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OCTOBER 21
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOVT. SPOKESPERSON RUBBISHES KANG'S CHARGE HE HAS 25 SECURITY PERSONNEL, 7 VEHICLES INCLUDING A BULLET PROOF CAR ATTACHED TO HIM CHANDIGARH OCTOBER 21: Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today gave nod to introduce the Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) System in the holy city of Amritsar connecting the local Railway station and bus stand with Sri Harimandir Sahib to facilitate the daily commuters especially the devotees coming from different parts of the World to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple in a hassle free manner,. A decision to this effect was taken by Mr. Badal in the 27th Board meeting of the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) here at Chief Minister's residence this evening. Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the PIDB-cum-Secretary Housing & Urban Development Mr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu apprised the Chief Minister that the PRT System, first of its kind in the country was being introduced which was, so far only operational at the Heathrow Airport in London. It was also informed in the meeting that two Five Star Hotels would be soon developed by Taj Group and Sheraton Chain of International hotels. The Chief Minister was also informed about the progress of the roads being developed along with the canals on BOT basis viz Ropar-Chamkaur Sahib-Neelon-Doraha Road on Sirhind Canal, Mannpur head to Jagraon-Raikot Road on Abohar branch, Rayan (NH-1) to Khara (NH-15) on Sabrahon Branch, Mannpur head to Barnala-Raikot Road on Bathinda and Nadampur-Lahira on Ghaggar Branch. Likewise, the Chief Minister also directed the MD PIDB to expedite the process of construction of five roads to be developed on DOT basis namely Tanda Mehta- Amritsar road, Morinda-Kurali-Siswaan-Baddi Road (upto Haryana Border), Kotkapura-Muktsar Road, Batala-Mehta- Bias road and Phillour-Nakodar-Kapurthala road. The Board also informed the Chief Minister about the progress of the Pinkcassia Tourist Complex being now developed by Alchemist Holding Limited in PPP mode. Mr. Badal also reviewed the progress of Five Star Hotel at Bathinda, International Convention Center & Five Star Hotel besides and an Amusement Park in S.A.S Nagar (Mohali). CHANDIGARH OCTOBER 21: In a statement, Mr. Badal said that the non-remunerative MSP coupled with anti-farmer policies of Centre was primarily responsible for the slow down of the agricultural growth. The Chief Minister said that though his government had been constantly pleading the case of Punjab's beleaguered peasantry which was in great distress and demanded MSP of at least Rs.1400/- per quintal of wheat from the Government of India. Mr. Badal lamented that it was a paradoxical situation that the MSP demanded by farming community was far below the price at which the country had been importing wheat from Australia and there was hardly any justification to deprive the local producers of he same price. Mr. Badal said that the recent hike in MSP of Wheat spoke volumes of Congress led UPA government’s complete insensitivity and its apathetic attitude towards the plight of the hapless farmers who were already in distress due to low returns on their produce despite exorbitant cost of agricultural inputs incurred by them on diesel, fertilizers, pesticides etc. Mr. Badal said that the Centre should have appreciated the ground realities in a holistic manner to provide a level playing field to the farmers, rather rubbing salt on their wounds with this unreasonable and un-remunerative hike in the price of Wheat at a point of time when the MSP was not commensurate with the ever increasing costs of agricultural inputs. Mr. Badal pointed out that it was a high time for the Centre to awake from deep slumber in order to fix the MSP by providing a margin of 50% over the cost of production to the farmers as suggested by an agricultural economist Dr. MS Swaminathan. The Centre should had atleast realized the immense contribution of Punjab farmers to make our country self sufficient in food production to ensure national food security before announcing this unreasonable increase in MSP of Wheat, added Mr. Badal. CHANDIGARH OCTOBER 21: In a message, Mr. Badal said that Maharishi Valmik ji was a great exponent and harbinger of Indian culture & civilization, the creator of first ever epic the holy 'RAMAYANA' which is a fountainhead of human culture, moral values & ethics, reservoir of wisdom besides storehouse of all eternal human values. Maharishi Valmik ji propagated the message of ideal life based on Righteousness (Dharma) to the mankind through Ramayana which is replete with examples of ideal father, son, husband, wife and brother etc. The Chief Minister called upon the people to celebrate this sacred occasion collectively rising above the parochial consideration of casteism thereby paving a way for altruism in human life as preached by Maharishi Valmik ji. In a condolence message, the