Chandigarh, October 30:

Under the leadership of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann, the Punjab Government is committed to the welfare and social justice of every section of society. In this direction, special efforts are being made to provide economic support and dignity to widows and destitute women. As part of these efforts, a substantial amount has been released under the Social Security Financial Assistance Scheme for their welfare.

Giving this information, Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur said that during the current financial year, the Punjab Government has so far released ₹693.04 crore as financial assistance to beneficiaries under this scheme.

She further informed that 6,65,994 widows and destitute women are receiving financial benefits under this scheme across the state. Dr. Kaur said that the initiative not only provides financial security to women but also helps in empowering them to become active participants in the mainstream of society.

Dr. Baljit Kaur stated that the Mann Government’s goal is not limited to providing assistance, but to create opportunities for women’s empowerment. The government aims to ensure that every woman becomes self-reliant and leads a dignified life. This is why the state government continues to strengthen and expand social security schemes for the welfare of women.

Dr. Kaur further added that the Punjab Government has already made a budgetary provision of ₹1170 crore for the welfare of widows and destitute women. She directed the departmental officials to ensure transparent and effective implementation of the scheme so that every eligible beneficiary receives its benefits in time.

Chandigarh, October 30:

Punjab Public Works Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO today reviewed in detail the ongoing special repair works of link roads across rural areas of the state. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the Punjab Government has embarked on a large-scale initiative to upgrade and strengthen 10,778 kilometres of roads under a special repair programme.

During the meeting, officials apprised the Minister that the ongoing works pertain to link roads scheduled for special repair during 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26. The programme covers link roads of the Public Works Department falling under 81 Market Committees. The necessary administrative approvals have been obtained from the Punjab Mandi Board, following which the works have been allotted through a transparent tendering process.

Directing officials to further accelerate the pace of allotment, the Cabinet Minister also sought a detailed progress report on the implementation of the works.

Harbhajan Singh ETO stressed the need to ensure strict monitoring of all works being executed under the Punjab Government’s initiatives. He also lauded the officials of the departmental Vigilance Committee, who recently inspected about 2.5 km of road under the Nabha Market Committee and ensured on-the-spot rectification of minor deficiencies found during the inspection. The Minister appreciated the proactive approach and instructed that such field inspections must continue in the future as well. He made it clear that no compromise in the quality of work will be tolerated.

Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included Principal Secretary PWD Mr. Vikas Pratap, Special Secretary Mrs. Hargunjeet Kaur, Engineer-in-Chief Mr. Gagandeep Singh, Chief Engineers Mr. Vijay Chopra, Mr. Anil Gupta, Mr. Ramtesh Bains, Mr. Arshdeep Singh and other senior officers.

Chandigarh, October 30

Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission’s Full Commission Meeting will be held on 31st October at Punjab Bhawan Chandigarh.

Giving information in this regard, Chairman Mr. Jasvir Singh Garhi said that the 27th meeting of Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission is going to be held.

He said that in this meeting, a report will be taken from senior officers of Police, Local Government, Social Justice and other departments regarding the status of cases registered under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989.

Chandigarh, October 30

Punjab Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema said that the state’s education system is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the comprehensive infrastructure upgrades under the Sikhya Kranti program of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led government, and bolstered by initiatives to enhance teacher strength and address long-standing concerns.

Finance Minister Cheema made these remarks on Thursday while engaging in an in-depth discussion with representatives from seven education department unions. The unions included the Special Cadre Adhiyapak Front, Computer Adhiyapak Union, Computer Adhiyapak Sangharsh Committee, Unemployed B. Ed. TET Pass Adhiyapak Union, ETT TET Pass Adhiyapak Union (Sunil Fazilka), and ETT TET Pass Adhiyapak Union (Jai Singh Wala). The Minister had a comprehensive review of their demands and also encouraged the union members to further dedicate themselves to boosting education standards in government schools.

Secretary Education Anindita Mitra apprised the Finance Minister that solutions for most of the unions’ demands were either in the final stage or currently being processed. She provided assurances that other legitimate demands would also be addressed shortly. In response, Finance Minister Cheema directed the Education Department to share the fiscal responsibilities associated with the legitimate demands with the Finance Department so that necessary action could be decided upon without delay.

