Punjab

Chandigarh/New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) The Border Security Force shot dead five intruders along the India-Pakistan International Border in Punjab early Saturday, a senior BSF officer said.

This is the highest number of intruders killed in a single incident along the over 3,300 km-long border with Pakistan in more than a decade, officials said.

Punjab shares a 553-km-long frontier with Pakistan, apart from Jammu, Rajasthan and Gujarat, who together constitute the remaining part of the International Border.

Chandigarh, Aug 1 (PTI) The death toll in the Punjab spurious liquor tragedy rose to 62 on Saturday as 23 more casualties were reported from the state's Tarn Taran district, officials said.

Till Friday night, the district had reported 19 deaths.

In Tarn Taran, the death toll has reached 42, Deputy Commissioner Kulwant Singh told PTI on Saturday, adding that the maximum deaths took place in the Sadar and city areas of district.

Chandigarh, Jul 15 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has advised his cabinet colleagues to undergo test for coronavirus after one of the ministers tested positive for the infection.

All the cabinet ministers will give their samples for testing (coronavirus) today. Their results will come by today evening or tomorrow, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu told reporters here on Wednesday.

Chandigarh, Jun 29 (PTI) Asserting that nobody wants a separate state for Sikhs, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday dismissed a recent statement of Akal Takht Jathedar that the Sikh community will accept Khalistan if the government offers it.

Sikhs living in the country are leading prosperous lives. Why would they want a Khalistan? Nobody wants it and I do not want it, said Singh while replying to a question on Khalistan during a press conference here.

Singh said every Sikh always stood for the unity and integrity of the country.

Chandigarh, Jun 29 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said he is for the reopening of the Kartarpur corridor with adherence to the physical distancing norms amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

His statement came two days after Pakistan conveyed its readiness to India to reopen the Kartarpur corridor on the occasion of the death anniversary of Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab" Maharaja Ranjit Singh who ruled the Sikh empire spread across the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century.

Amritsar, May 19 (PTI) A special flight carrying 167 Indians, who were deported for illegally trying to enter the USA, landed here on Tuesday, officials said.

Sixty-seven of them were from Punjab and rest belonged to Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Goa, they said.

Chandigarh, May 20 (PTI) Public bus services resumed in Punjab on Wednesday almost two months after their suspension in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Buses of the state-owned Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) plied on select routes in non-containment zones within the state, officials said.

Punjab Transport Minister Razia Sultana had on May 18 announced resumption of point-to-point bus services between major cities and district headquarters from May 20 with 50 per cent occupancy.

Amritsar, May 18 (PTI) Two chiefs of an ashram here were on Monday arrested for allegedly raping two women, police said.

The women aged 25 and 40 years were rescued from the ashram following a police raid.

According to the women, they were earlier allegedly raped by two disciples of the ashram -- Suraj Nath and Nachtar Nath.

So, they visited the ashram on Sunday to lodge a complaint with the two ashram chiefs -- Girdari Nath and Varinder Nath.

Jalandhar, May 17 (PTI) The Punjab government will run buses for migrant labourers wanting to go home in Uttar Pradesh, an official said on Sunday.

The buses will be run free of cost daily from Jalandhar and take migrant workers to 10 UP districts, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said in a release here.

Ambala, May 12 (PTI) A migrant labourer was killed while another seriously injured when a car hit them on the Ambala-Jagadhri highway near Ambala Cantonment on Tuesday morning, police said.