Deputy Chief Minister described Mr. Birdi as an able police administrator with the qualities of head and heart. Mr. Birdi served the force with commitment and dedication while holding various important positions, he added. Expressing his heartfelt sympathies with members of bereaved family, the Deputy Chief Minister prayed to almighty to grant peace to departed soul and strength to them to bear this irreparable loss. Talking to the media after Commemoration Day function held here today Mr. Badal who is also the President of Shiromani Akali Dal said that SAD had been demanding the implementation of Swaminathan Commission report linking MSP with wholesale price index and the announcement of MSP has not taken into consideration the steep hike in the price of agriculture inputs including diesel, fertilizers, pesticides besides seeds. He said that on one hand union government has decontrolled the price mechanism on fertilizer industry and raise the price of diesel but Rs. 20 hike in MSP does not even absorb 20% inflation. Mr. Badal said that Shiromani Akali Dal along with the likeminded parties would raise this issue in the ensuing session of Parliament and force the UPA government to enhance MSP to Rs. 1600-1800. Announcing the promotion as DSP to Inspector Manjit Kaur, who won Gold Medal in 400 x 4 women relay in Commonwealth Games, Mr. Badal said that immediately after assuming the charge of Sports Minister, he had sanctioned Rs. 25 lakh for the special training of Manjit Kaur abroad. Inspector Manjit Kaur present on the occasion profusely thanked Deputy Chief Minister for taking personal interest in getting her training expenditure sanctioned. She said that without specialized training, she could not have won this medal. When asked about progress in implementation of Governance Reforms, Mr. Badal said that next month Sangrur would become first district with all land records online and by March, 2011 land records of whole state would be put on web. Mr. Badal said that drastic changes in revenue laws were in offing, to reduce the red tape and levels of appeal in Revenue cases. Answering a query regarding former Finance Minister Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal, the Deputy Chief Minister said that he would not speak any thing of this issue as he was his younger brother. However, no political party can tolerate indiscipline and any cadre questioning the supremacy of Party has to face disciplinary action.
Mr. Badal said that this day gives us an opportunity to remember all those martyrs who sacrificed their precious lives to ensure that we all could live in peace. Commending Punjab Police for its exemplary role in wiping out more than decade long militancy in the State, Mr. Badal said that it was the professional approach, dedication and commitment of the state police that saved the Country from the nefarious designs of inimical forces across the border. He expressed confidence that the state police would never allow terrorism and anti social elements to raise their ugly heads. Underlining the need to chalk out a long term plan to modernize State Police, Mr. Badal said that equipping force with modern technologies, weaponry would enable it to face the challenges of emerging high-tech crimes. He said that keeping in view the changing trend of crimes modern equipments as well as protective gears could play an important role in saving the lives of jawans. He asked Punjab DGP to put up a perspective integrated plan for modernization of force besides suggesting welfare measures and categorically said that there would be no paucity of funds. Exhorting the young police officers to learn a lesson from the dedication and sacrifice of martyrs, Mr. Badal said that it was just because of their sacrifice; Punjab was again touching the pinnacles of glory and development. He also urged the younger generations to inculcate the spirit of patriotism and nationalism amongst themselves by making these martyrs as their role models. Speaking on the occasion Mr P.S. Gill, Director General of Police, Punjab said that the State Police has always proved its professional competency as well as exemplary courage to counter any challenge posed by the anti national elements. He said that the State force was the only force in the world that proved its professional mettle and commitment by successfully curbing the menace of decade long militancy that was being supported by the inimical forces across the border. He informed that while fighting the militancy the state police had sacrificed its 2 DIsG, 3 SSsP,12 DSPs, 32 Inspectors, 61 SIs, 111 ASIs, 268 Head Constables, 817 Constables, 294 PHGs and 180 SPOs. Besides this, 262 members of families of Police personnel were also killed by the militants to demoralize the force. He further said that during last year 786 Police officers and Jawans of various police and para military forces laid down their lives while performing their duties out of which 57 were of Punjab Police. The DGP said that the state police was fully committed to redress the problems being faced by families of martyrs and assured to initiate more welfare measures for their betterment in near future. On this occasion a Commemoration Parade was held as a mark of respect to brave police martyrs, who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. The arms were reversed and two minutes silence was observed in the honor of the departed souls. The names of police martyrs were also read out, to acknowledge with pride the supreme sacrifices made by them. The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal also floral tributes at Police Martyr’s Memorial. Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included; Mr Ajit Singh Kohar, Revenue Minister, Mr. Sarwan singh Phillaur and Mr Avinash Chander, both Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, Mr Sarabjit Singh Makkar, Mr K.D.Bhandari, Bith MLAs and Mr. Shashi Kant, DGP/Armed Battalions besides senior Civil and Police officers. Police Anthem released Chandigarh October 21:- The spokesman said that the government stock would be sold through RBI Mumbai by auction which would be conducted by them in its Mumbai office on October 26, 2010. The application form duly filled in with the Competitive bids should be submitted in electronic format, on the Negotiated Dealing System (NDS)to the RBI, Mumbai on October 26,2010 between 10.30 A.M to 12.30 PM while the non-competitive bids should be submitted electronically on NDS between 10.30 AM to 11.30 PM on the same day. Result of auction would be displayed on the same day and successful bidders would make payment on October 27, 2010 The spokesman added that this 10 year tenure loan would be repaid at par on October 27, 2020. He said that interest will be paid every half yearly on April 27 and October 27 and cut off yield determined at the auction would be the coupon rate percent per annum of the stock sold at the auction. Mrs. Bhado explained that after Pakistani aggression in 1971, the border area project scheme was started in 1976. Till 1980, 12 border area projects were started in the border districts of Punjab, Amritsar , Ferozepur and Gurdaspur for up-liftment of border area people particularly women and children by providing them three basic services like Balwadi centre , Dai Centre and Craft Centre. The expenditure of these project was shared by the central social welfare board and state government in the ratio of 2 : 1. since the border area project was a phasing out scheme, no fresh recruitment was made after 1994. Mrs. Bhado further said that the government of India, Ministry of Women and Child Development had taken a decision to close down the Boarder Area projects and adjust/bsorb the project employees in the ongoing state government programme. The matter was taken up with the state government by the state board and the department of social security, women and child development Punjab had taken the 65 employees of the border area project as supervisors and peons on permanent deputation in Integrated Chied Development Scheme (ICDS) scheme. Due to this problem the staff of the BAP had not received their salary from 1-11-2006 to 31-8-2009. due to non receipt of funds from the Central Social Welfare Board as well as the State Government. Mrs. Kavita Singh, Director, Social Security, Women and Child Development Punjab, Sh. A.K.Ranga Secretary , Sh. Rajneesh Kumar Jasra Deputy Director were also present on this occasion. SUKHBIR’S SURPRISE VISIT TO JALANDHAR MANDI ACTIVATES ADMINISTRATION Immediately, after attending Police Commemoration Parade here at PAP Complex, the Deputy Chief Minister instead of going to his next scheduled function in Khemkaran, drove himself straight to the grain market taking escort and pilot vehicles even total administration by surprise. After reaching mandi Mr. Badal interacted with farmers and arthiayas to understand problems coming in the way of smooth procurement of paddy. The farmers informed the Deputy Chief Minister that auction of their produce was being held immediately on arrival of paddy produced in mandi but lifting operations were being delayed due to non-cooperative attitude of contractors. They said that daily they were offering new excuses to justify delay and resultantly their payments was getting delayed. Taking the matter seriously, Mr. Badal asked the Deputy Commissioner to personally supervise the paddy procurement and submit him daily report on lifting. Farmers’ rued non announcement of bonus by Union Government on paddy as production declined upto 2 to 5 quintals per acre due to uncertain weather. Mr. Badal said that the Chief Minister and he himself had already taken up this issue to announce minimum Rs. 300/- per quintal bonus and they would again request Union Government to make announcement. Later talking to media Mr. Badal informed that by last evening 54.58 Lac tones of paddy had been procured in all 1718 purchase centers of the government where as millers have purchased 1.23 lac tonnes of paddy. He said that PUNGRAIN has procured 15.7 lac tonnes of paddy (28.3 %) whereas Markfed has procured 11.26 lac tonnes of paddy (21.1%). He said that PUNSUP has purchased 12.77 lac tonnes of paddy with Punjab Warehousing procuring 6.76 lac tonnes (12.7%). Similarly, Punjab Agro has purchased 4.79 lac tonnes (9%) of paddy whereas Central Government Agency FCI has purchased 2.68 lac tonnes (5%) of paddy. Mr. Badal explained that due to the ordinance of the government to not to sow paddy crop before a certain date, the total paddy crop has matured on the same day resulting in glut of paddy in the mandis. He explained that field staffs were working day and night to lift the procured crop with in stipulated 72 hours of procurement and payment was being made to the farmers within 48 hours of lifting of procured paddy. He informed that till date more than Rs. 4500 crore of payment has been made to the farmers for paddy lifted up to October 18, 2010. He informed that incase of PUNGRAIN 89.8% has already been lifted from the mandis whereas in the case of Markfed 86.4% paddy has been lifted. The lifting position of PUNSUP was 82%, with 81.7% of Punjab Warehousing Corporation and 90.4% in the case of PUNJAB AGRO. In the case of FCI 93.9% paddy has already been lifted. Mr. Badal said that Punjab Government was committed to procure every single grain of paddy brought by farmers to the mandis and it was the bounden duty of every official of procurement agency to ensure hassle free procurement. BADAL GREETS PEOPLE ON THE PARKASH UTSAV OF MAHARISHI VALMIK JI CHANDIGARH OCTOBER 21: In a message, Mr. Badal said that Maharishi Valmik ji was a great exponent and harbinger of Indian culture & civilization, the creator of first ever epic the holy 'RAMAYANA' which is a fountainhead of human culture, moral values & ethics, reservoir of wisdom besides storehouse of all eternal human values. Maharishi Valmik ji propagated the message of ideal life based on Righteousness (Dharma) to the mankind through Ramayana which is replete with examples of ideal father, son, husband, wife and brother etc. The Chief Minister called upon the people to celebrate this sacred occasion collectively rising above the parochial consideration of casteism thereby paving a way for altruism in human life as preached by Maharishi Valmik ji. Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said that Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal would now hold the portfolio of Information & Public Relations Department in addition to Home Affairs, (Home Affairs, Civil Defence & Wakf), Water Supply & Sanitation, Sport & Youth Services and Non-Conventional Energy. Dr. (Mrs.) Upinderjit Kaur becomes the new Finance Minister, who will also hold the charge of Planning and programme implementation in addition to her existing portfolio of Vigilance & Justice. Mr. Sewa Singh Sekhwan now gets the Education department and the charge of NRIs Affairs, Defence Services Welfare, Removal of Grievances and Pension and Welfare of Pensioners held by Mr. Sekhwan and Civil Aviation held by Dr. (Mrs.) Upinderjit Kaur would be now looked after by Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal. A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting chaired by Mr. Badal at Chief Minister's residence this morning with the Vice Chancellors of Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar and Punjab Technical University Jalandhar. The shifting of the college was necessitated followed by the decision of Punjab & Haryana High Court in the favour of a NRI under rent control Act, from whom the present building had been taken by GNDU on lease for past many years. Taking part in the deliberations, Mr. Badal also allowed the PTU to run its Technical Teachers Training Institute till 31st March, 2011 and asked the VC, PTU to shift the same in its campus spreading over 64 acres at ladhowali road in Jalandhar. Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included Principal Secretary Higher Education Mr. Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Vice Chancellor PTU Jalandhar Dr. Rajnish Arora, Director Technical Education & Industrial Training Mr. VK Sharma and OSD to CM Mr. NS Sangha. 51.23 LAKH TONNES PADDY PROCURED IN PUNJAB`
A spokesman of Punjab Govt. said here today that out of total procurement in all the procurement centers of Punjab, Government agencies procured 50.02 lakh tonnes (97.6%) whereas private traders procured 1.21 lakh tonnes (2.4%) of paddy. Till October 19, PUNGRAIN had procured 14.02 lakh tonnes (28.0%) whereas MARKFED procured 10.53 lakh tonnes (21.1%), PUNSUP procured 12.00 lakh tonnes (24.0%), PSWC procured 6.37 lakh tonnes (12.8%) whereas PAIC was able to procure 4.52 lakh tonnes (9.0 %) of paddy. The spokesman added that District Ferozepur with 07 lakh tonnes of procurement was leading in procurement operations whereas district Jalandhar with 4.85 lakh tonnes of procurement was at second slot and District Faridkot with 4.08 lakh tonnes of procurement ranked at third position. The State Government has set up almost 1700 procurement centers and activated its total machinery to ensure smooth procurement of paddy, the spokesman added.
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