Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday demanded that Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa reveal the source of his claim that 50 bombs had reached the state, questioning if he had direct links with Pakistan. Bajwa, who had made the statement in a TV interview, said he cooperated with police but refused to divulge his sources. The police visited Bajwa's residence and questioned him about his statement. Mann also sought a clarification from the Congress party, saying the government will take strict action if Bajwa's statement was meant only to "create panic."
In a video message on Sunday, Mann also thanked the people of Punjab for their cooperation and said he does not want the youth to be misled by people with vested interests who run their shops by driving a campaign against the country.
Singh (80) had floated the Punjab Lok Congress last year after quitting the Congress.
Mann also asked the vigilance bureau to investigate the wealth amassed by the police officer through alleged "drug money".
"You vote thinking that you are voting to make Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister (of Punjab). Your vote is for Kejriwal," Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.
The incident is being seen as a major intelligence failure as the office houses the state counter intelligence wing, special task force and some other units.
He also said he even declined the post of deputy chief minister offered by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to him.
Ahead of farmers' tractor parade in Delhi on Tuesday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday appealed to farmers to ensure their rally remains peaceful as their stir against agri laws has been so far.
The CMs with lowest assets are West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee with assets worth over Rs 15.38 lakh, Omar Abdullah, CM of Jammu and Kashmir, with assets worth over Rs 55.24 lakh, and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, who has assets worth Rs 1.18 crore.
Justice Surya Kant is set to become the 53rd Chief Justice of India, bringing extensive experience and a record of significant verdicts on key issues.
Soon after taking the oath of office, the newly-sworn in Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said his government is standing with farmers and will appeal to the Centre to withdraw the three farm laws.
He said people of Punjab can make him 'personally accountable' for all the works.
Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi was on Monday sworn in as the chief minister of Punjab, making him the first Dalit to hold the top post in the state.
In its first decision, the Punjab cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday approved filling up 25,000 vacant posts in various state departments, including 10,000 in the police force.
A resident of a village in Kaithal, Haryana, was arrested for allegedly passing information to the Pakistan army and Inter-Services Intelligence during the recent India-Pakistan conflict.
Some media reports claimed he may meet some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Delhi after which Amarinder Singh's media advisor Raveen Thukral sought to clarify the reason for his visit.
Channi slammed the AAP government over his date of appearance date being advanced and alleged it was part of the dispensation's "vendetta politics".
The merger was sealed on Friday during a meeting between Badal and Rahul at the latter's residence here where Singh and All India Congress Committee General Secretary Shakeel Ahmad were also present, they said.
Singh stressed that if Punjab was able to meet its target of administering two lakh shots a day, then its current supplies will last only three days.
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.
A loud sound was heard at around 1 am outside Kalia's residence near Shastri Market in Jalandhar, police said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident.
The ED action, sources said, has been initiated after taking cognisance of a 2018 FIR of the Punjab Police against some companies and individuals alleged to be involved in illegal sand mining in the state.
Charges under the SC/ST Act have been added to the FIR in the alleged suicide case of Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar following a plea by his wife. The case involves allegations of caste-based discrimination and harassment against senior officers.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul asked how could he stand with the Akali Dal when he always talks about eliminating corruption.
Raninder Singh has been asked to depose at the central probe agency's office in Jalandhar on October 27, they said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from northwest India around September 15. This year's monsoon covered the country earlier than usual, resulting in surplus rainfall and extreme weather events.
Sources have revealed that at least five hardcore terrorists affiliated with banned terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were killed in Indian strikes in Pakistan on May 7th. The strikes targeted nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Among the dead were Mudassar Khadian Khas, a LeT leader, and Hafiz Muhammed Jameel, the brother of JeM founder Maulana Masood Azhar. Other notable casualties included Mohammad Yusuf Azhar, a brother-in-law of Masood Azhar, and Khalid alias Abu Akasha, a LeT operative. The Pakistani military and government officials were present at the funerals of the slain terrorists.
Punjab Police thwarted farmers' attempt to go to Chandigarh on the Samyukta Kisan Morcha's call for a week-long dharna beginning Wednesday, as multiple checkpoints were set up across the state and security stepped up at all entry points of the Union Territory.
The Opposition targeted Mann on Monday, alleging that he was deplaned from a Delhi-bound aircraft at the Frankfurt airport as he was drunk, a charge dismissed by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party as baseless.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Monday said it has put the ball in Bharatiya Janata Party's court by demanding early elections in Delhi in November, and now it is up to the opposition party to decide whether it was prepared to face CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Amid the ongoing turmoil in the Punjab Congress, former state party chief Sunil Jakhar on Thursday said there should be an end to attempts to undermine the authority of the Punjab chief minister time and again.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that some Congress leaders pressured individuals to donate funds to the Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited (AJL) on instructions from senior party functionaries. The ED's chargesheet in the National Herald case claims that these individuals made payments to the company "under the influence" from senior leaders who promised them "certain favours" in party politics. The chargesheet, filed on April 9 before a local court, names Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused, along with five others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency alleges that these donations were not made voluntarily but in expectation of political benefits. The ED also found that YI and AJL received funds from various entities through "quid pro quo" arrangements, where individuals were asked to make payments for advertisements in the National Herald in exchange for past favours from Congress leaders.
Speaking to the media persons in Delhi on Sunday, the Rajya Sabha member said: "I have declined the offer to be the next Punjab CM. I believe Punjab CM face should be a Sikh."
JMM leader Hemant Soren was sworn in as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand in a grand ceremony in Ranchi, amid the presence of a galaxy of INDIA bloc leaders. This is Soren's fourth stint as chief minister. The JMM-led alliance won a majority in the recent assembly polls, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly.
Navjot Sidhu has been given power and new and renewable energy sources, and his tourism and cultural affairs portfolio has been given to Charanjit Singh Channi.
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.
Punjab Police launched a statewide operation against drugs, conducting raids at more than 750 locations as the cabinet sub-committee on the drug menace held its first meeting on Saturday. Around 12,000 police personnel were involved in the operation being carried out as part of an anti-drug campaign. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday set a deadline of three months to make the state drug-free. The operation led to the arrest of 290 drug smugglers after registration of 232 FIRs. Police recovered 8.14 kg heroin, 1.21 kg opium, 3.5 kg ganja, 19 kg poppy husk, 700 grams charas, 16,238 intoxicant tablets, injections and Rs 8.02 lakh cash.
Amarinder Singh dubbed Kejriwal's proposed visit to Chandigarh as another example of the Delhi CM allegedly leaving the national capital in the midst of a crisis and travelling to other places when his presence was needed the most at home.
Singh along with a team of industrialists and senior functionaries of the state would lay the foundation stone of the Nankana Sahib-Wagah Highway on March 16.
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.
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