'Most pollution boards across the country have unused funds. There is practically no reason why pollution should not be a political priority.'
Congress veteran and former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil passed away at 90. He served as Union Home Minister and held several key posts during his long political career.
BJP leader Amit Shah in a poll rally last month had asked people of Ludhiana to send Ravneet Singh Bittu to Parliament, promising them that he will make him a 'bada aadmi' (a big man).
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will meet Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, state ministers, and party MLAs in Delhi on Tuesday amid growing speculation about internal dissent in the party's Punjab unit following AAP's rout in the Delhi Assembly elections. The meeting is expected to focus on analyzing the Delhi election results and strategizing for the Punjab polls scheduled in 2027. The AAP's Punjab unit has faced questions about internal cohesion, with some suggesting that the party's leadership in Delhi continues to exert significant influence over Punjab's governance. There are also speculations that Kejriwal could consider a more direct role in Punjab politics now, with some political observers suggesting that he could contest from the vacant Ludhiana assembly seat.
Punjab Police detained several farmer leaders, including Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal, while they were returning from a meeting with a central delegation in Chandigarh. The police also began evicting protesting farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri border points, which have been closed for over a year. The action comes amid concerns from industrialists in Punjab over the prolonged closure of the border points, which they say has resulted in heavy losses. The meeting between the farmer leaders and the central delegation, led by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was inconclusive, but the next meeting is scheduled for May 4.
The counting of votes will be done on November 14, along with the Bihar assembly election votes.
Border Security Force personnel later found human footprints heading towards the Pakistani side, raising the possibility of an unintentional border crossing.
'Previously, contributing only 25 per cent of material costs, states now face burdens of 40 per cent to 100 per cent of total costs, ensuring poorer states will curb project approvals, directly stifling work demand.'
Amid the political push and pull, the Centre's decision to allow sugar exports and remove the 50 per cent duty on molasses exports has rekindled hope in the industry that more relief may follow.
Punjab cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was told he is left with only NRI Affairs portfolio as the administrative reforms department he was holding for the past nearly 21 months did not exist, according to a government notification.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on the premises of Rajasthan Congress leader and former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Punjab AAP MLA Kulwant Singh as part of a money laundering probe linked to the Rs 48,000-crore PACL Ponzi scam. Khachariyawas, who served as a minister in the Ashok Gehlot government, claimed the ED action was politically motivated due to his criticism of the government. Singh, a real estate promoter, is reported to be Punjab's richest MLA with assets worth Rs 1,000 crore. The ED has been investigating the PACL scam since 2015, alleging that the company defrauded investors of Rs 48,000 crore through fraudulent investment schemes.
As part of protests, farmers ask questions to BJP leaders and show them black flags for not agreeing to their demands.
The BJP knows how to play with people's lives and bodies, former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said.
The Punjab government dismissed claims that it owned the car intercepted in Delhi. The vehicle's number plate was forged and fake as it can be tracked to a different car not owned by the Punjab government, it said. The AAP, too, released a statement, saying the car seizure was a "planted stunt, ?poorly executed and utterly bogus".
'BJP leaders are trying to save their lives in Punjab.'
In seniority in the BJP leadership team, V K Malhotra, who passed into the ages this week, was next only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh, notes Sudhir Bisht.
Rahul alleged that 25 lakh votes were stolen in Haryana through 5.21 lakh duplicate voters, 93,174 invalid voters, and 19.26 lakh bulk voters.
'I have always broken my image every time I went on screen. I don't know what it means to be a Greek God but people used to call me one.'
The United States will deport 119 Indian nationals who were living in the country illegally. The individuals will arrive in Amritsar, India, on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted the need to combat human trafficking. This deportation follows the arrival of a US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants earlier this month. Prime Minister Modi and President Donald Trump discussed the issue of illegal immigration during their joint press conference, emphasizing the need to dismantle the "ecosystem" of human trafficking. Modi emphasized India's willingness to take back its citizens residing illegally in the US, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that the issue of illegal immigration was raised during the discussions, stressing the need to address the root causes of the problem. India seeks cooperation from the US to dismantle the rackets and ecosystems that facilitate illegal immigration, potentially involving collaboration between law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday hailed the party's performance in the Gujarat and Punjab bypolls, calling them a 'semi-final to 2027' and a clear sign that voters would reject both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
Nine seats are going to polls in Uttar Pradesh, four in Punjab and one in Kerala.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Parvesh Verma on Wednesday said he will file a Rs 50 crore defamation suit each against AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for levelling "false allegations against" and claiming he called Punjabis a "threat" to the country.
Records stretching back to 1947 suggest a consistent strategy by Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), of using terrorism as a state policy against India.
Aam Aadmi Party MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra on Tuesday allegedly escaped the police out to arrest him in a rape case
ABVP won all six posts -- president, vice-president, general secretary, joint secretary, cultural secretary and sports secretary -- in the elections held on September 19, a press release said.
The Election Commission on Monday rescheduled from November 13 to November 20 the assembly bypolls to all nine and four seats in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, respectively, and one seat in Kerala in view of festivals, an official statement said.
The auction, a violation of democratic norms, has been condemned by several political leaders. Elections to gram panchayats in Punjab will be held on October 15.
The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress of repeatedly supplying "oxygen" to Pakistan, and slammed the opposition party for its leader Charanjit Singh Channi's remarks questioning the veracity of Balakot air strikes after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the Congress is full of pro-Pakistan leaders who make statements against India's interests, and mocked the party for its letter that had advised its functionaries to toe the official line on the issue. Patra also criticized other Congress leaders for their comments on the Pulwama and Pahalgam terror attacks, accusing them of lowering the morale of the armed forces. He further slammed the Congress for claiming credit for the government's announcement of the caste census and said the party never carried out the exercise during its over 60-year stint in power.
The TMC-led West Bengal government has already started laying the groundwork for the election, setting the tone with the recent Bengal Global Business Summit and the state Budget.
The Supreme Court told actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut that she had "added spice" to a retweet during the 2020-21 farmers' protest, leading her to withdraw her plea for quashing a defamation complaint.
Opposition-ruled states warn of steep annual losses; Centre assures higher consumption will offset revenue hit.
It has now emerged that the BCCI top post could go to Mithun Manhas, who was also involved as director of cricket operations with the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
Badal, who served as the finance minister in the previous Congress government, said, "Seven years ago, I merged the People's Party of Punjab with your party. I did so with immense hope and an expectation of being integrated into an organisation with a rich history that would allow me to serve both the people of Punjab and its interests to the best of my ability."
The land pooling policy aims to kick-start a new wave of urbanisation in the predominantly rural state.
The move came days after the Supreme Court vacated the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the trial in three sacrilege cases.
The Haryana government transferred Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya after an IPS officer's suicide and allegations of caste-based discrimination.
Hours after, however, firing from the Pakistani side was reported in Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Drones were also seen in the Pir Panjal area.
'He was walking on the road when a car coming from Bhogpur hit him. He suffered head injuries and was taken to a private hospital where he died in the evening'
The BJP and Congress have called out the 'Delhi model' as a hoax, built on sustained propaganda when the ground reality is different.
The Centre has denied political clearance to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his visit to Paris to support the Indian Hockey team at the Olympic Games, an official source said on Saturday.
