A political slugfest broke out on Wednesday between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cavalcade, in a major security breach, got stranded on a flyover, 30 km away from Hussainiwala in Punjab, as a group of protesting farmers blocked his route.
Several Supreme Court lawyers on Monday wrote to the apex court alleging that they have received calls threatening judges over the case involving the security breach that left Prime Minister Narendra Modi stuck for 20 minutes on a flyover in Punjab last week.
The Punjab police on Friday claimed to have busted an ISI-backed terror module jointly handled by Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and Pakistan-based gangster Harvinder Singh Rinda with the arrest of two of its operatives.
The Centre on Friday supported a petition in the Supreme Court for a thorough probe into a "massive security breach" during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Punjab, and sought the involvement of the National Investigation Agency in the probe as there was a possibility of "international terrorist angle" and it was a unique case that had the potential to cause "embarrassment".
"Dear Naddaji, Stop losing cool and all sense of propriety. Please remember -- 10,000 security personnel were deployed for PM's rally. All arrangements were made in tandem with SPG and other agencies," Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana also appointed the Inspector General of the National Investigation Agency, Director General of Police of Chandigarh, the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana high court and the Additional DGP (Security) of Punjab as members to the Justice Malhotra panel.
'The Punjab police was taking the prime minister by road for 100 km for the first time, maybe in the last many years.' 'But the SPG keeps travelling with the prime minister every second-third day outside Delhi.' 'They are better aware of the drill; they understand the PM's security parameters better than the Punjab police.' 'They could have refused even if the clearance was given by the Punjab police.'
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the ongoing inquiries by two separate panels of the Centre and the Punjab government into the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Punjab, and said that it will set up a committee headed by a former apex court judge to probe it.
'I was exhausted, hungry, unshaven and despondent.' 'My mouth was full of sores due to dehydration.' 'My clothes were in tatters due to walking through bushes and sliding down thorny slopes,' Brigadier John Parshuram Dalvi wrote of his capture during the 1962 War.
The home ministry has taken cognisance of the "serious security lapse" and has sought a detailed report from the state government. The State Government has also been asked to fix responsibility for this lapse and take strict action.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D N Patel initially said that it would ask the Centre to consider as representation the PIL which seeks a declaration that all authorities, civil or military, shall act under the supervision of the Special Protection Group (SPG) in matters of security of the Prime Minister and his immediate family members.
Creating a record, the CJI headed apex court collegium meetings led to appointment of 11 Supreme Court judges with nine of them, including three women, appointed in one go.
'The PM of India was 20 km away from the Pakistan border and he is one of the persons under extreme threat from that country and they put his life in danger.'
Only traces of rainfall were recorded in a few areas of the national capital on Thursday which continued to experience sultry weather.
Supporters of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda sect blocked rail and road traffic at various places in Punjab for the second day on Sunday, demanding that cinema halls screen sect leader Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh's film MSG-2.
The Congress fielded Channi from two seats -- Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar and Bhadaur in Barnala, a move which showed how much the Congress was banking on him. He lost both, and the party received a drubbing from the AAP.
The Pune-bound train derailed at 3:10 am, injuring three passengers.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the provisions of the Special Protection Group Act and contents of the Blue Book are "comprehensive" in ensuring proximate security of the prime minister and other SPG protectees, and any lapse in following these can lead to "devastating and serious consequences".
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal's bullet-proof car was damaged and four people were injured in a clash between Congress and Akali workers during the filing of nomination papers for the Jalalabad municipal polls in Fazilka on Tuesday, officials said.
Deputy Inspector General (Ferozepur Range) Hardial Singh Mann, in an official release, said the murder was the handiwork of some gangsters. Mann said they have arrested 11 persons for their alleged role in the crime. The accused are still being questioned to ascertain their motive behind killing Balwinder, he said.
In this event, it is the IAF that showed true professionalism, telling the boss they weren't going to fly in that weather. You can see what professionalism and moral courage it takes to say no to your prime minister. Only things like that can keep him safe, observes Shekhar Gupta.
A tormenting heatwave swept through North India on Sunday with the mercury crossing 49 degrees Celsius in pockets of Delhi, while the weather office forecast some relief Monday onwards.
In the North Western Railway (NWR) zone, rail traffic was affected in some sections in Rajasthan and Haryana with 18 trains cancelled, 10 partially cancelled and one diverted due to the protest.
September 12 marked the 122th anniversary of one of the most incredible battles in Indian history.
Singh said he had worked as prime minister for 10 years and had always preferred that his work should speak for itself.
Farmers gathered at several national highways, key roads and some railway tracks in Punjab and Haryana on Friday morning as part of their nationwide protest against the Centre's new agri laws.
Polling was held for over hundred civic bodies in Punjab on Sunday amid stray incidents of skirmishes at some places.
Deputy Commissioner B C Thakur flagged off the inaugural run of the resumed night bus service on Fazilka-Ferozepur-Ludhiana-Chandigarh route in Ferozepur on Tuesday night.
The Haryana Police closed the Ambala-Patiala highway after protesters gathered at the Shambhu border point with adjoining Punjab. The ruling Congress also held protests in Punjab, with the state unit chief Sunil Jakhar participating in one near the Shambhu border.
Who took the decision for the prime minister, the nation's single most popular leader, to take the road route when they should have already known about the farmers' protests and also the grave risks involved, when and how, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
As per a senior NIA official, the anti-terror agency has "nominated Inspector General of Police Santosh Rastogi to assist the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court to secure and seize the records related to the visit of Prime Minister to Punjab on January 5, 2022, from State and Central Agencies".
Four school children were killed when the tempo they were travelling in was hit by a passenger train at an unmanned level crossing near Theh Kalendar village in Punjab's Ferozepur district amid dense fog on Saturday morning. The tempo carrying the children developed some problem while it was crossing the track. When the driver of the tempo got out to push the vehicle, it was hit by the Fazalka-Ferozepur passenger train, Divisional Railway Manager Vishwesh Chowbey said.
The authorities in Bihar have registered an FIR against Khan Sir and five teachers for allegedly inciting violence over the controversy surrounding the results of tests conducted by the RRB-NTPC after the recent violent protests in Patna.
The accused, Sheikh Riazuddin, was under the scanner of the BSF intelligence wing for his suspicious activities for the last few months, they said.
The SAD has been requesting the Centre not to introduce the three agriculture-related bills for the approval of Parliament until all reservations expressed by farmers' organisations, farmers and farm labourers are addressed, Badal said.
Shah said "three families" are answerable to the people for their failure to develop Jammu and Kashmir over the past seven decades.
Asserting that he will not let Punjab plunge into anarchy at any cost and nobody can be allowed to take the law into their hands, the chief minister said he has been forced to toughen his stance as his repeated appeals to perpetrators of such acts had been ignored.
"We are here to oppose Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat'. We are registering this protest because the prime minister only says what he has to without listening to the voice of the people," Chaduni said during the protest.
However, the farmer bodies said they will again block the rail tracks if the government failed to resolve their issues.
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