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Democrats Projected to Win US House Majority in Midterms, Ending Republican Control; Trump Says He 'Wasn't on the Ballot' • Bhopal: CM Mohan Yadav Orders Statewide Crackdown on Liquor and Drug Mafias After Dewas Officer's Killing; Five-District Network to Be Dismantled • Democrat J.D. Ford Unseats Victoria Spartz in Indiana Upset, Flipping a House Seat Trump Carried by 17 Points • 28 Votes: Mississippi Senate Race Between Colom and Hyde-Smith Too Close to Call • Sand Flips Iowa: State Auditor Beats Lahn by 146,389 Votes to Become First Democratic Governor Elected Since 2006 • Democrats Projected to Win US House Majority in Midterms, Ending Republican Control; Trump Says He 'Wasn't on the Ballot' • Bhopal: CM Mohan Yadav Orders Statewide Crackdown on Liquor and Drug Mafias After Dewas Officer's Killing; Five-District Network to Be Dismantled • Democrat J.D. Ford Unseats Victoria Spartz in Indiana Upset, Flipping a House Seat Trump Carried by 17 Points • 28 Votes: Mississippi Senate Race Between Colom and Hyde-Smith Too Close to Call • Sand Flips Iowa: State Auditor Beats Lahn by 146,389 Votes to Become First Democratic Governor Elected Since 2006 •

Wednesday · 4 November 2026 · Amritsar / Toronto

India

Union Cabinet Clears Rs 14,500 Crore Programme for Energy Storage Projects, Vaishnaw Announces

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, November 4 approved Rs 145 billion (Rs 14,500 crore, about $1.53 billion) for a programme aimed at developing energy storage projects in India, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, Reuters reported. The decision matches the Cabinet agenda reported earlier in the day by The Hindu — a viability gap funding (VGF) scheme for grid-scale storage. Detailed contours are awaited in the official release.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk4 November 20264 min readRead in all 3 languages

Grid-scale battery storage containers beside a solar field at dusk, editorial illustration — Grid-scale battery containers beside a solar field at dusk. (Editorial illustration)

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, November 4 approved 145 billion rupees ($1.53 billion) for a programme aimed at developing energy storage projects in the country, Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse

The approval came at a Cabinet meeting that was scheduled to take up two major energy schemes, according to a memo seen by The Hindu and reported earlier on Wednesday: capital expenditure support for critical mineral processing, and a viability gap funding (VGF) scheme for the development of a grid-scale storage system. Reuters' report of the storage approval matches the second of those two agenda items; the detailed contours of the scheme were not specified in the memo.

Source: The Hindu via EuropeSays

Why grid-scale storage matters

Grid-scale energy storage systems are deployed at transmission and distribution level for greater grid stability: they absorb excess electricity when supply exceeds demand and discharge it during peak hours or when necessary, The Hindu's report explained. As solar and wind generation grows, storage is what lets renewable power generated during the day be used after sunset and during evening demand peaks.

Source: The Hindu via EuropeSays

The storage push builds on earlier steps. The Ministry of Heavy Industries is already implementing a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for 50 GWh of advanced chemistry cell manufacturing capacity, of which 10 GWh would account for grid-scale stationary storage, The Hindu noted. An earlier Cabinet-approved VGF scheme for Battery Energy Storage Systems envisaged 4,000 MWh of BESS projects by 2030-31 with budgetary support of Rs 3,760 crore, according to the Press Information Bureau.

Source: Press Information Bureau

What happens next: the full official release with the new programme's capacity targets, funding structure and implementation timeline is awaited. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when the Press Information Bureau publishes the detailed Cabinet note.

Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse

Sources

Reuters via Devdiscourse — https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/4001493-india-cabinet-clears-153-billion-programme-for-energy-storage-projects
The Hindu via EuropeSays — https://www.europesays.com/3351891/
Press Information Bureau (earlier BESS VGF scheme) — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1955112&reg=3&lang=2

Latest News — Punjab, India, USA and the World

Awaaz Punjab is an independent digital news platform publishing original, source-verified reporting in English, Punjabi and Hindi. Every story below is published with its sources named and dated, and every article is available in all three languages. Our newsroom covers Punjab first — its politics, districts and the road to the 2027 assembly election — along with India, the Punjabi diaspora in the USA and Canada, and world affairs that touch Punjab's people, from the Gulf to North America.

