Chandigarh, August 14 – On the occasion of Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas (Partition Horrors Remembrance Day), Chief Minister Sh. Nayab Singh Saini today inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 29 development projects in Faridabad district, with a total cost of ₹564.27 crore. These include the inauguration of 7 projects worth ₹61.20 crore and the foundation laying for 22 projects worth ₹433.15 crore.

On this occasion, Union Minister Sh. Manohar Lal, Union Minister of State Sh. Krishan Pal Gurjar, BJP State President Sh. Mohan Lal Kaushik, and Cabinet Minister Sh. Vipul Goel were present.

The Chief Minister inaugurated new buildings costing ₹3.24 crore at Government Senior Secondary School, Badoli; ₹3.14 crore at Government Boys Senior Secondary School, NIT-1; and ₹3.96 crore at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Tigaon. He also inaugurated buildings costing ₹1 crore at Government Primary School, Sector-23, Ballabhgarh, and ₹4.42 crore at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector-22, Ballabhgarh.

To promote rural connectivity, he inaugurated a pontoon bridge over the Yamuna River at village Mahavatpur (Bhaskola) built at a cost of ₹3.16 crore, and a 66 KV sub-station at Kheri Gujaran built at a cost of ₹42.28 crore.

The Chief Minister laid the foundation stones for new school buildings costing ₹3.31 crore at Government Senior Secondary School, Sagarpur, Ballabhgarh; ₹3.10 crore at Kheri Kalan, Faridabad; and ₹1.01 crore in Sector-7 and 8, Ballabhgarh. For the expansion of administrative facilities, he also laid the foundation stone for an SDO Civil Complex in Badkhal costing ₹31.67 crore.

In the health sector, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stones for a Mother & Child Hospital and Service Block at BK Hospital, Faridabad costing ₹161.11 crore, and a Critical Care Hospital Block at Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College, Chhainsa costing ₹21.33 crore.

Under sports and infrastructure development, he laid the foundation stone for a stadium in village Bukharpur costing ₹7.22 crore. He also laid the foundation stone for an ROB on Ballabhgarh–Pali–Dhauj–Sohna Road costing ₹69.16 crore, and a drinking water project from village Atali to Sector-25, Faridabad costing ₹77 crore.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stones for projects worth ₹55 crore for the construction, improvement, and special repair of more than 17 roads in various areas including Prithla, Tigaon, Mohna, Atali, Ballabhgarh, Badshahpur, Dalelpur, and Sarooppur.

Chandigarh, August 14:

The Punjab Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, on Thursday approved an amendment to the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961.

A spokesperson from the Chief Minister’s Office disclosed today that the decision was taken during a meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by the Chief Minister.

As per the decision, the Cabinet approved amendments to the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, and the withdrawal of stamp duty and registration fee exemptions for certain classes of cooperative societies. Currently, the Act provides exemptions from compulsory registration, originally intended to facilitate the development of cooperative institutions. However, this provision has enabled property transactions—particularly in urban housing societies—to take place without formal registration or the payment of stamp duty and registration fees.

This situation has encouraged unregistered possession, benami transactions, and other legally risky arrangements. Therefore, an amendment to Section 37 of the Act has been made by adding Clauses 2 and 3. These clauses stipulate that the State Government may, through a notification in the Official Gazette, direct that the exemption under sub-section (1), or any part thereof, shall not apply to certain classes of cooperative societies or specified categories of instruments. Upon the issuance of such a notification, the instruments so notified shall be deemed to fall within the scope of clauses (b) and (c) of sub-section (1) of Section 17 of the Indian Registration Act, 1908, and will accordingly be subject to compulsory registration under that Ac.

Cabinet Approves Creation of “Panchayat Development Secretary” Post

To enhance the development of rural areas through proper execution and supervision, the Cabinet also approved the creation of the post of “Panchayat Development Secretary” by merging the cadres of Panchayat Secretaries and Gram Sevaks (Village Development Officers). Subsequently, a state cadre will be constituted for these posts to accelerate rural development across Punjab.  For existing Panchayat Secretaries, a dying cadre will be created, who will be placed based on their self-declaration letters and as per their seniority, following the existing Gram Sevaks (VDOs) in the seniority list.

