Intense monsoon rains brought normal life to a standstill in several parts of eastern and central Rajasthan, flooding out roads, rail tracks, low-lying residential areas and hospitals and claiming seven lives since Sunday night.
According to a tweet by the weather expert, the icy, severe chill would be experienced between January 14 and 19 and is likely to be at its peak from January 16 to 18.
The entire area has been cordoned off while drones and sniffer dogs are being used to sniff out the terrorists that might be hiding in the area, they said.
Despite being sighted in several CCTV footage and photos with changed appearances at many places, including Patiala, Kurukshetra and Delhi, the radical preacher continued to hoodwink the police.
Kamaljeet, who is now back in her native place Barkandi village in Bathinda, and her father Sikandar Singh, explained their week-long ordeal and how travel and placement agents in Punjab are bleeding poor families financially with a promise of a better future.
Amritpal managed to evade arrest for more than a month, which was proving to be a major embarrassment for the Punjab police that had launched a crackdown against the radical preacher and his aides on March 18.
A National Investigation Agency team, which reached the spot on Saturday evening, was also carrying out its investigation by visiting the spot, they said.
The Punjab government has declared a holiday on Thursday as a mark of respect to the former chief minister.
Amid a police crackdown on Amritpal Singh and his outfit, the pro-Khalistan preacher appeared in a video on Wednesday, calling for a 'Sarbat Khalsa' congregation on Baisakhi to discuss issues related to the Sikh community and saying he is in high spirits.
Mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country on Monday as the Indian meteorological department predicted heat wave conditions in parts of east India over the next four days and the northwest region over the next two days.
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "troubled" with only 15 minutes of wait whereas farmers protested against the farm laws for a year.
Additional director general of police Pramod Ban is the head of the AGTF.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit was cut short on Wednesday after a "major security lapse" as he was stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes due to a blockade by protesters, prompting the Union Home Ministry to seek an immediate report from the state government and strict action against those responsible.
The ruling Congress on Wednesday swept the urban body polls in Punjab, winning six municipal corporations, emerging as the largest party in the seventh and bagging most of the 109 municipal council and nagar panchayats.
Delhi saw seven cold wave days in January 2020, while it did not record any such day last year.
Badal's mortal remains were taken to the family's farmland, around a kilometer from his residence, on a flower-decked tractor-trolley with his son Sukhbir Singh Badal and other family members standing with folded hands as the vehicle moved past the mourners on the route.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several central ministers and chief ministers and leaders cutting across party lines condoled the demise of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday and hailed his immense contributions to the state as well as the country.
Delhi's primary weather station, the Safdarjung Observatory, registered a maximum temperature of 40.4 degrees Celsius, four notches higher than normal.
Two days after the gruesome murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in Mansa district, the Punjab police on Tuesday made the first arrest in this case.
Gang member Lucky has taken responsibility for the murder, said Bhara.
Controversial Punjabi singer Sidhu Mussewala, who joined the Congress sometime ago will contest from Mansa and actor Sonu Sood's sister Malvika Sood from Moga.
"We had asked them (PMO) to discontinue the visit due to bad weather conditions and protests. We had no information of his (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) sudden route change. There was no security lapse during the PM visit," Channi said at a press conference.
Security forces took out flag marches at several places including Ferozepur, Bathinda, Rupnagar, Faridkot, Batala, Fazilka, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Moga and Jalandhar in a show of strength.
The court also observed that honour killings were prevalent in northern parts of India, particularly in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, and said it is for the state to ensure protection of such couples.
The national capital, parts of which reeled under heatwave conditions for the past few days, had some relief on Wednesday with strong winds and partly cloudy skies witnessed during the day.
Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma said a large number of buses and other vehicles carrying BJP workers and other people were prevented from reaching the rally site.
Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Friday tested positive for coronavirus.
It will be for the first time in three decades that the Badal family will have no representation in the 117-member Punjab assembly.
Large parts of north India reeled under numbing cold on Tuesday with the mercury remaining below freezing point at most places in Jammu and Kashmir, while dense fog in the early hours of the morning hit road and rail traffic movement.
The sect chief is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two women disciples at his ashram in Sirsa, where the dera is headquartered.
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been given Z-plus security cover during his 21-day release on furlough from a Haryana jail where he has been serving a sentence, officials said on Tuesday." a recent communication from a senior Haryana police official to the Rohtak Range commissioner said.
'Mr Badal wanted to talk to a member of the Gandhi family to bring about some sort of rapprochement between the Akalis and the Congress which were the two major parties at that time.'
Petrol doped with 20 per cent ethanol was rolled out on Monday at select petrol pumps in 11 states and union territories as part of a programme to increase use of biofuels to cut emissions as well as dependence on foreign exchange-draining imports. At present, 10 per cent ethanol is blended in petrol (10 per cent ethanol, 90 per cent petrol) and the government is looking to double this quantity by 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the higher 20 per cent ethanol blended petrol two months ahead of the planned rollout in April, at the India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 in Bengaluru.
The projectile, fired by some unidentified people, hit the Saanjh Kendra adjoining the Sarhali police station on the Amritsar-Bathinda highway on Friday night.
"Now it is necessary to investigate whether there is a lapse in the security or the anger of the farmers!" Tikait tweeted in Hindi on Wednesday.
Actor Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday said that she has filed an FIR after allegedly receiving threats over her posts on farmers' protests.
Polling was held for over hundred civic bodies in Punjab on Sunday amid stray incidents of skirmishes at some places.
India's plan to produce ethanol from second-generation (2G) sources -- mainly farm waste -- is taking time to materialise even as the government is set to dedicate to the nation on Wednesday a Rs 900-crore plant set up by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Panipat. Though state-run oil companies had decided to set up at least 12 plants in 2016-17 with an investment of around Rs 10,000 crore, this will be the first unit coming on track while others are stuck in various stages owing to issues like capital expenditure, lack of feedstock, and high rates of finished products compared to traditional ethanol units. According to industry sources, three more second-generation plants are coming up.
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.
In the first case, the arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh alias Yog, a resident of Rajoke village in Tarn Taran district.
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