Sunday, December 28, 2025

Four Army jawans killed in firing incident inside Bathinda Military Station

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Tehelka WebDesk
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Four Army jawans were killed in a firing incident reported inside Bathinda Military Station in Punjab early on Wednesday. The area was sealed off and “joint investigations with Punjab Police are being coordinated to establish the facts of the case”, the Army said.

“It has been ascertained that in the unfortunate incident, four Army jawans of an artillery unit succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the incident. No other injuries to personnel or loss/damage to property have been reported,” the HQ South Western Command of the Army said in a statement.

“All aspects including the possible case of involvement of an INSAS rifle along with 28 rounds reported missing two days back are being ascertained,” the statement added.

The Army has pressed into service hexacopters and drones to locate the assailants who killed the jawans, sources said. A cordon and search operation is underway at the station and a total clampdown on unnecessary movement of residents has been imposed, sources added.

The Bathinda military station is one of the largest in the country with vast open spaces.

Earlier, the HQ South Western Command had said that Station Quick Reaction Teams had been activated and search operations were in progress.

Speaking to media, Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gulneet Singh Khurana confirmed that “something” has happened but said the Army has not shared details. Internal combing operations by the Army are on, he said. SSP Khurana said it was not a terror attack and seemed to be some internal development in the military station.

Sources said that some weapons had gone missing from an artillery unit in the station a couple of days ago. A search operation was on for these missing weapons, the sources added.

PM flags off poll-bound Rajasthan’s first Vande Bharat train

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Tehelka WebDesk
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off poll-bound Rajasthan’s first Vande Bharat express on Wednesday.

While launching the train between Ajmer and Delhi Cantonment through video conferencing, the Prime Minister lamented that “an important and basic need of the citizens like railways was turned into an arena of politics for a long time”.

PM Modi said, “India inherited a fairly big railway network at the time of Independence, but political interest dominated the need for modernisation in the years after independence”.

“Politics was evident in the selection of railway minister, announcement of trains and even in recruitments. Land acquisition was done under the false pretense of railway jobs and many unmanned crossings continued for a very long time and cleanliness and safety took a back seat, ” he said while alluding to the land for job scam, in which former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members are being probed.

“The situation took a turn for the better after 2014 when people elected a stable government with full majority, when the pressure of political give and take receded, railway heaved a sigh of relief and sprinted to new heights, ” Modi said.

This is the sixth Vande Bharat train in the last two months to have been flagged off by the Prime Minister.

Incidentally, all the three trains –Ajmer-Delhi Cantonment Vande Bharat express, Rani Kamlapati-Hazrat Nizammuddin Vande Bharat express and Secunderabad-Tirupati Vande Bharat express — cater to the needs of three poll-bound states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana respectively.

All the three states are scheduled to witness Assembly elections later this year.

Meanwhile, Modi remarked that the railway budget for Rajasthan has been increased 14 times since 2014, from Rs 700 crore in 2014 to more than Rs 9, 500 crore this year.

Addressing the gathering, Modi congratulated the land of valour Rajasthan for getting its first Vande Bharat Train, which he said, will not only ease the travel between Jaipur Delhi but will also give a push to the tourism industry of Rajasthan, as it will facilitate faster access to places of faith like Theerthraj Pushkar and Ajmer Sharif.

Punjab police shifts Papalpreet Singh to Dibrugarh Jail in Assam

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Tehelka WebDesk
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Amritsar: A five member team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sanjiv Kumar today left the city along with arrested accused Papalpreet Singh for Dibrugarh Jail in Assam.

SSP Amritsar (Rural) Satinder Singh told media  that today early in the morning a team of Punjab police left for Dibrugah Jail in Assam to shift arrested accused Papalpreet Singh there.

Papalpreet Singh was being shifted to Dibrugah jail by air as a reason they took flight in the morning from Shri Guru Ramdas International Airport here today, said SSP.

However, Radical preacher Amritpal Singh’s close aide Papalpreet Singh was arrested from Kathunangal village of Amritsar under NSA on Monday.

Papalpreet’s arrest comes days after CCTV footage made the rounds on social media in which he could be seen at a ‘dera’ (place for religious congregation) in a village in Hoshiarpur.