In a separate engagement, Finance Minister Cheema also held a productive meeting with the All Punjab DST/CTF Contract Workers Union, offering his assurance that their issues would be resolved amicably. During these meetings, Special Secretary (Personnel) Upkar Singh and Special Secretary (Finance) Ajay Arora briefed the Finance Minister on their concerned departmental status of the demands put forth by the respective unions.

Union Members inclusing Veerpal Kaur Sidhana, Manpreet Singh Moga, Paramjit Kaur Pakhowal from Special Cadre Adhiyapak Front; Gurwinder Singh, Rakhi Manan, Harpreet Singh from Computer Adhiyapak Union; Jony Singla, Nardeep Sharma Sunit Sareen from  Computer Adhiyapak Sangharsh Committee, Jaswant Ghubaya, Hardeep Singh, Sandeep Singh from Berojgar B. Ed. TET Pass Adhiyapak Union; Sunil Kumar, Salwinder Singh, Ranjit Singh from ETT TET Pass Adhiyapak Union (Sunil Fazilka); Kamal Thakur, Sohan Singh and Gurmukh Singh ETT TET Pass Adhiyapak Union (Jai Singh Wala), and Sandeep Singh, Kirandeep Singh and Pardeep Singh from All Punjab DST/CTF Contract Workers Union raised their issues during the meeting.

CHANDIGARH, October 30:

          Continuing the war against drugs “Yudh Nashian Virudh” waged by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to eradicate drug menace from state consecutively for the 243rd day, Punjab Police conducted raids at 340 locations on Thursday leading to the arrest of 76 drug smugglers after registration of 68 first information reports (FIRs) across the state. With this, the number of total drug smugglers arrested has reached to 34,599 in 243 days.

          The raids have resulted in recovery of 2.3 kg heroin and Rs 1.51 lakhs drug money from the possession of arrested drug smugglers.

          Notably, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann has asked the Commissioners of Police, Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendent of Police to make Punjab drug free state. The Punjab government has also constituted a 5-member Cabinet Sub Committee led by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to monitor the war against drugs.

          Over 120 Police teams, comprising over 1000 police personnel, under the supervision of 67 gazetted officers have conducted 340 raids across the state. Police teams have also checked as many as 368 suspicious persons during the day-long operation.

          The state government has enforced a three-pronged strategy— Enforcement, Deaddiction and Prevention (EDP)— to eradicate drugs from the state, the Punjab Police as part of ‘De-addiction’ has convinced 35 persons to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment today.

CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, October 30:

          Amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar has busted a cross-border illegal arms smuggling module with the arrest of its three operatives and recovered nine sophisticated pistols along with magazines from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.

          Those arrested have been identified as Davinder Singh, a resident of village Bhangwan in Amritsar Rural, Paramjit Singh alias Pamma and Harmeet Singh alias Meetu, both residents of Bhindi Aulakh in Amritsar Rural.

          DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested accused were working on the directions of Pak-based smuggler. The recovered arms were meant to be supplied to Sherpreet Singh alias Gulaba, a close aide of notorious gangster Jobanjit Singh alias Billa Manga, to fuel unlawful activities in Punjab, he said.

          Sharing operational details, the DGP said that CI Amritsar had received a specific information about foreign based notorious gangster identified as Jobanjit Singh alias Billa Manga operating a gang in the state through his operatives— Paramjit Singh alias Pamma and Harmeet Singh alias Meetu. The information further revealed that the latter have retrieved a huge consignment of illegal weapons from Indo-Pak border, which was delivered from across the border with the help of drones in the area of village Bhindi Aulakh in Amritsar Rural, and are going to deliver it further to Sherpreet’s accomplice Davinder Singh, he said.

          He said that acting swiftly, police teams intercepted the above mentioned accused persons near Gurdwara Baba Mohri Ji at Chogawan in Amritsar Rural, and recovered the contrabands from their possession.

