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Chandigarh, Punjab

THREE OPERATIVES OF LANDA-RINDA TERROR MODULE HELD FROM AMRITSAR; AK-47, THREE PISTOLS RECOVERED

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IEP CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, October 21         

  With Punjab Police has tightened noose around the anti-social elements on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Amritsar Commissionerate Police and Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) in a joint operation with Delhi Police has arrested three operatives of a terrorist module and recovered one AK-47 Assault Rifle and three pistols along with ammunition from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Friday. The module is being jointly handled by Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda.          Those arrested have been identified as Balraj Singh of Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran, Aatish Kumar and Avinash Kumar, both resident of village Sarhali Kalan in Tarn Taran. All the three accused persons were working as security guards at a Tile Factory in Gujarat.          The development came days after the Delhi Police had arrested Harminder Singh of Kot Isse Khan in Moga, who revealed that he had picked a consignment of one AK-47 and three pistols on the directions of Lakhbir Landa and handed over to Balraj, Aatish and Avinash.          DGP Gaurav Yadav said that following the inputs from Delhi Police, a manhunt operation was launched in the Amritsar and Police teams led by DCP Detective Amritsar Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar have arrested the trio accused from a Hotel at Ghee Mandi area on Thursday after recovering three pistols including one 9mm along with 22 live cartridges and two .30 bore with 9 live cartridges from their possession.          On the disclosures of accused Balraj, the Police teams have also recovered AK-47 assault rifle along with 23 live cartridges from a location pinpointed by him at village Thathe in Tarn Taran, he added.          Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Arun Pal Singh said that the Police have procured seven days remand of the arrested persons after producing them in the Court. Further investigations are on to identify their other associates and more recoveries of arms and ammunitions are expected from this module, he added.          Meanwhile, a case FIR no. 135 dated 20.10.2022 has been registered under section 25(8)/54/59 of the Arms Act at Police Station E Division Amritsar.

Chandigarh, Punjab

AMAN ARORA HANDS OVER JOB LETTERS TO 21 JUNIOR DRAFTSMAN

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IEP Chandigarh, October 21

Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Mr. Aman Arora on Friday handed over appointment letters to 21 Junior Draftsman at his office, Punjab Civil Secretariat-1, here.

          Conveying Diwali wishes and congratulating the newly inducted employees, Mr Aman Arora exhorted them to work diligently and with full honesty. He said that transparent and corruption-free governance is the sole agenda of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led state government and no stone has been left unturned to provide employment opportunities to the youth of the state.

          He said that all these employees are being posted at their nearest and convenient station. He wished them all the best for future.

          The Cabinet Minister also informed that the Punjab Cabinet today decided to restore the Old Pension Scheme, besides, giving 6 per cent DA to the state government employees as Mann government was committed to welfare of employees. In less than 7 months, the state government has provided government jobs to as many as 18,543 youths, he added.

