Already at the receiving end of political backlash after the petrol price revision, the government is not looking at raising prices for now of subsidised diesel, kerosene and cooking LPG despite oil PSUs losing a record Rs 360 crore per day.
A top oil ministry official said it will be "suicidal" to even think of raising prices of diesel, LPG or kerosene just before Parliament is to meet or even during the one-month long session. The winter session of Parliament begins on Tuesday. The Ministry, which had given oil firms a tacit approval for the November 4 hike in petrol price by Rs 1.80 per litre, was taken by surprise by the criticism revision in price of a commodity that was decontrolled or freed from government control generated.
It was even more astonished when the November 16 reduction in petrol price by Rs 2.22 a litre in line with falling global oil rates, was not praised but criticised as a decision taken for political considerations. "Both decisions were dictated by economic considerations - the hike because of fall in rupee and reduction because of dip in international oil prices," the official said but agreed that the political backlash could have been avoided if the oil companies had waited for few more days before raising rates.
 Oil companies pressed for a hike as they were losing Rs 1.52 a litre on petrol (excluding local sales tax) because of weakening rupee. But had they shown little more patience, the loss would have been more than neutralised by the Rs 1.85 per litre gain they made because of fall in global oil rates in next 10 days. "The oil companies passed on to consumers whatever gain they made," the official said.

Money from Punjab state exchequer spent on advertisements issued to a television channel by the Punjab public relations department, was going into the pockets of ruling Badal family, said a document placed on record before the Punjab and Haryana high court.
 The court has asked chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to respond to the allegation. Application was placed on record by a division bench comprising Justice M M Kumar and Justice Rajiv Narain Raina. It's all in the family as Sukhbir Badal is the state public relations minister, a portfolio earlier held by his brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia.
And, the money was routed to a channel owned by the Badals through an agency owned by Sukhbir's wife and Akali MP from Bathinda, Harsimrat Badal, the document said. However, the exact amount chanelled in this fashion has not been mentioned. Stunning revelations surfaced on Friday in the application filed by barrister Himmat Singh Shergill during the hearing of an ongoing public interest litigation (PIL) filed by him, challenging Punjab's transport policy allegedly manipulated for personal profits by the Badal family.
 In his application, Shergill said, "It is pertinent to bring to the notice of the high court that government of Punjab gives advertisements to PTC channels worth huge amounts of money which is under the aegis of G-Next Media Private Limited, a subsidiary company of Gur-Baz Media Private Ltd, which is further a subsidiary of Orbit Resorts Private Limited." "Orbit Resorts, owned by the Badal family, has around 99% shares in Gur Baz Media, which has 99.97% shares in G-Next Media, under which PTC channels are run. The government advertisements issued to the channels were actually translating into monetary benefit to the companies, in which the Badal family have substantial interest," Shergill stated.
 He submitted to the court that as per documents of the Union ministry of corporate affairs, Harsimrat Badal is the managing director of Orbit Resorts Private Limited and drawing a remuneration of Rs 3.60 crore per annum. "Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal, Harsimrat Badal, her brother Bikram Singh Majithia, his father-in-law Satyajit Singh Majithia, his mother-in-law Sukhmanjus Majithia, his sister Praneet Kaur Kairon have been shareholders in Orbit Resorts Private Limited at some time or at all times. They also have stake in Baaz Transporters Private Limited,
 Dabwali Transport and Real Estate Private Limited," the application said. In support of his claims, Shergill annexed documents of these companies owned by Badals. He said these were procured from the Union ministry of corporate affairs with the assistance of a chartered accountant and company secretary. In his application, Shergill has sought an inquiry of the entire issue by CBI or any other agency not under the direct or indirect control of the CM and his son, or from a sitting or a retired high court judge. The case would come up for hearing on December 14.

