ITALIAN ENVOY CALLS ON BADAL, SHOWS KEEN INTEREST IN SETTING
UP OF JOINT VENTURES IN AGRO-PROCESSING AND FARMING
CHANDIGARH SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
A high powered delegation led by Italian Ambassador Mr. Roberto
Toscano today called on Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh
Badal and evinced keen interest in setting up joint ventures in
agro-processing, agriculture besides power from non-conventional
sources of energy.
Taking part in the deliberations, Mr. Badal said that Punjab
had a diversified agricultural economy as it was the major producer
of food grains contributing more than 60% in the national food
pool besides producing quality vegetables, fruits and flowers.
He hoped that our economy could be immensely benefited through
Italian rich experience and expertise in the field of agro-processing
and hi-tech farming. The Chief Minister looked forward for forging
an alliance with the major Italian industrial units to add value
addition to agriculture produce to ensure better returns to our
farmers.
The Chief Minister assured the visiting Italian ambassador of
full support and cooperation for setting up joint ventures in
the state, as Punjab was fast emerging as an investment destination
and our industrial policy has a special dispensation for mega
and super mega projects.
Responding to the issue raised by Chief Minister for legalizing
immigration of Punjabis settled in Italy, Mr. Toscano assured
Mr. Badal that he would soon take up with the department of Foreign
Affairs of Italian government to resolve the matter. He appreciated
the enterprising skills of the Punjabis who had made significant
contribution to the economy of Italy and has made its present
felt. Mr. Toscano also solicited Punjab’s Cooperation for
launching a cultural exchange programme between the Italy and
Punjab as the Indian community especially the Punjabis who had
a concentration of over 40000 there has played a pro-active role
in the socio-economic development of Italy. In order to check
the fake immigration, he sought Punjab’s government cooperation
and urged Mr. Badal to depute a senior level police officer to
be entrusted with the task for keeping close liaison with our
embassy to ensure thorough verification of the antecedents of
the persons who intend to seek visa for Italy.
The Chief Minister asked the Chief Secretary to immediately
depute an officer for this purpose and also detailed Secretary
Higher Education as a nodal officer for the cultural exchange
programme.
Italian Ambassador was accompanied by First Secretary Political
& Consular Gabriele Annis and Consular General of Italian
Embassy for Punjab & Chandigarh Mr. Ranjit Malhotra.
The meeting was also attended by Advocate General Punjab Mr.HS
Matelwal, Chief Secretary Mr. SC Agrawal, Principal Secretary
to Chief Minister Mr. DS Guru, Principal Secretary Local Government
Mr.DS Bains, Principal Secretary Industries Mr. SS Channy, Principal
Secretary Mr. GS Sandhu, Financial Commissioner Development Mr.NS
Kang, Secretary Housing & Urban Development Mr. Arun Goel,
MD PIDB Mr. SS Sandhu, Secretary-cum-Director Industries Mr. VK
Janjua and Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr.KGS
Cheema.
DEPUTY CM FLAGS OFF LUXURY AC AND ORDINARY BUSES
Chandigarh September 9, 2009
Deputy Chief Minister Punjab Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal flagged
off 3 luxuries AC and 8 ordinary buses of Transport Department,
Punjab in Chandigarh today. These buses are the first lot out
of 10 super deluxe AC buses and 150 ordinary buses of the department
to be added to the Punjab Roadways fleet in the next three months.
With the introduction of these buses the fleet strength of Punjab
Roadways/PUNBUS will increase to 1748 buses, out of which 42 buses
are air-conditioned and the remaining ordinary buses. With the
addition of these three luxury coaches, the combined fleet strength
of AC buses of Punjab STUs has reached 71 and will go up to 149
by the year end. Only a few weeks ago the PRTC, another STU of
the State Govt. had added 10 luxury coaches.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that
Punjab is the first state in the country to have rationalized
the tariff structure in a manner which has made it possible for
the common man to travel in AC luxury buses by paying bus fare
which is only 10% more that the fare of an ordinary bus. Because
of the innovative tariff structure, investment in luxury AC buses
in Punjab by both the State Transport Undertaking as well as the
private sector has become economically viable. "Comfortable
AC buses at affordable fares will help to reduce private vehicles,
congestion and pollution on the roads, Mr. Badal added.
Mr. Badal reiterated the government's commitment to introduce
reforms for ensuring hassle free and better delivery of services
to the people. "Within a fortnight, the Transport Department
will unveil the policy for authorizing dealers to issue permanent
registration certificate, he added.
Mr. Badal also urged the Union Surface Transport Ministry to
come out with a fiscal stimulus for public transport for augmenting
inter-city and rural connectivity.
