Bad loans in the agriculture sector remain elevated, with several public-sector banks (PSBs) reporting higher slippages in the April-June quarter of FY26. For many banks, non-performing assets (NPAs) in farm lending were 5 per cent or more, with some nearing double digits.'
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal along with 25 legislators and members of Parliament, both past and present, called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late on Monday night and asked him to do justice to Punjab farmers who toil hard to provide 50 per cent of the foodgrains for the people of the country.
A 21-year-old farmer was killed and a few others injured following a clash between security personnel and protesting farmers at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border.
Observing that there is a trust deficit between farmers and the government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed constitution of an independent committee comprising eminent persons to reach out to the protesters to find a solution to their demands.
The Centre has denied political clearance to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his visit to Paris to support the Indian Hockey team at the Olympic Games, an official source said on Saturday.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had convened an emergency meeting of newly reconstituted Council of Ministers in view of the 'Bharat Bandh' call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) to protest against the three agri laws, an official statement said after the cabinet meeting.
'Fifteen days ago, we were only talking of Ayodhya. Now we are talking about farmers.'
Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Munda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai represented the Centre at the meeting over the farmer unions' various demands, including a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the meeting at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26. The meeting started at around 8:45 pm on Thursday and lasted for around five hours.
The state government filed the special leave petition in the top court on March 11 against the high court's decision.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the meeting at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 in Chandigarh.
The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) will on Saturday hold dharnas outside the residences of three senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Punjab on the fifth day of the farmers' protest over their various demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP).
The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after their "Delhi Chalo" march was stopped by the security forces.
'The BJP will not win a single seat in Punjab.'
The driver of the SUV that fatally struck Fauja Singh, the world's oldest marathoner, has been arrested. Amritpal Singh Dhillon, 26, was apprehended and his vehicle seized. The incident occurred on the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway in Punjab's Jalandhar district.
Kuldip Singh, a Tanda Ram Sahay village farmer, claimed Gurinder Singh is the son of his younger brother Mohinder Singh. He claimed that the boy's mother Dapinder Kaur, who is fighting a divorce case, was involved in "human trafficking" and took the boy with her to Malaysia in August 2007.
While Singh slammed Khattar for stopping farmers from moving towards the national capital, terming it as 'totally undemocratic and unconstitutional', the latter told the Punjab chief minister to stop 'inciting innocent farmers'.
Referring to an action against farmers by the security personnel deployed by the Haryana authorities at the Punjab-Haryana border, Pandher slammed paramilitary personnel for using "force" against farmers, leaving many injured.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer organisations that spearheaded a protest at Delhi's borders in 2020-21 against three agriculture laws that have since been repealed, has said a resolution will be passed at the 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' to 'intensify the fight' against the Centre's policies.
In the last 11 years, India and the world witnessed what he stood for, what he promised and did not deliver, and what he actually stood for and practised without fearing how history would judge him. Modi's tenure has been punctuated with headline-grabbing decisions, symbolic gestures, and stage-managed moments that continue to define his leadership and India's politics, points out Ramesh Menon.
If everything goes according to plan, a resuscitated SAD could emerge as a central player in Punjab in three years, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'One needs to understand what kind of means the BJP use to bring other party leaders in their party.' 'They are unscrupulous politicians and money plays an important role.'
Heavy rains across India have led to widespread flooding, causing damage to infrastructure, displacement of residents, and disruption of normal life. Rescue efforts are underway in affected areas.
Some farmer outfits on Friday threw their weight behind the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) woman constable who allegedly slapped actor and Bharatiya Janata Party MP-elect Kangana Ranaut, saying the entire sequence leading to the incident needs to be properly investigated.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Tuesday said the Centre should convene a daylong Parliament session to bring a legislation on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops, a key demand of protesting farmers.
The Centre has estimated that nearly 14,000 people have gathered along the Punjab-Haryana border with 1,200 tractor-trolleys, 300 cars, 10 mini-buses as well as small vehicles and conveyed its strong objections to the Punjab government for it, sources said on Tuesday.
The CISF, tasked with providing security at airports, has also ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.
A team of three Union ministers will hold talks on Monday with a delegation of farmer leaders, who are planning to march towards Delhi to press for their demands.
The Punjab and Haryana high court Tuesday issued notices to the Centre, and the states of Haryana and Punjab, on two separate petitions filed pertaining to the farmers' Delhi Chalo march.
A group of farmers demanding relief for crop damage allegedly held 12 government officials hostage for several hours inside a sub-tehsil office in Muktsar district's Lambi, Punjab.
Scenes from the farmers' Delhi Chalo march and protest.
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.
The members of the farmers' unions while on their way to the protest site removed barricades put up by police and forcibly entered the road leading to the 'dharna'.
Bracing for another agitation by farmers, police are fortifying the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-Haryana borders with barricades and deploying more than 5,000 security personnel, a senior police officer said here on Friday.
The government said in an order that mobile internet services would be banned in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts.
Police said they will not allow the farmers protesting against the Centre's new farm laws to enter Delhi if they reach the borders of the national capital.
The Haryana Police on Wednesday fired tear gas shells to disperse farmers from Punjab at Shambhu and Khanauri border points as they tried to move towards barricades stalling their protest march to Delhi.
Three Union ministers and farmer leaders will meet in Chandigarh at 6 pm to discuss their demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP for crops and farm debt waiver.
The Union ministers and farmer leaders had met earlier on February 8, 12 and 15 but the talks remained inconclusive.
The incident took place on the intervening night of April 8-9 near Dorangla village in Gurdaspur district. The Border Security Force (BSF) has issued an "alert" all along the 553 km of this front in Punjab and suspension of farming around the blast area.
Pakistan on Wednesday handed over Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Purnam Kumar Shaw, apprehended on April 23, to India via the Attari-Wagah border front in Punjab, the force said.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances