Reiterating the commitment of the state government to extend help to the families of soldiers attaining martyrdom, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore to the family of Jawan Kuldeep Singh, who laid down his life in the service of nation on the Indo-China border.

“Kuldeep Singh from 21 Sikh regiment of Indian Army had made the supreme sacrifice of his life while defending the borders of the country and Punjab government salutes this brave heart” said the Chief Minister while offering condolences to the family members at village Lohke Kalan.

The Chief Minister said that his government is always at hand to help and support the family. He said that the countrymen will always remain indebted to Jawan Kuldeep Singh, who attained martyrdom to safeguard the security and sovereignty of the country. Paying glorious tributes to the martyr Bhagwant Mann said that he brought glory to the country and especially to Punjab through his exemplary courage and professional commitment.

Recalling the unprecedented sacrifice made by Jawan Kuldeep Singh, the Chief Minister said that the family of this brave son of Punjab must feel proud and honoured as he attained martyrdom rather dying an ordinary death. He assured the grieved family members that the state government was duty bound to help them in this hour of crisis and every step will be taken to extend a helping hand to the family. “I understand it’s a collosal loss but instead of grieving his demise, we must feel proud as he has laid down his life for a greater cause”, added Bhagwant Mann.

Recalling the gallantry traditions of state, the Chief Minister said that Punjab has always stood for peace, communal harmony and brotherhood due to the sacrifices made by such valiant people. He said that all countrymen were with the family of this national hero, who had laid down his life at the altar of his motherland to protect its border. Bhagwant Mann said that the high ideals set by this braveheart to serve the country with utmost zeal and dedication will never be forgotten.

The 270 Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only road that connects Kashmir Valley to the rest of the country, was closed for traffic due to landslides triggered by heavy rains at several places in Ramban district on Thursday, officials said.

The highway was blocked by shooting stones, landslides at four places. One such place is  Cafeteria Moore Ramban.

Hundreds of vehicles including those carrying Amarnath yatris, are stranded. 

The convoy carrying Amarnath yatris to Kashmir has been stopped at Chanderkoot and Nashri for now, officials said. Restoration work is in progress.

The 68th National Film Awards were held on Friday afternoon and Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru and Ajay Devgn’s Tanhaji- The Unsung Warrior earn the biggest accolades. The winners of the reputed awards were announced by jury member Choreographer Dharam Gulati, and Ajay Devgn and Suriya have been awarded the Best Actor for Tanhaji and Soorarai Pottru respectively.

Talking about other awards, Best Feature Film (Hindi) went to Ashutosh Govarikar-backed Toolsidas Juinor. Whereas, Ajay Devgn’s Tanhaji- The Unsung Warrior won Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Aparna Balamurali won the Best Actress award for showcasing her impressive acting chops in Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru. Suriya’s 2020 Tamil film Soorarai Pottru also bagged awards in the categories of Best Screenplay (Sudha Kongara) and Best Music Director (GV Prakash), Best Direction (Sudha Kongara), Best Production (2D Production).

Award for the best film providing wholesome entertainment goes to Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, directed by Om

Malayalam thriller Ayyappanum Koshiyum won two major awards. Director K R Sachidanandan, known professionally as Sachy, won Best Director posthumously, and Biju Menon won Best Supporting Actor. In 2020, Sachy died of cardiac arrest at the age of 47. Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli won Best Supporting Actress for her act in Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengalum. The film has also won Best Tamil Film and Best Editing.

Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday said the NDA government had discriminated against Punjab by keeping its farmers, government and agricultural experts out of the committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and even changed the aim and intentions of the committee which would lead to further discontentment and strife.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the Bathinda MP protested against the manner in which representatives of Punjab, including its farm and government representatives and agricultural experts, had been kept out of the committee even though Punjabis had been in the forefront of the farmers’ agitation, which had forced the government to withdraw the farm laws.
Harsimrat also questioned how the aim of the committee had been changed even though the Central government had given a written assurance while withdrawing the farm laws that a forthcoming committee would legalise farmers’ right to the MSP.
“The committee formed on July 12, however, has removed this clause altogether and changed it to make MSP more effective and transparent.”
She also objected to the composition of the committee, saying the former Agricultural Secretary, who was the architect of the erstwhile black laws, had been made its Chairman and that a Member (Agriculture) of NITI Aayog who had resolutely defended the scrapped farm laws was also its member.She said besides this all farmer representatives included in the committee were known supporters of the erstwhile black laws.
She also highlighted how agricultural experts had been included from Jammu and Jabalpur and representation had been given to governments of Karnataka, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim but Punjab had been ignored.
“This has been done despite the fact that Punjab has served as the granary of the country and has made the maximum contribution to the national food basket in the last seventy years.”
Later while speaking to the media, Harsimrat demanded the committee be reconstituted and expressed shock that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had not done anything to register Punjab’s strong protest at being left out of the committee.
She said while AAP MPs from Punjab had earlier followed their high command’s dictate and held ‘dharnas’ in Parliament protesting against the delay in giving permission to its convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to visit Singapore, Congress MPs from Punjab were now protesting against questioning of party President Sonia Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate.
“Both the AAP and Congress MPs have failed to protect the interests of Punjabis and voice their concerns in Parliament, ” she said.

Union minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday congratulated Droupadi Murmu on her “impressive” win in the presidential poll and asserted that her victory is proof of Indian democracy’s strength.

The senior BJP leader said she has been active for public welfare among the poor and deprived sections of society and has now risen to reach the top constitutional post.