Cryptocurrencies important part of discussion under India’s G20 presidency: Sitharaman

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Tehelka WebDesk
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New Delhi : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that cryptocurrencies are a very important part of the discussion under India’s G20 presidency.

“Given so many collapses and shocks in cryptocurrencies. We seek to develop a common framework for all countries to deal with this matter, ” she said in Washington while participating in a roundtable meeting on the theme ‘Investment opportunities for the long term: India on the Rise’ with business leaders and investors.

It was hosted by industry body CII, US India Business Council and US Chamber.

The roundtable was attended by a diverse set of investors, including senior executives, private sector business leaders, venture capitalists, institutional investors, and representatives of pension and endowment funds.

Sitharaman apprised the group of the journey of India’s conscious policy choices and structural and governance reforms that laid the foundation for the Indian economy to support growth at its full potential.

“Free trade agreements are being signed in a much faster way nowadays. We’ve just concluded one with Australia. Earlier we concluded with UAE, Mauritius and with ASEAN. We have extended the quota-free and tariff-free regime to least developed countries, ” she said.

The finance minister also highlighted India’s robust digital public infrastructure such as Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and Account Aggregator platform, which have enabled small entrepreneurs to access credit and other digital services.

In a world full of post-pandemic challenges, she said that India offers policy certainty, skilled manpower, high digital tech adaption rate resulting in a host of opportunities for investment.

Sitharaman exhorted the participants to become part of India’s exciting transformational journey towards greater prosperity, better standards of living for its citizens and higher returns for investors.

AAP recognised as national party by EC, Trinamool, NCP, CPI lose their status

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Tehelka WebDesk
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New Delhi- The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was on Monday accorded the status of a national party by the Election Commission, even as Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress lost their national party status along with Communist Party of India (CPI).

In an order issued on Monday, the ECI also withdrew the state party status given to late Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Andhra Pradesh, the PDA in Manipur, the PMK in Puducherry, the RSP in West Bengal, and the MPC in Mizoram.

The Commission said that the AAP has been nominated as a national party according to its electoral performance in four states namely Delhi, Goa, Punjab and Gujarat. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party is in power in Delhi and Punjab.

The poll panel said that the status of the NCP, the CPI, and the Trinamool as national political parties would be withdrawn.

The BJP, the Congress, the CPI-M, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the National People’s Party (NPP) and the AAP are now the main national parties.

The EC also announced that the NCP and the Trinamool will be recognised as state parties in Nagaland and Meghalaya, respectively based on their performance in the recently concluded Assembly elections.

It also granted “recognised state political party” status to the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas in Nagaland, the Voice of the People Party in Meghalaya, and the Tipra Motha in Tripura.

Nitin Gadkari reaches Kashmir’s Sonamarg to inspect Z-Morh tunnel

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Tehelka WebDesk
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The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, visited the site of the Zojila Tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh highway in Sonamarg with J&K Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha and members of Parliament.

The tunnel, which will connect Ladakh with the rest of India and remain open year-round, is expected to be completed by 2026.

Gadkari also held a high-level meeting to review the progress of road works in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir and briefed the Parliamentary Consultative Committee members on MORTH’s projects in the region.

On April 11, Gadkari and the Union Minister of State in the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, will inspect the Banihal-Ramban stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and the site for the construction of an Intermodal Station at Katra in Reasi district, as well as the Katra-Delhi Expressway. Gadkari will return to New Delhi later that day.

Congress leaders flock to Wayanad for Rahul’s show on Tuesday

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Tehelka WebDesk
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Thiruvananthapuram- All roads for the Congress-led UDF are leading to Wayanad, as party leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to arrive there on Tuesday for the first time after getting disqualified from the Lok Sabha following a court verdict.

According to the local party leaders, Gandhi will be accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who last came for the election campaign in 2019.

The Gandhis will land at Kannur airport and from there will reach Kalpetta, the district headquarters of Wayanad district on a helicopter.

At Kalpetta, the party is conducting a massive roadshow from his office, which he used to frequent when in Kalpetta when he was the MP.

And at 4 p.m. a public meeting is also being arranged and all the top Congress leaders of the state will be present there.

Gandhi had won the Wayanad seat with a staggering margin of over four lakh votes.

