IEP Chandigarh, January 24

Punjab Water Resources Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, while reviewing the Shahpur Kandhi Dam project, on Tuesday directed the officials to complete project within the stipulated time.

Meet Hayer said that after completion of this prestigious project, the problem of floods and wasted water will be eradicated. The capacity of canal water available to the farmers of the state for irrigation will also increase and there will be additional electricity generation.

He said that this project will prove to be a milestone for the progress of the state, so no delay in its work will be tolerated. He asked the concerned officials to speed up the work.

Meet Hayer said that with this project costing Rs 2715 crore, Punjab would supply water to another 5000 acres of agriculture area and 206 MW of electricity will also be generated. UBD canal will get constant water supply. Apart from this, four power generation units will run continuously at Ranjit Sagar Dam.

Earlier, Principal Secretary Water Resources Krishna Kumar expounded about the project through PPT. The meeting was attended by Chief Engineer Dam Sher Singh, Superintendent Engineer Dam Circle Gurpinder Singh, General Manager Soma P. Venkesh and Senior manager Rajasekhar.

IEP Chandigarh, January 24   

       Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is continuously striving to provide basic facilities, clean and pollution free environment to the people of the state. Working in this direction, development works are being conducted across the state.Giving more information in this regard, Local Government Minister Dr.Inderbir Singh Nijjar said that the Punjab government has decided to spend approximately Rs 6.41 crore for the cleaning of sewerage lines in Amritsar city.He said that about Rs 1.82 crore will be spent for cleaning the main sewer lines and branches of sewer lines in the southern and central constituencies of Amritsar city with Super Sucker machines. Similarly, in the eastern constituency of Amritsar city, the main sewer lines will be cleaned with Super Sucker machine. Rs 1.18 crore will be spent on it.Minister said that apart from this, the main sewerage lines and branch sewer lines will also be cleaned with super sucker machines in the western and northern constituencies of Amritsar city. Rs 1.84 crores and Rs 1.57 crores will be spent on these works respectively.He said that super sucker machines will be provided by the department for cleaning sewerage lines in Amritsar city. He further said that the local government department has already started the office process for cleaning the sewerage of Amritsar city.Cabinet Minister said that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is making every possible effort to provide a clean and pollution-free environment to the people of the state so that the people of the state can be kept protected from serious diseases caused by dirt and pollution.He has instructed the officers of the department to ensure transparency and quality in the work of the department because it is the dream of the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to provide corruption free administration to the people of the state. 

IEP Chandigarh, January 24

Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker S. Kultar Singh Sandhwan has advised the students to read the other books also with the syllabus books so that their knowledge could not limited to studying the syllabus only.

On the occasion of honoring the winners of “Essay Competition” in the Vidhan Sabha, Mr. Sandhwan said that students should not be limited to only the syllabus but they should also read other books including history and literature. He said that literature plays an important role in the development of human beings, that is why every child must read novels, stories, poems etc.

S. Sandhwan said that the Punjab government has taken steps towards ensuring the all-round development of school students. One hundred schools of eminence have been started to make school education at par international standard. Efforts have been started to raise the standard of schools and efforts have also been started to fill the vacant posts of teachers. He said that the International Education Affairs Cell has been established to provide international level training to the school education administrators, school heads and teachers working in the education department so that they can learn new teaching techniques. On this occasion, the Speaker honored Pooja Kumari, Kamana and Muskan, students of AN Guzral Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar.

          On this occasion, Vidhan Sabha Deputy Mr. Jai Krishan Singh Rauri, Mr. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Mr. Jagroop Singh and Mr. Daljit Singh Grewal (all MLAs) were also present.

IEP Chandigarh/SAS Nagar, January 23

Chief Minister S Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government is making a comprehensive plan to modernise the Punjab Government Press at SAS Nagar, stated Mr. Aman Arora, Minister for Printing and Stationery, Punjab, while adding that the Press will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

He was here to visit the Government Printing Press at SAS Nagar to review the operations and get first hand experience to further improve the functioning of the department. 

Notably, Mr. Aman Arora had assumed the charge as Minister of this department recently. He also visited the state government printing press at Patiala last week. 

Mr. Aman Arora along with Principal Secretary Printing and Stationery Mr VK Meena, Controller Mr Puneet Goel and Additional Controller Anand Sagar Sharma visited all the sections of the printing press and interacted with the officials and employees working there. 

Underscoring the need to upgrade printing facility to keep pace with changing times, Mr Aman Arora said that this prestigious state government institute is suffering due to apathetic attitude of previous governments but Mann Government will not leave any stone unturned to revamp the printing facility by adopting the latest technologies equipped with digital infrastructure, besides improving building structure. He reiterated that all printing stationery works of the state government should be executed by the department itself.

The department officials assured the cabinet minister that they will work tirelessly to compete with modern trends.

IEP CHANDIGARH

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today expressed serious concern over the “trouble and turmoil” in the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab, with open and outright confrontation between the political executive and the bureaucracy. 