Ex-post Facto Approval for Formation of GoM for Crop Procurement

The Cabinet granted ex-post facto approval for the formation of a Group of Ministers (GoM) to ensure the smooth procurement of Kharif and Rabi crops during the procurement seasons. This GoM is chaired by the Agriculture Minister and includes the Ministers for Food & Civil Supplies, Transport, and Water Resources as members.

Ex-post Facto Approval for Cabinet Sub-Committee Formation

The Cabinet also granted ex-post facto approval for the formation of a Cabinet Sub-Committee. This committee will review and consider the recommendations made by the Committee of Officers regarding Parts II and III of the 6th Punjab Pay Commission Report.

Gives nod to withdraw notification for Land Pooling Policy 2025

The Cabinet also decided to withdraw notification of Department of Housing and Urban Development, Punjab pertaining to Land Pooling Policy 2025 issued on June 4, 2025 along with subsequent Amendments.

CHANDIGARH, August 14:

          In a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive against organised crime launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police’s Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) has arrested two most-wanted operatives of Lawrence Bishnoi gang from Patiala-Ambala Highway near village Shambhu and recovered an Austria-made 9mm Glock pistol along with six live cartridges from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here  on Thursday.

          Those arrested have been identified as Akshay Delu and Ankit Bishnoi alias Kakkar, both residents of village Khairpur in Abohar, Fazilka. The arrested accused persons were operating on the instructions of their foreign-based handlers identified as Anmol Bishnoi and Arzoo Bishnoi.

          DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation revealed that they fled to Nepal after committing the murder and returned on directions of their foreign-based handlers to commit a sensational crime in Punjab.

          He said that both the accused persons have an extensive criminal history with over 15 heinous crime cases pertaining to murder, attempt to murder, extortion, Arms Act and NDPS Act registered against them in Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat. They were also wanted in the recent murder of Bharat Ratan alias Vicky took place in Fazilka on May 2, 2025, he added.

          The DGP said that further investigations are ongoing to establish forward and backward linkages in this case.

          Sharing operational details, ADGP AGTF Promod Ban stated that a tip-off was received regarding the duo’s attempt to enter the state.

          Acting swiftly on the intelligence, special teams were formed, who tracked down the accused persons on the Ambala-Patiala Highway and apprehended them near Village Shambu in an early morning operation, said the ADGP, while adding that a sophisticated weapon was recovered recovered from their possession.

          Sharing the modus operandi of the gang, DIG AGTF Gurmeet Chauhan said that after executing the criminal task given by their handlers, this gang usually flee to Nepal and use hideouts provided by their gang associates or foreign handlers.

          In this regard, a case FIR No. 6 dated 14/8/25 has been registered under section 111 (3)(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and section 25 (6)(7) of the Arms Act at Police Station Punjab State Crime in SAS Nagar.

CHANDIGARH/FEROZEPUR, August 14:

          Amidst the heightened security in the state to ensure peaceful celebrations of Independence Day as mandated by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Counter Intelligence (CI) Ferozepur has successfully foiled a major terror plot being orchestrated by Pak-ISI backed terrorist Harwinder Rinda with the arrest of two operatives of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terror module, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.

          Those arrested have been identified as Harpreet Singh alias Preet, a resident of village Bhullar in Tarn Taran, and Gulshan Singh alias Nandu, a resident of village Rampura in Amritsar. Police teams have recovered two 86P hand grenades and one 9MM pistol along with five live cartridges from their possession.

          The development came on the eve of Independence Day and two days after Punjab Police busted a BKI terror module with the arrest of five operatives, including three juveniles, from Tonk and Jaipur districts of Rajasthan and recovered one 86P hand-grenade and one .30 bore pistol from their possession.

          DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested accused persons were working under the directions of their foreign-based handlers sitting in UK, USA and Europe. Probe has also revealed that the arrested accused persons were actively conspiring to target government buildings and police establishments using grenades to disturb the peace and harmony of the border state, he said.

          The DGP said that further investigations are ongoing to establish forward and backward linkages in this case.

          Sharing operation details, AIG CI Ferozepur Gursewak Singh Brar said that following credible human intelligence, teams from CI Ferozepur launched an intelligence operation and arrested suspects, Harpreet Singh alias Preet and Gulshan Singh alias Nandu, from Talwandi Bhai in Ferozepur.

