Punjab

Chandigarh, May 19 (PTI) The Punjab government has allowed any individual or a group to open a makeshift COVID hospital in the state with a view to ramp up the bed capacity, a senior official said here on Wednesday.

'Invest Punjab' will grant permission, subject to clearance from the health department, to interested parties in opening up temporary COVID hospital within 24 hours.

Chandigarh, May 18 (PTI) The Punjab and Haryana High Court has said a live-in-relationship is morally and socially unacceptable while dismissing a petition filed by a runaway couple seeking protection.

Petitioners Gulza Kumari (19) and Gurwinder Singh (22) in the petition had stated that they were residing together and intended to get married shortly.

Amritsar, Apr 21 (PTI) The BSF has sought registration of an FIR against an intruder from Pakistan that happens to be a pigeon.

The Punjab Police are seeking legal opinion on this.

The pigeon perched itself on the shoulder of a Border Security Force jawan at the Rorawala post here last Saturday, apparently after flying across the border, an official said.

Chandigarh, Apr 15 (PTI) Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Thursday issued instructions to the police and other departments to make foolproof arrangements for not allowing even a single grain of wheat from outside the state.

She said that enforcement teams should be deployed on inter-state borders to check the illegal trade.

She also directed to ensure the lifting of the crop within 72 hours after the procurement from the mandis and timely payment to farmers.

Hoshiarpur, Apr 2 (PTI) A migrant worker was booked for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl at a brick kiln falling under the Chabbewal police station area in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district, police said on Friday.

Quoting the victim's father complaint, police said Vikas, a native of Uttar Pradesh, had allegedly made physical relations with his daughter about nine months ago on the pretext of marrying her.

Chandigarh, Apr 1 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday launched a free travel facility for women in government-run buses within the state and said this fulfils another promise made by his party in its poll manifesto.

Reacting to it, the main opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the state government of the bid to "copy" the scheme run by it in Delhi and termed the initiative as "hollow".

The party said the scheme has been restricted to government-run buses while private ones that run on maximum routes have been kept out of its ambit.

Fatehgarh Churian (Punjab), Mar 25 (PTI) Notwithstanding the surge in COVID-19 cases, several devotees without face masks and not adhering to social distancing norms converged to pay obeisance to Baba Rode Shah shrine in Punjab's Amritsar district and offered liquor bottles to seek his blessings.

The unusual fair, being held for the last 90 years, ended on Wednesday in Bhoma village, situated on the Amritsar-Fatehgarh Churian Road.

Tarn Taran (Punjab), Mar 21 (PTI) Two 'Nihangs', traditional Sikh warriors, were shot dead by police during an encounter after the duo attacked policemen with swords at a village in Punjab's Tarn Taran on Sunday, officials said.

The two 'Nihangs', identified as Mehatab Singh and Gurdev Singh, were wanted in a murder case at Nanded in Maharashtra, they said.

After their mobile location was traced in Sursingh village, the Nanded Police alerted the police in Punjab and a team of two SHOs were sent to nab them.

Chandigarh, Mar 18 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday batted for polling through ballot papers, saying the electronic voting machines could be "fudged".

His statement came days after when some MLAs, including Navjot Singh Sidhu, had questioned the use of EVMs and had said voting should be held through ballot papers.

"We should go back to ballot papers and I'm totally in support of this," Amarinder Singh said, replying to a question on EVMs during a press conference to mark the completion of four years of his government.

Chandigarh, Mar 16 (PTI) A court in Punjab's Sangrur acquitted AAP MLA from Delhi Naresh Yadav on Tuesday in a case of desecration of the Quran in Malerkotla town of the district in June 2016.

However, Sangrur Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Prashant Verma convicted former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) "pracharak" Vijay Kumar and another accused, Gaurav Kumar, in the case and sentenced them to two years in jail.