In a statement, Warring referred to the removal of the health secretary over his reported refusal to approve Rs 30 crores for advertising a goverment scheme whose cost was Rs 10 crores only. He sought a clarification from the government on the issue, saying it was a matter of grave concern as how Punjab’s money was being squandered away in such a brazenly lavish manner. 

At the same time, the PCC president pointed out, it indicated serious confrontation between the bureaucracy and the political executive, which is not good for Punjab. He said, the health secretary was not the first officer to be shunted out and he was not going to be the last one either, given the way the AAP government was being run in Punjab. 

Warring said, with every passing day, the AAP government was revealing its inexperience, incompetence and inefficiency and now it has even failed to handle the bureaucracy which was trying to exploit the government’s inexperience and incompetence. 

Otherwise, he asked, how would the bureaucrats have the  audacity to disobey the government. “We as the principal opposition party are concerned over the erosion of the political authority thanks to your inexperience and incompetence”, the PCC president told the government, while asking it to set its house in order. “If your intentions are clear, nobody can dare to defy you”, he told the government while advising it not to give any excuse for defiance to the bureaucracy.

IEP Mumbai/ Chandigarh, January 22-

In order to give further impetus to industrial growth of the state, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today reached here to woo leading entrepreneurs of the region for investing in the state.

During the two days tour, the Chief Minister will be meeting business delegations and prominent companies to rope in investments. Bhagwant Mann will be meeting leading business tycoons for and strategic tie ups in key sectors. During his visit the Chief Minister will also be inviting the captains of industry to visit the state in the Invest Punjab Summit slated to be held next month at SAS Nagar, Mohali.

Meanwhile at his arrival in Mumbai, the Chief Minister reiterated the firm commitment of his government to emerge the state as an industrial hub in the country. He that the state government will leave no stone unturned for this noble cause. Bhagwant Mann said that the state government is already making strenuous efforts to put state on the orbit of high growth trajectory of industrial development.

The Chief Minister said that state government is also mulling the idea of setting film city in Punjab. Bhagwant Mann said that since a large number of his friends from film Industry are settled in Mumbai so he will request them to open their ventures in Punjab. He said that Punjabi film industry is already very big and this proposed film city will further give wings to it for expansion.

The Chief Minister expressed hope that this visit will propel the industrial growth of state on one hand and open new vistas of employment for youth on the other. Bhagwant Mann said that he will personally showcase Punjab as land of opportunities and growth to the entrepreneurs in Mumbai. He said that Punjab is the most preferred investment destination in the country adding that every effort will be made to rope in new investments in the state.

Meanwhile the Chief Minister was accorded warm welcome on arrival of this two days tour.

IEP CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, January 22

The ongoing war against drugs launched on the directions of Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann received yet another major breakthrough after Punjab Police, in a joint operation with Border Security Force (BSF), have shot down a sophisticated hexacopter drone loaded with 5Kg Heroin during a search operation launched at area of Border Outpost (BOP) Kakkar on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said that this is the sixth drone recovered in less than two months.He said that this hybrid 6-winged drone, worth Rs 10 lakhs, is assembled with parts manufactured in USA and China, and was equipped with hi-tech features including long-lasting battery backup and infrared-based night vision camera and GPS system.DGP Gaurav Yadav said that after noticing the drone movement in Indo-Pak border on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, Police teams from Amritsar Rural district immediately shared the pin-pointed inputs with the BSF and jointly conducted an intensive search operation in the area of Village Kakkar, which is just 2kms away from the Indo-Pak border.He said that the Police teams had fired at least 12 burst-fires from AK-47 to shoot-down the drone.Sharing more details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amritsar Rural Swapan Sharma said that the Police have rounded-up two persons from the spot when they were trying to escape. Investigations are on to ascertain the identity of the Pak smugglers, who sent the consignment via drone, and also their Indian associates, who were to receive this air-dropped consignment of heroin, he added.Meanwhile, a case FIR No. 12 Dated 22/1/2023 has been registered under sections 21, 23 and 28 of the NDPS Act and sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Aircraft Act at Police Station Lopoke in Amritsar Rural. .BOX: SIX DRONES RECOVERED IN TWO MONTHSNovember 29, 2022: A hexacopter drone carrying six packets of heroin, weighing 6.68 kg, was recovered in the jurisdiction of Border Outpost (BOP) Harbhajan in Khemkaran, Tarn TaranNovember 30, 2022: A broken quadcopter drone was recovered from the area of village Van Tara Singh in Khalra, Tarn TaranDecember 2, 2022: A hexacopter drone carrying five packets of heroin, weighing 5.60 kg, was recovered from the Khemkaran area in Tarn TaranDecember 4, 2022: A quadcopter drone loaded with three packets of heroin, weighing 3.06Kg, was recovered from area of Border Outpost (BOP) Kalia in Tarn TaranDecember 25, 2022: A DJI series USA made Hi-tech drone, worth Rs 20 lakhs, recovered along with 10Kg heroin by the Amritsar Rural PoliceJanuary 22, 2023: A hexacopter hi-tech drone carrying 5Kg heroin was recovered from area of BOP Kakkar in Amritsar Rural

IEP Chandigarh, January 22

Local Government Minister Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar on Sunday emphasised on the production of Millet crop while inaugurating the Eat Right Millet Fair organized by the Foods and Drug Administration Punjab (FDA) in collaboration with the district administration at Company Bagh, Amritsar.

