Rajasthan Royals batsmen Shubham Dubey and Donovan Ferreira during the IPL T20 match against Punjab Kings at the New Chandigarh Stadium in Punjab on April 28, 2026.
| Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY

New Delhi:

A show cause notice was served to the organisers of the Diljit Dosanjh concert in Chandigarh for breaching the noise limits.

The Chandigarh Union Territory administration said during the December 14 concert, the stipulated sound level of 75 decibels was breached. At the three locations where sound levels were checked, the reading stood between 76 and 93 decibels.

Authorities informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday about the breach and recommended strict action against violators. The court took the information on record and adjourned the hearing till January.

Mr Dosanjh had courted controversy on Monday when his post on X started the ‘Punjab vs Panjab’ debate. As he arrived in Chandigarh, he shared a post accompanied by the word ‘Panjab’, prompting social media users to accuse him of deliberately omitting the Indian flag emoji.

“If the tricolour is missed once while mentioning Punjab in a tweet, it’s called a conspiracy. Even in a tweet about Bengaluru, it was missed once. If Punjab is written as Panjab, it’s called a conspiracy. Whether you write it as Panjab or Punjab…it will always remain Punjab (he wrote in Punjabi),” his post read. He also explained that name of the state translates to ‘Panj’ (five) and ‘Ab’ (rivers), and its spelling differences in English do not change its identity.

Meanwhile, singer AP Dhillon’s show in Chandigarh, scheduled for December 21, has been shifted from the Sector 34 exhibition ground to the Rally Ground.

Chandigarh:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday congratulated Chandigarh,which became the first in the country to fully implement the landmark three criminal laws in the country, and said that the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) would be implemented fully across the country within 3 years too.

Addressing a program to dedicate the three new criminal laws to the nation here today, Amit Shah termed it a “golden day for the Indian criminal justice system.”

“Today is a golden day for the Indian criminal justice system – as today – Chandigarh has become the first unit to fully implement all the three new criminal laws. police, jail, judiciary, prosecution, and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), all of these are working to completely implement the new laws,” Shah said.

He said the previous criminal laws, namely the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Evidence Act as laws were only meant for the protection of the British.

“Earlier laws were 160 years old – they were made in the British parliament, they were more for the protection of British rule and not for the people. The laws that PM Modi has brought are made by Indians,” he said.

The new laws are meant to deliver justice, not punishment, he said, “These laws have no place for punishment but justice. It will be implemented in the entire country within three years,” he said.

He also mentioned how a new post has been created, the ‘Director of Prosecution’ to tackle corruption, and how the term sedition has been removed from the laws.

“To tackle and reduce corruption, a new post has been created which is Director of Prosecution. Also, the term “rajdroh” (sedition) has been replaced by “deshdroh” (treason) in the laws. Till now more than 11 lakh FIRs have been registered. Within just 4 months, 9,500 cases have received their judgement,” Shah said during the program.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the same event highlighted that the idea and purpose of old criminal laws, designed by British, was to punish Indians and keep them enslaved whereas the Nyaya Sanhita strengthens the spirit of basis of democracy – “Of the People, By the People, For the People.”

“In 1947, when our country became independent after centuries of slavery, after the wait of generations, after the sacrifices of the people, when the dawn of independence came, what kind of dreams there were, what kind of enthusiasm there was in the country. The countrymen thought that since the British had left, they would also be freed from the British laws. These laws were the means of the British oppression and exploitation,” PM Modi said.

“The idea and purpose of these laws was to punish Indians and keep them enslaved. Unfortunately, for decades after independence, our laws revolved around the same penal code and penal mindset, which was used by treating the citizens as slaves. Small changes were made at times, but the character remains intact. Why we should continue with laws in the independent country that were made for slaves,” the Prime Minister said..

Highlighting the time and efforts involved in the making of the three new criminal laws, the PM said that these laws contain suggestions and guidance from various Chief Justices of India, Chief Justices of High Court, Supreme Court, 16 High Courts, Judicial Academics, several law institutes, people from civil society, etc.

The new criminal laws, which were implemented nationwide on July 1, 2024, aim to make India’s legal system more transparent, efficient, and adaptable to the needs of contemporary society.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Two explosions occurred outside two clubs in Chandigarh on Monday night, with the police suspecting it a case of attempted extortion. According to officials, the blast took place in Sector 26 outside the Seville Bar and Lounge – owned by singer and rapper Badshah, and De Orra Club.

CCTV footage shows a man throwing what is suspected to be crude bombs at the clubs and running away.

Visuals from the incident site showed shattered window panes of the clubs due to the explosions.

