IEP Chandigarh, March 30

Elsewhere Foundation in collaboration with Hero Realty is organising a two-day Think Fest, ‘Speaking Allowed’ which has started in Chandigarh. The day began with a session ‘Writing Kashmir’ by author Ashish Kaul, and performance artist and writer Inder Salim, which was moderated by Manraj Grewal, Resident Editor, The Indian Express, Chandigarh.The session stressed the need to constantly bring alive different narratives from Kashmir.Kaul who has authored bestsellers ‘Didda: The Warrior Queen Of Kashmir’,  ‘Refugee Camp’ and ‘Rakht Ghulab’ said, “The need of the hour is to look at Kashmir with new eyes and focus on the   problems of common people, be it food, power, equal rights and peace.”A conceptual performance artist and poet practicing for over 25 years, Inder Salim staged a short performance titled ‘Lost Phiren’ and stressed upon the role of art as activism.The next session, ‘Who is Afraid of Indian Literature,’ was held by speakers including Khalid Jawed (JCB Prize-winning author), Arunava Sinha (Crossword-prize winning translator), Ravi Singh (Publisher, Speaking Tiger) Nirupama Dutt (award-winning poet) who reflected on how Indian literature in different languages is making headlines and winning awards after being translated into English.The panellists spoke about how translation brings to centre stage narratives from across the country.On being asked about the type of writing coming forward, from young and new writers, Ravi Singh said that “It is very exciting, I am a big fan of new writing because it is diversified content. As long as people read there is no problem.”Khalid Jawed, stated that, “Urdu is only considered the language of Muslims, but that is not true as Urdu connects people to each other”. Arunava Sinha said, “When there are more translators, more readers will be there”Moving further the third session – ‘Gazing at Punjab through art’ was conducted by celebrated singer Rabbi Shergill and acclaimed artists Thukral and Tagra who talked about contemporary Punjab, aligning their thoughts, ideas, and vision through their art. The session was Moderated by filmmaker and scholar Daljit Ami.From the farmers’ protest to the burning Amrit Pal issue, and politics, the session focused on contemporary Punjab.  I understand the glamour and glory that comes with Punjabi music as we hear it today – I know it and I resist it. Yes, Moosewala’s style of music should happen. It’s a safety valve, we should know what people are thinking, and reflecting – but one has to understand what art is, and what it stands for. The dominance and sheer size of this kind of music and singers has to be checked. Where is Asa Singh Mastana, Surinder Kaur, Bulleh Shah, Sultan Babu, and Dheeraj Kumar, where are the voices that made Punjab cosmopolitan? Where are, tell me the female voices? I hear none. I consider Waris Shah the Shakespeare of Punjab, his invocation of the character of Heer is the cornerstone of Punjabi literature and we have collectively failed our literature and poetry. Our responsibility is to show leadership, to take charge, to understand where we stand and what is our moral stand,” Rabbi is working on more music inspired by his favourite poet, Sultan Babu.The last session of the evening was Reading Young, and Busted the myth that the young are not reading enough. Children’s author and filmmaker Samina Mishra and graphic novelist Ita Mehrotra looked at what the young adults are reading. Jaskiran Kapoor, writer and content creator moderated the session.

IEP Chandigarh, March 30

Tourism Minister Anmol Gagan Maan has applauded the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh for agreeing to jointly develop ropeway projects in the Sri Anandpur Sahib-Naina Devi and Pathankot-Dalhousie regions.The project is expected to boost the socio-economic development of both the states and facilitate tourism.Giving more information in this regard, minister said that the rope-way project will be a major attraction for tourists and is expected to bring a significant boost to the local economy. It will provide easy access to some of the most scenic locations in the region, which will undoubtedly attract a large number of tourists. The project is also expected to improve the connectivity between the two states, thus boosting trade and commerce. Minister praised the efforts of the two Chief Ministers in promoting tourism and improving the socio-economic condition of the region. She hopes that this project will be completed soon and will attract tourists from all over the country. Apart from this, minister said that the joint effort of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh governments in developing rope-way projects is a significant step towards promoting tourism in the region and it is expected to have a positive impact on the economy of both the states. 

