IEP Chandigarh, January 24

With an aim to provide quality education to the students of the government schools of Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government on Tuesday approved an amount of ₹4.53 crores for the construction of new educational blocks of science and commerce groups in 15 senior secondary schools of the state.Divulging details, Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said that strengthening education infrastructure and imparting quality education is topmost priority for the Punjab Government.S. Bains said that new science groups have been started in 12 Government Senior Secondary Schools of the state, including Government Senior Secondary School Ghuda of District Bathinda and Girls’ School Mandi Kalan, Government Senior Secondary School Kundal of District Fazilka and Government Senior Secondary School Dharmpura of District Jalandhar. Government senior Secondary School Lasara,  Government  Girls Senior Secondary School Breta, Jhunir, Khaila Kalan  and Karandi all from District Mansa ,  Government Senior Secondary School Karamgarh-Shatrana, District Patiala, Government Girls Senior Secondary School Munak District Sangrur   and  Government Senior Secondary School District Tarn Taran . A total of Rs 3.96 crore or Rs 33 lakh each school grant has been approved for the construction of science blocks in these schools.He said that, similarly, an amount of Rs 19.15 lakh per school, a total of Rs 57.45 lakh, has been sanctioned for the construction of commerce blocks for Government Senior Secondary Girls School Bhador District Barnala,  Government Senior Secondary School Kallar Khera District Fazila and  Government Senior Secondary School Karamgarh-Shutrana District Patiala. Education Minister S. Harjot Singh Bains said that he is constantly striving for the improvement of government schools with an aim to develop such an education system in Punjab that no children should be left deprived of education.

IEP Chandigarh, January 24

Punjab Information and Public Relations Minister Mr Aman Arora on Tuesday has expressed deep grief over the tragic death of Mr. Iqbal Khan, Reporter of Azad Soch newspaper from Bhawanigarh in Sangrur district. He was badly injured in a road accident yesterday and succumbed to injuries today in a hospital at Patiala.

Mr. Khan (46) is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Expressing his heartfelt sympathies with bereaved family, relatives and friends in this hour of grief, Mr. Aman Arora prayed to the Almighty to grant eternal peace to the departed soul and fortitude to the family to bear this irreparable loss.

Meanwhile, Principal Secretary Information and Public Relations Mr. Rahul Bhandari and Director Sonali Giri also expressed deep sorrow over the tragic demise of Mr. Iqbal Khan.

IEP Chandigarh, January 24

In the presence of Social Security, Women and Child Development, Social Justice, Empowered and Minorities Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur, Mr. Kanwardeep Singh today assumed charge as the Chairman, State Child Rights Protection Commission at Forest Department, SAS Nagar.           Speaking on this occasion, Cabinet Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur said that the Aam Aadmi Party had promised to the people at the time of  elections that the honest, fair and forward-thinking leaders would be encouraged in Punjab and the appointment of an honest leader, Mr. Kanwardeep Singh, as the Chairman of the State Child Rights Protection Commission is also a part of this thinking.  Mr. Kanwardeep Singh would act as a bridge between the government and institutions for effectively implementation of child-friendly policies.  Congratulating Mr. Kanwardeep Singh, Dr.  Baljit Kaur assured her every support   in the implementation of  various government schemes to ensure the welfare of children.Kanwardeep Singh while thanking  Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and senior leadership for showing faith in him and said that he will fulfill to the best of his abilities and responsibilities assigned to him.  Pertinently, Jalandhar based Kanwardeep Singh is also an entrepreneur and a social worker.

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