Sidhu thanks 'friend' Imran for Kartarpur corridor announcement
Chandigarh, Sep 7: Defending his earlier stand on the opening of Kartarpur corridor by Pakistan, Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday thanked his "friend" Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for enabling the opening of the religious corridor.
The Kartarpur corridor will allow pilgrims from India to go to a gurdwara in Pakistan, close to the India-Pakistan border, which is associated with Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev.
"Ajj meri zindagi safal ho gayi (Today, I have succeeded in life)," a visibly charged Sidhu told the media here on Friday, claiming that PM Imran Khan had lived up to his promise of opening the religiously crucial corridor.
Sidhu even claimed that the Pakistan government had invited the government of India for talks on the Kartarpur corridor issue.
"See what my friend has done. I thank you Khan Saab (Imran Khan) a million times for doing this," Sidhu said, adding that things happened with the blessings of Guru Nanak.
Sidhu took a dig at those, meaning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which criticized him for his statements earlier on the issue and the hug that he gave to Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa during the swearing-in ceremony of Imran Khan as Pakistan's Prime Minister in Islamabad last month.
Cricketer-turned-politician was under fire from the BJP leadership for his hug with General Bajwa.
Sidhu said that the Pakistan government has stated that Indian pilgrims will be allowed to visit the Sikh shrine through the Kartarpur corridor without visa.
It was at the Kartarpur gurdwara, which is located around four km from the India-Pakistan international border and right opposite the border belt in Dera Baba Nanak in India's Punjab's Gurdaspur district, that Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years of his life till he died in 1539.
The gurdwara, which fell in the Pakistan territory following the partition of India in August 1947, has big significance for Sikh religion and history.
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PUC-2 pass percentage stands at 81.58 per cent in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Students across Karnataka scored high marks in the PUC-2 Examination-1 for 2026, to which the results were announced on Thursday. The overall pass percentage stood at 81.58 per cent.
The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) released the combination-wise list of toppers for various streams.
The Pre-University College-2 (PUC-2) Exam-1 was conducted from February 28 to March 17 at 1,217 Examination Centers across the state.
A total of 6,94,545 students appeared for the examination this year, of whom 5,66,608 cleared it.
Girls outperformed boys, with a pass percentage of 88.70 per cent compared to 83.65 per cent among boys.
Among college categories, residential PU colleges topped with 93.99 per cent results, followed by unaided colleges at 90.73 per cent, aided colleges at 78.72 per cent, and government colleges trailing at 57.11 per cent.
In terms of categories, General and 3A segments recorded the highest pass percentages at 92.69 per cent and 92.22 per cent respectively, while SC and ST categories also saw marked improvement over the previous year.
Medium-wise results indicated that English medium students performed better with 90.63 per cent pass rate, compared to 76.41 per cent in Kannada medium.
A total of 1,70,529 students secured distinction (85 per cent and above), while 2,95,385 students passed in first class.
The Board said students can access their results on the official portal and through mobile applications.
The PUC-2 Examination-2 is scheduled to be held from April 30 to May 13, 2026, with online registration open till April 17.
The Board has also enabled online applications for scanned copies of answer scripts from April 10 to April 15, and revaluation applications between April 12 and April 17, with fees fixed at Rs 530 per subject for scanned copies and Rs 1,670 for revaluation.
