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Avtar Singh

Avtar Singh is a staff correspondent who covers politics, agriculture, crime and rural areas in Sangrur, Barnala and Malerkotla districts of Punjab.

Articles by Avtar Singh

BKU Dakaunda decides against joining poll wagon in Punjab, won’t support SSM

Will hold a large rally in Punjab’s Barnala town on January 10 against the state government over their pending demands, says BKU’s Dakaunda faction

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Dakaunda) representatives during a meeting in Barnala on Monday.

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Published on Dec 28, 2021 03:00 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Barnala

Political action should not be taken to satisfy ego: Punjab BJP chief on Majithia drug case

BJP chief said guilty should be punished at all costs, but questions will be raised on the timing of drug case against Majithia

Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma at a poll meeting in Sangrur on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

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Published on Dec 22, 2021 01:41 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Sangrur

Hang those guilty of sacrilege, says Navjot Sidhu

Sidhu said all people are equal in Punjab, and if there is any incident of sacrilege, whether of Guru Granth Sahib, Gita or Quran, the guilty should be hanged

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Navjot Singh Sidhu addressing a rally in Malerkotla on Sunday. (HT Photo)

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Updated on Dec 19, 2021 09:58 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Malerkotla

Mann challenges Singla to contest from Sangrur

Mann added that if Punjab PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla had forgotten his defeat in 2014 Parliamentary elections, he should be ready to ‘test the waters’ again

Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann said it was easy to ridicule him for his jokes, but the development work he had done and processes he had set up to help the common man were serious work. (HT Photo)

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Published on Dec 18, 2021 08:24 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

BKU Ugrahan to hold dharnas outside DC offices in Punjab

The state leadership of BKU Ugrahan announced protests against the Congress government in Punjab to highlight its various unfulfilled pre-poll promises

BKU Ugrahan leaders holding a meeting at Bhotna village in Barnala on Friday. (HT Photo)

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Published on Dec 17, 2021 07:29 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Barnala

Cong ended monarchy by ousting Capt: Punjab CM Channi

Punjab CM added that the projects he was launching would bring employment to thousands, while also boosting the state’s economy in general

Unemployed protesting at the rally venue. Punjab CM Channi has said that even as the Congress had ended monarchy, the SAD had not been able to play the role of a strong opposition, a condition for healthier democracy. (HT Photo)

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Published on Dec 14, 2021 10:20 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Farmers will start battle against Congress govt’s unfulfilled promises in Punjab: BKU leader Ugrahan

BKU leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan condemn lathicharge on ETT-qualified teachers in Mansa and demand suspension of a DSP who beat up youths

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan with farmer leaders and others in Punjab on Saturday.

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Published on Dec 12, 2021 01:08 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Sangrur

Memorial dedicated to 58 farmers from Sangrur who died during stir against 3 laws inaugurated

Punjab PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla inaugurates the memorial named ‘Yadgaar-e-Shaheedaan’ constructed by the department and the district administration

A visitor at the memorial dedicated to 58 farmers from Sangrur who died during the agitation against the Centre’s three agriculture laws, in Sangrur on Wednesday.

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Published on Dec 09, 2021 01:49 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Sangrur

Kejriwal is a dictator, says Sukhbir Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal addressed two rallies in Punjab’s Tapa and Sunam, where he lashed out at Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal addressing a rally in Sunam town of Sangrur on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

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Published on Dec 08, 2021 01:09 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Sangrur/barnala

Not a single house sanctioned, Punjab’s Barnala, Fazilka score zero against PMAY-G target

Punjab’s Muktsar district tops the chart of achieving PMAY-G target by sanctioning maximum 1,562 houses against target of 4,309 with 36.2% score

Rupnagar district, where Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi’s constituency Chamkaur Sahib falls, achieved 0.6 % target under PMAY-G by sanctioning mere 3 houses against the target of 478.

