Reacting sharply to the statement of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi that seven out of 10 youth in Punjab are drug addicts, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukbir Badal termed him a joker' on Friday.
Punjab has over 400,000 employees and pensioners and about 125,000 staff members in its corporations and boards.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday assured family members of the victims of the shooting incident in United States that the state government will bear all expenditure of the transportation of the bodies to India -- for cremation at their native places. Badal contacted Indian Ambassador to US Nirupama Rao on telephone on Monday night and informed her that the Punjab government would extend all possible help to the bereaved families of the victims.
The change came amid reports that the presence of Amit Shah, who was made home minister in the second Narendra Modi dispensation after Singh held the charge in the first between 2014-19, in all eight committees had highlighted his position as the second most powerful person in the new government.
A Bharatiya Janata Party MLA in Punjab was allegedly thrashed and his clothes torn by a group of farmers at Malout in Muktsar district on Saturday, police said.
Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday took a jibe at Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray -- for his remarks that Sushma Swaraj is the "only deserving" prime ministerial candidate in the Bharatiya Janata Party -- saying it is premature to say anything at this stage.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, appraising him that India has taken up the issue of shooting in a United States gurdwara with Washington.
Modi, who addressed a poll rally in the Malwa heartland, asked the electorate to vote for the SAD-BJP combine for the third time, warning that Punjab as well as the entire nation could face a "crisis" if government led by any party other than the alliance comes to power.
The results of assembly elections in five states have demonstrated that people now support regional parties because they represent regional aspirations, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Thursday.
Modi flagged off the first batch of pilgrims led by Akal Takhat Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib through the corridor, which was thrown open days ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 12.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari, who is an MP from Punjab, on Friday quoted from an affidavit filed by the Punjab government in court which said that 70 per cent of the youth in Punjab are on drugs of various kinds. It is the same Akali-BJP government, which filed the affidavit in the court.
Even a shortened Indian Premier League with just Indian players would be good enough in these "extraordinary times", Rajasthan Royals CEO Ranjit Barthakur said on Wednesday, revealing that a final call on the glitzy event's fate is unlikely to be taken before April 15. The top executive spelt out his franchise's wish even as the number of positive cases and death toll due to the pandemic continued to rise across the world.
With over 200 people from Punjab stranded in strife-torn Iraq, the state government has decided to bear the expenses for bringing them back safely.
'Both my son and I have filed both criminal and civil cases against Amarinder Singh and charges were framed, but he did not resign.'
Amid apprehensions that Sikh hardliners might object to the customary address by the Akal Takht jathedar at the Golden Temple, Amritsar city was turned into a fortress with about 5,000 security personnel comprising seven companies of paramilitary forces being deployed to maintain law and order.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is on a visit to the United States, has been served the summons issued by a US court in a human rights violation case for alleged torture of Sikhs in his state, according to petitioners.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged the Union government to sanction Rs 1,000 crore to fight drought in the state, which had faced a short fall of 60 per cent in rainfall this year.
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.
Sources said the Telangana chief minister was busy with preparations for the launch of his ambitious Rs 80,000 crore Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project that would end water woes in the state, while in a letter to Modi, the West Bengal chief minister had expressed her inability to attend the Niti Aayog meeting on June 15, saying it is "fruitless" as the body has no financial powers to support state plans.
Pressures in the BJP-Akali Dal alliance have created grounds for a rise in extremism.
Punjab Police on Wednesday caned protesting teachers and arrested three of them when they tried to meet Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during a function at Muktsar district in Chandigarh.
With six days to go for state assembly polls in Punjab, political parties have intensified their campaign in the state. The outgoing ruling alliance of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Bhartiya Janata Party is banking on Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and L K Advani to regain the power in the state.
As the Punjab government sought release of the state's prisoners, the union home ministry on Thursday indicated that legal opinion could be taken in select cases such as old people and those having completed 20 years in prison but not those convicted in serious charges.
The Shiromoni Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance on Tuesday created history in Punjab by storming back to power for a second consecutive term, breaking a 46-year-old jinx.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
The AAP alleged that it was an "orchestrated attack" and that police stood by as Kejriwal's car was targeted with rods and stones.
The BJP stalwart's body was later brought to his residence at Kailash Colony.
Kevin Pietersen proposed a 'condensed' league behind closed doors for one of cricket's biggest money-spinners, adding the fans shouldn't be risked. The IPL is important not just for players and franchises, but also for the people working behind the scenes, and this was not lost on Pietersen.
Despite attaining absolute majority in Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal and its ally Bharatiya Janata Party lost its vote share in comparison to Congress which failed to live up to its expectations in the poll results of the 117 member assembly.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene personally at the highest level of the United States administration to ensure that United States President Barack Obama visits the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
The decision of its two oldest allies to walk out means that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also president of the Janata Dal-United, is now the oldest BJP ally besides being the most powerful.
A woman teacher was allegedly slapped and roughed up by a sarpanch belonging to the ruling Akali Dal during a function in Chandigarh.
With the counting for the high-stakes assembly elections is on in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, here's a look at some of the big names and where they stand.
'However, this time it looks like that is not working.'
Though the Congress lost the battle in 2007 to the Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, it hopes to regain power in Punjab this year. The party, which is banking on the anti-incumbency factor, believes it "will throw Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and Bhartiya Janata Party out of power".
Punjab's voters are dissatisfied with the Akali Dal-BJP ruling combine. The Congress does not have a strong agenda on which to fight the 2017 assembly polls -- fertile ground for the AAP to step in.
Congress' Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said that Navjot Singh Sidhu would have been a tougher contestant from Amritsar than Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley whom he dismissed as a "nominal candidate".
The SAD also castigated the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party for allegedly betraying farmers by not opposing the passage of the bills in Lok Sabha.
'The protesters took out a march carrying black flags. They burnt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effigy while raising slogans against the three farm laws'
The government on Tuesday asserted in Lok Sabha that it was ready to discuss issues related to farmers both inside and outside Parliament amid vociferous protests by the Opposition which forced repeated adjournments of both the Houses.
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