Smita

The Patiala Deputy Commissioner has ordered a high-level probe to ascertain if “a criminal case can be lodged” against former Additional DGP Gurcharan Singh Bhullar for allegedly “conniving with three patwaris” to sell his property at Stadium Road in Patiala. The three patwaris who connived to give false clearance to the property by “tamper…[Read more]

It was a three-man army of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, Agriculture Minister Tota Singh and Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia against Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adaish Pratap Kairon in today’s Cabinet meeting, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Upset over “interference” in his department, Kairon repor…[Read more]

Photographs of CM Parkash Singh Badal have finally been removed from 108 ambulances. Despite facing a strong onslaught by the Opposition, the ruling SAD-BJP government had held on to those pictures for long.
On Independence Day, the Punjab Government distributed cycles to students under the Mai Bhago Scheme without the earlier flagship picture of…[Read more]

Just about 10 days after a Single Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled out re-examination for PMET 2015, a Division Bench today made it clear that the admissions were not to be finalised for the time being. Fixing September 17 as the next date of hearing, the Bench of Justice SS Saron and Justice Shekher Dhawan asserted: “In the m…[Read more]

Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Abhinav Trikha has ordered an inquiry into the Batala Municipal Committee’s (MC) faux pas of removing barricades from the six-decade-old Hansli bridge after the PWD authorities had declared it unsafe about three months ago. Overhead iron barricades were installed to minimise the flow of traffic. However, about t…[Read more]

Issuing notice of motion to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and another respondent for October 15, Justice Amol Rattan Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that the selection of linemen shouldn’t be finalised. “If the selection has already been finalised, appointment letters be not issued, pursuant the…[Read more]

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced a monthly pension of Rs2,000 for war widows in the state. He also announced free bus travel for them. The Chief Minister presided over a function held to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Indo-Pak war at Asal Uttar village near Khemkaran, He said the government had already decided to enhance…[Read more]

The state government today set up a high-level committee to look into complaints of alleged purchase of spurious insecticides and pesticides. The government was under pressure from the Opposition that has been seeking a probe into the matter. Leaders such as former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Aam Aadmi’s Bhagwant Mann and Suchha S…[Read more]

The Punjab and Haryana High Court wants to know the number of destitute children getting benefit of schemes in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. A Division Bench of the High Court has also called for information on the total expenditure incurred under the schemes. “The States of Punjab and Haryana as well as the Union Territory of Chandigarh are d…[Read more]

The controversy pertaining to the audio tape leak of the interaction between Aam Aadmi Party’s Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann and party’s suspended leader Dr Dharamvira Gandhi took a new turn with the latter claiming that AAP leaders desirous of being the future chief ministerial candidate might be behind the leak. Dr Gandhi, in a fresh post on his Fac…[Read more]

With steady rise in the number of cancer patients in the state, the Punjab government is likely to bring in legislation, making it mandatory for one-third of the tax on cigarettes and bidis to be used to provide aid to cancer patients. The matter is expected to come up for discussion in the Cabinet meeting, scheduled for September 10. The…[Read more]

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has said Rs100 crore sanctioned by the Centre to develop Ludhiana as a smart city is not enough. The state government has already sanctioned Rs600 crore for Ludhiana’s development, he said. Sukhbir, who was in the city today to lay stones of certain projects, claimed by 2020, the residents would witness a sea c…[Read more]

Sukhchain Singh, a farmer from Nihala Khilcha, is a worried man. His entire crop in Dona Telu Mal was washed away in floods last month when the Bhakra Dam authorities released excess water. Incessant rain upstream had filled the dam to the brim. Sukhchain, who has four daughters and two sons, one of whom is differently abled, said, “I had t…[Read more]

Punjab Education Minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema today announced the names of 38 teachers, who will be bestowed with prestigious state awards while 14 teachers will be given appreciation letters on Teachers’ Day at a state-level function at the CGC, Landran, on September 5. Five PES cadre officers would also be honoured with appreciation letters f…[Read more]