CHANDIGARH, August 14:

          Recognising the outstanding services of the Punjab Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (GOI), on the eve of 79th Independence Day announced the names of the Punjab Police officers/officials, to be awarded President’s Medal for Distinguished Service (PMDS) and Medal for Meritorious Service (MMS).

          An IPS-officer Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) State Armed Police Punjab MF Farooqui and Inspector Suresh Kumar, Counter Intelligence, Ludhiana to be conferred with President’s Medal for Distinguished Service.

          Similarly, one IPS-officer Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence-II Gurdial Singh and one PPS-officer DSP SSOC Amritsar Gurpreet Singh are among 14 officers/officials who have been selected for the Medal for Meritorious Service. The remaining officials include Inspector Satinder Kumar, Inspector Deepak Kumar, Inspector Jagdeep Singh, Inspector Tejinderpal Singh, SI Amrik Singh, SI Sanjiv Kumar, SI Amritpal Singh, SI Anil Kumar, SI Bhupinder Singh, ASI Jaswinderjit Singh, ASI Kuldeep Singh and SI Krishan Kumar.

          Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav, while congratulating the awardees, expressed gratitude to the Central Government and State Government for recognizing the services of these officers and boosting the morale of the entire Punjab Police force. He said that such recognition plays a significant role in encouraging the Police force to work with more dedication and devotion, which is pivotal in a border state having manifold security challenges.

CHANDIGARH/KAPURTHALA, August 14:

          In yet another significant milestone amidst the ongoing drive ‘Yudh Nashian Virudh’ to curb drug smuggling in the state of Punjab, Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Punjab and Kapurthala Police has successfully executed the orders of preventive detention of top drug smuggler identified as Gurnam Singh, a resident of village Sainchan in Sultanpur Lodhi, Kapurthala using special provisions under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) act, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.

          The preventive detention orders have been issued by the competent authority under section 3 of PIT-NDPS Act. The section 3 of the PIT-NDPS act empowers the government to take such drug smugglers into preventive custody to prevent them from engaging in illicit traffic of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

          DGP Gaurav Yadav said that accused Gurnam Singh was actively involved in peddling of drugs and had three cases under commercial quantity NDPS Act registered against him. This action will help in breaking drug trafficking chain in the area, he said.

          Sharing more details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kapurthala Gaurav Toora said that of three NDPS cases registered against accused Gurnam, the latter was also convicted in one of the case wherein he was arrested with 250 grams heroin in June 2016. Apart from this, the accused was arrested with 2 kg heroin in March 2017 and 400 grams heroin in September 2021, he said.

          The SSP said that the accused Gurnam has been detained under PIT-NDPS Act for one year and has been sent to Central Jail Bathinda for strict monitoring.

          Meanwhile, Punjab Police will make concerted efforts to enforce stringent provisions of PIT-NDPS Act against persons involved in drug trafficking in the area.

Chandigarh, August 14:

Punjab’s crop diversification efforts have received a significant boost, with the area under Kharif maize crop witnessing a 16.27% increase this season. The area under Kharif maize rose to one lakh hectares, up from 86,000 hectares in 2024, informed S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Punjab.

While chairing a high-level meeting here at his office on Thursday, S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian reviewed the status of the kharif maize crop and issued directions to ensure smooth procurement of maize crop.

The Agriculture Minister said that the Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government launched an ambitious pilot project to promote agricultural diversification and groundwater conservation by shifting 12,000 hectares area from paddy to kharif maize cultivation in six districts— Bathinda, Sangrur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur and Pathankot. To encourage farmers, the state government had also announced an incentive of Rs.17,500 per hectare under the pilot project. Additionally, 185 Kisan Mitras have been appointed to guide and support farmers in this transition.

Meanwhile, S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian has directed the formation of district-level committees comprising officials from Agriculture, Punjab Mandi Board and Markfed to ensure smooth procurement of Kharif maize. He also urged the maize cultivators to bring a dry crop to Mandis so that they won’t have to face any hassle to sell their crop. 

The Administrative Secretary Agriculture, Dr. Basant Garg, emphasised the importance of maintaining optimal moisture levels in maize crops, specifying that the moisture content should not exceed 14 percent. To facilitate smooth sales, he directed Chief Agriculture Officers and field staff to sensitise farmers on bringing dry maize crops to Mandis, thereby ensuring hassle-free procurement and supporting farmers in getting better prices for their produce.

