Punjab Government

Punjab municipal polls: AAP wins Patiala; Congress ahead in Amritsar

Punjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party won the municipal elections in Patiala and was leading in Ludhiana and Jalandhar, while the Congress was ahead in Phagwara and Amritsar. Elections to five municipal corporations -- Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Amritsar and Phagwara -- and 44 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Punjab took place on Saturday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is set to elect its mayor in Patiala as it won 43 out of 53 wards. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won four wards each, while the Shiromani Akali Dal won two wards, as per the results declared on Saturday night. AAP was also leading in Ludhiana, where it won 42 out of 95 wards. Congress registered victory in 29 wards, followed by BJP in 19, Independents 3 and SAD 2, as per the results. AAP was also ahead in Jalandhar, winning 39 out of 85 wards, with Congress and BJP winning 24 and 19 wards, respectively. However, Congress was ahead in Amritsar and Phagwara. In Amritsar, Congress won 40 wards wh

Exclusive 'Judges Lounge' at Diljit Dosanjh's Chandigarh concert sparks row

Over 300 VIP passes were reportedly issued to Punjab and Haryana High Court judges, along with their family members, raising concerns over preferential treatment

BJP's Sachdeva questions Mann on party's promise of giving money to women

In the letter, the BJP leader asked the Punjab CM whether the Punjab government is giving Rs 1000 to women as part of their 'five guarantees' as promised in the 2022 polls

PSTET Answer Key 2024 out at official website, raise objections till Dec 15

The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has announced the answer key for the Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test (PSTET) 2024 through the official website at pstet.pseb.ac.in

Centre should resolve farmers' issues without delay: Punjab Speaker

Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Monday slammed the Centre, accusing it of being "indifferent" to the genuine demands of farmers and leaving them "high and dry on the roads". Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open channels of communication with the protesting farmers, Sandhwan stressed that the Centre must take decisive action and resolve the farmers' issues without dragging its feet. "It was a bitter pill for Punjab's farmers to swallow, being left high and dry on the roads, while the Union government remained indifferent," said Sandhwan in a statement. He said in other countries, including those in Europe, farmers can take their issues straight to their parliaments, whereas Indian farmers are given "the cold shoulder" when they raise valid concerns. The Speaker reminded the Centre that the country's farmers not only put food on the table for millions but also serve as the backbone of India's trade, industry, and economy by producing a variety of crops. He ca

Amritsar explosion caused due to 'tyre blast', not major incident: DSP

Earlier, on Wednesday, the news of tyre blast was reported as 'major bomb blast' incident, according to several media reports

Kejriwal condemns attack on Badal, lauds Punjab Police for averting tragedy

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday condemned the attack on Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal at Golden Temple in Amritsar and lauded the Punjab Police for averting a "very big" tragedy. Speaking in Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal also hit out at the BJP, saying "very big powers" are conspiring to defame Punjab and people of the state. "The Punjab Police not only averted the tragedy but also set an example of how to maintain law and order," the former Delhi chief minister said. He said that the issue of attack on Badal was raised by the BJP, but the party was silent over the "murders, rapes, shooting in Delhi" where police come under the Central government. A former terrorist opened fire at Badal from a close range while he was performing the duty of 'sewadar' outside the Golden Temple on Wednesday but missed as he was overpowered by a plainclothes policeman. The audacious attack was captured on cameras of mediapersons who had gathered outside the Sikh shrine to cover

Punjab CM condemns attack on Sukhbir Badal, praises cops for swift action

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann strongly condemned the attack on Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was fired at while performing 'sewa' outside the Golden Temple on Wednesday morning, and directed police to investigate the incident. The chief minister also lauded the promptness of the Punjab Police in nabbing the attacker. The man missed Badal as he was overpowered by police. The audacious attack was captured on cameras of media persons who had gathered outside the Sikh shrine to cover the second day of Badal's penance for "mistakes" committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017. "Punjab Police prevented a major incident from happening today. It is the result of the promptness of the Punjab Police that the conspiracy to defame Punjab and Punjabis has failed," Mann said in a post on X. "The police achieved great success by arresting the assailant on the spot with their promptness... I strongly condemn the attack on Sukhbir Badal ji. I have issued

