Punjab
Capital: Chandigarh
Breaking in Punjab
Bomb threat emails hit Mumbai and Pune civic offices, and the searches find nothing
An email naming Mumbai's mayor office, a bank, a court, Amitabh Bachchan's Jalsa bungalow, Mahalaxmi Racecourse and the airport set off searches on Thursday morning. Pune Municipal Corporation received its own threat soon after. Nothing suspicious was found.
Arrogance of power: Rohit Pawar takes on Fadnavis as the NCP merger formula takes shape
Rohit Pawar accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of "arrogance" and of running a politics of blackmail over the NCP merger question. In the party, the formula under discussion gives Sharad Pawar the president post and Sunetra Pawar the working president post.
No eye on Gokul: Fadnavis says the amendment only unties a legal knot
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis defended amending the cooperative societies law, saying the government needed to end a statutory deadlock over the Gokul dairy chairmanship. Congress leader Satej Patil is going ahead with a November 9 protest, calling the move a trampling of the farmers' mandate.
Cancer bills fall from Monday: 137 drugs cut, some by 96%, ₹3,502 crore saved a year
Revised prices for 137 anti-cancer drugs take effect on Monday after the NPPA capped trade margins at 30% of the maximum retail price. Seventy-six companies have cut prices on 1,225 formulations, with 600 brands down more than half and the steepest cut at 96.45%. Estimated annual savings: ₹3,502.31 crore.
Ten thousand flagged land deals later, Telangana CID picks up four over the Dharani portal
Telangana's CID has searched the homes and offices of suspects in the alleged Dharani land records scandal and arrested at least four people, including a Bhu Bharati portal operator. The case turns on three acres in Kollur village, mutated in another man's name.
BREAKINGRs 81.5 crore in two days, and Netflix already has the papers: Suriya's Scene is on a run
Scene, the Tamil crime thriller with Suriya, Nazriya Nazim and Naslen, has grossed Rs 81.5 crore worldwide in two days. Reports say Netflix has bought the digital rights for Rs 88 crore, though no streaming date has been announced.
Latest
Three killed, at least 18 hurt as PRTC bus hits flyover wall in Punjab
A PRTC bus bound for Chandigarh struck a flyover wall in Sangrur early on Wednesday. Three passengers were killed and at least 18 injured. Fifteen of the injured were referred to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, and an inquiry has begun.
Draft voter rolls out today in 13 states and 3 UTs; one month to challenge a deletion
The Election Commission's Special Summary Revision begins on Thursday, with draft electoral rolls published in 13 states and three Union Territories and claims and objections open till 11 December. Uttar Pradesh's draft roll has been pushed to 17 November. Final rolls for all these states are due on 4 January 2027.
A gang kingpin is flown home from Ethiopia, ten months and four countries later
Punjab's Anti-Gangster Task Force has brought Gurwinder alias Afridi, described as a kingpin of the Doni Bal-Prabh Dassuwal gang, back from Ethiopia after a ten-month manhunt. He landed in Delhi on Sunday morning.
ED team at AAP MLA's Moga home before dawn; neighbours locked out of the lane
An Enforcement Directorate team reached the Moga residence of AAP MLA and Punjab Mahila Wing president Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora early on Wednesday. Moga's Senior Deputy Mayor Rakesh Kumar Bajaj said the team arrived around 3 am, sealed the area and allowed no one inside. The case behind the search has not been made public.
Rahul and Kharge open Congress's 2027 Punjab run from Mann's own district
Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reached Sangrur on Wednesday for the 'Insaaf Rally' at Phaguwala village, the party's launch of its campaign for the 2027 Punjab assembly elections. Both are expected to meet families of victims of drug-related violence. State unit president Pargat Singh said the party is working to a target of one lakh people.
Three AAP MLAs cross to BJP, and one of them is still holding his seat
Chetan Singh Jouramajra, Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh joined the BJP in Delhi on Monday, days after the AAP released its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 Punjab polls. The Speaker accepted two resignations and declared the Amritsar North and Sanaur seats vacant. Jouramajra has not resigned and faces a disqualification hearing on November 5.
Fire and explosions kill one in a Ludhiana cloth-market lane; questions over the cracker stock
Sahil Sabarwal, 26, was killed when a fire broke out in a two-storey building in Gali Number 10 of Ludhiana's Field Ganj around 1.30 pm on Friday and part of the structure collapsed. Crackers stored on the upper floor exploded as the fire spread, fire officials said. Residents alleged the stock was kept illegally in a crowded area. Police are investigating the cause.
Grenade attack accused held at his aunt's house in Faridabad, police say ISI link
Punjab and Faridabad police arrested Kulwant Singh, wanted for a hand grenade attack in Jalalabad in Fazilka district on September 13, from Panchayati Jhuggi village. Police say he has links to Pakistan's ISI and the Shahzad Bhatti Network. He was also wanted over the recovery of 8 kg of RDX in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan.