Trump Confirms US Strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island, Calls It a “Minor Attack” as Iran Says the Ball Is in America's Court

A day after unnamed officials revealed the strike, the president himself told Fox News the US hit a newly built Iranian air-defence system it had watched for two months — while Tehran's chief negotiator Qalibaf answered that Iran has replied and Washington must now prevent war, and Qatar said answers to its proposals are expected within 36 hours.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

6,000 MW Green Power Highway: GE Vernova Wins Power Grid Award for Barmer II–South Kalamb HVDC Link

Power Grid Corporation has issued a formal Letter of Award dated November 3 to GE Vernova T&D India to design and build the 6,000 MW, ±800 kV HVDC terminal stations that will carry Rajasthan's renewable power from Barmer II to South Kalamb in Maharashtra.

Published 2026-11-04 · Awaaz Punjab

Centre to Set Up Siri Cattle Centre of Excellence in Sikkim as State Milk Output Jumps 79%

Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh announced Central funds for a Centre of Excellence for the indigenous Siri cattle breed in Sikkim, launched a conservation programme and a bull mother farm, and inaugurated a dairy microbiology laboratory at Gangtok, as PIB figures showed state milk production up 79% in a decade.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Food Before Fuel: India's E20 Ethanol Blending Poised to Slip Towards 15% as El Niño Hits Corn and Sugarcane, Reuters Reports

India's ethanol blending in petrol is poised to fall below the official 20% target in the supply year that began this month, industry insiders told Reuters on November 4, as the lowest monsoon rainfall in more than a decade hits corn and sugarcane crops and forces New Delhi to prioritise food security. Experts cited by Reuters put the likely blending rate at around 15% to 17%, down from 20%, after the government directed oil companies not to procure sugar-based ethanol for the new season and cut the corn ethanol purchase price to Rs 68.86 a litre.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

89-Year-Old Aircraft Rules to Go: Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2026 Notified — Full Fare Break-Up on Every Ticket From January 1, 2027

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has notified the Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2026, replacing the Aircraft Rules, 1937, with the new 220-rule framework set to come into force on January 1, 2027, ANI reported. Under Rule 192, airlines must base fares on operating costs, file tariffs with the DGCA and display the total payable amount with a separate break-up of base fare, taxes, fees, cancellation charges and refund conditions; the Centre may direct airlines on fares in an extraordinary situation in the public interest.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Punjab Farm Fires Jump Six-Fold in a Day to Season-High 584, Season Total Reaches 2,196 as Delhi AQI Hits 350

Punjab recorded 584 farm fires on Tuesday, November 3 — a nearly six-fold jump from 98 a day earlier and the highest single-day count of this paddy season — taking the season total since September 15 to 2,196, the Times of India and Punjab Khabarnama reported. Delhi's average AQI touched 350 the same day, its worst reading in 287 days.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

India's Household Debt Hits a Record 46% of GDP as Borrowing Grows Four Times Faster Than Incomes

Household borrowing in India surged 36% in the year through March, taking consumer debt to a record 46% of gross domestic product, according to central bank data reported by Bloomberg via businessline on November 4. Borrowing rose roughly four times as fast as disposable income in 2025-26, figures from the Centre for Social and Economic Progress showed, and about 13% of household income went to servicing debt. The Reserve Bank's Financial Stability Report separately put household debt at about 45.5% of GDP with non-housing retail loans at 58.4% of borrowings.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Welfare ID Shift Proposed: EPIC Voter Card Plus Biometrics to Replace Aadhaar as Primary ID for Panchayati Raj Schemes, Says Minister

Union Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh has said voter identity cards (EPIC), along with biometric authentication, will be used as the basis for identifying beneficiaries and processing payments under welfare schemes within his ministry's ambit, instead of Aadhaar as the primary identification, The Hindu reported in its November 4 edition. The minister argued the change would improve verification and remove fraudulent entries; on India Today's debate, the BJP defended it as a ghost-beneficiary clean-up while the Congress warned it could disenfranchise vulnerable citizens.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Delhi's Air Turns Worse Still: AQI Climbs to 373, Its Worst in 287 Days, as Pockets Slip Deeper Into 'Severe'

