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Japanese company Toppan Speciality Films on Wednesday signed an agreement with the Punjab government to invest Rs 400 crore in the state as part of its expansion plan, according to an official statement. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who is on a 10-day visit to Japan and South Korea, said Toppan Speciality Films Private Limited (TSF) and Invest Punjab have also agreed to support and collaborate to launch a skilling excellence centre in Punjab. This will be pivotal for strengthening industry-relevant skills and enhancing employability opportunities in Punjab, the statement quoted Mann as saying. The chief minister said it will give a thrust to imparting training aligned with current and emerging industry needs. Likewise, he said, it will also focus on high-end and technical skills not widely available and impart training certifications to meet industry and global standards. TSF will also provide financial assistance, technical inputs, training support, and curriculum design based o
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said the Punjab government will construct 44,920 km of road stretches in the state with an outlay of Rs 16,209 crore. Addressing mediapersons here, Mann claimed this would be the biggest ever road project undertaken by the state, adding that tenders will be issued in this regard. The project includes construction of 2,829-km Public Works Department (PWD) roads and 18,545 km of rural link roads, at a total cost of Rs 7,727 crore. Additionally, 22,291-km road stretches under the Punjab Mandi Board, and 1,255 km of urban roads under various civic bodies will be constructed at a cost of Rs 7,697 crore and Rs 785 crore, respectively, he said. A total sum of Rs 16,209 crore will be spent on constructing quality roads across the state, Mann said, adding that he has directed contractors not to compromise on the quality of materials and work. He further said villages will pass resolutions stating they are satisfied with the materials used for the ro
The government plans to invest Rs 4,500 crore to modernise state-owned chip company Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) over the next three years, union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday. Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), is the only integrated device manufacturing facility in the country providing end-to-end solutions for the development of Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), opto-electronics devices, and Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) devices. The minister said that the centre has requested the Punjab government for a 25-acre parcel of land to support the expansion. "SCL will be modernised with an investment of Rs 4,500 crore over a period of the next three years," Vaishnaw said at the device handling ceremony here. He said SCL will play a significant role in realising the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for semiconductors and assured that there is no question o
World Bank on Wednesday said it has approved funding for two projects in India that will benefit more than 60 lakh people by using innovative digital solutions to improve the quality of education in Punjab and boost incomes for small and marginal farmers in Maharashtra. The World Bank Board of Executive Directors on November 25 approved two projects in India that will benefit more than 6 million people by using innovative digital solutions to improve the quality of education in Punjab state and boost incomes for small and marginal farmers in Maharashtra state, World Bank said in a statement. The Punjab Outcomes-Acceleration in School Education Operation (POISE) programme (USD 286 million) will help improve quality education in Punjab with the aid of technology to track learning outcomes. It will ensure 13 lakh students are enrolled in primary schools, and more than 2.2 million students are enrolled in secondary schools. In addition, 59 lakh students will be supported in early ...
After the protesting students pressing for announcement of Senate polls gave a call for a complete shutdown of Panjab University on November 26, the varsity authorities have declared a holiday on Wednesday. The authorities have announced the closure of all teaching, non-teaching and office activities on the campus on Wednesday. Also, the examinations scheduled on the Panjab University (PU) campus for Wednesday have been postponed. "This is for the information of the public in general and the students in particular that the exams on November 26, 2025, in examination centres CHD40, CHD41, CHD43 and CHD44 situated on PU campus, Sector 14, and shifted to DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh, stand postponed. The fresh dates for the conduct of these exams will be notified later," a PU statement said. Earlier, the varsity authorities had said that November 26 would remain a working day, and all teachers and department heads must remain present in their respective departments from 9 am to 5
Stubble burning incidents in Delhi-NCR, Punjab and Haryana have reduced this year due to government support for farm machinery and other measures, Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi said on Monday. The government has provided farmers with relevant equipment and necessary interventions to tackle the problem, Chaturvedi told reporters on the sidelines of an event. "Certainly...because of the policy of providing machineries and in-situ and ex-situ measures, the incidents of stubble burning in Delhi-NCR, Punjab and Haryana have reduced," he said. There have hardly been incidents of stubble burning in the last ten days, he said. Stubble burning by farmers in northern India after harvesting has been a major contributor to severe air pollution in Delhi and surrounding areas during winter months. When asked about other pollution sources, Chaturvedi said other ministries were better placed to comment. "If there are other reasons (for pollution), other ministries are best to say," he
The Centre has proposed to include the Union territory of Chandigarh under the ambit of Article 240 of the Constitution, which empowers the president to make regulations for the UT and legislate directly. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2025 will be introduced in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament, beginning December 1, 2025, as per a bulletin of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The Bill seeks to include the Union territory of Chandigarh in Article 240, in alignment with other UTs without legislatures such as Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and Puducherry (when its Legislative Assembly is dissolved or suspended). This opens the door to an independent administrator in the UT of Chandigarh, like when it had an independent chief secretary in the past. The move to bring this Bill has evoked sharp reactions from Congress, Akali Dal and the AAP. According to the bulletin, the government has also proposed a provisional ...