          The AIG said that Police have obtained remand of the accused persons, and further interrogation is expected to reveal more details regarding their contacts within and outside the country and their intended targets.

          In this regard, a case FIR under section 25 of the Arms Act and sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act has been registered at Police Station SSOC Fazilka.

Chandigarh, August 14

An official spokesperson of the Directorate of Defence Services Welfare, Punjab, informed that the result of the RIMC June 2025 written examination has been uploaded on the official website of the Department – dsw.punjab.gov.in. All candidates who appeared in the examination can check their results on this link.

The spokesperson added that the official website of the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) is presently under maintenance, due to which the result could not be uploaded there.

CHANDIGARH, August 14:

          Recognising the outstanding services of the Punjab Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (GOI), on the eve of 79th Independence Day announced the names of the Punjab Police officers/officials, to be awarded President’s Medal for Distinguished Service (PMDS) and Medal for Meritorious Service (MMS).

          An IPS-officer Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) State Armed Police Punjab MF Farooqui and Inspector Suresh Kumar, Counter Intelligence, Ludhiana to be conferred with President’s Medal for Distinguished Service.

          Similarly, one IPS-officer Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence-II Gurdial Singh and one PPS-officer DSP SSOC Amritsar Gurpreet Singh are among 14 officers/officials who have been selected for the Medal for Meritorious Service. The remaining officials include Inspector Satinder Kumar, Inspector Deepak Kumar, Inspector Jagdeep Singh, Inspector Tejinderpal Singh, SI Amrik Singh, SI Sanjiv Kumar, SI Amritpal Singh, SI Anil Kumar, SI Bhupinder Singh, ASI Jaswinderjit Singh, ASI Kuldeep Singh and SI Krishan Kumar.

          Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav, while congratulating the awardees, expressed gratitude to the Central Government and State Government for recognizing the services of these officers and boosting the morale of the entire Punjab Police force. He said that such recognition plays a significant role in encouraging the Police force to work with more dedication and devotion, which is pivotal in a border state having manifold security challenges.

CHANDIGARH/KAPURTHALA, August 14:

          In yet another significant milestone amidst the ongoing drive ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ to curb drug smuggling in the state of Punjab, Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Punjab and Kapurthala Police has successfully executed the orders of preventive detention of top drug smuggler identified as Gurnam Singh, a resident of village Sainchan in Sultanpur Lodhi, Kapurthala using special provisions under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) act, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.

          The preventive detention orders have been issued by the competent authority under section 3 of PIT-NDPS Act. The section 3 of the PIT-NDPS act empowers the government to take such drug smugglers into preventive custody to prevent them from engaging in illicit traffic of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

          DGP Gaurav Yadav said that accused Gurnam Singh was actively involved in peddling of drugs and had three cases under commercial quantity NDPS Act registered against him. This action will help in breaking drug trafficking chain in the area, he said.

          Sharing more details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kapurthala Gaurav Toora said that of three NDPS cases registered against accused Gurnam, the latter was also convicted in one of the case wherein he was arrested with 250 grams heroin in June 2016. Apart from this, the accused was arrested with 2 kg heroin in March 2017 and 400 grams heroin in September 2021, he said.

          The SSP said that the accused Gurnam has been detained under PIT-NDPS Act for one year and has been sent to Central Jail Bathinda for strict monitoring.

          Meanwhile, Punjab Police will make concerted efforts to enforce stringent provisions of PIT-NDPS Act against persons involved in drug trafficking in the area.

Chandigarh, August 14:

Punjab’s crop diversification efforts have received a significant boost, with the area under Kharif maize crop witnessing a 16.27% increase this season. The area under Kharif maize rose to one lakh hectares, up from 86,000 hectares in 2024, informed S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Punjab.

While chairing a high-level meeting here at his office on Thursday, S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian reviewed the status of the kharif maize crop and issued directions to ensure smooth procurement of maize crop.

The Agriculture Minister said that the Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government launched an ambitious pilot project to promote agricultural diversification and groundwater conservation by shifting 12,000 hectares area from paddy to kharif maize cultivation in six districts— Bathinda, Sangrur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur and Pathankot. To encourage farmers, the state government had also announced an incentive of Rs.17,500 per hectare under the pilot project. Additionally, 185 Kisan Mitras have been appointed to guide and support farmers in this transition.

