CHANDIGARH:Marking his presence in politics with almost over an year of 'silence', former Punjab Minister and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday slammed the BJP-led Central government for bringing the farm bills.

NEW DELHI:The Rajya Sabha on Friday passed two Bills -- the Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

LUCKNOW:The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to put up candidates in all eight Assembly seats where bypolls are to be held.
The BSP, earlier, had never contested by-elections, leaving the field clear for other remaining parties.

MUMBAI:Support kept coming in for Urmila Matondkar from film as well as political circles all through Thursday, after actress Kangana Ranaut called her a soft porn star in a TV interview.

NEW DELHI:Even as the Lok Sabha passed two of the contentious agriculture reforms bill, the Congress on Thursday upped its ante against the Narendra Modi government over the issue, terming it a conspiracy to defeat the Green Revolution.

NEW DELHI:Amid the row over three agriculture reform bills that led to one of his Cabinet colleagues quitting on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that the system of MSP and government procurement will continue.

CHANDIGARH: A day after the Lok Sabha passed two contentious agriculture Bills, despite the opposition by BJP's oldest ally Shiromani Akali Dal terming it as an "anti-farmer" move, a protesting farmer in Punjab on Friday tried to commit suicide by consuming poisonous substance.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday said Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s decision to quit the Union Cabinet was another in the long chain of theatrics being enacted by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which has still not quit the ruling coalition despite the slap on their face by the central government over the Farm Bills.

CHANDIGARH: Harsimrat Kaur Badal Union Minister of food and wife of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has resigned from Union cabinet in protest against three farm ordinances. The Shiromani Akali Dal however will stay part of National Democratic Alliance.

CHANDIGARH:Slamming the SAD for its concerted attempts to divert the public attention from its failure to protect the rights and interests of the farmers, Punjab Congress leaders on Thursday said the party was totally in unison over the farm Bills in sharp contrast to the Akalis.

PATNA:As the opposition in Bihar led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal is observing "Unemployment Day" to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 70th birthday on Thursday, the BJP hit back saying that RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will not get the job to rule Bihar.

ALIGARH:With the land lease given to the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh having expired last year, the descendants of the Jat king, late Mahendra Pratap Singh (1886-1979), a freedom fighter and social reformer who donated land to various educational institutes, including the AMU, have demanded that the land be returned to them.

HYDERABAD:Political parties in Telangana hoisted the national flag at their offices to mark 'Hyderabad Merger Day' on Thursday and paid tributes to the freedom fighters who fought for the merger of erstwhile Hyderabad state with the Indian Union.

KOCHI:Two days after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan gave a clean chit to State Higher Education Minister K. T.Jaleel in the Kerala gold smuggling case, the latter appeared before the NIA probe team on Thursday. And, the opposition was quick to intensify its demand for Jaleel's resignation.
Jaleel has already been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

CHANDIGARH:Slamming SAD for its concerted attempt to divert public attention from its failure to protect the rights and interests of the farmers, a group of Punjab Congress leaders, including PPCC president and Cabinet Ministers, on Thursday said that in sharp contrast to the Akalis, the Congress was totally in unison over the Farm Bills, and had not needed a whip to vote against the Union Government’s reprehensible bid to destroy the state’s agriculture.

NEW DELHI: Responding to criticism of lighting lamps and clanging utensils during the lockdown, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha said it was a symbolism and cited the usage during the freedom struggle.

NEW DELHI:Taking a jibe at Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, who promoted 'Bhabhiji papad' to fight the coronavirus infection, the Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, "Maharashtra has done good in controlling the pandemic and nobody was cured by eating the papad".

CHANDIGARH:Accusing Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal to pursuing double standards over Union Government agriculture ordinances, Punjab Health Minister Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu said that if you are genuinely sympathetic towards the interests of the farmers and Punjab then immediately break party's ties with the Modi government at the Center which was on the verge of destroying the farmers.

BENGALURU:Ahead of forthcoming Assembly session, Karnataka Congress unanimously decided to counter the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on various issues including failure to tackle COVID-19, DJ Halli violence and drugs scandal that has shaken Kannada film industry in the state.

BENGALURU:To give a strong fillip to agricultural and rural economy, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Wednesday announced that the state government is planning to pump about Rs 39,300 crore in this fiscal year to propel the agriculture related activities.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Putting the Pinarayi Vijjayan government in the dock, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday said he knows that there is one more minister in the Cabinet who has close links with the prime accused in the gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh.

NEW DELHI:The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it would welcome any order for the speedy trial of sitting and former MPs/MLAs facing criminal and corruption charges.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Hitting back at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for calling state BJP President K Surendran as someone with an unsound mind, BJP spokesperson Sandeep Warrier said on Wednesday that gold smuggling case prime accused Swapna Suresh and the CM's daughter Veena are "friends".

CHANDIGARH:Warning that the enactment of the farm ordinances would lead to resentment and unrest in the border state, which was already at the receiving end of Pakistan’s concerted efforts to foment trouble, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday led a Congress delegation to submit a memorandum to Governor VP Singh Badnore, seeking his intervention for non-pursuance of the Agriculture Bills by the Centre in Parliamen

NEW DELHI:Delhi BJP Chief Adesh Gupta is the latest politician to have tested positive for coronavirus. He took to Twitter to announce this.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Lauding Kerala's people for showing restraint and following Covid protocols, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that such strict caution should continue, otherwise things will go out of hand.

THIRUVANTHAPURAM:Lashing out at state BJP President K. Surendran, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday that he will deal with him appropriately.

NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram have sought leave for remaining absent for the session on health grounds.

CHANDIGARH: Terming the legislation a direct and deliberate assault by the Centre on the interests of the farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the State Congress will challenge the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020, which was passed in the Lok Sabha today, in the court of law.

CHANDIGARH:Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the presentation of the farm ordinances in Parliament yesterday by the Centre had totally exposed the farce of Shiromani Akali Dal’s pretense of protecting the interests of the farmers of the state.

JAMMU / NEW DELHI:The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday launched search operations at nine locations in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) including the premises of former Minister Choudhary Lal Singh, in an ongoing investigation into a case of illegal encroachment and occupation of forest land in Kathua district.

PILIBHIT:The Superintendent of Police (SP) Pilibhit, Jai Prakash Yadav, has recommended suspension of the arms licence of BJP district vice-president, Amit Balmiki, following a report filed by Pilibhit police stattion SHO Shrikant Dwivedi.

PATNA:Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said on Monday that the BJP-led Central government has broken the backbone of the people in the unorganised sector.

PATNA:The disagreements between the Janata Dal-United and the Lok Janshakti Party over seat-sharing seem to persist despite Bharatiya Janata Party President J.P. Nadda's claims that all is well in the National Democratic Alliance camp in poll-bound Bihar.

CHANDIGRAH: Patiala MP and former union minister, Ms Preneet Kaur today reiterated her opposition to the anti-farmer ordinances promulgated by the NDA government earlier, which are now being tabled in the parliament.