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Updated on Dec 07, 2021 01:52 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Barnala

Farmers moving to Tikri, Singhu to mark stir of anniv find clear path

Haryana villagers are welcoming farmers from Punjab who are going to the Delhi borders and also arranging food and accommodation for them. Langars are being organised as well

Farm stir completes one year on November 26 (Friday), but farmers now say farm repeal is only half the battle won; they also want Minimum Support Price (MSP) on major crops as a legal right. (HT Photo)

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Published on Nov 25, 2021 08:59 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh/Sunil Rahar

Unions continue mobilising Sangrur farmers to go to Delhi on Nov 26

On November 26, farmers will mark a year of their protest; union leaders claim that their march to Delhi borders on November 26 will only strength to their movement

Mobilising farmers to march to Delhi is important, as there are other demands that need to fulfilled, farm unions have claimed. (HT Photo)

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Updated on Nov 21, 2021 01:26 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh

200 inter-caste couple await grant of ₹50,000 in Sangrur, Barnala

District welfare officers admit that couple in Barnala, Sangrur are yet to be given the help; applicants from Sunam etc also claim that nothing is in their hands as the applications have been forwarded to the headoffice

Over 200 inter-caste couples in Barnala, Sangrur are awaiting money due to them under the scheme in which both Centre and states contribute 50% each. (HT PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY)

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Published on Nov 18, 2021 09:44 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Vacant agri-management posts in Punjab: Sangrur chief agriculture officer handling 3 other districts

Barnala, Malerkotla and Patiala districts do not have a regular chief agriculture officer; the vacant agri-management posts in Punjab are a source of worry for the agrarian state of Punjab

Vacant agri-management posts in Punjab come at a time when there is DAP shortage across the state; there are vacant CAO posts with Sangrur chief agriculture officer handling three other districts as additional charge. (HT Photo)

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Published on Nov 14, 2021 11:00 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

{Maharaja Ranjit Singh birth anniv today} 24 years after announcement, birthplace Sangrur village awaits Maharaja’s statue

The statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh at Badrukhan village in Sangrur; now, Punjab PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla has promised completion of the project in around three weeks

At a state-level function to mark Maharja Ranjit Singh birth aniv in 1997, the then Punjab CM had promised that a statue of the Maharaja would be built at his birthplace Sangrur village. This (pic) is the state of the site today. (HT Photo)

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Published on Nov 12, 2021 08:21 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Punjab polls: Kejriwal on two-day visit to meet AAP leaders, farmers, traders

On his second visit to Punjab this month in the run-up to the assembly elections early next year, the AAP national convener will be interacting with farmers and traders in Bathinda and Mansa

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is meeting Punjab Aam Aadmi Party leaders at the house of state unit chief Bhagwant Mann in Sangrur on Wednesday. (HT file photo)

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Updated on Oct 28, 2021 12:27 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

In Sangrur, only 34 households got 100-day employment under MGNREGA, claims AAP

Sunam MLA Aman Arora has alleged that hundreds of labourers in his constituency had not been paid for their labour and they had been fleeced, with no entries on their job cards

Of thousands of Sangrur households, only 34 have been given the mandatory 100-day wage employment, it was revealed at a meeting of the district development coordination and monitoring committee. (HT File)

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Updated on Oct 28, 2021 02:06 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Malerkotla man booked for divorcing wife with triple Talaq message over WhatsApp

Police have said they conducted an investigation and booked the Malerkotla man as triple Talaq is no longer legal; divorce cannot happen like this, they said, adding the man could face imprisonment of up to three years under the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Act 2019

The Malerkotla man’s bid to divorce over WhatsApp by sending the message is illegal under the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Act 2019, police have held. (HT File Photo)

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Published on Oct 26, 2021 10:17 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Kashmiri students allegedly attacked at Punjab college post-Ind Vs Pak T20 WC

Police say matter resolved amicably after students of Sangrur private engineering college clashed on Sunday night

Police on the campus of Bhai Gurdas Institute of Engineering and Technology in Sangrur on Monday. Students in a hostel on the campus clashed after India’s defeat in the cricket match with Pakistan on Sunday night. (HT Photo)

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Updated on Oct 25, 2021 02:59 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Proposal to hike salaries of super-specialists in Punjab govt hospitals ready: Soni in Barnala

Soni, also the deputy CM of Punjab, said even new doctors hired in government hospitals would get revised salaries if the state cabinet passed the proposal; he added initially, the Barnala hospital had been allocated ₹40 crore

Punjab health minister OP Soni said the state’s hospitals needed more superspecialists, after laying the foundation stone of a new hospital in Barnala. (HT Photo)

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Published on Oct 02, 2021 08:17 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Unemployed teachers end dharna outside minister Singla’s Sangrur residence after 9 months

Lift dharna from outside Singla’s Sangrur residence after administration assured them to take up their demand for a meeting with Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and quashing of FIRs registered against them during protests

Members of unemployed teachers’ unions removing banners from outside the residence of Punjab cabinet minister Vijay Inder Singla at Sangrur. Singla held the education portfolio before the new cabinet took oath recently.