IEP Chandigarh, March 30      

     The Punjab Government led by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann stands fully committed to ensure seamless procurement of wheat during the upcoming Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) commencing from April 1, 2023 and has made robust arrangements regarding the same across all the mandis of the State.           The Cash Credit Limit (CCL) of Rs. 29,000 crore has been approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) towards smooth procurement process, disclosed the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Mr. Lal Chand Kataruchak here today. Further, the payments to the farmers would be ensured from the first day itself, said the Minister adding that every single bale of foodgrain would be procured.          Also, the vehicle tracking systems have been mandated in all the transport vehicles used for ferrying wheat from the purchase centre to the storage point in order to check recycling of wheat.          Elaborating on the measures being put in place for the welfare of the farmers, the Minister said the first-aid kits are being provided in all the purchase centres so that any untoward incident is handled with care and on priority. Adequate arrangements for drinking water and toilets have been made in the purchase centres by the Mandi Board.          The Minister also divulged that the government shall ensure that procurement operations are resumed within 24 hours of stoppage of rain in any part of the state. The market committees have been asked to coordinate with the municipal committees and ensure that suction machines and adequate labour is available in the event of any rainfall during the purchase period.          The Minister directed the District level officers connected with the procurement arrangements to keep strict vigil in the mandis so as to make sure that the farmers don’t encounter any problem.           The Minister appealed to the farmers to bring dry and mature grain into the purchase centres so that there is no delay in purchasing it.

IEP Chandigarh, March 30  

          Describing crop diversification as the critical necessity for the state, thePunjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday gave a clarion call to the farmers for a paradigm shift in agriculture by adopting alternative crops like Cotton, Basmati and Moong.           In a video message to the farmers of the state, the Chief Minister said several crops were grown on the fertile land of state but gradually the farmers of the state confined them to paddy only. He said that this has adversely effected the topography of the state in terms of excessive power consumption, depletion of water table as most the blocks had gone in extreme dark zone, pollution due burning of stubble and others. Bhagwant Mann said that to tackle this the need of hour is adopt alternative crops adding that a high level committee headed by Chief Secretary of the state has also recommended the adoption of these crops.           The Chief Minister said that due to this the state government is adopting it in a big way. He accorded guarantee to provide canal water for cotton crop from April 1 and announced 33% subsidy on cotton seeds certified by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) besides to provide insurance on cotton crop and MSP on Basmati. Expressing grave concern on various menaces posed by paddy, Bhagwant Mann said that the state government’s firm belief to increase area under cotton cultivation will check the problem from its roots due to which they have decided to provide canal water from April 1 for cotton.           The Chief Minister said that Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police have been instructed to depute Police force for checking theft of water so that farmers at tail end can be benefitted. Bhagwant Mann said that farmers had also raised the issue of canal water theft by affluent people during first of its kind ‘Farmers-Kisan Milni’ after which the state government had decided to check it with heavy hand. He envisioned that this will help in producing good quality cotton adding he requested the farmers to avoid use of spurious seeds. Speaking about the other steps to promote crop diversification, the Chief Minister announced a 33% subsidy on cotton seeds certified by PAU Ludhiana thereby the high yielding seeds will be available at cheaper rates for farmers. He said that preventive measures were also being taken to check the attack of White fly and Pink Worm. Bhagwant Mann emphasised that the state government has decided to conduct comprehensive research on new insecticide and pesticides to control these problems.           Reiterating his commitment for safeguarding interests of farmers from all natural calamities, the Chief Minister also announced that the state government is mulling to cover the cotton crop loss under a Insurance Scheme so that the farmers didn’t face any hardships regarding this. He further said that Basmati to be promoted as the other crop of diversification and assured Minimum Support Price (MSP) on this crop. Bhagwant Mann said that the Markfed will be the nodal agency to procure Basmati on MSP adding that the interests of farmers will be secured by all means.           The Chief Minister said that laboratories are also being set up to inform the farmers about the quantity of insecticides to be used on Basmati so that its crop meet the export standards of European countries pertaining to pest residues. Recommending the cultivation of PR 126 & other similar varieties of paddy, he said that special emphasis is being given to promote PAU certified varieties and discourage the water guzzling varieties such as PUSA 44 which take ample time for harvesting. Bhagwant Mann also said that MSP will be continued on Moong but the recent researches showed that the white fly problem arises on Moong Crop and this problem have moved on cotton from Moong so he suggested the farmers not to cultivate Moong in Mansa, Bathinda, Mukatsar Sahib, Fazilka districts. Meanwhile, Bhagwant Mann said that 2500 Kisan Mittars will be deputed along with 100 Agriculture experts of PAU to update farmers about these menaces.

