Punjab

She requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to heed the reservations of Sikhs' supreme body Akal Takht Sahib and accept the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)'s recommendation to name it as "Shabibzade Shahadat Diwas" to resonate with Sikh ethos.

Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav said local shopkeeper, Sandeep Singh Sunny, has been arrested for firing at and killing the Shiv Sena leader, while terming the incident as unfortunate. He said a weapon of offence, a .32 bore pistol has been recovered from the possession of the accused, who runs a garment shop near Gopal Mandir in Amritsar.

Overall, all six cities have observed a reduction in the AQI during this year's Diwali as compared to last year's Diwali days, said the Minister, adding the average AQI of Punjab this Diwali was 224 (poor) as compared to 268 (poor) in 2021 and 328 (very poor) in 2020.

The Punjab CMO spokesperson said the employees will be given option for adopting the old pension scheme or the new pension scheme. The old pension scheme was discontinued in 2004 and ever since then the employees are being given the new pension scheme. However, the employees have been since long demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, the Governor termed Gosal's appointment as "totally illegal", saying he was appointed by the state government "without following UGC norms and approval of the Chancellor." The Governor is the chancellor of the Ludhiana-based university.

Apart from the liquor policy being under the judicial scanner with those in the trade accusing the government of monopolising the industry in favour of a 'handful of entities', the government is facing criticism for not giving salaries on time to its employees and the escape of a noted gangster involved in the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala.

After the two-hour long meeting, Khattar told the media that as directed by the Supreme Court, the meeting was held with the Punjab CM but both States reached no consensus on the construction of the SYL canal. Outrightly rejecting Haryana government's proposal to start construction of the SYL canal, Mann categorically told the media that there "is no question of initiating this work, as the state does not have even a single drop of water to share with Haryana".

A detailed study of the 10-page Ladhar report dated April 16, 2012, and other documents clearly show that Badal government allowed the former Patiala DC Vikas Garg (now Secretary, Transport) to escape trial by denying prosecution sanction to the court to put him on trial and also directing the Vigilance Bureau to cancel the FIR against him.

Former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini was removed from the top police post by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in 2015 following incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and subsequent violence in the state in which the police force was accused of excesses that left two people dead.

In a statement here, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President said it was shocking that the Chief Minister had not made the Punjab government's stand clear before holding a meeting with his Haryana counterpart on this issue. He said Punjab had an exclusive right over its river waters and Haryana being a non-Riparian state had no locus standi in the matter. "There is nothing to discuss here with Haryana."