Meanwhile, S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian has directed the formation of district-level committees comprising officials from Agriculture, Punjab Mandi Board and Markfed to ensure smooth procurement of Kharif maize. He also urged the maize cultivators to bring a dry crop to Mandis so that they won’t have to face any hassle to sell their crop. 

The Administrative Secretary Agriculture, Dr. Basant Garg, emphasised the importance of maintaining optimal moisture levels in maize crops, specifying that the moisture content should not exceed 14 percent. To facilitate smooth sales, he directed Chief Agriculture Officers and field staff to sensitise farmers on bringing dry maize crops to Mandis, thereby ensuring hassle-free procurement and supporting farmers in getting better prices for their produce.

Secretary Punjab Mandi Board Mr. Ramvir, MD Markfed Mr. Kumar Amit, Director Agriculture Mr. Jaswant Singh and other senior officials of the respective departments were also present in the meeting.

CHANDIGARH, August 14:

          On the recommendations of the Punjab Government, the Governor of Punjab announced the names of the Punjab Police officers/officials, to be awarded the Chief Minister’s Rakshak Padak award and Chief Minister’s Medal for Outstanding Devotion to Duty on the occasion of Independence Day-2025.

          Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Rajinder Singh, ASI Narinder Singh, Senior Constable Jaswant Singh and Senior Constable Harpal Kaur have been nominated for Chief Minister’s Rakshak Padak award.

          Similarly, 15 officials, who have been selected for the Chief Minister’s Medal for Outstanding Devotion to Duty, include SHO Police Station Kiratpur Sahib Insp Jatin Kapoor, Incharge CIA Amritsar City Insp Amolakdeep Singh Kahlon, Incharge Yuva Saanjh Program Punjab Insp Navneet Kaur, Insp Prabhjit Kumar from Intelligence Wing, SI Lovedeep Singh, SI Gurmail Singh, SI Dimple Kumar, SI Sukhchain Singh, SI Satwinder Singh, ASI Harjinder Singh, ASI Sandeep Singh, HC Sandeep Singh, HC Akbal Singh, HC Karambir Singh and HC Jagjeet Singh.

          Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav congratulated the awardees and thanked the Punjab Government led by Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Singh Mann for recognizing the services of the Punjab Police officers/officials. He said that such recognitions play a significant role in encouraging the Police force to work with more dedication and devotion.

CHANDIGARH, August 14:

          Amidst the enhanced security to ensure peaceful celebrations of Independence Day as mandated by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Senior rank police officers including Special DGsP, ADGsP and IGsP have been deputed in each Police district to personally supervise all the police and security arrangements in the districts allocated to them.

          As per the directions from Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav, these officers will brief officers/force during full dress rehearsal, check the anti-terrorist operations carried out by the districts, ensure all other functions in the district are secured and other preventive measures required to ensure foolproof security arrangements.

          Special DGP Arpit Shukla, who will be in Patiala to oversee the security arrangements, said that Punjab Police is all geared to ensure smooth and peaceful celebrations of the Independence Day. Security has been beefed up across the state and all the field units have been directed to remain on high alert, he said.

          He said that as part of the ongoing fortnight long special operations, Police teams in all the districts continued the search operations at all the crowded places consecutively for the second day on Thursday. He said that police teams have carried out thorough checking of Hotels/Sarai, Railway Stations, Bus Stands, Markets, Shopping Malls, Public Parks, etc across the state.

          Apart from this, Police teams have continued its cordon and search operation (CASO) against drugs on Day 166, and conducted raids at 399 locations on Thursday leading to the arrest of 84 drug smugglers after registration of 52 first information reports (FIRs) across the state. With this, the number of total drug smugglers arrested has reached to 25,806 within 166 days.

          The Special DGP said that the raids have resulted in recovery of 4.8 kg heroin, 40 kg poppy husk and Rs 4.90 lakh drug money from the possession of arrested drug smugglers.

          He informed that over 120 Police teams, comprising over 1100 police personnel, under the supervision of 76 gazetted officers have conducted raids across the state and checked as many as 434 suspicious persons during the day long operation.

          The Special DGP said that with 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 40 persons to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment today.