Transport Minister, Master Mohan Lal said that nearly 20 lac
passengers travel daily by buses of both STUs as well as affordable
so that people should use public transport instead of private
vehicles. The Transport Minister disclosed that the result of
the innovative changes made by the government and the efforts
of the department are bearing fruit with the result that PUNBUS
has made profits of Rs. 28.26 crores during 2007-08 and 30.63
crores during 2008-09 (before depreciation). Profits during 2009-10
are likely to be 32.00 crores. PRTC has made operational profits
of Rs. 9.47 crore during 2007-08 and Rs. 7.28 crores during 2008-09.
Transport Department Punjab has plans to replace the complete
fleet of 689 obsolete buses of Punjab Roadways by 2011-12. Master
Mohan Lal said that as a result of government efforts, for the
first time the overage fleet has been reduced from 70% to 39%.
Principal Secretary Transport Mr. D.S. Jaspal said that the
operation of AC buses in Punjab is a success story of the state
and within the next two years at least 50% of the fleet of private
as well as STUs will switch over to AC buses on account of the
innovative tax structure. Mr. Jaspal also said that wide ranging
reforms are in the process of being implemented which will transform
the transport sector in Punjab and make it people friendly and
service oriented.
Director State Transport Mr. Mandeep Singh disclosed that in
the two and half years of the present government, Punjab Roadways
PUNBUS have added 521 new buses to their fleet.
BATHINDA REFINERY PIPLEINE CAPACITY BEING DOUBLED – HMEL
COMPLETION AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, 40% WORK COMPLETED
RS.5000 CRORE POLY PROPYLENE BASED DOWN STREAM UNITS TO COME UP
CHANDIGARH SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
In what could turn out to be the single biggest boost to the
Punjab industry, the HPCL- Mittal Energy Ltd. (HMEL) today described
that the carriage capacity of the Sri Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery
from Gujarat to Bathinda is being doubled from the initially envisaged
9000 Million Metric Tones (MMT) to 18000 MMT per annum of crude
oil. This was being done to expand the refinery into “Asia’s
biggest Petro-Chemical hub”.
This was disclosed by Mr. Prabh Das Chief Executive of the HMEL,
when a high level delegation led by its Chairman Mr. Arun Balakrishanan
had a meeting with the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh
Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal this morning.
Mr. Das also disclosed that 40% of the work on the prestigious
refinery had already been completed and the project is likely
to go into production before schedule in 2011.
Giving details of the two meetings, Chief Minister’s Media
Adviser Mr. Harcharan Bains said that the Chief Minister had assured
the HMEL of full government backing in the completion and running
of the refinery as it was ‘a dream project for the state’
Mr. Das requested the Chief Minister to prevail upon the Government
of India to either grant special industrial incentives to Punjab
or to withdraw the same being given to its neighbouring states.
The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister promised to pursue
the matter with GoI.
In an other significant disclosure, Mr. Das said that in addition
to Rs.18900 crore initially outlay of the refinery, additional
Rs.5000 crore were being spent on the Gujarat-Bathinda pipeline
and another Rs.1000 crore on an off-shore port for importing crude
oil from Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. He said that the refinery
would also generate down the stream Rs.5000 crore Poly-propylene
based industry. More than 200 units would come up in these ancillary
activities with employment potential for over 10000 youth. This
would be apart from the employment potential of the refinery itself.
Punjab’s Industry especially from Amritsar, Ludhiana and
Jalandhar had evinced keen interest to set up their units in the
up coming Petro-Chemical hub. The work on the refinery was in
full stream and Rs.12 to 15 crore were being spent every day.
HMEL was also setting up a colony at the refinery site.
Mr. Balakrishanan, the Chairman of HMEL also informed the Chief
Minister that they have already initiated a programme to impart
training in skill development of the local youth as per the requirements
of the refinery. He hoped that this step would prove to be a milestone
in giving a fillip to the employment generation on one hand and
empowering the local youth to get gainful employment after being
technically trained.
The meetings were attended by Media Adviser to Chief Minister
Mr. Harcharan Bains, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr.
DS Guru, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr.KJS
Cheema, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. Gaggandip
Singh Brar and Principal Secretary to Deputy Chief Minister Mr.Viswajit
Khanna.
The HMEL delegation comprised Mr. Sudhir Maheshwari, Mr. Rajan
Tandon, Mr.B.Mukherjee (all Directors), Mr. Sanjeev Malhotra Treasury
Head HMEL, Senior Regional Manager HPCL Mr. Amit Mehra, Marketing
Officer HPCL Mr. Amit Sharma and Sales Officer HPCL Mr.Rajeev
Bansal.