Chandigarh, Punjab

CM FOR SMOOTH AND HASSLE FREE PROCUREMENT AND LIFTING OF THE PADDY DURING THE ONGOING PROCUREMENT SEASON

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IEP Chandigarh, October 21        

   The Punjab Chief Minister today emphasised on the need for smooth and hassle free procurement and lifting of the paddy during the ongoing procurement season, from the grain markets across the state.          The Chief Minister, while chairing a meeting with the Administrative Secretaries of the state government here at his office, said that every single grain of the farmers must be procured and lifted without any sort of delay. Sh. Bhagwant Mann expressed satisfaction over the fact that around 50 lakh Metric Ton of Paddy has already arrived in the mandis across the state and payment worth Rs 7307.93 crore has been released to the farmers.  He said that the procurement process must be completed without any sort of inconvenience to the farmers.          Dwelling on another agenda, the Chief Minister said that the farmers must be sensitised for not burning the paddy straw. He said that burning of paddy straw causes a huge threat to human life besides creating environmental hazards. Sh. Bhagwant Mann said that all out efforts need to be made for checking it at all costs by making the farmers aware of its ill effects.          Reviewing the functioning of the Aam Aadmi Clinics in the state, the Chief Minister  expressed satisfaction over the fact that daily 7500 patients are availing the benefits of these clinics. He said that these clinics are proving to be a boon for the common man by imparting quality health treatment to them. Sh. Bhagwant Mann also asked the Health department to strengthen the 400 other healthcare centres across the state.          Assessing the functioning of the Sewa Kendras in the state, the Chief Minister asked the officers to take immediate action against the complaints of overcharging for the services rendered in these Sewa Kendras. He said that strict action should be taken against the erring employees indulging in this sinister move. Sh. Bhagwant Mann said that quick disposal of citizen centric services must be ensured at all the 531 Sewa Kendras across the state.          Reiterating the firm commitment of his government against corruption, the Chief Minister asked the officers to ensure that no inflation takes place in estimates of the engineering wing. He said that the estimates must be realistic adding that severest of severe action will be taken against those indulging in such practices. Sh. Bhagwant Mann asked the officers to ensure physical checking and verification of the developmental works at grass root level.          The Chief Minister also asked the officers to ensure judicious utilisation of the funds under centrally sponsored schemes. He said that these funds must be utilised for giving fillip to the development works in the state. Sh. Bhagwant Mann also asked the Finance department to ensure that there is no pendency of any bill at the level of government.          The Chief Minister also batted for identification of the short term and long term targets to give impetus to the development of the state on one hand and provide jobs to youth on the other. He also advocated flawless interdepartmental coordination for effective implementation of the government policies and programs. Sh. Bhagwant Mann also asked the officers to perform their duty in a free, fair and transparent manner.          Keeping in view the festive season ahead, the Chief Minister asked the health department to crack down on spurious sweets and milk products. He said that no one should be allowed to play havoc with the precious lives of people. Sh. Bhagwant Mann said that severe action should be taken against those who take the life of people for granted.          The Chief Minister also asked the officers to ensure that the process of acquisition of land for the projects of the National Highways is completed at the earliest by duly compensating the farmers. He also asked the officers to expedite the ongoing work of constructing the roads across the state. Sh. Bhagwant Mann laid stress that the highest norms of quality must be adhered to while construction works.           Sh. Bhagwant Mann reiterated the firm commitment of the well being of all sections of society adding that all the officers should discharge their duties meticulously for this noble cause.

Chandigarh

Bhagwant Mann led Cabinet approves restoration of Old Pension Scheme for employees

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IEP Chandigarh, October 21

          In a historic decision aimed at well being of the government employees, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday approved restoration of the Old Pension Scheme for the employees of the state government.

          Divulging the details, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that a decision to this effect was taken in meeting of Cabinet held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister here at the Punjab Civil Secretariat I.

          The spokesperson further said that the employees will be given option for adopting the Old Pension Scheme or the New Pension Scheme. It may be recalled that Old Pension Scheme for employees was discontinued in year 2004 and ever since then the employees are being given New Pension Scheme.  However the employees have been since long demanding the restoration of Old Pension Scheme.

          Keeping in view the well being of the lakhs of employees the Cabinet has decided to restore the Old Pension scheme in the state. The implementation of the scheme is likely to give major relief to the employees of the state. Realizing that  employees are the backbone of the government, the state government has taken this historic decision which is likely to benefit all the employees of the state government.

          PUNJAB TO GIVE 6% DA TO GOVT STAFF & PENSIONERS FROM OCTOBER 1, 2022

          Meanwhile in significant decision, the Cabinet has also decided to give 6% Dearness Allowance (DA) to government employees and pensioners, with effect from October 1,2022. The decision, which will benefit lakhs employees and pensioners, was approved by the Cabinet.

          The Council of Ministers opined that the employees were a critical segment of the state administration and safeguarding their interests was the government’s top priority.

Chandigarh

JAURAMAJRA HANDS OVER APPOINTMENT LETTERS TO EIGHT YOUTH OF PARAMEDICAL STAFF

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IEP Chandigarh, October 21

As per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann regarding providing government jobs to the youth of the state, on Friday appointment letters have been given to eight youth of paramedical staff in the Medical Education and Research Department.

