Badal, Kapil among 490 cleared for honours

ChandigarhFormer Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri and former cricketer Kapil Dev are among 490 Punjabis who will be honoured during the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak.
A committee headed by Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh is learnt to have sent the list for final approval to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. The committee also considered Capt Amarinder’s name, but it was turned down by the Chief Minister himself, it is learnt.

The government plans to honour 550 prominent figures as part of the celebrations. The remaining names will be cleared soon. Other sportspersons on the list are cricketer Harbhajan Singh and shooter Abhinav Bindra. Prominent figures from the diaspora, including all 18 Punjabi MPs who were elected recently to the Lower House of Canadian parliament, will also be honoured.The religious figures chosen for the honour are heads of all five Sikh Takhts — Akal Takht, Takht Kesgarh Sahib at Anandpur Sahib, Takht Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo, Takht Hazoor Sahib at Nanded and Takht Patna Sahib. The ‘hazoori ragis’ at the five Takhts too are on the list.

Earlier, a six-member search committee constituted by the CM had shortlisted 759 names from different faiths having Punjab connect. The names were then placed before the committee headed by the Chief Secretary.

The names have been drawn from nine categories, including politics, education, medicine, religion, sportsperson, arts and culture.

Sources said consent had been sought from the figures to participate in an event being held at IK Gujral Punjab Technical University, Kapurthala campus, on November 10.

Sidhu accepts Pak invite, MEA says nod must

New Delhi: With Congress leader and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu accepting the invite by Pakistan for the Kartarpur corridor inauguration, the Ministry of External Affairs has said “political clearance” is a must for such invitees. “Those who Pakistan wants to call have to take political clearance,” said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.