With the 60th annual Republic Day celebrations only a few days away, the Central government has finalized a list of new Governors for seven states - West Bengal, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Himachal Pradesh.

According to TIMES NOW reports, the National Security Adviser M K Narayanan will take over as the new Governor of West Bengal, former Home Minister Shivraj Patil will assume the Governor’s office in Punjab.

While former Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt will become the new Chhattisgarh Governor, the senior Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai will be the new Governor of Jharkhand.

Amritsar, Jan. 11 : Heads of various Gurdwaras situated in the United States and Canada have expressed their resentment over the changes made in the NanakShahi Calendar, the only Sikh calendar, by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak committee (SGPC), the premier body of the Sikhs, in meet held at Fremont (San Francisco) on Sunday.

The meet lasted for three hours, during which the heads of various Sikh organizations expressed their objection to the changes made by SGPC recently in NanakShahi calendar.

Amritsar, Jan. 11 : Conveying a strong message over the issue of rocket shelling from the Pakistan’s soil, the Border security force has reportedly warned Pakistan’s Rangers against such incidents, as Border guards of India and Pakistan held a DIG level meeting at Attari land border on Saturday.

Notably after the third incident in six month, over 10 rockets were lobbed from the Pakistan soil in to Indian Territory. In retaliation Indian border gourds open fired with machine gun and mortar towards.

Chandigarh, Jan 11 : Amrik Singh, who worked in the office of Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nirmaljit Kaur and complainant in the cash-for-judge scam, failed to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here Monday.

During the last hearing Dec 24, CBI special judge Darshan Singh had summoned Singh after CBI submitted its sealed final report in the cash-for-judge scam, which rocked this union territory in August last year, seeking cancellation of the case.

Chandigarh, Jan 11 : The Punjab government Monday announced a Rs. 500,000 grant to the kin of the two youth killed in suspected racial attacks in Australia earlier this month.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced the grant to the family of Nitin Garg and Ranjot Singh who were killed in racial attacks by unidentified assailants in Australia last week.

While Nitin was stabbed to death in Melbourne city, the body of Ranjot was found in New South Wales province. Nitin was cremated in Jagraon town, 160 km from here, Sunday.

Ludhiana, Jan 10 : The Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), a premier institute of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Ludhiana, recently unveiled the latest food processing technologies to produce green chilli powder, guava bars and peanut milk.

Farmers, self-help groups and small entrepreneurs were invited to take a look and to adopt the technologies to process vegetables and fruits.

Chandigarh, Jan 10 - Fog along with bone-chilling cold Sunday derailed normal life in Punjab, Haryana and the joint capital Chandigarh and hit road, rail and air traffic.

A blanket of thick fog enveloped Chandigarh and most parts of Punjab and Haryana. "Dense fog prevails in the region, reducing the visibility level to below 100 meters. We are expecting these conditions to continue in the coming days," said a Met official here.

The Chandigarh Police have issued a traffic advisory for the residents to follow while driving. "People should drive slow during foggy weather and avoid overtaking as far as possible. Fog lights should be switched on and nobody should use high beam while driving," the advisory stated.

Ferozepur (Punjab), Jan 9 :Arms and cartridges buried in a field near a village in this border district of Punjab were seized Saturday, police said.

"Working on a secret tip off from our source, police dug out one AK-56, one AK-47, two .30 bore pistols and around 140 cartridges from an open field in village Bareke near Ferozepur town," district police chief Surinderpal Singh Parmar told IANS.

No one has been arrested so far, he added.

"We have also got some inputs from our intelligence wing and our own investigation is under process. As the border is quite near so we cannot deny the possibility of involvement of international criminals. However, things will become clear once our investigation is over," Parmar added.

Ferozepur (Punjab), Jan : Punjab Police on Saturday found big cache of arms and ammunition buried at Bareka village, two kilometers away from international border with Pakistan, in Ferozepur district.

Two rifles, 70 cartilages, one AK 47 rifle, two pistols and magazines have been recovered.

Ferozepur District’s Superintendent of police SPS Parmar said the weapons are Chinese made.

“We cannot say from where did it come because nobody has been arrested. If we had arrested anybody we would have interrogated and would have come to know about it,” Parmar said.

Parmar told that the arms and ammunition had been buried two feet deep in earth and could be recovered following a tip off.

Kandhwala (Punjab), Jan 9 : Parminder Kaur, a farmer’s daughter from Punjab’s Kandhwala village, dreams of becoming a fashion designer and her journey defines the craze for the profession that is growing day by day in the state.