The BJP-led NDA’s presidential candidate Murmu has crossed the 50 per cent mark after the third round of counting to emerge victorious in the poll over her rival Yashwant Sinha. An official announcement on her win is expected after all votes are counted.

Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has dissolved all departments and cells of the party with immediate effect, senior NCP leader Praful Patel said.

While informing about this on Wednesday, Patel did not disclose the reason for the sudden move, which comes three weeks after the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.

The NCP was a key constituent of the Shiv Sena-led coalition government which fell apart last month following a rebellion by a section of MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray-led saffron outfit.

“With the approval of national president, Nationalist Congress Party, Sharad Pawar, all departments and cells stand dissolved with immediate effect,” Patel, the NCP’s national general secretary and former Union minister, tweeted on Wednesday.

Pawar was instrumental in the formation of the previous MVA government in the state.

BJP president J P Nadda on Thursday made key organisational appointments in some state units of the party, drafting the RSS’ Rajesh G V as general secretary (organisation) in Karnataka.
Rajesh G V replaces Arun Kumar, who has returned to the RSS, considered the ideological mentor of the BJP.

Ajay Jamwal, who was the regional general secretary (organisation) in charge of northeastern states, will now look after Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh units of the party in the same position, according to a BJP statement.

Manthri Srinivasulu has been moved from Telangana to Punjab as general secretary (organisation).

Satish Dhond, general secretary (organisation) in charge of Goa, is now the joint general secretary (organisation) in West Bengal.

Those in charge of ‘organisation’ in the BJP are drawn from the RSS and are considered key in the overall functioning of the party’s organisational machinery.

A huge number of people from across West Bengal have congregated at Esplanade, the city’s downtown area, for the mega Martyr’s Day rally by ruling Trinamool Congress being held amidst tight security on Thursday.

The annual rally is being held after a gap of two years due to the pandemic and enthusiastic party supporters started arriving at the venue from as early as 4 am in trains, buses and private vehicles. Many of them have arrived in the city two days ago for the rally, which will be addressed by the feisty TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.

TMC workers were seen arriving at the two terminal stations of Howrah and Sealdah in overcrowded local trains holding party flags, cutouts of Banerjee playing the traditional ‘dhaaks’ (double sided drums) and even blowing conches.

At least 4,500 police personnel have been deployed across the city to maintain law and order in the city during the day.

This year’s rally is also special as it is the first after the party’s decisive victory in the state election in 2021 and TMC’s return to power for the third consecutive term.

Banerjee had said on Wednesday said that the Martyrs’ Day rally will be against the Centre’s “authoritarian rule”.

TMC observes Martyrs’ Day on July 21 every year to commemorate the killing of 13 people in police firing on a Youth Congress rally against the then Left Front government in 1993 when Banerjee was the YC state president.

She continues to observe the day even after forming the Trinamool Congress in 1998 and coming to power in West Bengal in 2011.

More than two lakh pilgrims have performed the Amarnath Yatra since the yatra began on June 30.

On Wednesday, another batch of 4,355 pilgrims left Jammu for the Valley on Wednesday.

“Another batch of 4,355 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu in two escorted convoys for the Valley today (Wednesday). Of these, 1,846 Yatris are going to Baltal and 2,509 are going to Pahalgam base camp,” officials of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) that manages the affairs of the annual pilgrimage to Himalayan cave shrine situated 3,888 metres above the sea level said.

Since this year’s pilgrimage started on June 30, 2,07,679 pilgrims have performed the yatra while 13,226 had paid obeisance at the cave shrine on Tuesday.

Those using the Baltal route have to trek 14 km to reach the cave shrine while those using the traditional Pahalgam route have to trek 48 km for 4 days.

Helicopter services are also available on both routes for the pilgrims.

Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to appear before it for questioning on Wednesday in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the re-development of a Mumbai ‘chawl’ and related transactions involving his wife and ‘associates’, officials said.

The Rajya Sabha MP, who is in the Uddhav Thackeray camp, had denied any wrongdoing and alleged that he was being targeted due to political vendetta.

Raut has been asked to depose at the agency’s regional office in Mumbai.

He has been questioned once in this case on July 1 and spent about 10 hours with the investigating officer during which his statement was recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“I gave full cooperation and answered all their questions. I will appear again if they call me,” Raut had told reporters while exiting.

He said he was “fearless and undaunted” as he has “not done anything wrong in life”.

The development comes amid a rebellion in the Shiv Sena with a tussle over party symbol and control of the organisation between former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on one side and current chief minister Eknath Shinde on the other.

In April, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore of Raut’s wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of this investigation.

The attached properties are in the form of land held by Pravin M Raut, Sanjay Raut’s aide and a former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, at Palghar, Saphale (town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district).

These properties also include a flat in Mumbai’s suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a “close associate” of Sanjay Raut, the ED had said.

The agency wants to question Sanjay Raut to know about his “business and other links” with Pravin Raut and Patkar and also about the property deals involving his wife.

After arresting Pravin Raut in February, the ED had said he appears to be “acting as a front” or in collusion with some influential person.

The agency had said during the probe it was revealed he made payments to certain “politically exposed persons”.

In the Alibaug land deal, apart from the registered value, “cash” payments were made to the sellers, the agency had alleged.

Pravin Raut was arrested by the ED in a probe linked to a Rs 1,034 crore alleged land scam related to the re-development of the Patra ‘chawl’ in Mumbai’s Goregaon area. He is in judicial custody at present.

Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd was involved in the re-development of the ‘chawl’ which had 672 tenants in tenements on 47 acres belonging to the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA), the ED had said earlier.