The Punjab government on Saturday ordered the suspension of Amritsar (Rural) SSP Maninder Singh for his alleged failure in taking strict action against gangsters. While ordering his suspension, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said in a statement that no laxity of any kind will be tolerated in action against gangsters. This is the major action taken by the AAP government against an IPS officer. The AAP government has been facing flak from opposition parties over the issue of law and order, following extortion bids and firing incidents by gangsters and criminals. During campaigning for the Tarn Taran bypoll, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had vowed to rid the state of gangsters and also warned them to leave the state within a week.
Punjab has recorded a 21.51 per cent increase in net Goods and Services Tax collection up to October 2025, alongside a robust 14.46 per cent growth in October alone, Finance Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said on Sunday. He lauded the state's performance despite Punjab being hit by massive floods this year and the recent rationalisation of tax rates under GST 2.0. Giving the details of the growth, the Finance Minister said that the state collected Rs 15,683.59 crore in net GST from April to October 2025, compared to Rs 12,907.31 crore during the same period in the previous fiscal year (FY), with an impressive gain of Rs 2,776 crore. By contrast, the growth rate up to October 2024 in FY 2024-25 was a modest 3.80 per cent, he added in an official statement. The state's net GST collection for October 2025 stood at Rs 2,359.16 crore, marking a significant rise from Rs 2,061.23 crore in October 2024, registering Rs 298 crore increase that reflects the State's
Punjab on Wednesday saw the season's highest single-day spike in stubble burning with 283 instances, official data showed. The latest addition took the total farm fire count since September 15 to 1,216. Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Sangrur and Ferozepur districts accounted for the bulk of crop residue burning cases, according to Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) data, as many farmers continued to disregard the state government's appeal to not set the crop residue on fire According to the data, the highest farm fire incidents were reported from Tarn Taran at 296, followed by Amritsar, 173, Sangrur, 170, Ferozepur, 123, Patiala, 73, Bathinda, 61, and Kapurthala at 48. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi-NCR. As the window for the Rabi crop, wheat, is very short after paddy harvest in October-November, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off crop residues. According to PPCB data, the total area under paddy ...
Punjab witnessed 743 stubble burning incidents from September 15 till October 26, with 122 cases on Sunday marking the highest single-day spike this season, official data showed. Tarn Taran and Amritsar districts contributed the bulk of cases, according to Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) data, as many farmers continued to disregard the state government's appeal to stop crop residue burning. The state has seen a sharp jump in stubble-burning cases in the past week, from 353 cases recorded till October 20 to 390, the data showed. According to the data, the highest farm fire incidents were reported from Tarn Taran at 224, followed by Amritsar 154, Ferozepur 80, Sangrur 47, Patiala 39, Gurdaspur 38, and Kapurthala 29. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi-NCR. As the window for the Rabi crop, wheat, is very short after paddy harvest in October-November, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off crop ...
Punjab recorded 28 fresh stubble burning incidents on Thursday, taking the total farm fire count to 512 since September 15, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) data showed. The state saw a jump of 324 crop residue burning incidents from the 188 cases recorded till October 16, the data further showed. According to the data, the highest number of farm fires were reported in Tarn Taran at 159, followed by Amritsar at 133, Ferozepur 58, Patiala 32 and Gurdaspur 25, as many farmers continue to ignore government appeals to stop crop residue burning. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi-NCR. As the window for the Rabi crop, wheat, is very short after paddy harvest in October and November, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue. Fines amounting to Rs 13.25 lakh have been imposed as environmental compensation in 246 cases so far, according to PPCB data. Of the total fine, Rs 8.95 lakh has been ..
Punjab recorded 415 incidents of farm fire between September 15 and October 21, down from 1,510 cases reported during the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). The data showed that the number of farm fires recorded during this period in 2023 was 1,764. The sharp drop comes amid a delayed paddy harvest as rains lashed the state until the first week of October. Damage caused by floods also delayed the crop harvest at some places. Officials say stricter field monitoring and awareness campaigns, telling farmers about the ill-effects of stubble burning, have also had an impact. A statement issued by the Punjab government said the sustained and rigorous efforts by the civil administration and police to prevent stubble burning have yielded significant results, with the state witnessing a nearly-four-fold reduction in farm-fire cases this year, compared to the same period in the previous two years. According to the PPCB data, the t
The number of stubble burning incidents in Punjab has reached 308, with Tarn Taran and Amritsar districts accounting for the majority of such cases, according to the Punjab Pollution Control Board data. At 113, Tarn Taran district has witnessed maximum stubble burning cases in Punjab so far, followed by Amritsar with 104 cases, as many farmers continue to burn crop residue, ignoring the state government's appeals to stop the practice. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi-NCR. As the window for the Rabi crop, wheat, is very short after the paddy harvest in October and November, many farmers set their fields on fire to clear off the residue for sowing the next crop. Punjab saw 308 fire incidents between September 15 and October 19, as per the data of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). Among other districts, 16 stubble burning cases have been reported in Ferozepur, 15 in Patiala and seven in Gurdaspur, as per the ...
A fire broke out in a coach of the Amritsar-Saharsa Garib Rath Express near Sirhind railway station here on Saturday morning, officials said. There was no casualty in the incident, they said. The fire broke out around 7:30 AM when the train (number 12204) was coming from Amritsar. A police official said smoke was noticed in one of the AC coaches of the train and passengers were safely evacuated. Fire tenders were immediately called in to put out the fire, the official said. The officials said that soon after the fire was noticed, the railway authorities shifted the passengers of the affected coach to other coaches. The train will leave for its destination shortly, they said.