A year ago, Parminder got enrolled in Heights Institute of Fashion and Technology, which came into existence in 1996 and is the only such institute in Abohar town, and has been pursuing a two-year diploma course in Fashion Design and Technology.

Parminder, is now a role model for other village girls and has a bright career ahead of her.

Amritsar, Jan 9 - Suspected terrorists fired seven rockets into Punjab's Amritsar district but there were no casualties, officials said Saturday.

The rockets were found in an agricultural field in Kangarh chowki (post) in Attari sector early Saturday. It is not clear when the rockets were fired.

A thick fog was hampering efforts by the Border Security Force to find out if more rockets had been fired, BSF sources said.

BSF officials held talks with the Pakistani Rangers and lodged a strong protest over the incident.

Amritsar, Jan 8 : Punjab Police on Friday detained a Nigerian national with about 8 kilograms heroin worth 400 million rupees in the international market.

Acting on a tip-off, Punjab Police’s Special Operation Cell, detained international Heroin smuggler Felix Odemole resident of Nigeria near the Amritsar railways station.

Ludhiana (Punjab), Jan 8 : A case was filed Friday against Punjabi singer Mika, who misbehaved with a journalist and used abusive language against him while addressing a press conference in this Punjab city, police said.

"We have registered a case against Mika after getting a written complaint from a journalist of a news channel. I have ordered a probe into this incident and an appropriate action will be taken against Mika after the investigation," Senior Superintendent of Police Sukhchain Singh Gill told IANS.

Ludhiana, Jan 7 : The plummeting mercury accompanied by drizzle and fog in Punjab state may have been making things difficult for the common man, but it has delighted farmers, as they anticipate a higher yield of wheat this season.

According to agronomists, frost and foggy weather are favourable conditions for wheat. Presently, north India is reeling under cold wave.

Wheat is the major Rabi crop of north India. Punjab alone contributes 70 percent of the wheat in the granaries set up by the federal government.

Chandigarh, Jan 7 : There was no respite from the bone chilling cold for the residents of Punjab, Haryana and the joint capital Chandigarh, even as mild sunshine greeted them Thursday.

"Intense cold wave running through the northern plains has led to a sharp fall in both day and night temperatures. In most parts of the region, the mercury remained two to three degrees below normal," said a Met official here Thursday.

New Delhi/ Uttar Pradesh/ Bihar/ Punjab/ Haryana, Jan 7 : The cold waves have disturbed normal life for the sixth consecutive day and the death toll due to the extreme harsh weather is now reported to be over 195.

Around 31 more deaths were reported from the various districts in Uttar Pradesh with Agra recording a temperature of 5.4 degree Celsius, the coldest in the state.

A foggy Thursday morning brought bad news for air travelers in Delhi as round 35 flights have been hit with runway visibility dropping down to barely 50 meters.

Khanna (Punjab), Jan 6 : Punjab Police Wednesday suspended three of its officials, including a woman, after a teenaged girl alleged that she was molested inside a police station after she was detained on a complaint of theft, officials said.

The victim, a domestic help, was picked up for questioning by the police Tuesday night after her employer accused her of stealing around Rs. 300,000 in cash, a police official said. Police also detained her boyfriend and kept them in the police station for the night.

Chandigarh/New Delhi, Jan 6 : Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is deputy chief minister, Wednesday met Australian High Commissioner to India Peter Varghese, and sought immediate steps to ensure safety of Punjabi students and immigrants in that country.

The meeting by the Badals and their delegation with the high commissioner follows the death of two Punjabi youth in Australia in recent days. The attacks are being suspected to be racially motivated.

Chandigarh, Jan 6 - The residents of Punjab, Haryana and the joint capital Chandigarh continued to brave the cold wave and the freezing weather Wednesday as mercury dipped further in the region. The met department has forecast rainfall in the coming days.

Amritsar city of Punjab was the coldest in the region, with a minimum temperature of 1 degree Celsius. Ludhiana and Patiala cities were comparatively warmer as they recorded minimum temperature of 6.3 and 5.8 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Chandigarh shivered at a minimum temperature of 3.4 degrees Celsius Wednesday, down from Tuesday's temperature of 7 degrees Celsius.

Jalandhar, Jan 5 : Robbers struck at a Samsung electronics showroom in this Punjab city Tuesday morning and decamped with laptops, LCD screens and goods worth Rs. 30 lakh, police said.

The employees of the showroom at Namdev Chowk here found the locks of the shop broken, when they came to open it in the morning, a police official said.

"Some unidentified robbers have struck at the Samsung showroom here. According to the showroom owner, they made off with laptops, LCD screens and various other accessories worth over Rs. 30 lakh," the official said.