BANKS ASKED TO OPEN ZERO BALANCE ACCOUNT OF FARMERS TO FACILITATE BONUS PAYMENT

Chandigarh, November 3

The Punjab government today asked Banks to open zero balance account of farmers to facilitate payment of paddy bonus to them.

According to an official spokesman It has been decided to pay bonus to the farmers directly into their bank accounts instead of making payments through Shellers. The spokesman said that it has come to the notice of government that some banks are demanding Rs. 2500 to 5000 for opening their bank accounts.

Food & Supplies Minister, Sh. Adesh Partap Singh Kairon has taken a very serious note for this. He has strongly advised to the banks to open their accounts with Zero Balance facility. He desired that no extra financial burden even on photographs is put on them who were already under debt. The spokesman said that to encourage farmer's friendly banking, bank should not restrictions be imposed to keep minimum balance.

The spokesman said that any bank failing to adhere to above would be de-paneled from handling food accounts. The Food and Supplies Minister also advised all District Food & Supplies Controllers to ensure that no farmers should face any difficulty in opening accounts with the banks.

MPS, MINISTERS, MLAS OF MAJHA REGION JOINTLY APPEAL FOR RETAINING FLIGHTS IN RAJA SANSI AIRPORT, AMRITSAR.

Chandigarh, November 3: MPs, Ministers, MLAs of Majha region led by Member Parliament Mr. Ratan Singh Ajnala and Information & Public Relations Minister Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia today called on Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal requesting him that he should write to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Union Civil Aviation Minister, Mr.Prafull Patel and Union Commerce Minister, Mr.Kamal Nath to take immediate steps to ensure that ongoing international as well as domestic flights to Raja Sansi Airport, Amritsar were not discontinued and expansion work of Amritsar Airport be completed at the earliest.

In a joint representation handed over to Chief Minister's official resident, they pleaded that Union Civil Aviation Ministry should immediately lower the landing charges for flights in Amritsar and it should be lower than Delhi Airport. They said that the basic purpose of starting international flights from Amritsar was to decongest Delhi Airport as 29% international air traffic at Delhi was from Punjab. They said that presently Union Civil Aviation Ministry was charging Rs.1.54 lac landing charges per flight in Amritsar from Singapore Airlines as compared to Rs.75,000 charges by Delhi Airport. Similarly Jet Airways was shelling Rs.94,000 as compared to Rs.69,000 paid by them in Delhi. They said that nearly double the landing charges in Amritsar are making flights from this airport unviable for the airlines. They requested that the Ministry should immediately lower the landing charges and make it lower than Delhi Airport so that Delhi Airport could be decongested besides helping the NRI population of Punjab.

The legislators explained that the discontinuation of flights from Amritsar would hurt the business besides causing inconvenience to the pilgrims coming to Sri Darbar Sahib and Mata Vaishno Devi. They said that discontinuation of these two flights would cause inconvenience to thousands of passengers every month.

The Legislators also brought to the notice of Chief Minister that Rs.140 crores expansion work of Raja Sansi Airport was to be completed by 31st October, 2008 but till date not even 40% work has been completed causing inconvenience to passengers coming to airport. This was also resulted in drop of traffic in Amrtisar Airport. They requested the Chief Minister to write to Union Minister to get the work of airport completed at an early date.

Majha legislators also pointed out to Chief Minister that he should write a separate letter to Mr. Kamal Nath, Union Commerce Minister to direct his Ministry to issue requisite notifications so that duty drawback claims for cargo booked from Raja Sansi Airport were cleared within 7 days as being done in Delhi Airport. They said that presently duty drawback claims from Amritsar Airport were cleared in 3-4 months and businessmen were not opting this airport as they don't want to block their money for a longer period.

The Chief Minister assured the delegation that he would take up these issued with Prime Minister for their early solution. He said that he would be speaking to both the Ministers to ensure that no international flight was discontinued from Amritsar Airport.

Those who called on Chief Minister included Member Parliament, S.Rattan Singh Ajnala, Ministers including S. Bikram Singh Majithia, S.Sucha Singh Langah, S.Gulzar Singh Ranike and MLAs Dr.Dalbir Singh Verka, S.Malkiat Singh AR, S.Amarpal Singh Ajnala, S.Inderbir Singh Bularia, S.Manjit Singh Mianwind, S.Virsa Singh Valtoha, S.Harmeet Singh Sandhu MLA, Anil Joshi, Lakhbir Singh Lodhi Nangal MLA, Gurbachan Singh Babehali MLA, S.Vir Singh Lopoke (Ex-MLA) and Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna General Secretary BJP.

