Punjab

A man was beaten to death by the mob in a Kapurthala gurdwara on Sunday after he was accused of disrespecting the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh religious flag. A day before, another young man was lynched by the mob in Golden Temple, Amritsar for an alleged sacrilegious act.

Dry northwesterly winds of about 10-15 kmph likely to continue to prevail over plains of northwest India till December 21 enhancing the adverse impact of cold wave and cold Day conditions. Along with it, dense fog in isolated pockets over Uttarakhand will be witnessed during next two days and over Punjab, and Haryana on December 23 and 24.

The youth, reportedly belonging to Uttar Pradesh, entered the restricted area and tried to pick the sword kept in front of the Guru Granth Sahib. He was caught by security persons and was handed over to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) office, where he was beaten to death.

"Met union minister & @BJP4India incharge for Punjab, Shri @gssjodhpur in New Delhi today to chalk out future course of action ahead of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections. We have formally announced a seat adjustment with the BJP for the 2022 Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections," the former Congress leader and two-time Punjab Chief Minister said in a tweet, after meeting Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is also the state BJP in-charge.

Sources say sensing the move from the Congress high command the warring factions have patched up to put up a united face and also don't want to send a negative signal to the leadership. Sidhu who has been critical of the Punjab Chief Minister has heaped praises after the state government approached the Supreme Court over the BSF jurisdiction issue.

"I feel sad for him that despite having a tremendous potential, he is being made to be subservient to the whims of the PCC President Navjot Sidhu", Singh said, while remarking, "Channi will eventually end up as a night watchman only". Reacting to the appointment of Sidhu as the Chairman of the Congress Election Committee for Punjab, with Channi being made to work under him, Amarinder said it was unprecedented that a Chief Minister was made subservient to the PCC president.

Barely decade old, the AAP has taken on the century-old Indian National Congress. The Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is focussing on two subjects -- education and illegal sand mining -- in its fight against the Congress. It all started with Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's visit to a primary government school in Punjab's Chakalan village followed by another visit to Makrauna Kalan -- the village of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's maternal grandfather in his Chamkaur Sahib Assembly seat.

The tracker suggests that Punjab is heading towards a hung Assembly with no party being able to cross the majority mark. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) remains in the leading position, followed by the incumbent Congress. As per the opinion poll, in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav remain the two leading candidates for the CM's post.

Talking to media here, Kejriwal said: "This time our (AAP) government will be formed in Punjab and this black person (Kejriwal) will fulfill all his promises." "I do not make false declarations, because my intentions are clear not false. Everyone knows whose intentions are false."

Pakistan Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and members of the Sikh community expressed annoyance over the fashion photoshoot at the Kartarpur shrine, Pakistan Observer reported. Chaudhry slammed the designer and the model for the photoshoot. "The Designer and the model must apologise to Sikh Community #KartarPurSahib is a religious symbol and not a Film set," he wrote on Twitter.