Page 24 - Punjab

Baisakhi 2024: Date, significance, history, and how to celebrate the fest

Baisakhi 2024: Baisakhi is a significant spring festival celebrated in North India with great joy and enthusiasm. Here's the history, significance, date and more

NGT asks Punjab to explain how it will handle 19 mn tonnes of paddy stubble

Green Tribunal seeks information from the state on stubble management in 2023 and 2024

Notes of defiance: Amar Singh Chamkila's legacy is a soundtrack of survival

TUNE OF REVOLUTION: The audacious journey of a singer who defied convention and defined a generation

NGT asks Punjab how it will achieve target to cut stubble burning incidents

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Punjab government to disclose in its comprehensive report how it will achieve its projected target for reducing incidents of stubble burning in the present year. The NGT was hearing the matter regarding stubble burning in Punjab which was aggravating the issue of air pollution during the winter season in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas. In January this year, the tribunal directed Punjab to file an "amended fresh action plan" to tackle the "serious issue". A bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted that an action taken report dated March 19 had been filed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board which included the details of paddy straw utilisation in 2023 along with the target for the present year. The bench also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel said the report disclosed the target for 2024 upon implementation of the crop residue management plan, includ

Singh warns of debt trap for using borrowed money to give free electricity

Power Minister RK Singh has warned of a debt trap for states like Punjab using borrowed money to provide free electricity, saying such populist schemes are fine only if a state has finances. Electricity, like any other commodity, involves the cost of generating it, and if a state is to provide it for free to a section of consumers, it also needs to have finances to pay the generating utility. If the generating utility isn't paid, electricity will not be produced in the first place. In an interview with PTI, Singh said he has been telling states that electricity is not free. "If any state wants to give free power to any category of people, they can go ahead and do so, but you have to pay for it". However, states with already high debt are resorting to such populist measures, forcing them to borrow more to pay generating utilities, resulting in a debt trap. "You should not be bringing your state to a situation where it falls into a debt trap. Many of the states are close to debt trap

Nearly 5,000 polling booths identified as vulnerable in Punjab, says CEO

The Lok Sabha election in Punjab will be held in a single phase on June 01, 2024. Voting in Punjab will be held for 13 Lok Sabha seats

An uncommon man behind bars: Fallout of Arvind Kejriwal's arrest

The arrest and the trial of Kejriwal will have a profound impact on his governments in Delhi and Punjab as well as on the party itself

Kejriwal will be released, start revolution in country: Punjab CM Mann

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is in ED custody in connection with an excise policy-linked money-laundering case, will be released and bring a revolution in the country, his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann said on Saturday. The 55-year-old AAP national convenor was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday from his official residence. He was on Friday produced in court, which sent him to ED custody till March 28. Mann, Delhi ministers Atishi and Kailash Gahlot, and Mayor Shelly Oberoi visited Shaheedi Park on Saturday to commemorate the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. "The BJP wants to bring dictatorship in the country. Sending opposition leaders to jail is not freedom. Let us unite or the country will be ruined. Kejriwal will come out, bringing a big revolution," Mann said. The Delhi government will run according to the law, he said. "No law says that a chief minister sent to jail under a political vendetta needs to resign. He is in

AAP to announce candidates on remaining five seats in next five days: Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said his party AAP will announce the names of candidates for the remaining five Lok Sabha seats in next five days. The Aam Aadmi Party has already announced eight candidates. Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1. In a post on X, Mann said, "In the next five days, the candidates for the remaining five Lok Sabha seats will be announced by the AAP." AAP is yet to announce its candidates from Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Anandpur Sahib. AAP was the first one among all political parties in the state that announced the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. In its first list of candidates, the AAP fielded five cabinet ministers; Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from Amritsar, Laljit Singh Bhullar from Khadoor Sahib, Gurmeet Singh Khudian from Bathinda, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Sangrur and Dr Balbir Singh from Patiala. Sitting Jalandhar MP Sushil Rinku has been named as the party's candidate aga