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Published on Oct 01, 2021 01:42 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Sangrur

BKU faction gives call to fight ‘corporate imperialism’ amid protests against 3 laws

Farmers, agricultural workers, youth and women gathered in Barnala on the occasion of the 114th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh and raise slogans demanding repeal of 3 farm laws

Members of the BKU’s Ugrahan faction staging a protest against the Centre’s farm laws in Barnala.

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Published on Sep 29, 2021 02:09 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Barnala

Farmers stop train in Barnala, offer tea to passengers

The Bharat Bandh call of farmers led to complete shutdown in Barnala and Sangrur districts; train passengers were harassed, though, as they were allowed to move only after 4pm

The farmers told passengers in Barnala that they been forced to call a Bharat Bandh, with the Centre not accepting their demand to repeal the farm laws. (HT Photo)

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Published on Sep 27, 2021 09:34 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Dalit women seek implementation of Land Ceiling Act in Punjab

Protesting under the banner of Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee, Dalit women say excess land with upper-caste rich farmers should be redistributed under the land ceiling law in Punjab

Dalit women holding a protest march to seek implementation of the Land Ceiling Act in Punjab, at Sangrur on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

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Published on Sep 21, 2021 09:23 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Sangrur

Samyukt Kisan Morcha appeals to farmers to intensify agitation against agri laws

People of Punjab must not to shift their focus from the ongoing agitation against three agriculture laws, say Samyukt Kisan Morcha leaders

Farmers stage a protest at the Barnala railway station on Monday. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha has been leading the agitation in Punjab and at the Delhi border. (HT photo)

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Published on Sep 21, 2021 02:03 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Sangrur

Farmers protest against Barnala sarpanch for joining BJP

Farmers protest at the village gurdwara in Barnala saw good participation; they condemned the sarpanch for going to the BJP, even as farmers were boycotting it

The Barnala sarpanch had joined the BJP in Chandigarh on Monday, sparking a farmers protest at the village gurdwara. (HT Photo)

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Published on Sep 14, 2021 09:59 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Punjab: Will not contest polls under Capt’s leadership, says Amargarh MLA Dhiman

Dhiman says state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu be declared as the party’s chief ministerial face for the upcoming Punjab polls

Congress MLA from Amargarh segment Surjit Singh Dhiman.

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Updated on Sep 12, 2021 08:25 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Sangrur

AAP should declare CM face early, based on ground realities, says Mann

Mann has said that the AAP not announcing its chief minister candidate for the Punjab assembly polls in 2022 was a big hurdle for party workers in their daily interactions with the public

Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann. (HT Photo)

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Updated on Sep 04, 2021 08:16 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Teachers’ Day: Bitter and disappointed aspiring govt job teachers to intensify stir

These teachers belong to specialised categories like BEd or Physical Training Instructors (PTIs) etc. Many of them are into their mid 30s, with some even postponing their marriages, in the hope of landing up a government job

Aspiring teachers holding a protest in Sangrur on Saturday, with police removing them from the roads. (HT Photo)

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Updated on Sep 04, 2021 08:03 PM IST

ByAvtar Singh

Focus on BJP, don’t heckle leaders of other parties: Farm unions make fresh appeal to volunteers

Say activists may question non-saffron party representatives of but it must be done in a democratic way

Protesters trying to break through police cordon to reach the rally venue of Shiromani Akali Dal in Moga on Thursday.

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Published on Sep 04, 2021 01:44 AM IST

ByAvtar Singh, Sangrur

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Avtar Singh

Avtar Singh is a staff correspondent who covers politics, agriculture, crime and rural areas in Sangrur, Barnala and Malerkotla districts of Punjab.