Bibi Jagir Kaur hits back at Sukhpal Khaira

Chandigarh 3 November, 2008

Former Chief SGPC & Ex-Punjab Minister Bibi Jagir Kaur said here today that the reported out burst of the Congress legislature Sukhpal Singh Khaira about his desire to meet the Punjab Chief Minister S.Parkash Singh Badal during the sangat darshan at Bholath would fulfill his long stand desire to meet the head of the government at last, something which neither he nor a vast majority of other Congress leaders were able to do when their own party was in power.

"During five years of Capt. Amarinder Singh's regime, Mr. Khaira and his fellow MLAs in the Congress kept begging for a meeting with the then chief Minster. But they were never allowed to get even within his hearing range. We are glad that the unfulfilled desire of the congress legislators would be fulfilled by S.Badal," said Bibi Jagir Kaur, commenting on Mr.Khaira's reported desire to meet the Chie Minister and S.Badal's generous offer to accede to his request.

In a statement here, Bibi Jagir Kaur further said that it was strange that Mr. Khaira's like his others fellow MLAs in the Congress, had to wait for the Akali Government to focus on the development problems of their areas. She said the gesture of Mr. Khaira was proof that he could get nothing done during the government of his party regime.

Bibi Jagir Kaur said that she was happy that unlike Capt. Amarinder Singh, S.Badal was always available to peoples' representatives regardless of their party affiliations. Adding she said Mr. Khaira's anxiety could be well understood because the then Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh did not spare even five minutes to visit this constituency on the contrary S.Badal had already announced a day-long sangat darshan programme in the area to listen the grievances of the people.

Bibi Jagir Kaur described the reaction of Mr. Khaira in connection with the scheduled Sangat Darshan programme of Chief Minister S. Parkash Singh Badal in Bholath constituency on November 5 as an out come of sheer desperation bereft of any political agenda to be pursued by the novice Congress leader except indulging in cheap theatricals just to gain political mileage.

Reacting sharply to the contents of the letters purportedly written by Mr. Khaira to Chief Minister, Bibi Jagir Kaur said Mr. Khaira had virtually lost his cool as he was unable to comprehend the basic objective of the sangat darshan. She lambasted at Mr.Khaira for the total neglect of the Bholath constituency during the previous regime of Congress.

She further asked Mr. Khaira had Capt. Amarinder Singh ever visited Bholath constituency to redress the grievances of the people and now if S. Badal had planned a sangat darshan there then why he and his party workers were opposing the same on one pretext or the other.

DEVELOP NEW VARIETIES OF CROPS TO MEET THE THREAT OF GLOBAL WARMING- MAJITHIA

Chandigarh, November 3

Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, Minister, Science Technology & Environment, today called upon agricultural scientists of the World to join hands to develop new strains of crops resistant to changes of global warming.

Inaugurating a two days 'International Conference on climate Change, Biodiversity and Food Security in the South Asian Regions' organized by Punjab State Council for Science & Technology (PSCST) and United National Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO),here today Mr. Majithia said that there are reports in Scientific journals that the temperature of the earth could increase by 1o C to 6o C in the next fifty to hundred years. He said that this could lead to changes in freshwater availability, local & global weather conditions, food production, reduction of glaciers, flooding of coastal areas, increased burden of vector borne diseases and an increased incidence of natural disasters like floods and drought. The Minister said that we should be prepared for bleak scenario when the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra river basins, that are fed by melting snow in summers would be affected if glaciers decrease. He said that this would affect availability of water for irrigation and affect productivity of crops.

The Science and Technology Minister said that every 1 C rise in temperature can reduce global wheat production by 4-5 millions tonnes. This can effect availability of food grains especially in poorer countries. He said that changes in temperature and humidity can also affect production and quality of vegetables, fruits, basmati rice and medicinal plants in northern regions of Asia and crops like tea, coffee and spices in southern regions. The Minister said that since insects, which are both, useful and or harmful for our crops, were also dependent upon temperature and humidity, their populations can also change, which could further affect agricultural productivity. He said that according to the studies yield of dairy cattle would decrease and fish breeding, migration and harvest could be affected due to change in climate. Global reports indicate loss of 10-40% to the farming sector by 2100. Similarly Impact on forests and health impacts would also e significant.

The Minister emphasized that government needed to gear up to meet the situation in socio-economic context of the state. He suggested that strategies for both mitigating green house gas emissions and adapting to expected changes to be defined and state plans and programs oriented accordingly.

Inaugurating the conference, Ms. Cecelia Barberi, representing UNESCO, New Delhi office highlighted the global importance of the subject especially in light of global economic meltdown and urged states in initiate immediate actions to prevent future economic crises which could result as damage to natural resources due to excessive anthropogenic pressures on the environment.

