several parts of the Valley received moderate to heavy snowfall, disrupting air, road and rail connectivity. The snowfall began on Friday afternoon and continued till Saturday morning, ending a long dry spell and also surprising the weatherman, who had not predicted such a heavy spell. According to the Meteorological Department, south Kashmir areas received two to three feet of snow while it stood at 6-7 inches in Srinagar. North Kashmir comparatively saw lesser snowfall, the department said. Meteorological Department Director Mukhtar Ahmad said the weather was expected to improve from Sunday. “The heavy snowfall surprised us too. Nature’s wish, it seemed,” he said. Stops short of admitting Moscow’s fault TOOK EXTERNAL HIT? ■ The flight from Baku to Grozny had turned towards Kazakhstan and crashed while attempting to land, killing 38, on Wednesday ■ Kremlin said air defence systems were firing near Grozny following a Ukrainian drone strike as the plane attempted to land ■ Earlier, a US official and an Azerbaijani minister had made separate statements blaming the crash on an external impact dent Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace”. The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to continued on page 7 New Delhi, December 28 Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has ordered a high-level inquiry into the AAP government’s proposed Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana after a complaint was lodged by Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit alleging it to be a “fraud” perpetrated by the ruling party. Former CM Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of using “disruptive tactics and false propaganda” to derail AAP’s welfare schemes. He called the BJP’s actions an attack on the “very fabric” of pro-people governance, urging Delhi residents to resist these moves with unity and determination. The inquiry was ordered on a complaint by Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, who recently met Saxena at Raj Niwas. INSIDE Adil Akhzer Vehicles stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway after a heavy snowfall in Anantnag. PTI Ahmad said this amount of snowfall in the month of December was received for the first time after 2021. The minimum temperature remained close to the freezing point in almost all parts of the Valley on Friday night. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who drove to his constituency Ganderbal, convened a video conference-meeting with the Deputy Commissioners across Jammu and Kashmir to review operations for clearing snow and restoring essential services. “The CM directed the officials to deploy adequate manpower and machinery on the ground,” a government spokesperson said, adding the district administrations had been instructed to provide two-hourly updates to the offices of the CM and the Chief Secretary. In a post on X, Omar said of the 739 dysfunctional 11KV feeders, 639 had been restored, “bringing a major relief to the Valley”. “A majority of the rest are expected to be restored soon,” he said. In remote areas as well, officials said, the restoration process was underway. Pulwama Deputy Commissioner Basharat Qayoom told The Tribune that in his district, restoration work was underway on a war footing. Srinagar Airport Director Javed continued on page 7 India’s Reddyemption in Melbourne Test CBIontrail,EDofficer posted in HP on run Subhash Rajta NEW DELHI: An Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer, who is posted in Shimla, has come under the scanner of the CBI after he was allegedly found involved in a case of extortion from a Chandigarhbased businessman. The officer managed to give the agency the slip after it had set a trap to nab him redhanded, However, his brother has been arrested. INSIDE New Delhi, December 28 The government’s refusal to allocate a site for the cremation of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh where a memorial could be erected drew flak from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who on Saturday accused the Narendra Modiled BJP government of insulting “the first Prime Minister from the Sikh community”. “The government should have shown respect to this great son of the country and his proud community,” Rahul wrote in a social media post in Hindi after Manmohan Singh’s funeral, which the Congress leader attended. “The great son of Mother India and the first Prime Minister from the Sikh community, Dr Manmohan Singh ji, has been totally insulted by the present government by performing his last rites today at the Nigambodh New Delhi, December 28 The Supreme Court on Saturday warned Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha and Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav that it would frame charges of contempt of court against them if its order on shifting farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal to a hospital was not complied with. “It’s a contempt case and the next step is known. Why shouldn’t there be charges against the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police? Why should charges not be framed? This is the logical flow of a contempt matter,” a Vacation Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia told the two senior officers who were virtually present during the hearing. The Bench was hearing a contempt petition filed by one Labh Singh of Mohali over Punjab Government’s “failure” to implement the court’s order to shift Dallewal to a hospital. Dallewal has been on an indefinite fast at the Khanauri border point between Punjab and Haryana since November 26 to press for the acceptance of farmers’ demands. Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh told the Bench that “Dallewal is refusing to go to hospital and the farmers present there also are not allowing it... There is a risk that there may be collateral damage of life and property on both sides — farmers and the police — if he is taken to hospital. “He (Dallewal) has refused any kind of medical aid, Tribune News Service Nitish Reddy after scoring his maiden century in the Melbourne Test. AP/PTI Shimla, December 28 At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, India discovered a new cricketing star in 21year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy on the third day of the fourth Test against Australia on Saturday. Coming in to bat at No. 8, the youngster virtually bailed India out by smashing an unbeaten 105 at the packed stadium, becom- ing the third youngest Indian after Sachin Tendulkar and Rishabh Pant to smash a century in Australia. Hitting a Test ton against the Aussies in their backyard is always special, but Reddy’s century would rank among the best by any visiting batsman in Australia given the tough circumstances and the quality of this Australian attack. India looked down and out at 191/6 when Reddy Today’s issue is of 24 pages, including Ten-page Spectrum. Nitish (21) third youngest Indian to hit ton in Oz Nitish hugs his teary-eyed father Mutalya Reddy after the century walked in at No. 8, but the youngster showed unflappable temperament and amazing skill to smash a century and keep India alive in the match. The 21-year-old was solid in defence, and decisive and fearless in attack. He did not look perturbed by shortpitched deliveries, against which most batsmen from the sub-continent struggle in Australia, and was at ease against the spin of Nathan Lyon. What added a huge emotional dimension to Reddy’s spectacular knock was the presence of his father in the stands. His lips moved in prayer when Reddy hit the nervous 90s, his hand rushed to his heart every time Reddy failed to middle the ball, and when Reddy smashed a boundary to reach the 100, he threw up his arms in elation — in that brief moment, the teary-eyed father would continued on page 7