Secretary Punjab Mandi Board Mr. Ramvir, MD Markfed Mr. Kumar Amit, Director Agriculture Mr. Jaswant Singh and other senior officials of the respective departments were also present in the meeting.

CHANDIGARH, August 14:

          On the recommendations of the Punjab Government, the Governor of Punjab announced the names of the Punjab Police officers/officials, to be awarded the Chief Minister’s Rakshak Padak award and Chief Minister’s Medal for Outstanding Devotion to Duty on the occasion of Independence Day-2025.

          Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Rajinder Singh, ASI Narinder Singh, Senior Constable Jaswant Singh and Senior Constable Harpal Kaur have been nominated for Chief Minister’s Rakshak Padak award.

          Similarly, 15 officials, who have been selected for the Chief Minister’s Medal for Outstanding Devotion to Duty, include SHO Police Station Kiratpur Sahib Insp Jatin Kapoor, Incharge CIA Amritsar City Insp Amolakdeep Singh Kahlon, Incharge Yuva Saanjh Program Punjab Insp Navneet Kaur, Insp Prabhjit Kumar from Intelligence Wing, SI Lovedeep Singh, SI Gurmail Singh, SI Dimple Kumar, SI Sukhchain Singh, SI Satwinder Singh, ASI Harjinder Singh, ASI Sandeep Singh, HC Sandeep Singh, HC Akbal Singh, HC Karambir Singh and HC Jagjeet Singh.

          Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav congratulated the awardees and thanked the Punjab Government led by Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Singh Mann for recognizing the services of the Punjab Police officers/officials. He said that such recognitions play a significant role in encouraging the Police force to work with more dedication and devotion.

CHANDIGARH, August 14:

          Amidst the enhanced security to ensure peaceful celebrations of Independence Day as mandated by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Senior rank police officers including Special DGsP, ADGsP and IGsP have been deputed in each Police district to personally supervise all the police and security arrangements in the districts allocated to them.

          As per the directions from Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav, these officers will brief officers/force during full dress rehearsal, check the anti-terrorist operations carried out by the districts, ensure all other functions in the district are secured and other preventive measures required to ensure foolproof security arrangements.

          Special DGP Arpit Shukla, who will be in Patiala to oversee the security arrangements, said that Punjab Police is all geared to ensure smooth and peaceful celebrations of the Independence Day. Security has been beefed up across the state and all the field units have been directed to remain on high alert, he said.

          He said that as part of the ongoing fortnight long special operations, Police teams in all the districts continued the search operations at all the crowded places consecutively for the second day on Thursday. He said that police teams have carried out thorough checking of Hotels/Sarai, Railway Stations, Bus Stands, Markets, Shopping Malls, Public Parks, etc across the state.

          Apart from this, Police teams have continued its cordon and search operation (CASO) against drugs on Day 166, and conducted raids at 399 locations on Thursday leading to the arrest of 84 drug smugglers after registration of 52 first information reports (FIRs) across the state. With this, the number of total drug smugglers arrested has reached to 25,806 within 166 days.

          The Special DGP said that the raids have resulted in recovery of 4.8 kg heroin, 40 kg poppy husk and Rs 4.90 lakh drug money from the possession of arrested drug smugglers.

          He informed that over 120 Police teams, comprising over 1100 police personnel, under the supervision of 76 gazetted officers have conducted raids across the state and checked as many as 434 suspicious persons during the day long operation.

          The Special DGP said that with the state government has enforced a three-pronged strategy— Enforcement, Deaddiction and Prevention (EDP)— to eradicate drugs from the state, the Punjab Police as part of ‘De-addiction’ has convinced 40 persons to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment today.

Chandigarh/SAS Nagar, August 14:

Ending the fifteen years’ long wait of the land owners/reallottees whose land was acquired for the Aerocity project, Greater Mohali Area Development Authority today conducted the numbering draw of SCOs and bay shops allotted earlier to them. The draw was held in the Community Centre of Purab Premium Apartments, Sector 88, SAS Nagar.