Reacting to SAD chief Sukhbir Badal's challenge to prove his worth by contesting either from Lambi or Giddarbaha, PPCC president Amarinder Singh said if contesting from others' constituencies was a proof of a politician's worth, then Sukhbir should fight from Patiala. "He will get to know where he stands," Captain told the crowd at 'Punjab Bachao' rally, here.
 Stressing that it was a "childish" challenge, Amarinder said, "The planning of both father-son to run away from their constituencies of Lambi and Jalalabad is even more childish than this. But like Badals, I am not in the habit of running away from my constituency." Promising to "usher in a prosperous and progressive Punjab where no youth would remain unemployed and where no farmer would be distressed to commit suicide", Amarinder asked Sukhbir to spell out the development he was claiming to have done for which he was seeking votes from the state people.
"If vendetta, intimidation and money could win elections, Om Prakash Chautala would never have been defeated as he intimidated people and DMK would not have lost in Tamil Nadu even after spending Rs 4,500 crore". Factionalism between party MLAs came to the fore when Faridkot MLA Avtar Singh Brar asked his followers to raise hands to show their strength in the rally. Avtar Brar was reacting to Kotkapura MLA Ripjit Brar's assertion that the Capt meet his followers, who have come from far-off villages. Avtar Brar said followers of many leaders have come, but senior leaders must remain in discipline. Both Brars and some youth Congress leaders maintained distance throughout the rally.

A spirited Canada pulled off a surprise win over Pakistan to set up a clash with hosts India in the finals of the second World Cup Kabaddi to be played at Ludhiana Sunday.
India reached the finals of the 20-day tournament easily, defeating the Italian team 74-15 in their semi-final match played at the flood-lit multi-purpose stadium here Friday evening. But the big upset was in the second semi-final match between Pakistan and Canada late Friday. The Canadian side finally won 44-39 in a closely fought match.
The aggressive Canadian side kept up the pressure on the Pakistani side all through the game with both teams locked in a neck and neck fight. At half time, both teams were at 20-20 points. The Pakistani side, which was the runners up in the first edition of the tournament last year, was expected to reach the finals this time also but the Canadian side, which also comprised Punjabi-origin youth settled in the country, got the better of them. The final match of the men's Kabaddi, in which the winner team takes home the prize money of Rs.2 crore and the runner-up takes Rs.1 crore, will be played at industrial city Ludhiana's Guru Nanak Dev stadium Sunday evening.
In the women's section, in which four teams are participating for the first time, hosts India trounced the US team 57-7 in the last league match Friday evening. Both teams have already reached the finals of the women's event. The finals will also be played in Ludhiana Sunday. The India women's team overcame the trauma of Thursday evening's accident in which their team bus caught fire in an accident with an Army truck near Bathinda town. The drivers of the bus and a Punjab Police gypsy piloting the bus were killed in the accident. Some of the women team members also received injuries and burns in the incident as people broke the bus window-panes to rescue them.

14.11.11 - 60 Min - Sikhs Attacked by Hindu Terrorists BJP/RSS/Punjab Police - Sikhs vs Advani

MAHARAJAS (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - JAZZY B

Babbu Maan at his new upcoming movie set

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to act swiftly to bring back the black money stashed in foreign banks, as per the record available with his Ministry.
Addressing a rally after laying down the foundation stone of a high-level bridge over the Satluj river at a cost of Rs 102 crore, Mr Badal said the SAD-BJP government had been demanding the Congress-led UPA government to immediately bring back the ill gotten money hidden in the foreign banks so that it could be judiciously utilised for funding welfare schemes for millions of poor across the country.
The Chief Minister said their MLAs and MPs had been persuading the Central government time and again to retrieve the huge undisclosed amount kept abroad, but the latter had so far paid no heed to their demand. "If the Centre does not initiate any action in this regard promptly, our MPs will be forced to take up this matter in the forthcoming Winter session of Parliament to seek its intervention in the larger public interest'', he warned.
Listing achievements of the state government, Mr Badal sressed the need for continuity of the government for another term of five years in order to sustain the tempo of overall development on one hand and to accomplish the unfinished agenda on the other.He said the unprecedented development achieved by the SAD-BJP alliance during the present tenure was beyond comparison with during the period of Congress regime, spanning over four-and-a-half decades.

The main attraction during the concluding function of World Kabaddi Cup to be held at Guru Nanak Stadium on November 20 will be a performance by Bollywood stars, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangda Singh.

Alleging that the abrupt narrowing of Malerkotla-Ludhiana road at certain stretches and unprotected diversions had resulted in many accidents in the past, besides proving regular traffic bottlenecks, residents of the area have urged the authorities to make the width of the road uniform and take protective measures to prevent probable accidents.