IEP Chandigarh, March 30

In what is likely to “spell doom” for the already struggling Punjab industry, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has taken a “disastrous” decision by increasing the power tariff for medium and large industrial consumers from Rs 5 to Rs 5.50. Expresessing extreme dismay over this anti-Industry decision BJP’s National Spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill, said that a circular issued by PSPCL reads that the power will be provided at the rate of Rs 5.5 per kilo volt ampere-hour (kvah) for five years with an annual increase of 3 per cent for medium and large industrial units. He further said that as per media reports practically, the total hike will be actually 60 paise per unit in wake of the fact that 20 per cent taxes are also levied on the power bills, which will put an additional burden of more than a “whopping” Rs 2,000 crore per annum on the industry. Asserting that the “anti-industry” decision has been implemented by the PSPCL on the instructions of Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government because the state coffers are empty, Shergill told that during deliberations with renowned industrialists of the state, particularly those from the industrial hub of Ludhiana, he came to know about a shocking fact that existing Punjab industry has been left out from the incentives offered to the new investors in the Punjab Industrial and Business Development Policy-2022. “The top industrialists told me that the new industrial units coming in the state would be charged Rs 5 per unit of power and they have also been given 13 per cent relief in the excise duty, which existing industry has been deprived of these incentives. In such circumstances, how can the existing industry in the state survive”, he questioned.     Pointing out that the said decision has sent “shock waves” among the entire Punjab industry, Shergill while terming the said decision as highly condemnable said, “The present government is actually playing the bluff that they are charging Rs 5 (now Rs 5.5) per unit power consumption but in reality, if the fixed charges etc are also clubbed with consumption charges, then the industry is paying almost Rs 7 to Rs 12 per unit of power, as told by top industrialists as well. It is really unfortunate that within one year of coming to power, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had completely forgotten its pre-poll assurance to the industry of providing power at cost of 5 Rs per unit and more shameful is the fact that the government has started increasing the power consumption charges.”   Shergill termed the electricity tariff hike as a “betrayal” by the AAP government, while adding that independent inquiries conducted by him from the industrial sector brought to light that almost 45 per cent of the total revenue of power bills is generated by furnaces and henceforth they will be the most affected with this decision. It is pertinent to mention here that state of affairs under AAP regime have been so “worrisome” that feeling unsafe to run their industry because of the “grim law and order” situation in the state, a group of top industrialists from Ludhiana had recently met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressing their desire to invest in UP. “Now, the power tariff hike and the new industrial policy have further irked the industrialists, thereby giving more weight to changes of industry migrating from Punjab”, he added. Meanwhile, Shergill said that most of the existing industrialists and the furnace owners said that in case the government does not amend the Punjab Industrial and Business Development Policy-2022 and provides a level playing field besides roll back the power tariff hike, the existing industry will gradually shut down. BJP Spokesperson demanded that the AAP Government must accept all the demands of the industry unconditionally without any delay.

