Page 17 - Punjab

Pakistan's Punjab turns into gas chamber: AQI in Multan dips to 2,500

In Multan, the largest city in Pakistan's Punjab, toxic particulate matter 2.5 concentrations stood at 947 micrograms per cubic metre, nearly 189.4 times above the normal level guidelines

Sidhu Moosewala's parents share the face of his baby brother, Shubhdeep

In March 2024, Balkaur Singh and Charan Kaur, the parents of the late Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moosewala were blessed with a baby boy. They have now posted their youngest son's first photo to social media

Pakistan: Punjab sets up 'smog war room' to tackle hazardous air pollution

But Wednesday's index score for Lahore fell short of last week's unprecedented score of 1900, which had exceeded recommended levels by more than 120 times, prompting closure of primary schools

Punjab and Haryana control paddy stubble burning, but for how long?

Both states, long seen as major contributors, have brought down incidents of stubble burning, a long-term solution will remain out of reach so long as state-support for paddy lifting remains in place

AAP made farmers spend 20-25 days in Mandi during festivals: Raja Warring

Warring emphasized that the government's actions are not only failing farmers but are effectively dismantling the very foundation of Punjab's agricultural economy

Decide on mercy plea of Beant Singh's assassin or we will: SC to Centre

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would consider the the mercy petition of death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, if the Centre does not decide on it "either way". A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan adjourned for two weeks the former Punjab Police constable's plea seeking commutation of his death sentence to life term due to an "inordinate delay" in deciding his mercy petition. "Decide it either way or we will consider it (Rajoana's plea)," the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, after he informed the court that Rajoana's mercy plea was pending with the president's house. Rajoana has been in continuous custody for 29 years, said his counsel, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, while seeking his release till the mercy petition is decided. "His mercy petition has been pending with the president's house for the past 12 years. Please release him

Punjab paddy procurement crosses 8.5 MT, Centre says ops in full swing

Punjab has procured 85.41 lakh tonnes (LT) of paddy valued at Rs 19,800 crore in the ongoing 2024-25 kharif marketing season, with procurement operations now in full swing after initial weather-related delays, the food ministry said on Sunday. According to the ministry, about 90.69 LT of paddy arrived in mandis across Punjab till November 2, of which 85.41 LT has been procured by state agencies and Food Corporation of India (FCI). The procurement drive, which began on October 1, has already resulted in payments worth Rs 19,800 crore reaching about 4 lakh farmers across the state. "Though the procurement commenced a bit late due to heavy rain in September and high moisture content in paddy, it is back on track and has picked up in full swing now," the ministry said in a statement. The Centre has fixed a procurement target of 185 LT for Punjab for the ongoing season. The procurement is being carried out at Rs 2,320 per quintal MSP fixed for 'Grade A' paddy. To ensure smooth procurem

Haryana stubble burning persists, farm leader cites farmers' compulsion

Besides Mann, the meeting was also attended by the Secretary (Fertilizers), Chief Secretary of Punjab, and Additional Chief Secretary (Punjab)

Diwali blues: Haryana, Punjab report AQI in 'poor', 'very poor' categories

Several places in Haryana reported air quality index (AQI) in the 'poor' and 'very poor' categories on Diwali night on Thursday. Many places in Punjab as well as in the Union Territory of Chandigarh reported air quality index in the 'poor' category. As of 11 pm on Thursday, the AQI in Gurugram in Haryana was recorded at 322, 336 in Jind and 306 in Charkhi Dadri, according to the Sameer app that provides hourly updates of the national AQI published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Among other places in Haryana, as of 11 pm, AQI in Ambala was recorded at 201, in Bahadurgarh it was 292, Bhiwani 278, Ballabhgarh 211, Faridabad 245, Kurukshetra 270, Panchkula 220, Rohtak 222 and Sonipat at 258. Chandigarh's AQI was recorded at 239 as of 11 pm on Thursday. In Jalandhar, the AQI at 11 pm was 256, while at Ludhiana, it was 234, Mandi Gobindgarh 266, while Patiala recorded an AQI of 244. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200

Punjab reports 219 fresh farm fires, bringing season's total to 2,356

Punjab recorded 219 fresh farm fire incidents on Tuesday, taking the season's count to 2,356, which is about 55 per cent less than the figure in the corresponding period last year, official data showed. From September 15 to October 29, Punjab has seen 2,356 farm fire cases as compared to 5,254 such incidents in the corresponding period last year, according to the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data. The state had recorded 12,112 farm fires during the same period in 2022. On Tuesday, 219 farm fires were recorded in the state. Ferozepur reported maximum incidents at 45, followed by Sangrur at 38 and Patiala at 22, as per the data. On the same day in 2022 and 2023, the state had seen 1,898 and 1,068 active fire events respectively. Procurement of paddy is underway in Punjab. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi after harvesting of the paddy crop in October and November. As the window for wheat, a Rabi crop, is very short after pa

Punjab sees 50% dip in post-harvest farm fires; no effect on Delhi's air

Farm fires in Punjab, often blamed for the rise in Delhi's air pollution, have gone down by 50 per cent since last year in the post-harvest period, with little effect on the air quality in the national capital. From September 15 to October 27, Punjab has seen 1,995 farm fire cases as compared to 4,059 in the corresponding period last year, as per data from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre. The farm fire incidents in the period have gone down by 75 per cent since 2022. The state recorded 8,147 farm fires in 2022 in this period. After paddy harvesting in October and November, stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and states adjacent to Delhi are said to contribute to pollution in Delhi. Paddy procurement is underway in Punjab. On Sunday, Punjab saw 138 farm fires -- Ferozepur with highest such incidents, followed by Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib, according to data. On the same day in 2022 and 2023, the state had seen 1,111 and 766 farm fires, respectively. The drop in farm fire cases, .

