'We are under pressure from officials and confined to our home while the media has also been disallowed from meeting us'
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.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Constitution amendment bill to restore the power of states to make their own OBC lists after a thaw in the logjam as Opposition parties backed the legislation but demanded the removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation, with many of them also calling for a caste-based census.
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.
The AAP alleged that it was an "orchestrated attack" and that police stood by as Kejriwal's car was targeted with rods and stones.
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.
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.
While there is no change in the strength of the Modi-led CCPA over its two tenures, what has changed is its profile.
A woman teacher was allegedly slapped and roughed up by a sarpanch belonging to the ruling Akali Dal during a function in Chandigarh.
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".
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
The BJP stalwart's body was later brought to his residence at Kailash Colony.
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 party desperately needs another state where, unfettered by the Centre, it can fly its flag.
Demanding an enquiry into the whole incident, Badal demanded exemplary punishment for the guilty.
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.
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Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and said his state is ready to bear all expenses for the safe return of Punjabis kidnapped presumably by Islamic militants in oil-rich Mosul town of strife-torn Iraq.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday claimed that victory of the Janata Dal-United-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in the Bihar assembly elections reflects the national mood against Congress party.
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.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal expressed his gratitude to Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh for his efforts in cleaning polluted rivers in the state. Badal appreciated the central minister's efforts through a unanimous resolution adopted by the state assembly on September 30, which thanked Ramesh for his "whole-hearted assistance to the scheme to make the state of Punjab pollution free."
The assembly polls are seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, especially in the wake of demonetisation.
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.
Noted educationist and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya was on Monday posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Her speech was laced with Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit and even Tamil verses.
In a reprieve for Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, a local court in Mohali on Friday acquitted him along with his wife, son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and eight others in a seven-year-old corruption and disproportionate assets case. The case was filed against them during the Amarinder Singh-led Congress regime. Additional District and Sessions Judge R K Aggarwal acquitted 11 of the 15 accused, saying no incriminating evidence was available.
"Let me explain to you that we were not trapped by your 'googlies'. Our two Sikh Ministers went to Kartarpur Sahib to offer prayers in the Holy Gurudwara", she said.
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.
'However, this time it looks like that is not working.'
Ajinkya Rahane has been named as the new skipper of the IPL team.
A galaxy of top leaders, including Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and leaders of BJP's allies such as Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan were present with Shah.
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.
'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 chief minister pointed out that prompt action had been taken by the Punjab Police and the accused had been caught without delay, unlike in the Hathras incident. "That was why Rahul Gandhi had to rush to Hathras, to secure justice for the victim's family, and did not need to visit Hoshiarpur," he said.
Australia spin legend Shane Warne was named as the brand ambassador of Rajasthan Royals for the upcoming 12th editon of the Indian Premier League.
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