IEP CHANDIGARH, October 28

The ongoing war against anti-social elements launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann got a major breakthrough after Punjab Police have arrested four shooters of Davinder Bambiha gang including two assailants of Uttrakhand Mining Trader from village Chhat in SAS Nagar, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav here on Friday. Mining Trader Mehal Singh (70) was shot dead outside his house at Kundeshwari village in Kashipur on October 13.The operation was jointly carried out by Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), Counter Intelligence (CI) Punjab,  District Police Udham Singh Nagar Uttarakhand, Special Cell Delhi and District Police SAS Nagar.The DGP identified the arrested persons as Sadhu Singh, Jagdish Singh alias Disha, Manpreet Singh alias Mani alias Chuchi, Jaspreet Singh alias Lock, all resident of District Mansa.The Police teams have also recovered one .30 caliber pistol along with two magazines and seven live cartridges; one 9 mm pistol along with one magazine; and one Turkey-made 9 mm machine-pistol along with three magazines including one magazine of 31 cartridges capacity and 19 live cartridges and one Apache motorcycle from their possession, he said.DGP Gaurav Yadav said that during investigations it has come to light that accused Sadhu Singh and Manpreet Singh along with their associates killed Mining Trader Mehal Singh on the directions of gangsters-turned-terrorists Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dalla and Sukhdool Singh alias Sukha Duneke, while other two arrested persons have provided them weapons, logistics support and conducted recce of deceased’s house.He said that the arrested persons were further hatching conspiracy to commit heinous crimes in the area of Punjab and neighbouring states. Investigations are on, he said.Meanwhile, a case FIR No 441, dated 28-10-2022 has been registered under sections  392, 384, 473, 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 25(7) and (8) of the Arms Act, PS Zirakpur  Distt SAS Nagar has been registered against them.

IEP Ludhiana, October 25      

    Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today said that following the footsteps of Lord Vishwakarma, the Aam Aadmi Government will overhaul the entire system in the state to ensure its progress and prosperity of people.          The Chief Minister, while presiding over a state level function to mark Vishwakarma Day here at local Ramgarhia College, said that Lord Vishwakarma ji was the founder of the creativity, engineering, architecture and technology in the universe. He said that the earlier governments had mercilessly plundered the wealth of the state during which they had caused irreparable damage to it. Bhagwant Mann said that now with the blessings of Lord Vishwakarma he is trying to repair the damage done to the state by ensuring its complete revamp.          The Chief Minister said that the industrial and infrastructure growth across the globe that we observe today was only due to the blessings of Lord Vishwakarma. Bhagwant Mann said that since ages Lord Vishwakarma, the divine architect of the entire universe, is believed to be the master of all machinery and equipment being used by the people in all the industrial activities. Bhagwant Mann said that this great deity of all craftsmen and architects has inspired our artisans, workers and labour class to work hard for the development of the nation besides inculcating a feeling of dignity of labour and a sense of pride in them.          Exhorting the workers and craftsmen to make concerted efforts for strengthening the infrastructure of the state and the Nation, the Chief Minister said that it will be a real and befitting tribute to Lord Vishwakarma. Bhagwant Mann said that in line with the ideology and teachings of Lord Vishwakarma, the Punjab government is laying thrust on imparting skill training to the youth across the state so they could live a life with dignity and self respect. He further said that the promotion of skill training across the state is the need of the hour.          The Chief Minister said that his government strives to make the youth of Punjab to job providers instead of job seekers. He asserted that Punjabis are blessed with the qualities of entrepreneurship and leadership. Bhagwant Mann said that due to these qualities the Punjabis have carved a niche for themselves across the globe.          The Chief Minister lamented that divisive forces are trying to create a wedge between people on lines of caste, religion, language and others in the country. He said that this is not in the interest of our nation for which the ethos of communal harmony, brotherhood and fraternity must be strengthened. Bhagwant Mann also bemoaned the irreparable damage being caused to federal structure of the country by those at helms of affairs at the centre by usurping the rights of the states.          The Chief Minister said that this is against the basic spirit of democracy and cannot be tolerated at any cost. Citing the example of Mughal Gardens in Rashtrapati Bhawan, Bhagwant Mann said that it has a variety of flowers which soothes the eyes of everyone due to which people throng to see it adding that the democracy with diverse ideas and views is always a successful one. In the same manner, Bhagwant Mann said that in democracy opposition and treasury benches are also important adding that in a democratic set up the views of everyone should be taken into consideration.          The Chief Minister said that as Lord Vishwakarma has created the entire universe by joining brick by brick so now the time has come when we must build our nation by strengthening the basic social fabric of the country. He said that for this all of us have to join hands and ensure that the country is put on a path of progress and prosperity. Bhagwant Mann solicited the support of people for this noble cause and in the larger interests of the country.          Striking an emotional chord with the city of Ludhiana, the Chief Minister described it as his Karam bhoomi whereas Satauj village was his janambhoomi. Bhagwant Mann said that he has been fortunate enough to have got the opportunity to serve Punjab and its people. He said that the state government is already making strenuous efforts to restore the pristine glory of the state adding that this can be ensured only with proactive support of people.