Medical Education and Research Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra while handing over these appointment letter, said that the process of filling vacancies in the department would continue so that quality health facilities can be delivered to the people of the state.

          Mr. Jauramajra further added that since May 2022, recruitment has been done against a total of 967 posts, including 880 staff nurses and 87 paramedical staff. He said that all these appointments were made on the basis of merit after taking the written test, adopting a transparent selection procedure.

          Meanwhile, the Minister inaugurated the portal of Council of Homeopathic System of Medicine Punjab. Jauramajra said that this facility would provide services online to the people of the state. He said that this online portal would benefit registered homeopathic doctors and new students in the state by saving their time.

          He said that Provisional Registration, Permanent Registration, Renewal and Restoration and Verification / NOC of Qualification and Registration have been launched. These services are available on https://eservices.punjab.gov.in and also citizen can visit any nearest Sewa Kendra to avail the services. He informed that previous governments did not recognized the importance of technology for ease of life of a common man. He has directed all its staff to use the technology platforms for the betterment of service delivery and to increase the productivity.

          Prominent amongst others Secretary Medical Education and Research Mrs. Alkananda Dayal, Director Medical Education Research Dr. Avnish Kumar, Chairman Homoeopathic Council Tejinder Pal Singh, Joint Director Dr. Akashdeep Agarwal, Joint Director Dental Dr. Puneet Girdhar, Deputy Director General NIC Mr. Vivek Verma and Registrar Ayurveda Board Dr. Sanjeev Goyal were also present on this occasion.

Chandigarh, Punjab

PUNJAB GOVERNMENT OPENS PORTAL TO RECEIVE APPLICATIONS FOR REGULARISING CONTRACTUAL TEACHERS, INFORMS HARJOT SINGH BAINS

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IEP Chandigarh, October 21

 For regularizing the services of the contractual teachers and non-teaching staff working in the education department, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led government has opened the portal to receive applications, informed Harjot Singh Bains, School Education Minister, Punjab.          He said, in order to regular the teaching and non-teaching employees in education department, the Personnel Department had issued the “Policy for the Welfare of Adhoc, Contractual, Temporary Teachers (Nation Builder) and Other Employees in School Education Department” on 7th October 2022, adhering to which an online portal has been opened, which will remain open till January 6, 2023.          He said that to apply on this portal, the beneficiaries should have to fill the required information in the prescribed proforma by visiting the apply link in the login ID for the temporary employee’s in the e-Punjab School app of the department.”Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led government was committed to revamping the school education department and fulfilling all the legitimate demands of the teachers and non-teaching staff working” he reiterated.

Chandigarh

PWD MINISTER HANDS OVER JOB LETTERS TO 10 JUNIOR DRAFTSMAN

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IEP Chandigarh, October 21

Punjab Public Works Minister Mr. Harbhajan Singh ETO, on Friday, handed over appointment letters to 10 Junior Draftsman (JDM) at PSPCL Guest House here.

He informed that as many 93 JDMs and 18 JEs (Electrical wing) were given appointment letters on 11.10.2022.

In addition to it, appointment to 81 JDMs and 201 JEs (Civil) shall be given shortly, announced Mr. Harbhajan Singh ETO, while adding that the process for the same is underway.

          Addressing the newly appointed JDMs, the PWD Minister said that providing jobs to youth is the top priority of the Chief Minister S Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government.

Congratulating newly-appointed employees, the Cabinet Minister implored them to perform their duties diligently as the government has fulfilled its responsibility by providing jobs to them and now it’s their duty to serve the people with full dedication and honesty.

          He said that these JDMs have been recruited on a purely merit basis and in a transparent manner.