Er. M.S. Jaggi welcomed the participants. Dr. Ram Bhooj, Program Specialist, UNESCO emphasized on the need of capacity building and commitment of UNESCO in this regard to combat climate change. Dr. Neelima Jerath, Additional Director-Environment and organizing Secretary of the conference informed that the Govt. of India had prepared National Action Plan on Climate Change under which eight national Missions were being set up. These are National solar Mission, national Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, National Mission for Sustainable Habitat, National Water Mission, National Mission of sustaining the Himalayan Eco- system, national Mission for Green India, National Mission on sustainable Agricultural and National Mission on strategic knowledge for climate Change. She informed that the state government needed to further extend these programs at the state level and prepare themselves for future challenges. Dr. S.P. Sharma. Advisor Ministry of Environment & Forests. Govt. of India highlighted the programmes initiated by the Central government to address climate change issues.

About 150 Scientist, environmentalists, representatives of government departments, NGO including 15 experts representing international organizations and scientist from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ghana, Iran and Pakistan are attending this conference. Among the notable experts are Dr. Ram Boojh, Dro R. Jaishankar, Dr. Izrar Ahmed and Ms. Nidhi Sarin from UNESCO, Ms. Aditi Mehdirata and J.s. Rawat from International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Dr. Frank Niranjan and Dr. Anul Perera from Sri Lanka, Dr. Al-Amin from Bangladesh,,. Dr. David anokye Asamoah from Ghana, Ms. Mehrasa Mehrdadi & Ms. S,.Sharifi from IUCN, Iran, Ms. Huma Mustafa Beg and Ms. Aisha Akram from Pakistan, Dr. K. Venkataraman, Secretary, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai, Mr. Kanwar Raj from Bhaba Atomic Research Centre , Mumbai, Dr. P.S. Roy from Department of space Hyderabad, Dr. J.C. Ranan from National Bureau of Plat Genetic Resoruces, Dr. Suman Sahai from Gene Campaign, Dr. L.M.S. Palini from G.B. pant Institute of Himalayan Studies and several such scientists from IARI, BHU, ZSI, FRI and universities and research institutions from all over Punjab and India are participating.

The focus areas during this conference include effect of climate change on major ecosystems and biodiversity, food security , livelihoods and sociao-economic issues, economic challenges, CDM and carbon credit mechanisms, related to both agriculture & Industry, development of region specific strategies, policies and programmes, sustainable development and energy issues and future research agendas.

The Conference has been sponsored by Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India, department of Science & Technology, govt. of India; National University of Educational Planning and Administration; Ministry of Human Resources Development, govt. of India; National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD),; Corporation Bank; Department of Science., Technology and Environment , govt of Punjab; Punjab Pollution Control Board and Punjab Energy Development Agency.

MPS, MINISTERS, MLAS OF MAJHA REGION JOINTLY APPEAL FOR RETAINING FLIGHTS IN RAJA SANSI AIRPORT, AMRITSAR

Amritsar, November 3: MPs, Ministers, MLAs of Majha region led by Member Parliament Mr. Ratan Singh Ajnala and Information & Public Relations Minister Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia today called on Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal requesting him that he should write to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Union Civil Aviation Minister, Mr.Prafull Patel and Union Commerce Minister, Mr.Kamal Nath to take immediate steps to ensure that ongoing international as well as domestic flights to Raja Sansi Airport, Amritsar were not discontinued and expansion work of Amritsar Airport be completed at the earliest.

In a joint representation handed over to Chief Minister's official resident, they pleaded that Union Civil Aviation Ministry should immediately lower the landing charges for flights in Amritsar and it should be lower than Delhi Airport. They said that the basic purpose of starting international flights from Amritsar was to decongest Delhi Airport as 29% international air traffic at Delhi was from Punjab. They said that presently Union Civil Aviation Ministry was charging Rs.1.54 lac landing charges per flight in Amritsar from Singapore Airlines as compared to Rs.75,000 charges by Delhi Airport. Similarly Jet Airways was shelling Rs.94,000 as compared to Rs.69,000 paid by them in Delhi. They said that nearly double the landing charges in Amritsar are making flights from this airport unviable for the airlines. They requested that the Ministry should immediately lower the landing charges and make it lower than Delhi Airport so that Delhi Airport could be decongested besides helping the NRI population of Punjab.

The legislators explained that the discontinuation of flights from Amritsar would hurt the business besides causing inconvenience to the pilgrims coming to Sri Darbar Sahib and Mata Vaishno Devi. They said that discontinuation of these two flights would cause inconvenience to thousands of passengers every month.