IEP Chandigarh, October 25

          Punjab has observed the Average Air Quality Index (AQI) reduction of 16.4% from the last year and 31.7% as comparative to 2020.

          The Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer while divulging the details stated that due to constant efforts of the Punjab Pollution Control Board and appealed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, this year’s air quality improved as compare to last years on the day of Diwali.

          Pointing out further, the Environment Minister said that last year as well as in 2020 no city remained in the moderate category of AQI whereas this year 2 cities (Khanna & Mandi Gobindgarh) remained in the Moderate category of AQI.

          Overall all the 6 Cities of Punjab have observed a reduction in the AQI during this year’s Diwali (2022) as compared to last year’s Diwali days (2020 & 2021), said the Minister adding the Average AQI of Punjab this year Diwali was 224 (Poor) as compared to 268 (Poor) in 2021and 328 (very Poor) in 2020.

          The Maximum AQI was recorded at Amritsar this year with AQI Category 262 (Poor). However, in the last year Maximum value of AQI 327 (Very Poor) was observed in Jalandhar & in 2020 Maximum value of AQI 386 (Very Poor) was observed in Amritsar. The minimum AQI for this year was recorded in Mandi Gobindgarh with AQI of 188 (Moderate) against the last year value of 220 (Poor) and also in 2020 with AQI value of 262 (Poor). Last year AQI of the 02 Cities (Amritsar & Jalandhar) remained in Very Poor Category whereas in 2020, 04 cities namely Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana & Patiala remained in Very Poor category. However, no city remained in very poor category of AQI this year. The Maximum AQI reduction in this year was observed in Jalandhar (31.2%) and Minimum was observed in Patiala(7.0%), said the Minister.

          Meanwhile, the Chairman PPCB Prof.  Adarsh Paul Vig thanked the people of State of Punjab for following the advisory issued with respect to time period fixed for bursting of fire crackers and using the green crackers for celebrations of Diwali festival, resulting in overall improvement in Air Quality as compared to last year and 2020 also.

          The Member Secretary PPCB Karunesh Garg said that the Punjab Pollution Control Board has installed Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) in 06 cities of Punjab namely Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Khanna, MandiGobindgarh and Patiala to monitor the ambient air quality on real time basis.

IEP CHANDIGARH/TARN TARAN, October 23        

   The ongoing relentless war against gangsters launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann delivered yet another success after Punjab Police has arrested four persons, including two shooters, for murdering a Tarn Taran-based Shopkeeper Gurjant Singh, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday. Gurjant Singh was shot dead at his shop by two assailants at his shop on October 11, 2022.          The arrested persons are close-associates of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and Europe-based terrorist Satpal Singh alias Satta, who in turn are close associates of a Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).          The arrested shooters have been identified as Gurkirat Singh alias Ghugi of village Sheron in Tarn Taran and Ajmeet Singh of Naushera Pannuan in Tarn Taran, said DGP Gaurav Yadav, while identifying two others as Harmanjot and Akashdeep Singh— both resident of Batala, who were arrested for providing weapons and other logistic support to the shooters. The police had also recovered four pistols including two 9mm and two .30 bore from their possession, he added.          The development came four days after the arrest of two persons, identified as Ravisher Singh alias Ravi of village Sheron in Tarn Taran and Varinder Singh alias Bhindi of Naushera Pannuan in Tarn Taran, who carried out recce and harboured shooters in this case. The Police had also recovered one .30 bore pistol and two cars including Hyundai Verna and Volkswagen Vento— which were used in the crime, from their possession.          CP Amritsar Arun Pal Singh said that following reliable inputs, in a joint operation Tarn Taran Police, Commissionerate Police Amritsar and Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) arrested all the four accused persons.          Preliminary Investigations have revealed that the arrested persons were hatching a conspiracy to commit another target killing in the area of Amritsar at the behest of Landa and Rinda.          SSP Tarn Taran Ranjit Singh Dhillon revealed that there was a family dispute between Gurjant and his estranged cousin Arshdeep Singh alias Batti, who is close-associate of Satnam Satta and Landa, and was arrested by the Delhi Special Cell in Kurukshetra IED planting case. “Landa and Satta avenged the arrest of Arshdeep Batti by murdering Gurjant, who according to them was the informer to the Police and played a pivotal role in getting Arshdeep Batti arrested,” he added.          Pertinently, a case FIR No. 200 dated 11.10.2022 had been registered under sections 302, 506 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25/54/59 of the Arms Act at Police Station Sadar Tarn Taran.