Wednesday's reading is a further deterioration from Tuesday morning's AQI of 330, which Awaaz Punjab reported yesterday: Delhi's citywide AQI rose to 373 — its worst in 287 days — under GRAP Stage-II curbs, with early-hour readings above 500 reported at some stations.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Chandigarh: BJP's 'Zakhm 84 De' Conclave Today — Six Sessions on the 1984 Massacre, Justice and Rehabilitation

The BJP is holding a full-day conclave titled 'Zakhm 84 De' in Chandigarh today, November 4, bringing together survivors of the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre, victims' lawyers and senior leaders. Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will deliver the keynote address and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will speak at the concluding session.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Punjab: How Evening Fires Slip Past the Satellite — the Blind Spot in the Farm-Fire Count

More than 90 per cent of Punjab's large farm fires in 2024 and 2025 were lit after 3 pm, after the NASA satellite used for India's standard count has passed, an analysis shows — which means the official daily tally may understate how much stubble is actually being burnt.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Tata-Iveco Targets Nearly 6 Lakh Vehicles a Year in Five Years, Eyes Iveco Assembly in India

Iveco Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Tuesday (November 3) outlined the growth plan for the $24-billion Tata-Iveco commercial vehicle venture in Turin — higher volumes, revenue and margins over five years — while Tata Motors said it is identifying Iveco products for assembly in India, first as semi-knocked-down kits and then with progressive localisation.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Razorpay Gets SEBI Nod for IPO, Eyes Rs 5,500-6,500 Crore Issue at Around $5 Billion Valuation, Reports Say

The Bengaluru payments major confidentially filed its draft papers in June 2026; reports put the planned issue at Rs 5,500-6,500 crore with a market debut expected in early 2027, though no date or price band has been officially announced.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Mandi Gobindgarh: Three Workers Killed, One Critical as Two Cranes Collide and Shed Falls at Factory

Three workers — Harsh Mishra, Sat Narayan and Lakru — were killed and a fourth, Amrik Singh, was seriously injured on Tuesday when two cranes moving heavy material at a height of about 20 feet collided inside a factory shed in Mandi Gobindgarh, in Punjab's Fatehgarh Sahib district, and part of the structure fell on the workers below, TV9 Punjabi and Punjab E News reported. Amrik Singh was referred to Chandigarh in a critical condition after first aid at the Civil Hospital, and police have sent the bodies for post-mortem and begun an investigation.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Jaishankar Pitches India's Digital Public Infrastructure Model and FTAs at CHOGM in Antigua

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented India at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Executive Session at CHOGM 2026 in St John's, Antigua and Barbuda, highlighting India's digital public infrastructure (DPI) model as a tool for good governance and financial responsibility and speaking about India's recent free trade agreements and ongoing negotiations, news agency ANI reported. The summit, held from November 1 to 4 under the theme 'Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth', brought together leaders from the 56-member Commonwealth.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Mansa: High Court Orders Daljit Singh's Post-Mortem at PGI Chandigarh, Cremation at Sector 25

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed that the post-mortem of Daljit Singh of Bhamme Kalan village in Mansa district be conducted at PGIMER, Chandigarh, and that his cremation take place at the Sector 25 cremation ground, hearing the petition of his sister Amarjit Kaur, who has sought a CBI probe into his death, an independent post-mortem and protection for the family.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

India's 183rd Seismological Observatory Opens in High-Risk Kishtwar, Will Stream Quake Data to Delhi in Real Time

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the National Centre for Seismology station in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on November 2, taking the Union Territory to four observatories as weather radars and rain gauges also expand across the Chenab valley districts.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Banks to Alert Each Other the Moment a Cyber Attack Hits: IBA Building a Shared Warning System, Says SBI Chairman Setty

Weeks after SBI confirmed 3,897 customer records were identified in a dark-web data exposure, the Indian Banks' Association is working on a structured mechanism so that the moment one bank is hit, every other bank can act at once.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Gold Coins to EVs: Dhanteras Shopping Goes Online and Beyond Metros, Platforms Report

