Category Archives: News
A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart.
Students enjoy Fresher’s party at Vidya Jyoti Eduversity, Derabassi
IEP Derabassi
College days are all about fun and masti and the excitement of a fresher’s party is one which every student waits for. A magnificent Freshers’ party to welcome the batch of 2022-23 was organised at Vidya Jyoti Eduversity, Derabassi. Manpreet Kaur, Academic Head, Crossland, Chandigarh was the chief guest on the occasion. The event kicked off with a speech by Campus Director Amit Bhatti, who officially addressed the freshers on their arrival on the campus. He encouraged the students and said, “Your decision to join Vidya Jyoti Eduversity has been a good one, and this you will realise at the end of your tenure. So, enjoy the campus life to the fullest and put your best foot forward.”
Amazing performances by students Khushi, Vikram and others added to the fun and also gave a glimpse of college life to the freshers. The top six contestants for the title of Mr and Miss Freshers were seen putting their best foot forward to win the crown. After a couple of performances, it was time for the results of Mr & Miss Fresher. Director announced the results and crowned Karan, a student of BSc (IT) as Mr Fresher and Sonam, a student of Hotel Management as Miss Fresher. Academic Head, Crossland, Chandigarh, Manpreet Kaur congratulated all the title winners. She also blessed the students and encouraged them to participate in future events as well.
Being happy about his win, Karan said, “It was a proud moment for me to be titled as Mr Fresher. I’m grateful for this opportunity.” Sonam expressed her gratitude as well, and said, “It was an honour to be titled as Miss Fresher of Vidya Jyoti Eduversity.
GIFT TO SUGARCANE FARMERS, BHAGWANT MAAN LED GOVERNMENT ISSUES NOTIFICATION REGARDING HIKED PRICE OF SUGARCANE TO RS 380 PER QUINTAL
IEP Chandigarh, November 11
The Punjab government has issued a notification regarding the increased rate of sugarcane. In a statement issued here today, the Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that during the financial year 2022-23, the Fair and Demonstrative Price (F.R. P) and the difference between State Agreed Price (SAP) value between Punjab Government and private sugar mills is fixed at a 2:1 ratio. It is worth mentioning that the price of all types of sugarcane was fixed by the central government at Rs. 305 per quintal. The government led by the Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, increased the price of advanced quality sugarcane at Rs. 380 per quintal, medium quality Rs 370 and late quality Rs.365 per quintal. The Agriculture Minister further informed that the state government’s share of Rs 50 per quintal will be directly deposited in the accounts of sugarcane farmers and all sugar mills will start crushing sugarcane from 20 November 2022.
NASA report shows a steep decline in farm fire incidents in Haryana
IEP Chandigarh, November 11
Concrete steps taken by Manohar Lal- led government to curb stubble burning are reflected in a recent report released by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that has shown a steep decline in farm fire incidents in Haryana.
The recent satellite images of stubble burning and arson incidents in northern India issued by NASA clearly show that in the last 24 hours, farm fire incidents in Haryana have come down even further, while the live images of stubble burning can be seen in three-fourths of the area of neighbouring state Punjab.
The official data released by NASA certainly indicates that cases of stubble burning have decreased in Haryana while the incidents of stubble burning are continuously increasing in Punjab.
Divulging more details in this regard an official spokesperson said that as per the data released for the last 24 hours, very few incidents of stubble burning have been reported in Haryana. This clearly highlights the fact that Haryana Government’s stubble management programme has been a success.
The State government’s data also shows that the incidents of stubble burning in Haryana have come down by 25 per cent this year while in Punjab these incidents have increased by 20 per cent, said the spokesperson.
The spokesperson said not only has the Haryana government launched an awareness campaign for the farmers to make them aware of the ill effects of stubble burning, but a provision of giving Rs 1000 per acre incentive has been made for not burning stubble and for its proper management.
Besides this, Rs. 50 per quintal incentive amount and subsidy on straw management equipment is also given to the farmers for making stubble bales. Farmers are being given a 50 per cent subsidy on equipment for crop residue management and an 80 per cent subsidy on custom hiring centres.
The spokesperson said that if any farmer takes the stubble bales to the Ethanol Plant set up at Karnal and Panipat, he is given an incentive of Rs. 2000 per acre.
Furthermore, if he brings the stubble to Gaushalas, then an incentive of Rs. 1500 is given to him. Not only this, the government also gives up to 10 lakh rupees to the Panchayat for not burning stubble in the red zone area. Last year, the government made a provision of Rs 216 crore for stubble management, added the spokesperson.
The spokesperson said that the State government has given more than 72,000 machines to the farmers for crop residue management. The government has set a target of taking this to 80000 this year so that farmers can manage maximum crop residues at the ground level.
Besides this, in Haryana itself, 24 types of industries have given consent to the government to buy stubble, under which command areas will be opened in every district and stubble will be procured through those command area centres.
The spokesperson said that Haryana has also created a new portal for this, on which the information of the contractors and industries who buy stubble will be available and the farmer who wants to sell the stubble can contact them directly through the portal. Last year, about 1.75 lakh tonnes of stubble was procured by the biogas plant in Haryana.
In this sequence, it has also been planned that HAREDA will set up a biomass power plant to use the stubble to generate electricity, in Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Fatehabad and Jind. Apart from this, plans for about 49.08 MW capacity have been approved by the government, and work is in progress on these projects in Kaithal and Kurukshetra, shared the spokesperson.
PUNJAB SCHOOL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT CONSTITUTES INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AFFAIRS CELL: HARJOT SINGH BAINS
IEP Chandigarh, November 11
As part of the ongoing efforts to take education at par of the International level under the able guidance of Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann, Punjab School Education Department has constituted an International Education Affairs Cell (IEAC), said Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains here on Friday.The eight-member Cell constituted under the chairmanship of Director SCERT, Punjab comprises Assistant Director (Survey Data Processing) as Member Secretary and State Coordinator (SDP & NAS), SCERT Punjab as Member Coordinator, while, Assistant Director (Academic, Quality and Training), SCERT Punjab, Officer or Finance Branch Incharge, SCERT Punjab, one DIET Principal and two DEO SE are members. The reporting officer of the IEAC will be the Principal Secretary/Secretary, School Education Punjab through Director General of School Education Punjab. Education Minister S. Harjot Bains said that the main objective of formation of IEAC was to prepare/examine proposal for Professional Development of teachers, school heads and educational administrators working at different levels in the Department of School Education through Indian and Foreign Organizations Institutions and to identify candidates for that purpose in an objective and transparent manner. S. Bains said that this cell would also help in building the capacity of teachers and send them on special visits to foreign countries to implement their improved policies in the Government Schools of Punjab. The International Education Affairs Cell will create a transparent system for the selection of officers and teachers, who can go on foreign tours for education purposes. The cell will prepare programs for capacity building of educational administrators, school heads and teachers of government schools working in various cadres and will also evaluate their capacity building through national-international visits.The Education Minister said that the selection of various national and international orientation programs by the department is to be done after applying on the portal being prepared, and after passing through the process of special written test and interview. In this process, if any teacher or official uses any kind of external or political influence, then departmental action will be taken against him/her and blacklist will also be made to deprive him/her of the selection of this process in the future.
MANN GOVERNMENT PREPARES ACTION PLAN TO CURB LUMPY SKIN DISEASE, MEGA VACCINATION CAMPAIGN FROM FEB’15
IEP Chandigarh, November 11
The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has chalked out action plan for early prevention of Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle to counter any other possible wave. The Group of Ministers (GoM) closely gauging the current situation and planning future strategies to prevent revival of LSD in the state, on Friday decided to start vaccination campaign from February 15, 2023. During the meeting of the GoM here at Punjab Bhawan, Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema and Animal Husbandry Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar directed the officials of Animal Husbandry department to start the vaccination drive from February 15 and vaccinate the entire 25 lakh cattle population in the state by April 30, 2023. The Ministers asked the officials concerned to make a foolproof strategy to complete this vaccination target in the given time frame. They also directed officials to immediately initiate the process for procuring about 25 lakh doses at cost effective prices from the Veterinary Biological and Research Institute, Hyderabad (Telangana). In the meeting, experts from the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) apprised the group of ministers that the national rate of buffaloes being affected by lumpy skin disease was around 1 to 1.5 percent. On this, the Cabinet Ministers directed to form a 7-member committee to decide on need of vaccinating buffaloes with goat pox vaccine. The committee would comprise 3 experts from GADVASU, 2 from Animal Husbandry Department, Punjab 1 each from Animal Husbandry Department, Government of India and Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly. This committee would submit its report and recommendations within 10 days. Meanwhile, during the review of the vaccination campaign for Hemorrhagic Septicemia (HS) disease and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the cabinet ministers were apprised that Animal Husbandry department has completed the HS vaccination drive, while the FMD vaccination campaign would be completed by November 30. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema directed the officials to launch an awareness campaign to sensitise the farmers especially dairy farmers of the state regarding the prevention of deadly diseases in the livestock so that they can opt precautionary measures at an early stage. Mr. Vikas Pratap, Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department said that no new case of Lumpy Skin Disease has been reported in the state. He said that so far about 9.21 lakh cattle have been vaccinated with goat pox while 94 thousand doses were available with department.
WAR AGAINST DENGUE TO BE INTENSIFIED, INCREASE FOGGING AND MONITORING IN AFFECTED AREAS: HEALTH MINISTER
IEP Chandigarh, November 11
Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra on Friday called upon people to initiate joint efforts to contain breeding of dengue larvae with ensuring complete caution, awareness besides there should no stagnated water in the house premises, offices, open places and streets. Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is already taking concrete steps against the increasing cases of dengue and health authorities have already been directed to ensure prompt treatment with requisite tests for effective prevention of the dengue, said the Minister seeking fulsome support and cooperation from general public in implementing all the precautions in larger public interest. Mr. Jauramajra said that directions had already been issued to all civil surgeons to setup dengue wards, intensify fogging activities in rural and urban areas. The Cabinet Minister said that the Health Department, with the support of the Panchayat Department and the Local Government Department, is taking immediate steps to prevent dengue by identifying dengue-prone sensitive areas in villages and cities. Work is being done to stop the breeding of dengue mosquito aedes agypti and to identify hotspot areas and conduct continuous monitoring of such areas. Mr. Jauramajra said that prevention of dengue is possible only by eliminating the source of dengue mosquito production. He said that instructions have already been issued to the officials of the concerned departments regarding the prevention of dengue and to prevent the increase of dengue cases in villages/cities. Officials have also been asked to sensitize the people to seek medical advice immediately if any symptoms appear. He said that people are being made aware of the precautions to be taken to protect against dengue and it is being ensured that public announcements are conducted in rural as well as urban areas. The Health Minister further said that the health department is continuously conducting activities regarding the precautions to be taken to protect against dengue and people are also being made aware regarding the symptoms of dengue. He said that more attention is being paid to the areas where cases are coming in large numbers. He said that in case of high fever accompanied by headache, pain in the back of the eyes and stiffness in the back, red patches on the body, one should get himself or herself tested for dengue and the number of platelet cells should be tested.
CHIEF SECRETARY PUNJAB URGES FARMERS TO NOT BURN STUBBLE TO SAFEGUARD FUTURE OF THE COMING GENERATIONS
IEP Chandigarh, November 10
A high-level review meeting was held by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) through video conferencing with Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua and state government officials on Thursday. Adopting a strict attitude regarding increasing pollution, the NHRC took a detailed report on the stubble burning cases in Punjab. The NHRC expressed strong concern over stubble burning cases in North India, especially in Punjab as the air quality has turned ‘severe’ in many cities and has been affecting healthy of the people as well as putting seriously impact on those with existing illnesses.The commission said that incidents of stubble burning should be strictly curtailed. He said that if the situation was not improved, a heavy penalty would be imposed on the Punjab. On this occasion, the Commission meticulously reviewed the cases related to stubble management in Punjab from the Chief Secretary and also sought some data in this regard. The Chief Secretary said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the entire machinery of the state is sincerely putting efforts to reduce the incidence of stubble burning this year and farmers are being encouraged and made aware not to burn stubble. The stubble management machines were provided to the farmers on time and all the Deputy Commissioners have also reduced the incidence of stubble burning by adopting effective methods. The Chief Secretary said that every week a meeting is being held with all Deputy Commissioners and higher officials of Punjab for stubble management so that effective measures can be taken to prevent stubble burning.The Chief Secretary said that more focus has been given by the authorities on those hot-spots in the villages where the cases of farm fires were detected in the previous years. Apart from this, a senior IAS officer has been placed in-charge of each 23 districts of the state and they have been directed to work at grass root level to closely review the stubble management and prevent stubble burning cases, the Chief Secretary said. The Chief Secretary said that to encourage farmers, Punjab government is honouring farmers those are not burning the stubble burning. He said that the farmers were also sensitized through various awarneness campaigns including enrolling children studying in schools about burning menace.Apart from this, awareness appears are being made through religious places. The Chief Secretary appealed to the farmers not to burn stubble under any circumstances for the healthy future of children and youth and to cooperate with the government for its management.