RAILWAYS ACCEPTS SUKHBIR'S PROPOSAL TO REPLICATE TAMIL NADU PATTERN
IN PUNJAB FOR EARLY COMPLETION OF ROBs
RAILWAYS AND PUNJAB EACH TO CONSTRUCT HALF OF THE ROBs /RUBs
Chandigarh, September 9, 2009
Indian Railways today accepted in principle the proposal of
Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal, to replicate Tamil
Nadu pattern, to hand over construction of ROBs as one integrated
unit, to be completed by one construction agency for its early
completion. In case of all new sanctioned ROBs/RUBs, 50% of ROBs
would be constructed as one integrated unit by State government
and another 50% by Railways.
The Deputy Chief Minister assisted by state construction agencies
including PWD (B&R), PIDB and Local Government had a detailed
meeting with Railway Authorities headed by Mr. S.K.Malik, Additional
Member Railway Board and Mr. V.K.Sahay, General Manager Northern
Railways to sort out the problems coming in the way of early completion
of ROBs in the State. Mr. Badal pointed out that on most of the
ROBs, the State government has already completed the construction
of approach road where as bridge portion over railway track was
pending due to delay on the part of railways. He suggested that
this problem of coordination between Railways and State agencies
could be sorted out only if 50% of ROBs to be constructed in future
as one integrated unit by state government and another 50% by
Railways, as being done in Tamil Nadu.
Appreciating the proposal, Member Railway Board Mr. S.K.Malik
said that Railways has no objection to this proposal as it would
expedite the construction of ROBs. He said that Railways would
convey its decision on this proposal after getting it approved
by Railway Board.
Mr. Badal pointed out that on 13 major ROBs on National Highways,
the work by state government had already been completed and now
Railways must expedite the construction of bridges over the railway
tracks. He said that on another 12 ROBs/RUBs, the construction
schedule of railway was quite behind the deadline.
Mr. V.K.Sahay, General Manager, Northern Railways assured the
Deputy Chief Minister that construction of 5 ROBs would be completed
within 3 months and during next financial year, 17 more ROBs/RUBs
would be fully completed. He assured total support of Indian Railways
in early completion of these projects.
To sort out the coordination problem between Indian Railways
and State Construction Agencies, Mr. Badal appointed one Chief
Engineer level officer as Nodal Officer for ROBs to coordinate
and get the problems sorted out at the earliest.
Mr. Badal would again meet Railway Authorities at New Delhi
next week to sort out problems of construction of bridges in the
major cities that was causing congestion and traffic problems.
Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included
Mr. Kulbir Singh, Secretary PWD (B&R), Mr. D.S.Bains, Secretary
Local Government; Mr. Viswajeet Khanna, Secretary to Deputy Chief
Minister; Mr. S.S. Sandhu, MD, PIDB; Mr. Manvesh Singh Sidhu,
Additional Secretary to Deputy Chief Minister. Mr. Dharam Singh,
CEO, Constructions Northern Railways; Mr. Lalit Kapoor, CEO, Special
Construction; Mr. H.K. Jaggi, DRM Ambala; Mr. Satish Kumar, DRM
Ferozepur; Mr. Vinay Singh, Chief Engineer Constructions, NR (NC).
MANPREET BADAL MEETS DELEGATION OF ARTISTS
Chandigarh September 9, 2009
A delegation of artists of National Theatre Arts Society Patiala
headed by its Director , Mr. Pran Sabharwal including educationists
Smt. Jagdish Kaur, Dr. Swaraj Singh USA, NTAS’S Foreign
Cultural Coordinator , Mr. P.C.Tiwari and Mr. K.C.Khanna ,Vice
President and Advisor respectively of NTAS and Prof.Jasbir Singh
met the Finance Minister Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal and presented
him a literary gift of the latest book., “Samraji Sankat
Atte Nawain Sansar Da Ubhar” Authored by Dr. Swaraj Singh.
The members of the visiting delegation also discussed various
theatre problems with the Finance Minister and Mr. Badal assured
them to consider the implementation of Punjab Government’s
orders regarding exempting of theatrical performances from the
entertainment tax and reviving of the old policy of issuing grants
to the genuine theatrical groups and also to sponsor their shows
within and outside the state of Punjab.
RANIKE URGES CENTRAL GOVERNMENT TO CONDUCT
FRESH SURVEY TO IDENTIFY BPL FAMILIES.
Chandigarh 9 September:
Mr. Gulzar Singh Ranike, Animal Husbandry , Dairy Development
and Welfare of SC/BC Minister Punjab has urged the Central Government
to get the fresh survey conducted with a view to identifying the
BPL families in Punjab so that more and more genuine families
living under the BPL could be covered under various centrally
sponsored welfare schemes especially launched for them.