The Legislators also brought to the notice of Chief Minister that Rs.140 crores expansion work of Raja Sansi Airport was to be completed by 31st October, 2008 but till date not even 40% work has been completed causing inconvenience to passengers coming to airport. This was also resulted in drop of traffic in Amrtisar Airport. They requested the Chief Minister to write to Union Minister to get the work of airport completed at an early date.

Majha legislators also pointed out to Chief Minister that he should write a separate letter to Mr. Kamal Nath, Union Commerce Minister to direct his Ministry to issue requisite notifications so that duty drawback claims for cargo booked from Raja Sansi Airport were cleared within 7 days as being done in Delhi Airport. They said that presently duty drawback claims from Amritsar Airport were cleared in 3-4 months and businessmen were not opting this airport as they don't want to block their money for a longer period.

The Chief Minister assured the delegation that he would take up these issued with Prime Minister for their early solution. He said that he would be speaking to both the Ministers to ensure that no international flight was discontinued from Amritsar Airport.

Those who called on Chief Minister included Member Parliament, S.Rattan Singh Ajnala, Ministers including S. Bikram Singh Majithia, S.Sucha Singh Langah, S.Gulzar Singh Ranike and MLAs Dr.Dalbir Singh Verka, S.Malkiat Singh AR, S.Amarpal Singh Ajnala, S.Inderbir Singh Bularia, S.Manjit Singh Mianwind, S.Virsa Singh Valtoha, S.Harmeet Singh Sandhu MLA, Anil Joshi, Lakhbir Singh Lodhi Nangal MLA, Gurbachan Singh Babehali MLA, S.Vir Singh Lopoke (Ex-MLA) and Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna General Secretary BJP.

BADAL GIVES APPOINTMENT TO SUKHPAL SINGH KHAIRA CHANDIGARH NOVEMBER 3

In response to the letter written by MLA Bholath Mr. Sukhpal Singh Khaira to the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal for seeking appointment, the Chief Minister had given him an appointment at Bholath helipad at 9.30 am on November 5.

Stating this Chief Minister's Media Advisor Mr. Harcharan Bains said that the Chief Minister in a communiqué addressed to Mr. Khaira in response to his letter in English seeking an appointment with him (Mr. Badal) during the Sangat Darshan Programme scheduled to be held in Bholath constituency on November 5 had intimated the time and venue of the appointment as desired by Mr. Khaira.

The Deputy Commissioner Kapurthala had already been directed by the Chief Minister Office to make suitable arrangements at Bholath helipad to facilitate the meeting of MLA Bholath with Mr. Badal.

PADDY PROCUREMENT TOUCHES 117 LAC TONNES MARK

Chandigarh, November 3, 2008

Six government agencies and millers procured over 117,79,484 tonnes of paddy on Sunday .

An official spokesman today said that PUNGRAIN procured 32,28,891 tonnes of paddy (29.6%) whereas MARKFED procured 25,24,133 tonnes of paddy (23.1%). PUNSUP procured 24,44,551 tonnes of paddy (22.4%) whereas Punjab State Warehousing Corporation procured 13,68,320 tonnes of paddy (12.5%) besides 11,56,980 tonnes of paddy (10.6%) procured by Punjab Agro. The Central Government Agency FCI procured only 1,88,047 tonnes of paddy (1.7%). The Millers procured 8,68,562 tonnes of paddy (7.4 %) by Sunday.

The mandis in Amritsar Division recorded 25,22,813 tonnes of paddy with Jalandhar recording maximum paddy by Sunday to the tune of 6,87,998 tonnes. The mandis of Ferozepur division maintained their lead by recording 43,55,831 tonnes of paddy with maximum of 11,83,494 tonnes of paddy being recorded by Ferozepur district. Meanwhile procurement in the mandis Patiala division recorded 49,00,840 procurement of paddy with Ludhiana district recording maximum paddy to the tune of 13,49,638 tonnes.

The spokesman said that lifting of procured paddy from the mandis has started showing positive results with PUNGRAIN (98.6%), MARKFED (95.6%), PUNSUP (97.0%), PSWC (98.3%), PUNJAB AGRO (97.8%) and FCI (100.0%) showing substantial improvement.
Six government agencies have paid over Rs. 8828.64 crores for paddy procured by agencies current Kharif Marketing Season. The spokesman said that farmers of the State are being made payment of paddy procured by the government agencies within 48 hours of lifting of paddy from the procurement centres.

The Punjab Food Supply had setup 1622 procurement centres throughout the state to ensure smooth procurement of paddy.