No one was injured in the case.

Upon receiving the information, the Chandigarh police, along with the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) reached the spot, officials said.

While the police are investigating the extortion angle, it is also suspected that there was a fight between the partners of the two clubs.

The police are investigating further angles, officials said.

Badshah opened the Seville restaurant in December last year, along with co-owning two other establishments – Sago Spicy Symphony and Sidera. The 39-year-old rapper sings songs in Hindi, English, Punjabi, and Haryanvi languages. He has also sung songs for some Bollywood films including ‘Kapoor and Sons’ and ‘Crew’.

Chandigarh:

With the campaigning for the Lok Sabha election gathering pace in Chandigarh, a war on X, formerly Twitter, has broken out between INDIA bloc candidate Manish Tewari and BJP’s Sanjay Tandon. While the BJP nominee Mr Tandon has been levelling allegations that Manish Tewari is an outsider, Mr Tewari has been busy trying to prove that his roots belong to Chandigarh.

Polling for the lone Chandigarh parliamentary constituency will take place on June 1.

Mr Tewari has dared Mr Tandon for debate on various issues so that the people can judge who would be better to represent them in Parliament.

“I challenge the BJP candidate @SanjayTandonBJP for a debate on local, national & international issues on any neutral non partisan platform. The People of Chandigarh have a right to judge the calibre of the person who would represent them in Parliament,” Mr Tewari, who is the sitting MP from Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, wrote in his post.

I challenge the BJP candidate @SanjayTandonBJP for a debate on local, national & international issues on any neutral non partisan platform.
The People of Chandigarh have a right to judge the calibre of the person who would represent them in Parliament. pic.twitter.com/V64ZFmN52n

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) April 30, 2024

Replying to his open debate challenge, Mr Tandon questioned Mr Tewari as to why he made a shift from Anandpur Sahib to Chandigarh to fight elections this time.

“Tewari ji, Please first explain to the voters the reason you have made a shift from Ludhiana to Anandpur Sahib in the last election and from Anandpur Sahib to Chandigarh in this election. Why did you run away from contesting in Anandpur Sahib or Ludhiana this time around? Please explain this before asking for an open debate,” the former city BJP president said.

Tewari ji,

Please first explain to the voters the reason you have made a shift from Ludhiana to Anandpur Sahib in the last election and from Anandpur Sahib to Chandigarh in this election? Why did you run away from contesting in Anandpur Sahib or Ludhiana this time around?… https://t.co/PMChxXHPlV

— Sanjay Tandon (Modi Ka Parivar) (@SanjayTandonBJP) April 30, 2024

Replying to Mr Tandon’s post, the former Union Minister, wrote, “Dear @SanjayTandonBJP ji a.k.a Anil Masih ji If you have the conviction of courage please accept my challenge for an open debate. Before asking me such inane questions please also recall that your respected father Late Balram Ji Tandon ji for whom I have the greatest personal respect also contested from Amritsar and Rajpura assembly constituencies. Let us get real please don’t run away let us debate the issues that face Chandigarh & the ideological issues that separate us . Let us not turn this election into a he said she said. Let it be a battle of ideas & narratives. We owe it to the city that we have a civilised contest. Come and debate with me. I promise to be very gentle and gentlemanly,” he posted.

Dear @SanjayTandonBJP ji a.k.a Anil Masih ji

If you have the conviction of courage please accept my challenge for an open debate.

Before asking me such inane questions please also recall that your respected father Late Balram Ji Tandon ji for whom I have the greatest personal… https://t.co/Rje0GTdOpR

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) April 30, 2024

“It has been 30 hours since I challenged to @SanjayTandonBJP to an open debate. Rather than picking up the gauntlet he is obfuscating &  dissimulating & finding excuses not to debate with me including doing some choreographed and fixed ‘Chai Pe Charcha’. A person who is scared of facing off with me what will he do in Parliament? Twiddle his thumbs I presume. People of Chandigarh- Think !,” he wrote in the thread on social media.

It has been 30 hours since I challenged to @SanjayTandonBJP to an open debate.

Rather than picking up the gauntlet he is obfuscating & dissimulating & finding excuses not to debate with me including doing some choreographed and fixed ‘Chai Pe Charcha’

A person who is scared… https://t.co/wrnkJAO9C1

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) May 1, 2024

Infighting has been noticed in Congress as former MP Pawan Kumar Bansal was not spotted with Manish Tewari during the campaign trail. On the other hand, BJP MP Kirron Kher is also not actively campaigning this season. Both the INDIA bloc and BJP have said they are trying to pacify all leaders to join the election campaign.