All four Jhota murder accused sent to 14-day custody as CBI ends questioning
A special CBI court in Mohali on Wednesday sent all four accused in the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota to 14-day judicial custody after the agency completed custodial interrogation. Jhota was shot dead in Mansa on October 13 while livestreaming a confrontation at a medical store.
A severed hand left at a grocer's shop: two held in Ludhiana murder, sent to three-day police remand
Shakti Singh, 35, bled to death in Ludhiana's Lohara Colony after his right hand was chopped off. His severed hand was packed in a polythene bag and handed to a grocer. Two of seven named accused have been arrested and remanded to three days of police custody.
A black Scorpio pulled up, shots rang out: two cousins dead in Moga
Two cousins, Sahil and Gagan Jindal, were killed and two others injured when assailants in a black Mahindra Scorpio opened fire on a group sitting outside a shop in Moga's Angadpura on Sunday evening. Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav visited the spot on Monday; five people have been taken into custody and police suspect an old rivalry.
Akali Dal open to alliance, but calls Congress and AAP 'Punjab's biggest enemies'
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party is open to a tie-up with ideologically aligned parties while ruling out any understanding with the Congress and AAP. The remarks, a day after Amit Shah predicted an NDA government in Punjab in 2027, revived talk of a BJP-Akali reunion.
Effigy burnt, House disrupted: Congress and AAP face off in Punjab assembly
On day two of the Punjab Assembly session, Congress MLAs disrupted Question Hour demanding Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's resignation over the drug trade and law and order. The treasury bench, led by Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, hit back. Outside, Congress MLAs burnt Mann's effigy.
NDA will form next Punjab government, Amit Shah says, hits out at Rahul Gandhi over 'vote chori'
Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of shielding the votes of "infiltrators" and claimed the NDA would form the next government in Punjab. The same day he laid the foundation for 43 Yamuna rejuvenation projects worth Rs 8,941 crore in Delhi.
Nine minutes and out: Punjab Assembly's first day ends before the drug debate begins
Punjab's six-day Assembly session adjourned after just nine minutes on Thursday following obituary references. Members paid tribute to slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota and eight MGNREGA workers. Congress MLAs burnt an effigy of CM Bhagwant Mann over the drug trade.
Held 3 hours, fined ₹50,000: AAP says CM Mann targeted at Delhi airport
The Aam Aadmi Party alleged on Tuesday that Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann was made to wait nearly three hours at Delhi airport on his return from Paris and then handed a ₹50,000 challan. Party spokesperson Baltej Pannu linked the episode to what he called 'tremendous pressure from above' and the Centre's repeated refusal of permission for Mann's foreign visits. The claim lands in the middle of a bitter pre-poll fight in Punjab.
BJP will form the next Punjab government and needs no ally, says Haryana CM Saini
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini predicts the BJP will form the next government in Punjab and rules out any pre-poll alliance there, accusing the AAP government of failing on drugs.
Drug-free by Dec 31, 2029: Amit Shah sets Punjab deadline, Mann asks why anti-drone systems were held back
Union Home Minister Amit Shah fixed December 31, 2029 as the deadline to end Punjab's drug trade and met families of three men whose deaths were linked to their stand against narcotics. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann hit back, asking why the Centre never acted during its 2007-17 alliance with the Akali Dal and why it held back anti-drone systems for the Pakistan border.
Shah sets a 2029 deadline in Punjab; AAP asks why the drug factories are all in BJP-run states
Union Home Minister Amit Shah met families of anti-drug campaigners killed in Punjab and set a December 31, 2029 deadline to make the state drug-free. AAP ministers countered that the synthetic drug factories are in BJP- and Congress-ruled states.
Drug-free Punjab by Dec 31, 2029: Amit Shah's pledge after meeting three families
Union Home Minister Amit Shah pledged to eradicate Punjab's drug trade by December 31, 2029, after meeting the families of three people linked to the anti-drug fight. He accused the AAP government of failing to deliver on its promise to end the trade.
BJP says Speaker 'lost balance' after Ravana remark on Modi, Shah
Punjab BJP general secretary Anil Sareen has said Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has lost his mental balance and should seek treatment, after Sandhwan compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to Ravana and Kumbhakarna.
Drug trade will end by 2029: Amit Shah's Punjab visit sets off three-party clash
Home Minister Amit Shah visited Punjab for the second time in 20 days and met the families of three people who died in incidents linked to the drug crisis. He pledged to wipe out the drug trade by 31 December 2029. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that the murder of anti-drug activist Parwinder Singh Jhota will be handed to the CBI. The visit triggered a sharp row between the BJP, AAP and Congress.
Jhota case: CBI team to reach Mansa on Wednesday, 120-day deadline set
Union Home Minister Amit Shah met the Jhota family in Mansa and promised justice. A CBI team will reach the village at noon on Wednesday and finish the probe in 120 days.