          DGP Gaurav Yadav further said that Sherpreet Singh alias Gulaba is a habitual offender and seven different criminal cases have already been registered against him regarding possession of illegal arms, involvement in theft, looting and other criminal activities. Further investigation is underway to expose the full nexus, including the backward and forward linkages of the network, he added.

          A case FIR No. 65 dated 30-10-2025 has been registered under sections 25 and 25(1-A) of the Arms Act and section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Police Station State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar.

Chandigarh, 30 October 2025:

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub section 1 of section 7 of The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and all other powers enabling him in this behalf, the Governor of Punjab has appointed Dr. Vandana Arora  as non-official scientist of the Expert Group in place of Prof. Rajesh Gill, for evaluating the Social Impact Assesment reports.

Patiala, October 30:

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and National Convener of AAP Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday launched projects worth Rs 75 crore to give facelift to historic Sri Kali Mata Temple.

Addressing the gathering, the National Convener of AAP said that it is the privilege of the state government to initiate these projects of immense public importance. He bemoaned that none of the previous state governments had ever bothered to start these works of immense public significance. Arvind Kejriwal said that fortunately the state government has been bestowed this opportunity by Mata Rani and the work will be collected within a year.

The National Convener of AAP said that the Sri Kali Mata Mandir is one of the most revered and historic temples in northern India. He said that this temple stands as a testimony to Punjab’s rich spiritual heritage and royal patronage.Arvind Kejriwal said that  the main shrine dedicated to Goddess Kali, the temple complex also includes an ancient temple of Shri Raj Rajeshwari Ji, another divine form of Shakti.

The National Convener of AAP said that these two centers of devotion make the complex spiritually significant as well as architecturally unique, blending centuries-old traditions with elements of modern infrastructure. He said that the temple’s importance is evident from the fact that nearly 10,000 devotees visit daily, around 40,000 every Saturday, and the number rises to nearly one lakh during the Navratri festival. Arvind Kejriwal said that the state government has started several Projects worth Rs 73.52 crore to give a facelift at Shri Kali Mata Temple.

The National Convener of AAP said that the Work is underway to ensure clean water for the temple pond will come from the Bhakra Canal and an amount of Rs 1.15 crore has been approved for this project. Likewise he said that temple’s existing sewage system and rainwater drainage network are being upgraded and replaced at a cost Rs 49.06 lakh. Arvind Kejriwal said that Aam Aadmi Clinic is being set up within the temple complex at a cost of Rs 25 lakh which will provide medical assistance not only to local residents but also to visiting devotees.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said that enhance the spiritual and aesthetic charm of the temple, a light and sound show will be organized near the pond, modeled after the arrangements at major pilgrimage sites. He said that the project will cost ₹6.78 crore, and tenders for the work have been issued. Bhagwant Singh Mann further said that a lift is being installed in the newly constructed building at a cost of Rs 15.11 lakh.

The Chief Minister said that new passageway is being constructed near the pond to provide convenience to devotees. He said that temple’s new building, corridor, boundary wall, entry gate, and pond projects collectively have also been started. Bhagwant Singh  Mann Daily Langar Seva (community meal) will be started, following Sikh and Hindu traditions, especially for devotees coming from distant or economically weaker backgrounds.

·The Chief Minister said that the temple pond will undergo complete renovation, including desilting, waterproofing, stonework along the edges, and pathway construction.

He said that this project will help preserve the temple’s sanctity and enhance its grandeur while maintaining its heritage architecture. Bhagwant Singh mann said that a proposal has been made to reopen and renovate the rear gate, often used during peak traffic times.

·Additionally, the Chief Minister said that all temple entrances will be redesigned in harmony with traditional architecture. He said that during weekends and Navratri, when large crowds gather, a systematic queue management system with barricaded lanes and signboards will be introduced to ensure orderly and respectful movement of devotees. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that in consultation with urban planning and heritage experts, a comprehensive master plan is being prepared covering future construction, heritage conservation, pilgrimage facilities, sanitation, parking, and traffic management.

