Page 35 - Punjab

INDIA stands like a tall mountain: Navjot Sidhu amid Congress-AAP tension

A Punjab court on Saturday sent Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira to 14-day judicial custody in connection with a 2015 drugs case

Gurdaspur district launches novel initiative to curb stubble burning

Stop stubble burning and get special treatment at government offices. The Gurdaspur district administration has come up with this novel idea to curb crop residue burning, one of the major reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution in the national capital region in October and November. Farmers who abstain from stubble burning will be recognised as environment protectors ('vatavaran de rakhe') and given appreciation certificates. By showing it, they can avoid queues at government offices. Not just farmers, villages which report zero stubble burning in the harvesting season will also get the 'vatavaran de rakhe' certificates and will be prioritised for any development project. The window for sowing wheat, a Rabi crop, is very short after paddy harvest. Hence, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear the crop residue and prepare the sowing of the next crop. With about 31 lakh hectares of paddy sowing area, Punjab produces around 180 lakh to 200 lakh tonnes of paddy st

Truce for Punjab's non-war

India must press on with its response to international questioning and criticism by Canada and allies

Centre allots Rs 600 crore to state govts for paddy straw management

Of this, around Rs 105 crore has already been released to Punjab, which records the highest incidents of stubble burning, while Rs 90 crore has been allocated for Haryana

Delhi jewellery burglary: 2 held in Punjab, 18.5 kg ornaments recovered

The Chhattisgarh Police has arrested two people in connection with a Rs 20-crore burglary from a jewellery store in New Delhi earlier this week and recovered around 18.5 kg of gold and diamond ornaments from them, a senior official said on Friday. A joint team of officials from the anti-crime and cyber unit and the Civil Line police station in Bilaspur district carried out the operation while probing a series of thefts in Bilaspur city, Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh told PTI. Those arrested have been identified as Lokesh Srivas (32), who is allegedly involved in several thefts in Bilaspur, and Shiva Chandravanshi (23), he said. The value of gold and diamond ornaments recovered from Srivas is estimated at Rs 12 crore but the exact value was yet to be ascertained, he added. Acting on a tip-off about Srivas being present in Kawardha town of Chhattisgarh's Kabirdham district, the team conducted a raid there on Wednesday and arrested Chandravanshi along with ornaments worth Rs

Fully committed to INDIA bloc: Kejriwal after Congress MLA arrest in Punjab

The Punjab Congress has been severly critical of the Bhagwant Mann government over the arrest of Khaira alleging political vendetta by the state govt

Political vendetta, alleges Congress Punjab chief on Khaira's arrest

Ahead of protes by the Congress in Bhatinda, Warring said that a delegation of Punjab Congress had gone to meet Khaira but they were informed that Khaira was being moved to Fazlika jail

Punjab farmers continue three-day 'rail roko' agitation over MSP demand

Due to the protest, several trains on the Ambala-Shri Ganganagar route were cancelled on Thursday

Punjab Cong MLA Khaira taken into police custody in 2015 drugs case

Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was taken into custody by the Punjab Police in connection with a 2015 drugs case on Thursday morning, family members of the legislator claimed. However, there was no official word on Khaira being taken into police custody. A family member of the Congress MLA went live on Facebook showing that a team of Punjab Police has reached their residence to apprehend Khaira. In the video, Khaira could be seen arguing with the police team and asking them to show him the arrest warrant. The Bholath legislator could also be seen asking for the identity of the police officers who were part of the raiding team. When Khaira asked the team where he was being taken, a police official told him that he was being taken to Jalalabad in Fazilka. Slamming the Bhagwant Mann government, the Congress MLA claimed that he was being apprehended in a fake case and that "jungle raj" was prevailing in the state. The drugs case was registered in March 2015 at Jalalabad in Fazilka.

Crop burning emissions rose 75% from 2011-2020, finds IISER study

The study pinpointed Punjab as the highest emitter, with 27 per cent of its cultivated area burned in 2020, followed closely by Madhya Pradesh during the same period

Govt seeks partnerships to modernise Mohali's semiconductor lab

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology aims for public-private collaboration to boost local semiconductor manufacturing capabilities

Punjab Vigilance Bureau raids residence of Amarinder Singh's close aide

A team of officials from the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday raided the Patiala residence of Bharat Inder Singh Chahal, the former advisor to ex-chief minister Amarinder Singh, in a disproportionate assets case, official sources said. The raid was conducted to nab Chahal, they added. Chahal, a close aide of Singh, was booked in August under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The bureau has found out that the income of Chahal and his family members from March 2017 to September 2021 was Rs 7.85 crore against the expenditure of Rs 31.71 crore -- almost 305 per cent more than his known sources of income. Chahal had made properties in his own as well as his family members' names, including the Dashmesh Luxury Wedding Resort (Alcazar) situated at the Sirhind road and a five-storey commercial building on the Mini Secretariat road in Patiala. Chahal was the advisor to the former chief minister from 2017 till September 2021 and his media advisor from 2002 till

Govt places its chips on public-private partnership for new fab in Mohali

The govt has been pushing for a local semiconductor ecosystem to reduce dependency on other countries for semiconductors

Omaxe Group acquires over 5 acres of 'prime' land in Ludhiana for Rs 220 cr

Realty firm Omaxe Group on Tuesday said it has acquired over 5 acres of land in Ludhiana, Punjab for Rs 220 crore. In a statement, Omaxe said it has "secured more than 5 acres of prime land... through a competitive bidding process conducted by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA)." The acquisition was finalised at a bidding amount of Rs 220 crore, it added. Omaxe will develop both residential and commercial projects on this land parcel. "This acquisition aligns perfectly with our strategy to strengthen our presence in key markets and contribute to the growth of Ludhiana's real estate sector," Jatin Goel, Executive Director, Omaxe Group, said. Omaxe has delivered over 132 million square feet of realty space. It has delivered 21 group housing real estate projects, 10 integrated townships, and 14 commercial projects ( malls/office spaces/hotels/SCOs). The group has another 22 million sq ft of space under construction. This includes seven ongoing integrated townships, five gro

Punjab Vigilance Bureau issues lookout circular against Manpreet Badal

A lookout circular (LOC) has been issued against former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who has been booked in connection with alleged irregularities in the purchase of a property in Bathinda, a top official of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau said on Tuesday. The LOC was issued on Monday after teams of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau conducted raids at the residence of Badal, who joined the BJP after quitting the Congress in January, in Muktsar to nab him. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has registered a case against Badal and five others in connection with alleged irregularities in the purchase of a property in Bathinda. Besides Badal, former Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) chief administrator Bikramjit Shergill, Rajiv Kumar, Amandeep Singh, Vikas Arora and Pankaj have been booked in the matter. Rajiv Kumar, Amandeep Singh and Vikas Arora have already been arrested. The vigilance bureau had launched an investigation into the matter based on former MLA Sarup Chand Singla's

Rs 27k cr from Rs 47k cr raised paid as interest on previous loans: Punjab

With the opposition targeting the AAP government in Punjab over the state's debt, its finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday said that Rs 27,000 crore from around Rs 47,000 raised in the last 18 months has been paid as interest on the borrowings under previous governments. He accused the Congress, BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal of spreading false propaganda against the AAP government after the opposition parties accused the Bhagwant Mann dispensation of pushing the state to the brink of financial calamity with an addition of Rs 50,000 crore more debt since it came to power last year. The opposition parties had latched onto the issue to target the Mann government after Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit in his letter to the CM said that he had learnt that the debt of Punjab rose by about Rs 50,000 crore during your regime. On Monday, state Finance Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Cheema also appealed to the Punjab governor to help the state government in getting ..

AAP came to end mafia in Punjab, now manager-in-chief: Congress' Sidhu

The Governor also not only indicated that he would not intervene but also flagged the issue to the CM seeking details of Rs 50,000 crore added to the debt of the state in Bhagwant Mann's tenure

Punjab vigilance bureau books Manpreet Badal, 5 others in land buying case

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has registered a case against former state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and five others in connection with alleged irregularities in the purchase of a property in Bathinda, a top official said on Monday. Apart from Badal, who is now a BJP leader, and former Bathinda municipal corporation commissioner Bikramjit Shergill, the other four booked in the case on Sunday night have been identified as Rajiv Kumar, Amandeep Singh, Vikas Arora and Pankaj, the official said. Rajiv Kumar and Amandeep Singh have been arrested, the officer added. The bureau had launched an investigation into the matter based on former MLA Sarup Chand Singla's 2021 complaint alleging irregularities in the purchase of the property at a prime location in Bathinda. BJP leader Singla, who was earlier with the Shiromani Akali Dal, had alleged that Badal, as a minister in the previous Congress dispensation, had abused his position to convert commercial plots into a residential plot f

Set up helpline for Indian students, NRIs in Canada: Punjab BJP chief

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar on Saturday urged External Affairs minister S Jaishankar for setting up a helpline for Indian students and NRIs in Canada amid a diplomatic row between the two countries. In his letter to the Union Minister, Jakhar while highlighting the concerns of citizens residing in Canada, urged him to release a detailed statement listing out the measures being taken by the Centre for the safety of the country's citizens in Canada until the eventual resolution of this issue. "This, I am sure, would go a long way in assuaging the sense of deep anxiety, panic and indecision prevailing amongst our people living in Canada and especially in students waiting to go abroad for studies. An assurance from your office would certainly lay to rest the doubts and insecurity of our students who are rightfully concerned about their study plans," Jakhar wrote in the letter. He suggested issuing a WhatsApp contact number for Indian students planning to go abroad to get in touch wit

What do the Sikhs want?

About 95 per cent of Sikhs are proud to be Indian and there's no such thing as a Khalistan sentiment in Punjab