EC transfers police chiefs who are kin of politicians in Punjab, Assam

The Election Commission on Thursday transferred district police chiefs in Assam and Punjab, who are kin of prominent politicians, and shunted out "non-cadre" district magistrates and superintendents of police in some states. The poll body said the non-cadre district magistrates (DMs) and superintendent of police (SPs) have been shunted out as the posts are meant for IAS and IPS officers. The EC said it has adopted a tough stance against posting of non-cadre officers at leadership positions by transferring eight non-encadred SPs/SSPs and five non-encadred DMs in Punjab, Odisha, Gujarat and West Bengal. Wherever relatives of prominent politicians were holding charge as DM or SP, have also been transferred, it said, adding SSP Bathinda (Punjab) and SP Sonitpur (Assam) have been transferred. The EC said the officials in these two districts have been transferred as a "pre-emptive measure" to dispel any apprehensions of administration being biased or perceived to be compromised. The mov

Former diplomat Sandhu joins BJP, latest to take the political plunge

The BJP won two of Punjab's 13 seats in 2019, including Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur, who defeated Jakhar, and former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Som Prakash from Hoshiarpur

Analysing economic progress of states through budgets & advance estimates

Several states have come out with the Budgets for 2024-25 and hence advance estimates. Let us use them to analyse the economic performance or outlook of some of those states

Lok Sabha elections: Key seats to watch in UP, Punjab, Raj, other states

The BJP won all four Himachal Pradesh Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, it is fighting a divided Congress. The seats include these. * Hamirpur: The BJP has fielded Union minister Anurag Thakur from Hamirpur, the Lok Sabha seat he has been winning since a 2008 bypoll. CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri also represent assembly segments in Hamirpur. Five of the six Congress MLAs who recently rebelled against the party were also elected from Hamirpur assembly segments. * Mandi: Members of the region's erstwhile families have tried their luck here. Himachal Congress president Pratibha Singh currently represents the constituency which also sent her husband Virbhadra Singh to Parliament in the past.

3 operatives of Goldy Brar, Rohit Godara held in Punjab's Zirakpur

Three operatives of gangsters Goldy Brar and Rohit Godara, who are members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, were arrested from Zirakpur in Mohali, said a top police officer on Saturday. Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the accused were identified as Ajay Singh alias Ajaypal and Ankit, both residents of Bhiwani in Haryana, and Lakhwinder Singh alias Lucky, a resident of Zirakpur. Ankit has a criminal background with involvement in cases of heinous crimes, including murder, attempt to murder, extortion and Arms Act registered in Haryana, police said. A team of the Anti-Gangster Task Force of the Punjab Police also recovered two .32 calibre pistols along with 11 live cartridges from their possession and also impounded their car. DGP Yadav said acting on reliable information, teams of the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) followed the trail of the trio accused and arrested them from a flat located near Airport Road in Zirakpur. Preliminary investigations revealed t

Senior Punjab Cong legislator Raj Kumar Chabbewal quits party, joins AAP

In a setback to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, senior party leader from Punjab and MLA Raj Kumar Chabbewal on Friday quit the party and joined the ruling Aam Aadmi Party. The 54-year-old Chabbewal said he has quit as a legislator from Chabbewal assembly constituency in Hoshiarpur district.The prominent Dalit leader was the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly. He joined the AAP here and was welcomed into the party fold by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Chabbewal is the second Congress leader from Punjab to join the AAP within a week. Gurpreet Singh GP, a former Congress MLA from Bassi Pathana, had recently joined the AAP. In a post in Punjabi on X, the AAP state unit said the party has been further strengthened with the joining of Chabbewal. Impressed by the pro-people policies of Bhagwant Mann, Chabbewal, who is an MLA, has joined AAP. Many many congratulations to him from the party, the AAP posted along with photos of Chabbewal being welcomed by the ...