SC directs President's secy to expedite Beant assassination convict's plea

The Supreme Court on Monday directed President Droupadi Murmu's secretary to place before her the mercy petition of death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, for consideration. A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan requested the President to consider the plea within two weeks. "Inspite of the matter being specifically kept today none appeared for Union of India. The bench assembled only for this case," the bench said. "On the last date the matter was adjourned to enable the Union to take instructions from the office of the President as to by when will mercy plea be decided. Taking into consideration that the petitioner is on a death row, we direct the secretary to the President of India to place the matter before the President with a request to consider the same within two weeks from today," the bench said. The matter will now be heard on December 5. On September 25, the top

'Studio-like' set-up for gangster: HC slams Punjab Police in Bishnoi case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for a new investigation into gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's 2023 interview with a private channel conducted during his time in Bathinda jail

Lawrence Bishnoi interview: Punjab Police suspends 2 dy SPs among 7 cops

The Punjab Police has suspended seven personnel, including two deputy superintendent rank officers, in connection with an interview of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi while in police custody. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police, led by the special director general of police (human rights), found that one interview of Bishnoi was conducted when he was in Punjab Police's custody in Mohali's Kharar while the second was done in Rajasthan. The suspension came after the SIT found dereliction of duty on the part of the seven personnel. According to an order of the Punjab home secretary issued on Friday, SP Gursher Singh Sandhu, DSP Sammar Vaneet, sub-inspector Reena (CIA Kharar), sub-inspector Jagatpal Jangu, sub-inspector Shaganjit Singh, assistant sub-inspector Mukhtiar Singh and head constable Om Parkash have been suspended. "Keeping in view the sensitivity of the case, all the above officers have been suspended," said the order. The home secretary order referred to the S

Ram Rahim to face trial for 2015 sacrilege, Punjab govt grants nod

The development follows the Supreme Court lifting the Punjab and Haryana High Court's stay on Dera Sacha Sauda head Ram Rahim Singh's trial in the 2015 sacrilege cases three days ago

Polling for gram panchayats underway in Punjab amid tight security

Polling for gram panchayats in Punjab was underway amid tight security arrangements on Tuesday, officials said here. They said voting for the posts of 'sarpanch' and 'panch' through ballot boxes began at 8 am and would continue till 4 pm. After the polling, the votes will be counted at the polling stations, the officials said. There are 19,110 polling booths, 1,187 of them marked as hyper-sensitive, for the election. There are 13,225 gram panchayats in the state. According to an official, 9,398 gram panchayats will elect 'sarpanch'. The officials said 3,798 candidates for the post of 'Sarpanch' have already been elected unopposed. Elderly people, women and youth were seen standing in queues outside many polling booths in the morning. The elections are being held without symbols of political parties as a consequence of the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2024, passed last month by the Vidhan Sabha. There are a total of 1.33 crore registered voters for this election. The

CM Mann bats for sustained campaign to reduce stubble burning in Punjab

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday batted for a sustained campaign to make farmers aware about the paddy straw management to further reduce incidents of stubble burning in the state. Chairing a meeting for preparations regarding crop residue management, the CM said farmers must be made aware of the hazards of paddy straw burning through a communication campaign, an official statement said. The chief minister said farmers must be made aware about the provisions of subsidy on straw management equipment. The farmers must also be informed about reduction in cost of managing straw through Custom Hiring Centres. Mann also advocated establishment of CHC at panchayats and other common places and directed deputy commissioners to launch a vigorous campaign to make farmers aware of the hazards of paddy straw burning. He said this will help in transforming a war against crop residue burning into a mass movement. Mann said under the crop residue management scheme 2024-25, the depart