Divulging details, Housing & Urban Development Minister, S. Hardeep Singh Mundian said that the numbering draw was conducted for 166 SCOs of 100 sq. yds., 159 SCOs of 121 sq.yds. and 167 bay shops of 60 sq. yds. Today’s draw would be of great relief to the land owners as they were waiting for the allotment of numbers to these SCOs and bay shops since long, said the Minister.

Extending wishes to the allottees, he said that the draw has paved the way for them to start commercial activities on these properties after completing the construction of the same.

Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjab Government is working for the welfare of every community and Housing & Urban Development Department would take more citizen related welfare measures in time to come, said the Cabinet Minister.   

Feeling jubilant over the allotment of SCOs and bay shops, Sharanpreet Singh, Devansh Trehan and Vivek Bansal stated that they were completely satisfied with the outcome of the draw and said that they would now be able to start their business ventures soon.

Mr. Vishesh Sarangal, IAS, Chief Administrator, GMADA, Mr. Amarinder Singh Malhi, PCS, Additional Chief Administrator, GMADA, Mr. Ravinder Singh, PCS, Estate Officer (Plots) remained present at the venue to supervise the proceedings of the draw.

Chandigarh, August 14

Punjab Government has selected 26 different personalities to award them with Punjab Government Praman Patra, 2025 for rendering outstanding services in their respective fields on the occasion of Independence Day.

These Praman Patra will be awarded to Dr. Anupama Gupta from Amritsar, Master Tegbir Singh from Roopnagar,  Sh. Saroopinder Singh from Patiala, Sh. Ratan Lal Soni from Hoshiarpur, Dr Hitender Suri from Fatehgarh Sahib, Sh. Gulshan Bhatia from Amritsar, Smt. Rifat Wahab from Malerkotla, Smt. Rama Munjal from Ludhiana, Sh. Baldev Kumar from Hoshiarpur, Miss Apeksha from Bathinda, Sh. Gulzar Singh Patialvi from Patiala, Dr. Baldev Singh from Patiala, Sh. Balraj Singh Chouhan from Hoshiarpur, Dr. Paramjit Singh from Jalandhar, Master Yuvraj Singh Chauhan from Ludhiana, Sh. Krishan Kumar Paswan from Bathinda, Sh. Rajiv Madaan from Amritsar, Sh. Jaskaran Singh from  Bathinda, Dr. Pawan Kumar from Hoshiarpur, Dr. Harbans Kaur from Hoshiarpur, Dr. Raj Kumar from Hoshiarpur, Dr. Mahima Minhaas from Hoshiarpur, Miss. Nisha Rani from Hoshiarpur, Dr. P.S.Brar from kotkpura,  Dr. Ravi Bansal from Kotkpura and Dr. Abinav Shur from Jalandhar.

Chandigarh, August 13 – On the occasion of Independence Day on August 15, Haryana Governor Prof. Ashim Kumar Ghosh will hoist the National Flag in Ambala city, while Chief Minister Sh. Nayab Singh Saini will hoist it in Rohtak.

Chief Secretary Sh. Anurag Rastogi has issued the revised programme for Independence Day. Across the state, the flag hoisting will be held at 9:00 AM.

Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Sh. Harvinder Kalyan will hoist the National Flag in Panipat, while Deputy Speaker Dr. Krishan Kumar Middha will hoist it in Karnal.

Energy Minister Sh. Anil Vij will hoist the National Flag in Yamunanagar/Jagadhri, Development & Panchayats Minister Sh. Krishan Lal Panwar in Thanesar/Kurukshetra, Industries & Commerce Minister Rao Narbir Singh in Rewari, School Education Minister Sh. Mahipal Dhanda in Kaithal, and Revenue & Disaster Management Minister Sh. Vipul Goel in Narnaul.

Similarly, Cooperation Minister Sh. Arvind Kumar Sharma will be the chief guest in Sonipat, Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister Sh. Shyam Singh Rana in Gurugram, and Public Health Engineering Minister Sh. Ranbir Gangwa in Fatehabad.

Social Justice & Empowerment, Scheduled Castes & Backward Classes Welfare, and Antyodaya Minister Sh. Krishan Kumar will hoist the flag in Hisar; Women & Child Development Minister Smt. Shruti Choudhry in Panchkula; and Health Minister Arti Singh Rao in Nuh.