IEP CHANDIGARH, March 30

With an aim to make everyone familiarise with the functionalities of the JanParichay, NIC Punjab in collaboration with Department of Governance Reforms (DGR) Punjab and NIC Delhi JAN PARICHAY team organised one-day workshop at MGSIPA, Chandigarh.Director DGR Mr Girish Dayalan, Deputy Director General NIC, Punjab Mr. Vivek Verma, SIO NIC Haryana Mr Deepak Bansal and SIO NIC Chandigarh UT Mr Ramesh Gupta along with their team members participated in the workshop.JanParichay is a single sign on platform, which acts as one digital identity for all applications. The purpose to organise this workshop was to make everyone familiar with functionalities of the JanParichay and usage with respect to citizen centric services. This system takes care of authentication and identity management and provide Government to Citizen (G2C) services seamlessly. It was proposed by Meity and entrusted NIC, C-DAC and NeGD to build National Single sign on (NSSO) platform under “Meri Pehchan”,The main objective of JanParichay was to make convenient to the citizen by eliminating the need of repeatedly prove their identities to access the different citizen centric services.Any citizen, who wants to register for some government services, can use JanParichay even using their social media accounts. The user has to go through the eKYC with Aadhaar/PAN/DL. So with JanParichay, a citizen can login and access multiple services smoothly. It supports six different languages and is under the process of integrating Geo-fencing too. All citizen centric services in Punjab will be provided through Jan Parichay for the convenience of citizens.Meanwhile, the Officers of JanParichay Delhi team briefed about features, functionalities, migration strategies and its benefits and presented some case studies during the workshop. The team also told about the challenges which are being faced today in services delivery and need of the JanParichay. SIO Haryana and SIO Chandigarh appreciated for such type of initiative by NIC Punjab, DGR and NIC Delhi Team. 

IEP Chandigarh March 30

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, has nominated four persons as accused in a corruption case including Harpreet Singh son of former forest minister Sadhu Singh Dharmsot on the charges of buying a plot for Rs 60 lakh and selling it on the same day for only Rs 25 lakh to the ministers’ son.In this case, after arresting the accused Rajesh Kumar Chopra and Raj Kumar Nagpal, the VB has produced them in the court of Mohali and obtained 6-day police remand.  Further investigation of this case was under progress.Disclosing this here today, a spokesman of the VB said the Bureau had already registered a FIR number 06 dated 06-02-2023, under section 13(1), 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Vigilance Bureau Flying Squad, Punjab in Mohali police station. During the investigation of this case, it was found that the accused Raj Kumar Nagpal, resident of Sector 8, Panchkula, Haryana had obtained the LOI of Plot No. 2023, Sector-88 Mohali from Gurminder Singh Gill, Resident of House No. 1677, Phase-3B-2 Mohali, for Rs.60 lakh after purchasing one affidavit (No. AE773271) on 27.11.2018. He had purchased another affidavit in the same series on the same day (No. AE773272) and sold the same plot for only Rs 25 lakh on the basis of this affidavit to Harpreet Singh, son of former Punjab Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, after reducing the price of around Rs 35 lakh. At the time of purchase and sale of this plot, accused Rajesh Kumar Chopra, resident of Sector 82 JLPL, Mohali signed as a witness, he informed.He further said during the probe, it was also found that out of the amount of Rs 60 lakh, Rs 22,50,000 were already deposited in the account of the said accused Raj Kumar by accused Rajesh Kumar Chopra, the proprietor of Anmol Umpire Private Limited, Harpreet Singh son of Sadhu Singh Dharamsot transferred 25,00,000 and Rs.12,10,000 were deposited by others. It has came to light that Raj Kumar Sarpanch, Property Dealer, Jujhar Nagar, Mohali and resident of Phase 6, Mohali had played an important role for Harpreet Singh to procure this LOI from Raj Kumar.The spokesperson further added that there was no record in the files of Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) about this LOI issued in the name of Raj Kumar by plot owner Gurminder Singh Gill. This plot was directly transferred from the name of Gurminder Singh Gill in the name of the said Harpreet Singh.He further informed that in this way Raj Kumar Nagpal, Rajesh Kumar Chopra property dealer, Raj Kumar Sarpanch property dealer and Harpreet Singh son of Sadhu Singh Dharmsot had procured and purchased this LOI through Raj Kumar on the basis of different fake entries and in connived with each other to purchase and sell the said plot costing about Rs 60 lakh for only Rs 25 lakh to Harpreet Singh.He informed that on the basis of findings, the VB has amended the FIR by adding section 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of IPC and section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and nominated Harpreet Singh son of Sadhu Singh Dharamsot resident of Annia Road, Amloh, Raj Kumar Nagpal, Rajesh Kumar Chopra and Raj Kumar Sarpanch as an accused. In this case, two accused Rajesh Kumar Chopra and Raj Kumar Nagpal have been arrested on 28.03.2023 and the search for the rest is on.