Widening of NRI quota: Supreme Court junks Punjab's plea against HC verdict

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the Punjab government's appeal against a high court verdict quashing its decision to expand the definition of NRI quota' for admissions in undergraduate medical and dental courses in the state. "This fraud must come to an end now," the apex court said. On September 10, the Punjab and Haryana High Court trashed the AAP-led state government's August 20 move extending the ambit of the NRI quota to include distant relatives "such as uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins" of NRIs for admissions under 15 percent quota for this group in admissions in medical colleges. "This is nothing but a money spinning machine, observed a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. "We will dismiss all the petitions. This NRI business is nothing but a fraud. We will put an end to all this.... now the so called precedents must give way to primacy of law," said the bench. Terming the high court verdict "absolutely right", th

Punjab govt in talks with health ministry over Ayushman Bharat backlog

Sources indicate Punjab state health agency has not submitted audit reports since 2020-21

Bhagwant Mann govt inducts five AAP MLAs as Cabinet ministers in Punjab

The Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government on Monday inducted five MLAs as ministers as it carried out a Cabinet rejig. Governor Gulab Chand Kataria administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers during a swearing-in ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, among other party leaders, was also present. Those sworn in as ministers included Hardeep Singh Mundian, Barinder Kumar Goyal, Tarunpreet Singh Sond, Dr Ravjot Singh and Mohinder Bhagat. They took oath in Punjabi. Among the new inductees, three were from the Malwa region and two from the Doaba region. This was the fourth cabinet reshuffle of the 30-month-old AAP government in the state. Earlier, four ministers -- Chetan Singh Jouramajra (public relations, defence services and horticulture), Anmol Gagan Maan (tourism and investment promotion), Balkar Singh (local government and parliamentary affairs) and Bram Shanker Jimpa (revenue) -- were dropped from the Mann Cabinet. Currently, the stre

Legacy waste: SC stays NGT order directing Punjab govt to pay over Rs 1K cr

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed an order of the National Green Tribunal, which had imposed over Rs 1,000 crore as environmental compensation on Punjab for failing to manage legacy waste and untreated sewage in the state. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued notice to the Centre and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the appeal filed by the state government against the NGT order. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi appeared for the state government. The NGT in its July 25 order had directed Punjab through the chief secretary to deposit Rs. 10,261,908,000 towards environmental compensation with the CPCB within one month. "Repeated orders have been passed from time to time giving opportunity to State of Punjab in the hope and trust that it will take serious, substantial and urgent steps to comply with provisions of Environmental Laws and in particular Section 24 of Water Act, 1974 but we are at pain to observe t

Auto parts-making plant for BMW to come up in Punjab, CM to lay foundation

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday assured full support to Modern Automotives for its plans to expand its project in the state and manufacture parts for luxury car maker BMW. A delegation of the Modern Automotives Ltd comprising its representatives -- Aditya Goyal, Suhail Goyal and Manish Bagga called on the Chief Minister here. During the meeting, Mann was informed that Modern Automotive has become the first Indian company to receive approval for deliveries of differential pinion shafts to German luxury vehicles manufacturer BMW AG Munich, according to an official statement. They said that an order has been confirmed for 2.50 million units valued at Rs 150 crore, the statement said. Assuring fulsome support to the company for their future endeavours, Mann accepted the invitation of the delegation to lay the foundation stone of the upcoming plant next month at Mandi Gobindgarh. He said it is a matter of immense pride and satisfaction that the parts for BMW will now be

SC to hear Punjab's plea for release of rural development funds from Centre

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will list for hearing an interim plea of the Punjab government seeking release of over Rs 1,000 crore urgently by the Centre on account of dues claimed by the state towards the Rural Development Fund. As soon as a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra assembled for the afternoon hearing, a counsel representing the Punjab government said the interim plea was listed for hearing on September 2 but it could not be taken up. Seeking an urgent hearing, the counsel said in the meanwhile, a notice should be issued to the Centre on the plea so that a response could be filed before the matter is taken up for hearing. "We will list the IA (interim application) for the hearing," the CJI said but did not issue notice to the central government on the petition. Earlier in the day, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, also appearing for the state's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, mentioned the plea for an urg