Minister of State for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Sh. Rajesh Nagar will hoist the flag in Sirsa, and Minister of State for Youth Empowerment & Entrepreneurship Sh. Gaurav Gautam will do so in Faridabad.

In Ambala district, the Divisional Commissioner will hoist the flag in Naraiangarh, and MLA Nikhil Madan will do so in Barara. In Bhiwani district, MLA Ghanshyam Sarraf will hosit the flag in Loharu, MP Kiran Choudhry (Rajya Sabha) in Bhiwani, the Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) in Tosham, and MLA Kapoor Singh in Siwani. MLA Umed Singh will hoist the flag in Badhra, and MP Dharambir Singh in Charkhi Dadri.

In Faridabad district, Badhkal MLA Dhanesh Adlakha and Ballabgarh MLA Mool Chand Sharma will participate in programmes. In Fatehabad district, Zila Parishad Chairperson Suman Khichad will hoist the flag in Tohana, and MP Subhash Barala (Rajya Sabha) in Ratia. In Gurugram district, MLA Bimla Chaudhary will hoist the flag in Pataudi, MLA Laxman Singh Yadav in Badshahpur, MLA Mukesh Sharma in Manesar, and MLA Tejpal Tanwar in Sohna. In Hisar district, MLA Randhir Panihar will hoist the flag in Narnaund, MLA Vinod Bhayana in Hansi, and MLA Savitri Jindal in Barwala.

In Jhajjar district, MLA Rajesh Joon will hoist the flag in Bahadurgarh, MP Kartikeya Sharma (Rajya Sabha) in Badli, MP Ram Chander Jangra (Rajya Sabha) in Jhajjar and MLA Sunil Satpal Sangwan in Beri. Divisional Commissioner of Hisar will hoist the flag in Julana of Jind district, MLA Ram Kumar Gautam in Safidon, MP Rekha Sharma (Rajya Sabha) in Jind, MLA Devender Chatar Bhuj Atri in Uchana and Zila Parishad President Manisha Rani in Narwana. In Kaithal, MP Naveen Jindal (Lok Sabha) will hoist the flag in Guhla while MLA Satpal Jamba will do so in Kalayat.

MLA Bhagwana Dass will hoist the flag in Nilokheri of Karnal district, MLA Ram Kumar Kashyap in Indri, MLA Jagmohan Anand in Gharaunda and MLA Yoginder Singh Rana in Assandh. Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) will hoist the flag in Ladwa of Kurukshetra district, Zila Parishad President Kanwaljeet Kaur in Shahabad and MLA Parmod Kumar Vij in Pehowa.

MLA Om Prakash Yadav will be the chief guest at Mahendragarh, MLA Kanwar Singh at Kanina and Divisional Commissioner of Gurugram at Nangal Chaudhary. Divisional Commissioner of Faridabad will hoist the flag at Ferozepur Jhirka in Nuh district, Zila Parishad President Jan Mohammad at Tauru and Sub Divisional Officer (Civil) at Punhana. Zila Parishad President Rekha will be the chief guest at Hathin, MLA Harinder Singh at Hodal and MLA Satish Kumar Phagna at Palwal.

MLA Shakti Rani Sharma will hoist the flag at Kalka in Panchkula district. Sub Divisional Officer (Civil) will do so at Israna in Panipat district while MLA Manmohan Bhadana will hoist the flag at Samalkha. MLA Dr. Krishan Kumar will be the chief guest at Bawal, MLA Anil Yadav at Kosli, Divisional Commissioner of Rohtak at Meham and Zila Parishad President Manju Hooda at Sampla.

Sub-divisional officers (civil) will hoist the flag in Kalanwali, Dabwali and Ellenabad of Sirsa district, MLA Devender Kadyan in Ganaur, MLA Pawan Kharkhauda in Kharkhauda and MLA Krishna Gehlawat in Gohana.

Zila Parishad Chairman Ramesh Chand will hoist the national flag in Bilaspur of Yamunanagar district, MLA Ghanshyam Dass Arora in Chhachharauli, and Sub-divisional Officer (civil) in Radaur.