Punjab Director General of Police N P S Aulakh has been appointed as the new chief of the elite National Security Guards and will assume charge on March 1. Aulakh, a 1972-batch officer of the Indian Police Service, will replace J K Dutta who is retiring on Saturday, official sources said on Friday. He was appointed the Punjab DGP in March 2007 after the formation of Shiromani Akali Dal Bharatiya Janata Party combine government in the state. Aulakh is to retire in August 2010
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 10 ministers at Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh.
The Shiromani Akali Dal is protesting against booth capturing by Congress workers during the Ajnala bypoll.
A fresh probe is likely with a government-appointed committee recommending constitution of a SIT
Close on the heels of developments in Karnataka, an uneasy relationship prevails in Punjab where the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party appear to be in sombre mood over certain contentious issues, including the recent proposed hike in power tariff by the state government.
Hours after taking a 'U-turn' by informing the high court that it is withdrawing its notification dissolving all gram panchayats in the state, the Punjab government suspended two senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers on Thursday for a 'technically-flawed' decision.
Badal said the farmers are waging a bitter struggle in the severe cold just to secure their fundamental right to life.
"If the government is convinced that he is innocent and that he has been a victim of mistaken identity, it should move ahead to save him," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.
In a statement, Deol said Sidhu's 'repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the state government to ensure justice in the drugs matter and the sacrilege cases'.
The matter was raised by Dr Rattan Singh, member of Lok Sabha from Tarn Taran and Saranjit Singh Dhillon, who alleged that the Congress party was behind engineering violence against the Akalis.
In a view that may not go well with Bharatiya Janata Party's ally Akali Dal, the Sangh says it sees a 'problem' if minorities assume a 'political' character.
Makkar is a close confidant of SAD chief Prakash Singh Badal.
Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat led the people in paying tributes to Tohra whose pyre was lit by his son-in-law Harmail Singh Tohra.
The death came at 0041 IST after he suffered a heart attack at 0030 IST at the Escorts Heart Institute in Delhi.
Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police G S Dhillon said the SAD (A) leader was arrested under sections 107/151 (apprehension of breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code.
The others to be elected to the Upper House from Punjab were Ashwini Kumar and Dharampal Sabharwal (Congress) and Virender Singh Bajwa (Shiromani Akali Dal).
Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said the former chief minister Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government had to be replaced as it was being run by the BJP from Delhi.
Punjab Governor S F Rodrigues administered the oath of office and secrecy to Badal at a ceremony held at PCA stadium in Mohali.
Shiromani Akali Dal Chief Parkash Singh Badal will take oath as the chief minister of Punjab on Friday.
The 58-year-old surrendered shortly after 4 pm, and was taken for the mandatory medical examination, conducted at the Mata Kaushalya Hospital.
Arun Jaitley, general secretary in charge of Punjab, left by the backdoor to avoid enraged supporters of those who have denied party nominations.
Demanding registration of murder cases against those involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Shiromai Akali Dal asked PM Manmohan Singh on Tuesday to ensure justice to victims of the senseless violence or else quit.
He said he visited the holy place following requests from people there, including Ujjal Dosanjh, the Health Minister of Canada.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and the opposition SAD-BJP are at loggerheads over who will inaugurate the bridge in Gurdaspur district.
Farmer outfits on Friday started mobilising more batches of peasants from Haryana and Punjab to head towards Delhi's borders to join the ongoing agitation against agri laws, even as political parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Indian National Lok Dal threw their weight behind them.
The case has been registered against the former Punjab chief minister for allegedly amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.
Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa of the Akali Dal said the Sikh boy had tried to stop four hooligans from eve teasing. The miscreants caught hold of the Sikh boy, cut his hair and insulted him.
Singh noted that opposition members tore rule book, threw papers at the desk of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was in the Chair, and climbed the officials' table -- something, he added, he had never witnessed before.
After his statement, opposition leaders will speak and if required Singh may give a clarification, the sources said.
'The politics that is now being played in Punjab doesn't contribute towards peace and tranquillity.'
'This is evidently pure vendetta politics and may even end up helping the Akalis in the elections'
Who controls the government in Punjab?
The Dera had approached the apex court last Friday after the Akal Takht, the highest religious body of Sikhs, served an ultimatum to the Punjab government to close down all Deras in the state by May 27.
The Sikh high priests have also demanded that Ram Rahim tender an unqualified apology for wearing clothes similar to that of the tenth Guru Gobind Singh.
Rajnath Singh was flooded with question on the Dera controversy and he had to be careful not to say anything that would embarrass Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.
In both the states, the Congress has conceded defeat, admitting that price rise may have been one of the major reasons for the drubbing.
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