Early festive-season trends shared by Amazon India and Swiggy Instamart, reported by The Hindu BusinessLine on Tuesday (November 3), show shoppers increasingly buying jewellery, gold and silver and two-wheelers online this Dhanteras — Instamart says its gold sales grew 258 per cent year-on-year — with more than 60 per cent of Amazon's purchases coming from non-metro markets. All figures in this story are platform-reported.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Ahmedabad: Bomb-Threat Email to Gujarat DGP Office Triggers Sweeps at Ahmedabad, Rajkot Jails

A bomb-threat email received by the Gujarat Director General of Police's office on November 3 triggered security checks at Ahmedabad Central Jail (Sabarmati) and Rajkot Central Jail, and at prisons and government offices across the state, Divya Bhaskar and Nav Gujarat Samay reported. The email reportedly referred to the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts and warned of a 'big surprise'. Police, bomb detection and disposal squads and dog squads carried out the checks; no suspicious object had been found at the locations inspected so far, the reports said. The threat has not been described by authorities as a confirmed attack plan, and cyber teams are tracing the email's source.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Delhi: Six Held as Police Bust Mule-Account, Fake-SIM and APK Cyber Fraud Networks

Delhi Police's Outer North District cyber crime unit has busted several alleged cyber fraud networks in four separate operations, arresting six people, IANS reported on Tuesday. Police said the probes exposed a network that allegedly arranged around 70 bank accounts for cybercriminals, fraudulently procured about 187 SIM cards, and sold three bank accounts for Rs 20,000. A total of 125 complaints on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), involving about Rs 1.59 crore, have been linked to the investigations. All of these are police allegations and are yet to be proved in court.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Operation Southern Surge: 1,600 Pounds of Drugs Seized and 89 Arrested on the Texas Border — and What It Means for Truckers at Laredo

CBP, HSI, the DEA and federal prosecutors announced the first results of the border surge at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge: 909 packages of meth hidden in a leek shipment at Hidalgo, cocaine at Laredo, 15 firearms and over $360,000 in cash — with stepped-up inspections now running at four South Texas ports.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Delhi: ACP Manasvi Vashishtha Suspended After Police Protest; High Court Asks Lawyers to File Formal Petition

In a major escalation of the Delhi police-lawyers standoff that began with the October 23 Shahdara police station incident and led to the transfer of two officers last month, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday suspended Assistant Commissioner of Police Manasvi Vashishtha for "violation of discipline" after police personnel protested outside the police headquarters. On the same day, the Delhi High Court declined to take suo motu action over the alleged threatening remarks attributed to the officer and asked the lawyers to file a formal petition with supporting material.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Strait of Hormuz Closure Has Cost Europe an Extra €127 Billion, Von der Leyen Says, as the Iran War Chokes Oil and Gas Supplies

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cost Europe an extra €127 billion (yaani roughly €12,700 crore) in fossil-fuel import bills since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the WinWin Summit in Brussels on Tuesday — money paid, she said, 'without a single molecule of energy in addition'. The figure, up from €90 billion in mid-September, is the sharpest official measure yet of how the blocked waterway — which carried about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil and liquefied natural gas before the war — is taxing economies far from the battlefield while US-Iran talks on reopening it continue through Qatar.

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Punjab News

Punjab Farm Fires Jump Six-Fold in a Day to Season-High 584, Season Total Reaches 2,196 as Delhi AQI Hits 350

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Chandigarh: BJP's 'Zakhm 84 De' Conclave Today — Six Sessions on the 1984 Massacre, Justice and Rehabilitation

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Punjab: How Evening Fires Slip Past the Satellite — the Blind Spot in the Farm-Fire Count

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Mandi Gobindgarh: Three Workers Killed, One Critical as Two Cranes Collide and Shed Falls at Factory

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Mansa: High Court Orders Daljit Singh's Post-Mortem at PGI Chandigarh, Cremation at Sector 25

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Mohali: Bhagwant Mann Hands Appointment Letters to 801 Youth, Says Punjab Government Job Total Now 71,777

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

India News

6,000 MW Green Power Highway: GE Vernova Wins Power Grid Award for Barmer II–South Kalamb HVDC Link

