Rupnagar clinches overall title at 12th Punjab state Gatka championship Gurdaspur finishes runner-up, Fatehgarh Sahib secures third position Rupnagar 19 March ( PDL ) : Rupnagar district emerged as the overall champion at the 12th Punjab State Gatka Championship - 2026 delivering an impressive performance across multiple age categories. During the annual tournament concluded on Sunday at nearby village Laudimajra, where Gurdaspur claimed the second position while Fatehgarh Sahib finished third. Outstanding Gatka players from different categories were honoured for their excellence during the championship. In the sub-junior category, Baljot Singh of Rupnagar was adjudged the Best Gatkabaaz. Dilraj Singh of Amritsar secured the Best Player award in the junior category while Amanpreet Singh of Fatehgarh Sahib earned top honours in the senior category. Addressing the closing ceremony as the chief guest, Rupnagar MLA Dinesh Chadha lauded the efforts of the Gatka Association District Rupnagar...
Rajinder Gupta’s efforts bear fruit as Prime Minister Modi all set to inaugurate Halwara airport on February 1
Rajinder Gupta’s efforts bear fruit as Prime Minister Modi all set to inaugurate Halwara airport on February 1
Punjab/Chandigarh 31 January ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : A long-cherished aspiration of Ludhiana’s industrial heartland is set to take flight as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Kartar Singh Sarabha Airport at Halwara on February 1. The inauguration marks a historic milestone in Punjab’s infrastructure growth and a major boost to air connectivity for Ludhiana and the wider Malwa region.
The commencement of operations at Halwara Airport comes after sustained efforts by Rajya Sabha Member and Padmashri awardee Rajinder Gupta, who had raised the issue in Parliament on the very first day of his tenure. Emphasising the airport’s critical importance for trade, industry and regional development, Gupta had urged the government to expedite its operationalisation. Following his intervention, the Centre assured priority action, an assurance now fulfilled with the Prime Minister dedicating the airport to the nation.
Developed through a joint venture between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Punjab Government, the new terminal building has been constructed at a cost of ₹54.67 crore. Spread over a built-up area of approximately 2,000 square metres, the facility includes an apron and allied infrastructure, with a peak-hour capacity of around 300 passengers and the ability to handle up to two lakh passengers annually.
Thanking Prime Minister Modi, Rajinder Gupta said the Malwa region, particularly Ludhiana, which is the industrial backbone of Punjab, hosting thousands of manufacturing units and MSMEs. In the absence of a local airport, traders and entrepreneurs were compelled to travel to Chandigarh or Amritsar, leading to significant loss of time and resources. The launch of air services from Halwara, he said, would greatly ease business travel, attract fresh investment and strengthen export-import operations.
Rajinder Gupta earlier had highlighted that Ludhiana alone contributes over ₹72,000 crore to India’s industrial output and houses more than 1.5 lakh MSMEs, yet lacked a commercial airport for decades. He also underscored the needs of Punjab’s 22–25 lakh strong NRI community, students, medical travellers and entrepreneurs. Equipped to handle around 2,500 passengers daily with 10–12 flights from day one, Halwara Airport will connect Ludhiana directly to major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.
The airport’s inauguration is widely seen as a catalyst for accelerated growth, creating employment, boosting tourism, reducing congestion at other airports and firmly integrating the Malwa region with national and global markets.
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