While addressing a national conference of the welfare of SC/BC
Ministers of India presided by Dr. Manmohan Singh at New Delhi.,
Mr. Ranike said that according to a survey conducted in 2001,
the SC population was 28.85% where as the literacy rate was 56.22%.
There were 5.23 lac identified families under BPL out of which
3.21 lakh families belonged to scheduled castes. He emphasized
upon the need to have the survey conducted above the politics
of the localities.
The Minister also said that Punjab was perhaps the first state
to have fully rehabilitated the manual scavengers and kept a regular
check on the problems of untouchables and atrocities on SC’s
in Punjab. S Parkash Singh Badal Chief Minister Punjab has always
stood for the welfare of the SC/BC population in the State. He
reiterated the strong resolve of the SAD – BJP government
in Punjab to provide maximum benefits to the SC/BC population
in raising their living standards.
Referring to the problems being faced by the SC/BC population
especially in the border areas, the Minister said that adequate
steps were being taken to improve the literacy rate in the border
areas of the State. He urged to central government to extend all
possible help to the State Government in achieving the targets.
He also impressed upon the centre to provide more funds for development
of this specific area under border area development programme
scheme. He also urged the central government to provide tax relaxation
for setting up of the industrial units in border areas. He also
said that the implementation of the nationally sponsored schemes
launched for the welfare of SC/BC population should be implemented
by the state department itself.
In order to provide quality education to the children of SC/BC,
Mr. Ranike suggested that the central government should establish
more and more modern schools in the State under overall guidance
of the centre and link up the scholarship amount with the price
index. The minister urged the centre to 100% sponsor the centrally
sponsored schemes without asking for the state share because the
state is passing through a acute financial crunch.
THREE MONUMENTS DECLARED UNSAFE-KALHA
Chandigarh September 9, 2009
The old historical monuments, archeological places were kept
safe by the Punjab Government under act "The Punjab Ancient,
Historical Monuments, Archeological places and Residue Act, 1964"
Mr. Geetika Kalha, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Cultural Affairs,
Archeology and Museum Department, Punjab stated that notification
regarding this has been issued according to which under section
35 of the said Act these monuments had been declared unsafe.
She further said that in Tarn Taran district a Sara in village
Khawaspur, plot No.80 area 284 canal 14 marlas at present does
not exist which had no architectural and art value, has been declared
unsafe by the Governor Punjab. In the same district Gate Sara
at Village Fatehiabad plot no. 174-175 area 3234 square feet has
also been declared unsafe, as double protection could not be given
to them.
Giving more information about unsafe monuments, she said added
that in district Hoshiarpur Tehsil Dasua Village Pakhowal there
was a Tomb (Samadh)on the plot no. 76 having a area of 90 bighas
18 biswas, had been demolished which has no architectural or artistic
value. The new temple had been already constructed on that place.
This place also has also been declared unsafe by the Governor
of Punjab, as per the notification.
90370 HECTARE ADDITIONAL LAND TO BE IRRIGATED WITH THE STRENGTHENING
OF 9037 KM WATERCOURSES – SEKHON.
Chandigarh September 09, 2009
In order to provide better irrigation facilities and to ensure
water at the tailend, 9037 km water courses would be properly
brickline and strengthened under a special irrigation scheme.
Stating this here today Mr. Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Irrigation Minister
Punjab said that with the strengthening of existing watercourses
90370 hectare additional land would be covered under irrigation.
He also said that at present there were three projects namely
Sirhind Feeder Part-II, Bathinda branch part II and Aparbari Doab
Canal to strengthen the water course were already going on. Adding
further he said that the work on 40762 Km length of watercourses
had been completed till March 2009 within the stipulated time
frame, which helps in proving additional water to irrigate 3.51
lac hectares.
He also said that the work on strengthening the watercourses
had been executed under command area development and water management
programme. During the last three years 2642 km watercourses had
been bricklined and 26424 hectare addition land was irrigated.
Mr. Sekhon said that Punjab Government was committed to provide
better irrigation facilities to the farmers. With the strengthening
of these watercourses more yield of the crops would be expected,
which would help in raising the living strandard of the farmers,
he added.
The Government of India has agreed to the Punjab Government’s
plea to allow the State more time to consider various aspects of
unbundling of the Punjab State Electricity Board. The deadline for
unbundling has now been put back up to December 15, 2009, according
to an official spokesman of the Punjab Government.
The Centre’s decision on the issue taken on the 4th of this
month was conveyed this morning by the Union Ministry of Power through
a faxed communication to the Chief Secretary, Punjab.
The letter says that the date has been extended “to enable
the State Government to complete the unbundling process”.