Published 2026-11-04 · Awaaz Punjab

Centre to Set Up Siri Cattle Centre of Excellence in Sikkim as State Milk Output Jumps 79%

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Food Before Fuel: India's E20 Ethanol Blending Poised to Slip Towards 15% as El Niño Hits Corn and Sugarcane, Reuters Reports

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

89-Year-Old Aircraft Rules to Go: Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2026 Notified — Full Fare Break-Up on Every Ticket From January 1, 2027

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

India's Household Debt Hits a Record 46% of GDP as Borrowing Grows Four Times Faster Than Incomes

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Welfare ID Shift Proposed: EPIC Voter Card Plus Biometrics to Replace Aadhaar as Primary ID for Panchayati Raj Schemes, Says Minister

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Geopolitics and World News

Strait of Hormuz Closure Has Cost Europe an Extra €127 Billion, Von der Leyen Says, as the Iran War Chokes Oil and Gas Supplies

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

UN Elects Five Judges to the World Court: Okowa, Akande, Alabrune, Hmoud and Lee Win ICJ Seats for 2027–2036

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

US Strikes Iran: Washington Approves Qatar's Draft Deal With Iran, Reports Say — a Nuclear Concession for Frozen Assets, as Trump Warns “If We Have To, We'll Have To”

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Sweden Parliament Rejects Thand Ringqvist as Prime Minister, Speaker Hands Kristersson One Week to Form a Government

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Komyshuvakha Toll Rises to 33, With 50 Still Unaccounted For, as Zelenskiy Tells Berlin the Aid-Centre Bombing Was One of the War's Deadliest Attacks

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

UN General Assembly to Debate Russia's Western Sahara Veto on November 10, After MINURSO Mission Ends

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Regional Editions — States of India

Ahmedabad: Bomb-Threat Email to Gujarat DGP Office Triggers Sweeps at Ahmedabad, Rajkot Jails

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Delhi: Six Held as Police Bust Mule-Account, Fake-SIM and APK Cyber Fraud Networks

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Delhi: ACP Manasvi Vashishtha Suspended After Police Protest; High Court Asks Lawyers to File Formal Petition

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Thiruvananthapuram, Pangappara: Missing 17-Year-Old Student Found Dead in Sack; Three in Custody, Police Say

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Delhi: 6,700 kg of Unsafe Khoya Destroyed at Mori Gate Mandi; 35 of 44 Samples Fail Tests

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Sagar: IPS Officer Anurag Sujania Resigns Days After Transfer Amid Madhya Pradesh Liquor Row

Published 2026-11-03 · Awaaz Punjab

Investigations — Awaaz Punjab Jaanch Reports

Khalistan: The Demand, the Grievances, and What the Law Actually Allows

Published 2026-10-22 · Awaaz Punjab

The Calls Come From Inside the Jail: How Punjab's Prisons Became the Drug Trade's Command Centres

Published 2026-10-19 · Awaaz Punjab

How Drugs Actually Enter Punjab: The Full Chain, From Afghan Fields to a Village Street

Published 2026-10-18 · Awaaz Punjab

The Night Sky Is the New Border: How Drones Replaced the Smuggler's Throw

Published 2026-10-18 · Awaaz Punjab

A Ban That Moved the Factory: Afghan Poppy Collapsed — So the Labs Moved to Pakistan

Published 2026-10-18 · Awaaz Punjab

The Chemist Pipeline: How Legal Pills Became Punjab's Second Drug Trade

Published 2026-10-18 · Awaaz Punjab

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How we work: every story is checked against at least two independent, reputable sources before publication; allegations are labelled as allegations; figures carry the name of the outlet or agency that reported them and the date; corrections are published openly. Read our full verification method on the How We Verify page, our data desks on the School, Podcast and SUNO audio pages, and our numbered original investigations in the Investigations section.

Awaaz Punjab is an independent, trilingual newsroom — for Punjab, by Punjabis. We do not sell aggregated news; we publish investigations that stand on sources, with the outlet and date attached to every claim. Our first beat is Punjab's drug crisis, our second is Punjab politics. From Amritsar to Toronto — wherever a Punjabi lives, Awaaz Punjab reaches.