'No space crunch in Punjab': Centre dismisses concerns over paddy storage

The Centre on Sunday dismissed reports of storage space shortage affecting paddy procurement in Punjab, terming them "misinformation" created with "vested interests". Union Food Minister Prahlad Joshi on Sunday assured that creating adequate storage space remains the government's responsibility. "Some rumours are being spread. I want to clearly state that creating space is our responsibility. We will take care of that," Joshi said during a media briefing, accompanied by Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra and FCI Chairman Vanita Rattan Sharma. The state currently has 14 lakh tonne storage capacity, which will increase to 16 lakh tonne by November 1. An additional 31 lakh tonne capacity is being developed under the Private Entrepreneur Guarantee (PEG) scheme. The minister highlighted that 3,800 millers have applied for paddy lifting, with 3,250 already allocated stock for rice conversion. The government has cleared payments worth Rs 9,819.88 crore, of which Rs 7,641 crore has reached ...

Punjab BJP meets governor, blames AAP for slow paddy lifting process

A delegation of Punjab BJP leaders on Sunday met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and submitted a memorandum alleging inefficiency on part of the AAP government in the state for "tardy" paddy lifting. The delegation urged the governor to intervene and ensure the complete lifting of paddy from mandis as a "gift" to the farmers of the state so that they can "celebrate Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas with their families". The memorandum said, "Due to inefficiency on the part of the Punjab government, even after 26 days of official commencement of paddy procurement, the Punjab government has failed to lift most of the paddy from the mandis across the state." Paddy procurement for Kharif Marketing Season 2024-25 commenced in Punjab from October 1, according to the BJP delegation that included Avinash Rai Khanna, Preneet Kaur, Harjit Singh Grewal, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Vijay Sampla, Vineet Joshi and Fateh Jang Bajwa. "Before the commencement of the season, in the last week of September, Pun

Punjab: Farmers to hold 'chakka jam' in 4 locations over paddy procurement

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Takait said that the protest is being carried out by the farmers in Punjab only

Stubble burning cases reported in Punjab, Haryana despite SC's criticism

Supreme Court on October 23 criticised the Haryana and Punjab governments for failure to take action against stubble burning

NIA chargesheets associate of Khalistani terrorists in Punjab terror case

The chargesheet against Gurpreet Singh, also known as Gopi, from Tarn Taran (Punjab), was submitted to the NIA Special Court in Mohali

Punjab Assembly elections: AAP names candidates for all four seats

The AAP on Sunday released a list of candidates for the November 13 bypolls to four assembly seats in Punjab. The party shared the list on X. The bypolls to the four assembly seats were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. The AAP has fielded Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, who joined the party after quitting the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in August, from Gidderbaha. Once considered close to SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Dhillon (57) had unsuccessfully contested elections from Gidderbaha seat on the party's tickets in 2017 and 2022 and served as chairman of Muktsar district planning board. Gidderbaha seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ludhiana early this year. The AAP has named Ishank Chabbewal, a doctor and the son of AAP Hoshiarpur MP Raj Kumar Chabbewal, as its candidate from Chabbewal (SC) segment. The Chabbewal bypoll was necessitated after Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who was a Congress

262K MT of paddy lifted, 1.63 mn MT procured: Punjab food minister

Around 2.62 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been lifted out of total procurement of 16.37 lakh MT so far in state mandis, Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said on Saturday. Amid farmers protesting against "tardy" procurement of the paddy crop, the minister urged the state rice millers to come forward and start their milling operations, asserting that the state government always stands by them. Several farmers' groups have been protesting against the slow procurement of paddy, which led to a glut in mandis. The state rice millers and the commission agents are also supporting the farmers' protest. The state rice millers have complained of space crunch for storing the fresh paddy crop and want the Centre to liquidate the existing wheat and paddy stock to create sufficient space. Rice millers have also expressed concern over the out-turn ratio (post milling yield) of the PR-126 paddy variety, claiming that it will lead to huge losses. They have said that the

Our govts reducing stubble burning, BJP-ruled states doing nothing: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday alleged that central government data reveals that stubble burning in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are "major contributors" to air pollution in Delhi. The AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab are the only ones that are reducing pollution and providing relief to the people, party leader Jasmine Shah said in a statement on Wednesday. In the period between October 1-14, Shah claimed that in comparison to last year, there was a 27 per cent reduction in incidents of stubble burning in Punjab this year, while such incidents increased in BJP-ruled UP and Haryana. "From October 1 to 14, (according to) the data from the central government agency Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), 1,105 stubble burning incidents were reported in Punjab. This year, the number has reduced to 811, a 27 per cent decrease in stubble burning incidents in the state," he said. In Haryana, during the same period, there were 341 incidents last year, that increase

People in Punjab fear dispute with Canada endangers work, study plans

Indians have made up Canada's largest group of international students in recent years, mainly from Punjab, holding more than 41% of student permits in 2022