The Shiromani Akali Dal has asked President Pratibha Patil to order the immediate dismissal of Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala for publicly criticising Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, the state government and the party itself.

Jubilant Congress workers set off a barrage fireworks across several Punjab small towns and cities to greet former chief minister Amarinder Singh’s return as the state Congress president after nearly four years in relative wilderness since he relinquished power in early 2007.

India is prepared to meet Pakistan “halfway” to build mutual confidence and improve relations, Union home minister P. Chidambaram said on Friday, signalling a new mood of conciliation in the corridors of power in New Delhi.

Responding to a worldwide appeal by the USA-based Sikh organisation United Sikhs, overseas members of the community are flooding the White House Facebook and Twitter accounts with personal messages t

Days after he was unceremoniously ousted from the government, Punjab’s former finance minister Manpreet Badal has also been expelled from the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, which is headed by his first cousin and the state’s deputy chief minister Mr Sukhbir Badal.

Punjab’s chief minister Parkash Singh Badal believes the interests of his party, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, must be served before any individual or familial considerations.

In a panic that US President Barack Hussein Obama may cancel plans to visit Amritsar’s Golden Temple because of the reported insistence that he wear a headscarf or some similarly “suitable” head covering in consonance with Sikh religious tradition, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee or SGPC has now clarified that any covering, even a baseball cap, would be acceptable.

In a panic that US President Barack Obama might cancel plans to visit Amritsar’s Golden Temple because of its insistence that he wear a headscarf or a similar “suitable” head covering in consonance with Sikh tradition, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee clarified on Tuesday that any covering, even a baseball cap, would be fine.

The police detained Fiza Mohammad aka Anuradha Bali, the estranged second wife of former Haryana deputy chief minister Chander Mohan, following complaints that she had verbally abused and pelted stone

Religious functionaries loyal to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal padlocked the doors of a gurdwara to prevent former finance minister Manpreet Badal from addressing a congregation.