He further informed that the system has been improved to expedite the process of giving appointments to the dependents of deceased Govt. employees by removing bottlenecks. As many as 33 dependants have been given jobs on compensate grounds in PWD (B&R) till now. Not even a single application is pending for appointment on compassionate ground in the department. The process has been made smooth and appointments on a compassionate basis are being made within 4 to 6 weeks from the date of application. The same process earlier used to take over 6 months in previous governments, he said.

          On this occasion, Secretary PWD Mr. Malwinder Singh Jaggi, Chief Engineer PWD Arun Kumar, Chief Engineer PWD Amardeep Singh Brar, Chief Engineer PWD SP Singh,  Chief Engineer PWD Gagandeep Singh, Superintending Engineer PWD Gurmukh Singh and Executive Engineer Anil Sharma among other officials were present.

Chandigarh

CABINET EXEMPTS VEHICLES CARRYING THE PARKASH OF RELIGIOUS SCRIPTURES FROM MOTOR VEHICLE TAX

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IEP Chandigarh, October 21      

  In a bid to pay great reverence and respect to the sacred Religious Scriptures of every religion, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday gave its nod to exempt especially designed vehicles for carrying the Parkash of Religious Scriptures of different religions in the state from Motor Vehicle Taxes (MVT).          A decision to this effect was taken in meeting of council of Ministers held here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister at Punjab Civil Secretariat.          Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said there are around 25,000 such vehicles in the state which are being used for carrying the Parkash of Religious Scriptures for religious ceremonies or religious events. The MVT under section 13 (3) of Punjab Motor Vehicle Taxation Act, 1924 of such vehicle is around Rs. 10,000 per annum. However the state government has decided to exempt these vehicles from the tax which is likely to cause a financial implication/relief of about Rs. 20 crore to Rs 25 crore to the Government.          The spokesperson further said that the Cabinet decided to grant exemption for these vehicles in view of the Nagar Kirtans/ Harinaam performed by various religious organizations which provides act as a catalyst to promote ethos of communal harmony, peace and brotherhood. Such religious ceremonies and events strengthen the social fabric in the state. However, as the religious institutions using these vehicles run only with donations and do not have any separate income. This exemption has been given on specially designed Motor Vehicles used in their religious ceremonies or religious events to provide a lot of financial relief to all religious organizations. They will be able to run these vehicles smoothly.

Chandigarh

CABINET LED BY CM GIVES NOD TO GIVE GOVERNMENT JOBS ONLY TO YOUTH HAVING IN DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF PUNJABI LANGUAGE