Lok Sabha polls: Actor Karamjeet among 8 candidates in AAP's Punjab list

The Aam Aadmi Party said that it will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab alone, giving a jolt to the Congress. Both are members of the Opposition alliance INDIA but could face each other in Punjab

ISL 2023-24: FC Goa makes playoffs after exciting 3-3 draw with Punjab FC

FC Goa secured a place in the playoffs despite splitting points with Punjab FC following a 3-3 draw in an Indian Super League match here on Monday. Wilmar Jordan, Luka Majcen and Juan Mera scored for the home side while Carl Mchugh, Noah Sadaoui and Carlos Martinez were on target for the Goan outfit. FC Goa started the match on a positive note with Raynier Fernandes testing the home team goalkeeper Ravi Kumar from long range. The Goan outfit received two corners with the second one from Borja Herrera finding Carl Mchugh inside the box. Mchugh's thunderous left-footer found the top corner to give Goa an early lead. Punjab started to attack with purpose and got success in the 54th minute. Madih Talal found Wilmar Jordan inside the box, who fed the ball to his striking partner Luka Majcen. Luka's attempt at goal fell in the path of Jordan who just had to tap it in for the equaliser. Punjab struck the second blow just seven minute later with a perfectly-worked counter attacking goal.

Need to win all 13 LS seats to make Punjab 'Rangla': Arvind Kejriwal

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday launched his party's poll campaign in Punjab for the upcoming general elections and accused the BJP of trying to topple the Bhagwant Mann government by approaching its MLAs. He asked people to ensure his party's victory in all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. "We do not need these seats for ourselves. (These are) to work more for your family and to make your family more prosperous. To make Punjab 'Rangla', we need 13 seats," Kejriwal said. At the event, the AAP also rolled out the slogan -- "Sansad vich ve Bhagwant Mann, Khushaal Punjab te vadhegi shaan". Addressing a gathering here, Kejriwal slammed the Centre for allegedly withholding Rs 8,000 crore of Punjab's funds and accused the BJP of trying to topple the AAP government in the state by approaching its MLAs. "The Centre has withheld Rs 8,000 crore of Punjab's funds. It is a lot of money. How many schools, hospitals, mohalla clinics could have come up with that fund?" he posed. Kejriwal hit

Punjab cabinet clears excise policy, aims at over Rs 10,000 cr collections

The Punjab cabinet gave its nod on Saturday to the excise policy for 2024-25, which is aimed at garnering revenue to the tune of more than Rs 10,000 crore from the sale of liquor. A decision to this effect was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here. Addressing reporters here after the meeting, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the cabinet has approved the new excise policy -- the third such policy of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. "For the first time, more than Rs 10,000 crore will be generated from it," Cheema said. He said during the previous Congress regime, the revenue from liquor sale was merely Rs 6,151 crore. The new excise policy envisages allotment of liquor vends through a draw of lots, the minister said, adding that instead of 172 groups, 232 groups have been formed this time. "Liquor vends will be allotted through a draw of lots," he said. In another decision, the cabinet also gave its approval for allowing colonisers t

'Guarantee' of giving Rs 1,000 to women will be fulfilled: Punjab minister

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday informed the Assembly that the state government will fulfil the "guarantee" of giving Rs 1,000 to women. His statement came after the opposition parties accused the Bhagwant Mann government of not fulfilling the pre-poll promise of giving Rs 1,000 each month to women in the state. Responding to issues raised by the MLAs during a debate on the state budget, Cheema said the state government has fulfilled four out of five "guarantees", including free electricity and the opening of 'aam aadmi clinics'. "We implemented four guarantees out of five within two years. One guarantee related to women is pending. I am saying this with full responsibility in the House that this guarantee will also be fulfilled," the state finance minister told the House. Taking on the opposition Congress MLAs, Cheema said they were not aware of the fulfilment of these four "guarantees" as they are related to the common people of the state. Because most o