Addressing the farmers, food experts, students and general public present at the event, Dr Nijjar said that we should do natural farming to save our land from poison. He said that we have completely forgotten about coarse grains, which mainly include millet, kangni, kodra, jowar, kuttaki, samwan, and ragi, while their consumption is very important for our physical and mental well-being. He said that use of water and fertiliser can be reduced  adopting natural farming.

Dr. Nijjar said that once coarse grains were an important part of our diet, but due to major changes in our lifestyle, it has disappeared from our plate. As a result of this, we are suffering from many terrible diseases, he added.

He further said that due to the high amount of gluten in wheat, we are getting sick and we are also damaging our soil by using chemicals to produce these crops.

On this occasion Dr. Nijjar visited the various stalls set up in the fair for the promotion of organic farming and coarse grains and appreciated the organizers of the fair for their initiatives. Dr. Nijjar also felicitated the participating children.

In this fair, Food and Drug Commissioner Punjab Dr. Abhinav Trikha, Assistant Food Commissioner Mr. Rajinder Singh, Food Safety Officers Mr. Satnam Singh, Kamaljit Kaur, Karan Sachdeva, Mr. Surjit Anand, Dr. Rakesh Sharma, O.S.D. Manpreet Singh, PA Maninderpal Singh, and a large number of people were present.

IEP Chandigarh/Sunam Udham Singh Wala, January 22

Punjab Information and Public Relations, New & Renewable Energy Sources, Housing & Urban Development and Printing & Stationery Minister Aman Arora today conducted surprise inspection at the construction site of Rehari Fadhi Market (modern street vending zone) being developed at the cost of Rs. 1 crore at Old Vegetable Market in Sunam city.

During the inspection, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora meticulously observed the ongoing construction work of the sewerage manhole chamber and found that old bricks were being used in some places. Taking serious notice of this, Mr. Aman Arora said that the misuse of government funds, released for the multi-faceted development works by the Punjab Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann, will not be tolerated.

In view of those irregularities, the concerned contractor and departmental officials were directed strictly to maintain the standards of the works. The Cabinet Minister said that any kind of negligence will not be tolerated in the ongoing development works on the land of Shaheed Udham Singh. He said that the concerned officials should perform their duties properly. He said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, it is the main goal of the Punjab government that people’s money should be utilised 101 percent honestly and properly.

Living up to his commitment to serve the people of Sunam, the Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, in the beginning of January of this year,  had laid the foundation stone of the street vending zone at the old vegetable market of the city, which would prove as a boon for the vegetable and fruit vendors in the city in coming future. The cabinet minister also instructed the officials to complete this vending zone within three months.

IEP Chandigarh, January 22

In a crackdown against gangster-terrorist nexus amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a crime-free state as per the vision of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police on Sunday launched massive raids on suspected hideouts of persons linked with Gangster turned Terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa. The simultaneous raids were conducted at the residential and other premises linked to Lakhbir landa of Harike village of Tarn Taran district, in all the districts of Punjab in the ongoing cases. The operation was aimed at disrupting the nexus between terrorists, gangsters and drug smugglers based in India and Abroad.Divulging details, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said that 334 persons linked with Landa were raided in a day long operation by 142 parties of Punjab Police involving about 800 police personnel. In district Tarn Taran alone 65 Police parties raided premises of 171 persons linked with Lakhbir landa, he said.”Today’s searches were planned after the questioning of several persons in the recently busted modules backed by Lakhbir Landa, besides, to infuse fear among the anti-social elements and instil a sense of safety and security among the common people,” he said.Sharing more details, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Law and Order Arpit Shukla said that several persons have been detained for further verification and incriminating material has been seized from their possession, which is being further examined.He said that the data collected during the search operation is being examined further.Notably, Canada-based gangster turned terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, involved in various criminal activities in Punjab and Abroad, is most wanted criminal by the Punjab Police. He is a Category-A gangster who after committing various crimes fled to Canada in 2017. Sitting in Canada, he runs a network of gangsters involved in extortion, killings and other terror crimes in Punjab. He has been indulging in these crimes in association with his other associates based in different countries. He is close associate of Harwinder Singh alias Rinda based in Pakistan and actively supported by ISI of Pakistan.He was mastermind in recent RPG attacks on intelligence Headquarters and Police Station building of Sarhali. He has been facing as many as 31 FIRs pertaining to murder, NDPS act, extortions, ransom and spreading terror, registered against him.