'Udta Punjab' Fiasco: The Drug Nenace Is For Real; Censoring Won't Help

By NEWSCOP | INNLIVE

The controversy surrounding Bollywood flickUdta Punjab rages on, as the 89 cuts ordered by the censor board are being widely lampooned.

The Pahlaj Nihalani-led censor board has asked the filmmakers to delete are any reference to Punjab or any place in the state. The cuts recommended include those that can baffle filmmakers and movie buffs alike: for instance, deleting all close-up shots of people injecting drugs. If this is done, the very theme of the film could fizzle out.

How Pakistan's Dealers Drugged Punjab: Smugglers In Border Paid To 'Conceal & Clear' Heroin Consignments?

It is not just terror that is being exported from across the border. The scourge of drug trafficking in Punjab has been growing due to the easy availability of drug couriers, digging of tunnels, insertion of pipes through border fencing, and well-knit syndicates including transnational criminals running the racket from jails. 

The Border Security Force (BSF), in a detailed report to the Union Home Ministry on drug trafficking in Punjab from beyond the borders, has explained the functioning of well-organised drug cartels. 

Inside BJP: Why BJP Putting Up With Navjot Singh Sidhu's Defiance Of The Party Line?

By NEWS KING | INNLIVE

Is it the fear of the AAP – or just not having any other recognisable face in Punjab?

Navjot Singh Sidhu has an uncanny ability to remain in the news. The dashing batsman, who made a name for himself as an Indian cricket opener, and then a motormouth commentator with his rat-a-tat soundbytes, followed by a career as a Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament, has of late more been known for his role on a popular television comedy show.

Gurdaspur Terror Attack: Revival Of Khalistan Or ISI Plot?

By Likha Veer in Delhi

On a clear day, the dome of Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur is visible from the rooftop of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahab in Pakistan. It would be, naturally, tempting for Pakistan to eye Gurdaspur as a soft target.

Geographically, Gurdaspur is vulnerable to infiltration. On paper, anybody willing to enter the town from Pakistan would just have to navigate the Ravi and cross into adjoining Dinanagar, the third largest municipality of Gurdaspur and erstwhile summer capital of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. This is the route terrorists currently holed up inside a police station in Dinanagar seem to have taken.

As Polls Approach, Ugly Politics Plays Out In Punjab’s Inly Muslim-Majority Town

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

Last week, torn pages of the Quran were found at Malerkotla, which has had a long tradition of keeping the peace.

As Punjab gears up for Assembly elections next year, the politics of polarisation seems to have picked up pace.

Last Friday, pages of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, were found scattered near a cemetery in Malerkotla in Ludhiana. Violence followed. A few vehicles were set on fire by a group that was upset by having been denied a meeting with the local MLA.

After 'Udta Punjab' Leak, Filmmakers Speak Out Against Piracy, Illegal Downloads

By RAMAN KAPOOR | INNLIVE

Even as the producers of Udta Punjab - Phantom Films and Balaji Motion Pictures - fought to stem the illegal download of their film, the entire footage of which was leaked online two days before its release, the film fraternity spoke out strongly on the issue of piracy.

Punjab Food Scam: Only 87 Vehicles Out Of 3,300 Trucks Transported Rice Were Traced, Where Are The 'Missing'!

In Punjab, state government agencies can transport paddy by 3,232 trucks that are actually invisible. Crores of rupees can be paid to the transporters for moving the food stock to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns . It has now come to light that in the state, the FCI hired four top nodal state government agencies that transported paddy by 3,232 trucks that don't exist; and in certain cases even by "trucks" that actually looked like scooters and motor cycles, or were too rickety even to move.

Security For Rape-Murder Accused - And A Dead Body!

Strange as it may sound, security agencies in Punjab and Haryana have provided the highest security cover to three cult leaders - one who has been dead for almost a year and two other controversial sect leaders with criminal cases of rape, murder and religious blasphemy slapped on them.

Punjab Police and central security agencies continue to guard the place 24x7 where the body of Ashutosh Maharaj, the controversial leader of the Divya Jyoti Jagran Sansthan (DJJS), is lying at his sect headquarters at Nurmahal near Punjab's Jalandhar city.

Mass Resignations Makes Punjab Congress In Jittery

By Jaspreet Kaur | Amritsar

The Congress party met with a humiliating defeat in the recent Delhi Assembly polls managing just eight seats. Its faction-ridden counterpart in Punjab seems to be speeding to meet a similar fate.

Though infighting is not new to the Punjab Congress unit, the party seems to be now falling apart. Punjab Congress President Partap Singh Bajwa’s attempt to end infighting by constituting a jumbo 320-member state body has backfired with senior leaders raising the banner of revolt against him.

Should President's Rule Be Imposed To Create Telangana?

By M H Ahssan / INN Live

Contrary to the prevailing opinion, in this country, new state formation has never been smooth. Nor were the procedures exactly similar. Each state formation was unique and had followed a different sequence of steps.

The only thing common to all the state formations so far in Independent India has been the rigid applicability of Article 3 in its truest sense, where Parliament is given the supreme authority to carve out states irrespective of the opinion of the involved State Assemblies.

While the NDA followed a convenient procedure in the creation of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in 2000, where the state assemblies initiated the demand for separation, such a procedure is neither legally mandated nor is constitutionally prescribed and deviates from most other prior state formations. 

'NO WELFARE FOR INDIA'S SOCIAL WELFARE WORKERS'

By Kajol Singh / New Delhi

Abysmal pay, low dignity and zero benefits and security unite government-appointed social health activists from Punjab and UP at a protest meet in the capital. INN reveals some of their shocking tales of exploitation and deprivation. 