The Chief Minister said that to prevent overcrowding and ensure smooth distribution of Prasad, a token system similar to that at Mata Vaishno Devi Temple will be introduced. He said that this will ensure organized, fair, and dignified distribution of offerings adding that for the comfort of elderly devotees, women with children, and persons with disabilities, especially under varying weather conditions, the Sangat Hall will be upgraded into a fully air-conditioned hall.Bhagwant Singh Maan said that it is the government’s duty to preserve the state’s cultural heritage so that younger generations remain connected to their glorious past.

The Chief Minister said that a hall has been constructed within the temple premises for the accommodation of visiting pilgrims, and parking space has been created for 300 vehicles. He said that the state government is fully committed to developing this divine center of faith into an architectural marvel of Punjab. Bhagwant Singh Mann further said that the state government will leave no stone unturned for this noble task.

On this occasion Member Rajya Sabha Rajinder Gupta, Cabinet Minister Dr. Balbir Singh, AAP’s Senior Leader Manish Sisodia and others were present.

Chandigarh:  Gopashtami festival was celebrated with pomp and grandeur at Maat Pitaah Godham Mahatirth located on Banur-Ambala Road, Mohali. On this occasion, devotees expressed their faith by lighting more than 2000 desi ghee lamps. Hundreds of devotees from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Delhi participated in the festival worship Gomata.

Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria was chief guest on the occasion. National Award-winning Bollywood actor and producer Vijay Tandon, Senior Vice President of the All-India Agrawal Sammelan (Haryana), Jagmohan Garg, were present as special guests. Social worker Satyabhagwan Singla, President of Sanatan Dharma Baikunth Dham Pradeep Goyal, and Founder of Planet Ayurveda, Dr. Vikram Chauhan were special guests during the occasion.

In the program, Akhil Bhartiya Gao Katha Vachak Shri Chandrakant and bhajan singer Shri Hit Sharan Siddharth Bhaiya ji mesmerized the devotees with their kathas and bhajans.

In the World Record Book (London), the temple has been given the status of being the only temple in the world devoted to parents, which does not have the idol of any deity. Devotees can remember and worship his or her parents in the temple.

Chandigarh, October 29: President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu was accorded a warm welcome by Haryana’s Energy, Transport & Labour Minister Sh. Anil Vijon behalf of the State Government upon her arrival at the Ambala Air Force Station today.

Following a brief interaction with Minister Anil Vij, The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu took a sortie in a Rafale aircraft at Air Force Station, Ambala (Haryana) today. She is the first President of India to have taken sortie in two fighter aircrafts of the Indian Air Force. Earlier, she took a sortie in Sukhoi 30 MKI in 2023.

Air Force Station, Ambala is the first Air Force Station where Rafale aircrafts arrived from Dassault Aviation Facility, France.

The President, who is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, flew for approximately 30 minutes covering about 200 kilometers before returning to the Air Force Station. The aircraft was flown by Group Captain Amit Gehani, Commanding Officer of the 17 Squadron. The aircraft flew at a height of about 15000 ft  above sea level and at a speed of about 700 kilometers per hour.

Later in the visitor’s book, the President expressed her feelings by writing a brief note in which she said “I am delighted to visit Air Force Station Ambala for my maiden flight on Rafale aircraft of the Indian Air Force. The sortie on Rafale is an unforgettable experience for me. This first flight on the potent Rafale aircraft has instilled in me a renewed sense of pride in the nation’s defence capabilities. I congratulate the Indian Air Force and the entire team of Air Force Station, Ambala for organising this sortie successfully.”

On this occasion, the President was briefed in detail about the technical features, operational capabilities, and the strategic significance of the Rafale aircraft in strengthening India’s defence preparedness.

During the event, Energy Minister Sh. Anil Vij and other distinguished guests posed for a group photograph with the President.

On this occasion, the senior officers of the Indian Air Force, Ambala Divisional Commissioner Sh. Sanjeev Verma, IG Ambala Range Sh. Pankaj Nain, Deputy Commissioner Sh. Ajay Singh Tomar, Superintendent of Police Sh. Ajit Singh Sekhawat, and other administrative officials were present.