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IEP Chandigarh, October 21       

    In a landmark decision aimed at further cementing the ethos of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat in the state, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today gave nod for amending Rule 17 of Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of services) Rules, 1994 and Punjab State (Group D) Service Rules 1963 with an aim to ensure that only those candidates are appointed in the Punjab government who have in depth knowledge of Punjabi language. A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the Council of Ministers held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister here at Punjab Civil Secretariat- I.           Divulging the details a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that in the rule 17 of the Punjab Civil Services (General and Common Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994, the first proviso, for the words “Provided that where a person”, has been replaced with “Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in Group-‘C’ service unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi Language equivalent to Matriculation standard with at least fifty per cent marks, to be conducted by respective recruitment agencies in addition to competitive examination. The test of Punjabi Language shall be a mandatory qualifying test and failure to secure a minimum of fifty per cent marks in Punjabi Language will disqualify the candidate for being considered in the final merit list of candidates to be selected irrespective of their scores or marks in other papers of the respective exam.           Similarly as per amendment in clause (d) of the Rule 5, in the Punjab State (Group-D) Service Rules, 1963, the words “provided that” has been replaced with “Provided that no person shall be appointed to any post in any service by direct appointment unless he has passed a qualifying test of Punjabi Language equivalent to Middle standard with at least fifty per cent marks, to be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies in addition to competitive examination. The test of Punjabi Language shall be a mandatory qualifying test and failure to secure a minimum of fifty per cent marks in Punjabi Language will disqualify the candidate for being considered in the final merit list of candidates to be selected irrespective of their scores or marks in other papers of the respective exam. AMENDS PUNJAB MINOR MINERALS RULES 2013 TO ENHANCE PENALTY ON PERPETRATORS OF ILLEGAL MINING           In order to check illegal mining in the state, the Cabinet also gave green signal to amend rule 7.5 of the Punjab Minor Minerals Rules 2013 thereby enhancing the slab of penalty from existing Rs 5000- Rs 25,000 to Rs 50000 to 2.5 lakh. The decision has been taken as it was realized that people engaged in illegal mining are afraid of penalty, whereas the rates of penalty are very negligible and were fixed a long time ago and had varied between Rs 5000 to Rs 25000 which is very low. So it has been decided to enhance these rates ten times and fix the rates of penalty between 50000 to 2 50 lac depending upon the carrier mode viz. Tractor Trolly and other small vehicles. Truck and Multi excel truck or other. APPROVES TO AMEND ‘THE PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE MARKETS ACT-1961’           With a view to cut down financial expenditure and administrative burden in the state, the Cabinet also gave approval to amend in Section 3 (1) of ‘The Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets Act-1961’ to abolish the posts of Vice-Chairman and Senior Vice-Chairman in Punjab Mandi Board. The posts of Vice Chairman and Senior Vice Chairman were created in the year 2010 and 2016 respectively. CREATES 23 POSTS OF CM’S FIELD OFFICER BY ABOLISHING ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER (GRIEVANCES)           To overhaul the grievance redressal mechanism, the Punjab Cabinet gave its approval to abolish the existing 23 posts of Assistant Commissioner (Grievances) with creation of a similar number of new Posts of Chief Minister’s Field Officer at District level. With this significant decision, the citizens of the state would get a formal platform where their grievances can be redressed in a timely manner after being analyzed in an impartial, categorical manner. The Deputy Commissioner of the district shall monitor the work of the Chief Minister’s Field Officer regularly and have requisite support provided for effective Redressal of grievances. APPROVES SCHEME FOR COMPASSIONATE APPOINTMENT TO THE WARDS OF THE DECEASED EMPLOYEES OF PSEB (NOW PSPCL)           The Cabinet also approved the Scheme for compassionate Appointment to the wards of the deceased employees of PSEB (now PSPCL) expired before April 16, 2010 who have earlier been covered under solatium policy. As per this decision grant of compassionate employment shall be applicable prospectively to only those cases where the date of death of the deceased employee was before April 04, 2010 and which were earlier considered under solatium policy including the cases in which date of death of deceased employee was prior to the year 2002 (the year in which compassionate appointment policy was discontinued). This scheme for grant of compassionate employment shall be optional. The dependents who don’t want to opt for a job on compassionate grounds under this scheme will be allowed to retain the benefits of solatium and/or special pension already availed under solatium policy

Chandigarh

Diwali exhibition at PU

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IEP Chandigarh

Centre for Social Work, in collaboration with School of Communication Studies, Panjab University (PU) organised a Diwali exhibition, ‘TARANG’ at Student Centre, PU.  Chairpersons of both departments, Dr. Gaurav Gaur and Dr. Bhavneet Bhatti supervised the event.

“It is with efforts of our students that we are able to bring this event together which supports  AtmaNirbhar Bharat initiative” said Dr. Gaurav Gaur, Chairperson, Centre for Social Work.

“I believe this Diwali we should go ‘Vocal for Local’ and we at School of Communication Studies are happy to collaborate with Centre for Social Work for this great intiative promoting local artisans and NGOs.” said Dr. Bhavneet Bhatti,

Chairperson, School of Communication Studies.

 The event featured NGOs and Self Help Groups from all over the Tricity. A total of 21 stalls were set up for the event, where each of them appeared for a noble cause. Owing to the festive fervour, a very positive response was gained.

From Phulkaris to Scented Candles and handmade diyas, a whiff of festive flavour was visibly evident in the variety of products on display. Students of both the departments were seen actively coordinating with the stall owners.

Moreover, the students were seen interacting with the stall owners and asked questions related to their business and the noble cause behind it.