The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will gherao BJP Punjab office (Sector 37, Chandigarh) on Wednesday (October 30) to protest against the central government for slow grain lifting which is causing problems for farmers, commission agents, and millers.

AAP Punjab senior leader and cabinet minister Aman Arora shared this information, stating that the central government’s policies are vindictive. They are deliberately slowing down the lifting process to create difficulties for farmers and commission agents. There is no space in warehouses to store new grain, and mill owners also lack sufficient space. He said that the BJP is taking revenge on Punjab's farmers for the farmers' movement.

Cases of stubble burning in Punjab have been increasing recently, due to which the level of pollution is also increasing. Along with this, pollution has also increased in Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, the temperature of Punjab and Chandigarh gradually declining. On Sunday, the temperature of Punjab fell by 1 degree and Chandigarh by 2.2 degrees.

The average temperature of Punjab including the capital is 2 degrees above normal. Meanwhile, 108 new cases of stubble burning have been reported in Punjab on Sunday. 24 incidents of fire have been reported in Tarn Taran.

Today, a mass demonstration was held at the GMTD Office in Sector 34, Chandigarh, following the call by the Coordination Committee of BSNLEU, AIBDPA, and BSNLCCA. This protest was organized to address the non-settlement of the wage revision for BSNL employees and retired BSNL employees.

The demonstration was addressed by Comrade H.S. Dhillon, Circle Secretary BSNLEU Punjab; Comrade Kamaldeep Singh, ACS; Comrade Kamal Sharma; Comrade Karamjit Singh Walia; and Comrade Kamaljit Singh, President AIBDPA Punjab. Comrade Dhillon criticized the Government of India and the CMD of BSNL for the continued delay in implementing the wage revision, which has been pending since 01.01.2017.

The month of October has often seen it get cold by this time but this year the cold has not hit yet. Along with this, the temperature of Punjab and Chandigarh has dropped drastically today. The cold has become more severe in many districts and villages of Punjab. The temperature is constantly changing in all the cities of Punjab including Chandigarh.

While a slight drop of 0.1 degrees has been recorded in the average temperature of Punjab, a change of 1.3 degrees has been seen in Chandigarh. The maximum temperature in Chandigarh has reached 33.9 degrees and the minimum temperature has reached close to 17 degrees. Bathinda and Faridkot, the hottest cities in Punjab, recorded temperatures of 35.9 degrees, while Pathankot, the coldest city, recorded 14.4 degrees.

Farmers blocks Ambala-Chandigarh Highway over the “slow pace” of procurement of paddy in Punjab.

Protesting farmers stated that the government is neither buying nor lifting paddy. The farmers said that they had earlier announced that on October 25, they would block the roads around the grain markets of the entire state from 11 am to 3 pm.

The farmers have also announced that, if their problems are not resolved by the government soon, they will gherao offices of all Deputy Commissioners in the state from 11 am to 3 pm on October 29.

AAP spokesperson Adv. Bikram Jit Passi raised concern over rampant drug issues in India and involvement of opposition political leaders in drugs nexus, particularly highlighting the recent arrest of BJP leader Satkar Kaur in a drugs case. 

"Political powers are involved in the drug trade under the BJP government," said Passi. "Our government in Punjab is taking strong action against drugs, while the BJP turns a blind eye." He said that the Akali-BJP government allowed the drug mafia to put its claws into Punjab, and now the arrest of former Congress MLA and current BJP member Satkar Kaur has once again exposed all these parties.

Pawan Kumar Tinu, Senior Spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), reacted to the Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) decision not to contest the upcoming by-elections in four assembly constituencies in Punjab, stating that SAD Badal has become politically irrelevant in Punjab and is succumbing to the fear of the BJP.

Tinu said, “This decision reveals that the leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal has surrendered to the pressures of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Their failure to contest these elections demonstrates political bankruptcy driven by personal and family interests, neglecting the needs of Punjab and its farmers.”

Amit Kumar, IAS, assumed charge as the 14th Commissioner of Chandigarh’s Municipal Corporation on Wednesday.

The Punjab government has announced that the third Mega Parent-Teacher Meeting (PTM) will be held on October 22, with an anticipated participation of over 20 lakh parents across 20,000 government primary schools and upper primary schools.

Divulging further, Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said that the comprehensive program will run from 9 AM to 2:30 PM, bringing together teachers, students, parents, school management committees and community leaders to deliberate on educational advancement strategies. The PTM will facilitate meaningful dialogue between educators and parents, enabling them to share feedback about students' academic progress, behavioral patterns and overall development both in and outside the school environment, he added.

Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) has taken major action against the driver and the female conductor in the case of driving a bus by hanging a person at the gate. The department has suspended the bus driver and conductor. An investigation has been started in this regard. If both cannot give a satisfactory answer within three months, action will be taken to remove them from the job.