PUNJAB GOVERNMENT TO ORGANISE “UDARIYAN-BAL VIKAS MELA” FROM NOVEMBER 14, DR. BALJIT KAUR
IEP Chandigarh, November 10
Minister of Social Security, Women and Child Development of Punjab, Dr. Baljit Kaur today said that “Udariyan-Bal Vikas Mela Week” will be celebrated in Anganwari Centers of villages across the state from 14 to 20 November 2022.
Different programs will organised in Anganwadi centers for overall development of children with special focus on kids living in remote and rural areas.
Divulging more details the minister said that this program will be held on all days during this period of celebration. On November 14th and 15th local NGOs will make the public aware about child nutrition and on November 16th a special message from the government will be shared after which Vikas Mela activities will begin in all Anganwaris. Poshan Day will also be celebrated on November 17 and Dada-Dadi, Nana-Nani Day on November 18. She further informed that Child Sarpanch Day will be celebrated on November 19 and Positive Parenting Day on November 20.
The Child Development Week will be celebrated with great enthusiasm by the Social Security Department with the help of the child’s parents, grandparents and general public. She said that activities related to child nutrition, play and story based development, safety and tools and positive parenting will be conducted in this program. Every child’s development will be encouraged by improving the child’s environment by meeting the basic needs of the children throughout the week.
CM acts tough on Kotkapura incident, directs Police to nab the culprits at earliest
IEP Chandigarh, 10 November
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said that the state government will not allow any anti-social element to disturb the hard-earned peace and communal harmony of the state at any cost.
The Chief Minister, while chairing a high-level meeting with the senior officers of state administration and Punjab police, directed the Senior Police Officers that none of the culprits responsible for the killing of Dera follower should be spared and the accused must be given stern punishment as per law. During the meeting, the Police Officers briefed the Chief Minister about the incident.
The Chief Minister said that this sensitive matter should be thoroughly being investigated by the police from every aspect and the case will be taken to a legal conclusion without any bias. He asserted that no criminal incident can be viewed with the narrow aspect of caste or religion and the perpetrators of this crime will not be spared at any cost. Bhagwant Mann unequivocally said, “These unfortunate incidents are being carried out with nefarious designs to dent the strong bonds of our decade-old brotherhood, communal harmony, mutual love and unity”.
The Chief Minister said that the state government is firmly committed to maintaining a law and order situation in Punjab and no one will be allowed to disturb the hard-earned peace at any cost. He said that these forces will be given a befitting reply. During the meeting, the Chief Minister also ordered the officers to conduct a review of licensed firearms across the state to find out the use of firearms in such criminal activities.
To further strengthen the law and order situation, the Chief Minister directed the officers to train the police force on modern lines to make them more competent to deal with criminals. Expressing confidence in the efficiency of the Punjab police, Bhagwant Mann said that the police force of the state has a glorious tradition of combatting the fissiparous forces adding that it had bravely combatted the dark period of terrorism. He also said that Punjab Police had solved many sensitive cases in the past through their professional intelligence and competence.
The Chief Minister asked the Police to enhance vigil across the state by organising special checking. He said that no one should be allowed to his disturb law and order in the state. Bhagwant Mann further said that the police force will deal sternly with those who are attempting to disturb the peaceful environment of the state.