Will hold a large rally in Punjab’s Barnala town on January 10 against the state government over their pending demands, says BKU’s Dakaunda faction

BJP chief said guilty should be punished at all costs, but questions will be raised on the timing of drug case against Majithia

Sidhu said all people are equal in Punjab, and if there is any incident of sacrilege, whether of Guru Granth Sahib, Gita or Quran, the guilty should be hanged

Mann added that if Punjab PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla had forgotten his defeat in 2014 Parliamentary elections, he should be ready to ‘test the waters’ again

The state leadership of BKU Ugrahan announced protests against the Congress government in Punjab to highlight its various unfulfilled pre-poll promises

Punjab CM added that the projects he was launching would bring employment to thousands, while also boosting the state’s economy in general

BKU leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan condemn lathicharge on ETT-qualified teachers in Mansa and demand suspension of a DSP who beat up youths

Punjab PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla inaugurates the memorial named ‘Yadgaar-e-Shaheedaan’ constructed by the department and the district administration

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal addressed two rallies in Punjab’s Tapa and Sunam, where he lashed out at Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal

Punjab’s Muktsar district tops the chart of achieving PMAY-G target by sanctioning maximum 1,562 houses against target of 4,309 with 36.2% score

Haryana villagers are welcoming farmers from Punjab who are going to the Delhi borders and also arranging food and accommodation for them. Langars are being organised as well

On November 26, farmers will mark a year of their protest; union leaders claim that their march to Delhi borders on November 26 will only strength to their movement

District welfare officers admit that couple in Barnala, Sangrur are yet to be given the help; applicants from Sunam etc also claim that nothing is in their hands as the applications have been forwarded to the headoffice

Barnala, Malerkotla and Patiala districts do not have a regular chief agriculture officer; the vacant agri-management posts in Punjab are a source of worry for the agrarian state of Punjab

The statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh at Badrukhan village in Sangrur; now, Punjab PWD minister Vijay Inder Singla has promised completion of the project in around three weeks

On his second visit to Punjab this month in the run-up to the assembly elections early next year, the AAP national convener will be interacting with farmers and traders in Bathinda and Mansa

Sunam MLA Aman Arora has alleged that hundreds of labourers in his constituency had not been paid for their labour and they had been fleeced, with no entries on their job cards

Police have said they conducted an investigation and booked the Malerkotla man as triple Talaq is no longer legal; divorce cannot happen like this, they said, adding the man could face imprisonment of up to three years under the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Act 2019

Police say matter resolved amicably after students of Sangrur private engineering college clashed on Sunday night

Soni, also the deputy CM of Punjab, said even new doctors hired in government hospitals would get revised salaries if the state cabinet passed the proposal; he added initially, the Barnala hospital had been allocated ₹40 crore

Lift dharna from outside Singla’s Sangrur residence after administration assured them to take up their demand for a meeting with Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and quashing of FIRs registered against them during protests

Farmers, agricultural workers, youth and women gathered in Barnala on the occasion of the 114th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh and raise slogans demanding repeal of 3 farm laws

The Bharat Bandh call of farmers led to complete shutdown in Barnala and Sangrur districts; train passengers were harassed, though, as they were allowed to move only after 4pm

Protesting under the banner of Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee, Dalit women say excess land with upper-caste rich farmers should be redistributed under the land ceiling law in Punjab

People of Punjab must not to shift their focus from the ongoing agitation against three agriculture laws, say Samyukt Kisan Morcha leaders

Farmers protest at the village gurdwara in Barnala saw good participation; they condemned the sarpanch for going to the BJP, even as farmers were boycotting it

Dhiman says state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu be declared as the party’s chief ministerial face for the upcoming Punjab polls

Mann has said that the AAP not announcing its chief minister candidate for the Punjab assembly polls in 2022 was a big hurdle for party workers in their daily interactions with the public

These teachers belong to specialised categories like BEd or Physical Training Instructors (PTIs) etc. Many of them are into their mid 30s, with some even postponing their marriages, in the hope of landing up a government job

Say activists may question non-saffron party representatives of but it must be done in a democratic way

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