Amidst the high footfall at Jantar Mantar, Delhi’s protest hub, and the thousands of cracked feet, dusty slippers and grimy shoes it sees every day, the tiny, bare and soft feet of a ten-month-old baby stood out. On her fours, she looked for space to crawl but was jailed by the legs that surrounded her. In an intriguing way, her baffled expression reflected the helplessness of the women who were ringed around her.

Analysis: Sants and Sinners - How spirituality, crime are a deadly cocktail in Punjab, Haryana

The Sant Rampal episode has exposed the dark underbelly of the flourishing network of so-called spiritual gurus in Haryana and Punjab. 

Goons trained as commandos by former military and police personnel, mind-numbing affluence that is in clear conflict with the message of simplicity they preach, bloody property disputes, thousands of devotes in rural areas, political leaders at their beck and finally, that audacious assertion that they are above the law – a potent mix of religion, con act, muscle and money power continues to dominate the lives of people in the states.

Special Report: Why Govt Relief Packages And Loan Waivers Won’t Work To Stem Farm Suicides?

Even in regions touted as India’s food bowl, Rs 3000 a month is all that a farmer earns for his family! INNLIVE analyses data from CACP to highlight the grave crisis in the agrarian economy that calls for immediate and unprecedented government action.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a higher relief package for farmers. At the same time he has directed banks to restructure agricultural loans and also asked insurance companies to proactively settle the claims. “Helping farmers at this time of distress is the government’s responsibility,” the prime minister assured the nation, stating that a team of central ministers had been sent to the affected areas to assess the crop damage.

Why Neither Telangana Nor Andhra Need Hyd As Capital?

By M H Ahssan / INN Bureau

Who should get Hyderabad, and how soon, will become a major bone of contention between the to-be-created state of Telangana and the rump state of Seemandhra left behind after the carve-up.

By suggesting that Hyderabad should be the joint capital of the two states or that it should be given to Telangana after five or 10 years, the centre will only keep the wound festering. If Hyderabad has to go to Telangana, it might as well be given upfront. Seemandhra can then start the process of building its own capital – assuming it needs one at all. This writer believes Seemandhra does not need either Hyderabad or its own capital to flourish.

Costly Cattle: Punjab's 'Super Bull' Worth Above Rs.10 Crore

By Preet Sohi | Chandigarh

His daily diet consists of 10 litres of milk, 3 kg curd and 10 kg feed. His regimen also includes a 6-km walk. Raju, a Murrah bull, is the star attraction at the Progressive Punjab Agriculture Summit 2014 (February 16- 19) being organised in Mohali near Chandigarh by the Punjab government these days.

A prized catch at Rs.10 crore, the five and-half- year-old bull is attracting visitors from far and wide. That he weighs 12 quintals and is 11.5 ft long and 5.8 feet tall and is a recipient of cash prizes worth Rs.18 lakh at various cattle festivals is only adding to his fame.

His Kapurthala-based owner Santokh Somal said, "Raju is very dear to me; I have reared him like a child. People have offered me Rs.10 crore for him but I did not sell him. I will never sell him. He is priceless."

For 'Make In India' To Work, India First Needs To Become Globally Competitive

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

A survey of industrial clusters in four states shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's big idea isn't exactly working.

Bhoday Sales Corporation is tucked inside the industrial zone of Ludhiana. A small machine tooling factory with a net worth of not more than Rs 10 lakh, it makes manufacturing equipment for other plants in the city.

Of late, it has fallen on bad times. Sales are down. At one time, says its founder, 68- year-old Maan Singh, the company used to make four power presses a month. It now makes one a month.

Focus: Sidhu Quarantined By BJP After Attack On Akali Dal

By Harmeet Singh / INN Live

Once considered to be among the BJP’s most popular and articulate legislators, Navjot Singh Sidhu, the BJP MP from Amritsar, is increasingly becoming an embarrassment for the party.

The cricketer-turned-politician recently took on the Akali Dal leadership, putting the SAD-BJP alliance in the state at risk while jeopardizing his own position in the party.

Commentary: Why BJP Is Playing With Article 370!

By Rajinder Puri / Delhi

If there is one issue which emotionally unites LK Advani and Narendra Modi, and indeed the bulk of the BJP leadership, it is Article 370 imposed in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Recently both leaders commented against this Article on Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s death anniversary. Advani spoke in Jammu while Modi spoke in Punjab from where he launched his 2014 poll campaign.

The BJP rationale to oppose this Article is clear enough. It refuses to recognize differential treatment to Indian citizens and the conferment of special status to the one state of J&K.

'Punjab Prisoners Go Live On Facebook, Social Sites'

By Gurvinder Singh / Amritsar

Smuggling of mobile phones in Punjab's prisons is passe! Armed with smart-phones, young prisoners in jails across the state are well-connected with the outside world through social networking sites, especially Facebook. These prisoners are not only connected with their friends but are freely uploading photographs from inside the prison premises. Some of the photos are those of other prisoners lodged in these jails.

A look at the Facebook accounts of some of the net-savvy prisoners shows that they are not only communicating with others but are also getting comments about life behind bars.

Pirate Versions Of Salman Khan's Film Sultan 'Leaked' Just A Day Before Release

By NISHI KHAN | INNLIVE

Cyber crime experts confirmed that Salman Khan's new film Sultan had been leaked online a day before its scheduled release in cinemas

After Udta Punjab, the movie piracy syndicate has allegedly targeted the most keenly-awaited film of the year - Sultan, starring Salman Khan.

Cyber experts claim that the online leak of Sultan came just a day before its release in over 4,500 screens across India.