And his visit also adds significance as it happens a few days after veteran Congressman A.K. Antony’s elder son Anil Antony joined the BJP.

Group of Sikh pilgrims departs for Pakistan to celebrate Vaisakhi

By
Swinder Singh Bajwa
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Amritsar:  The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on April 9 sent a jatha (group) of  Sikh pilgrims to participate in the religious congregation to be organised on the occasion of Khalsa Sajna Diwas (Vaisakhi) at Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib in Pakistan.

Besides, SGPC, the Sikh Devotees sponsored by Haryana Gurdwara Management and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee also crossed over to Pakistan today through the Joint Check post of Attari border (JCP). The total strength of Sikh pilgrims who crossed over to Pakistan were 2500.

Sikh jatha (group) leader and SGPC member   Amarjit Singh Bhalaipur said that several Sikh shrines are situated in Pakistan and the community longs to see them and pay obeisance there, therefore, the governments of both nations should grant visas with an open heart.

SGPC secretary Partap Singh informed that this jatha has departed to participate in the main congregation of Khalsa Sajna Diwas Vaisakhi to be organised at Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib. He said the jatha will reach Gurdwara Sri Nankana Sahib on April 9, and after paying obeisance at Gurdwara Sacha Sauda Sahib, Mandi Chuharkana on April 10, it will return to Nankana Sahib. The jatha will reach Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib on April 12, and participate in the main congregation on April 14. On April 15, the jatha of Sikh pilgrims will reach Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, Lahore and visit Gurdwara Rori Sahib, Eminabad and Gurdwara Sri Kartapur Sahib on April 16. After staying at Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, Lahore on April 17, the Sikh jatha will return to India on April 18.

Singh said that the SGPC has sent holy Gutka Sahibs of Gurbani, kanghas (combs), karhas (iron bracelets), Kirpans, shawls, tea, with the jatha. He said on the day of the main congregation on Vaisakhi, Amrit Sanchar (initiation ceremony) will be organised at Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib.

Secretary Pratap Singh said that for the convenience of the pilgrims, the SGPC provided the facility to fill the entry forms, etc. at the Attari border and special buses were arranged for transportation of the pilgrims. He said that the SGPC also arranged langar and tea and water for the pilgrims at Wagah border on the Pakistan side.

Immediately after crossing the border from India to Pakistan, Sikh jatha was accorded a warm welcome by the Pakistan officials as rose petals were showered besides they were honoured with Siropao (robe of honour) and garlands.  

Heavy police deployment in Chennai ahead of PM Modi’s visit

By
Tehelka WebDesk
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Chennai : Heavy police deployment is in place in Chennai as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to reach the city on Saturday afternoon.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to inaugurate new terminal of Chennai International Airport on his arrival at 3 p.m. He is later scheduled to flag off the Vande Bharat Express train from Chennai to Coimbatore that will ease the travel time between the two cities by two hours.

Tamil Nadu DGP C. Sylendra Babu is directly supervising the security aspects of the Prime Minister’s visit. Local police is present in large numbers on all points of the city and foolproof security arrngements as per the SPG specifications have been made.

The Prime Minister will also be participating in the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Sree Ramakrishna Mutt in Chennai and security is tightened at the Mutt premises also due to the VVIP visit.

Sources in Tamil Nadu police told to  media that the unprecedented security for the Prime Minister’s visit is due to some inputs from central agencies, but refused to detail the reasons.

Conman Kiran Patel handed over to Gujarat police

By
Tehelka WebDesk
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The conman Kiran Bai Patel from Gujarat who was arrested in Kashmir a month ago has been turned over to the Gujarat police, as he is wanted in cases in the western state as well.

For four months, Kiran Bai Patel misled the Jammu and Kashmir administration by posing as a senior Prime Minister’s Office employee and obtaining Z-Plus security and proper protocol in the Valley for himself. 

Gujarati officials had asked for the transfer of custody. Patel was handed over to the Gujarat Crime Branch officials following the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s directive.

Patel had been to many locations in Jammu and Kashmir since October, including forward positions along the Line of Control. 

Before the police were informed that Patel was a conman, he also met with officials in several districts throughout Kashmir.

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