BADAL CALLS UPON THEOLOGIANS AND SCHOLARS TO PROPAGATE UNIVERSAL MESSAGE OF SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB ACROSS THE GLOBE

Chandigarh OCTOBER 25:

Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today called upon the noted academicians, theologians and scholars to disseminate the universal message of Sri Guru Grant Sahib in every nook and corner of the world to redeem the mankind at one hand and foster the feeling of, religious tolerance amity and peace amongst the cross section of society on the other.

While addressing at a function to launch the series 'Guru Maneyo Granth' and release of its DVD version along with C.Ds. of 'Bani Guru Hai Bani' at Doordarshan Bhawan Mandi House at New Delhi, Mr. Badal appreciated the efforts of Doordarshan to conceptualize and produce this special series to mark tercentenary of Guru-ta-Gaddi diwas of Sri Guru Granth Sahib titled 'Guru Maneyo Granth'. He hoped the eternal message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji would leave an indelible impression on the minds of the masses which would ultimately enable them to become ideal citizens of the society. He said that since DD National had a vast range of network and hoped that millions of viewers would be benefited with this programme to propagate the message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

In her presidential address Minister for Tourism & Culture Smt. Ambika Soni appreciated that the unique initiative of Doordarshan for the national telecast of this programme on the historic occasion to enable the people across the globe to acquaint themselves with the philosophy of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. She said that the programme would prove to be a milestone to reach out a wide spectrum of viewer ship through the medium of Doordarshan national network to apprise them about the basic ideology and philosophy of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Later, Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting launched the series 'Guru Maneyo Granth' on Doordarshan national.

In his address Chairman Prasar Bharati Arun Bhatnagar briefly highlighted the theme of the series 'Guru Maneyo Granth' which had been divided into 7 parts, viz. compilation of Guru Granth Sahib, compilation of Guru Gaddi of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, musical arrangement of Gurbani, depiction of nature in Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagat Bani in Guru Granth Sahib, universal message of Guru Granth Sahib and 'Gavo Sachi Bani' – live musical concert in which eminent ragi jathas participated held at Takhat Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Sri Anandpur Sahib.

In his welcome address Chief executive officer, Prasar Bharati BS Lali said that the 7-episode serial was a devotional music programme with historic gurdwaras and monuments whose bani had been included in Guru Granth Sahib serving as the back drop. He said that this programme would be telecast daily from October 24 to October 29, 2008 at 8.30 to 9.00 PM and on 30th October, 2008 at 830:PM to 9:30 pm on DD National.

Punjab Infotech Represents Punjab at TIEcon 2008

Chandigarh October 25, 2008

The Government of Punjab today hosted a breakfast meeting for top decision makers from the IT industry, who are in New Delhi to participate in TiECon 2008. The breakfast meeting held at the Maurya Sheraton Hotel was hosted by the Industries & Commerce Minister of Punjab, Mr. Manoranjan Kalia and was also attended by other senior officials from the Punjab Government, including Mr. Ramesh Inder Singh, Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce.

The purpose of the interaction was to initiate an informal discussion with leaders from the IT/ITeS industry to create awareness regarding several initiatives being undertaken by the Government of Punjab to promote the IT/ITeS sector in the State. More importantly, the Government also wanted to use this opportunity to unveil its flagship projects in the Kapurthala-Jalandhar and Ropar-Mohali corridors, where the Government will lead the development of IT/ITeS focused SEZs. The Kapurthala project, in the vicinity of Jalandhar is ideally positioned for ITeS investments, given the large base of human resources in the catchment wheras the Ropar project, adjacent to the proposed IIT is expected to emerge as the preferred hub for high end software development.

The meeting witnessed a very high level of participation from noted CEOs and regional heads of top IT/ITeS companies, including organisations such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Genpact, Cognizant, Perot Systems, IBM-Daksh, NIIT and Convergys, among several others. The NASSCOM President, Mr. Som Mittal, was also present on the occasion.

The one hour conclave, started with a brief welcome note from the Chief Secretary, Mr. RI Singh and a presentation on "Punjab's Changing Landscape for IT/ITeS Investors" by Ernst & Young.

The industry leaders endorsed the State's holistic strategy to create a favourable ecosystem for IT/ITeS investment, which focuses on the four pillars of infrastructure, human resources, policy framework and investor relations. They strongly approved the State's pro-active initiatives to develop world class infrastructure and human resources in the State – the new IIT at Ropar, Knowledge City at Mohali and Convention Centre in Mohali, key among them. Recent policy initiatives which include the Super Mega Industrial Park Policy, Industrial Facilitation Act, deemed approval for projects and online submission of forms, were all believed to send out positive signals to the investor community.

In response to queries by investors, the Chief Secretary asserted that the State is ensuring availability of affordable space through Government backed IT SEZs, and is promoting greater private investment in school education through capital grants and shared costs. This will serve as an incentive for companies to set up base in Punjab and encourage their mid- level managers to relocate with their families.

The meeting concluded with an invitation from the Industries Minister, Mr. Manoranjan Kalia to the industry delegates to visit Kapurthala and Ropar where the Government is fast tracking these projects and confirmed that the Government is leaving no stone unturned to address the three critical requisites for IT/ITeS investors, viz. quality human resources, affordable space and uninterrupted power.

CENTRE APPRECIATES PROMPT PADDY PAYMENT TO FARMERS BY PUNJAB

Chandigarh October 24, 2008

Union Food Secretary Mrs. Alka Sirohi today reviewed procurement position of paddy in Punjab and Haryana in a high level meeting held here today.

Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Mr. Adesh Partap Singh Kairon gave an over view of procurement scenario of Punjab during the Kharif Marketing Season 2008-09. He requested the Union Food Secretary to make an amendment in the bonus payment notification so that payment of bonus could be directly made to farmers. He said that Punjab without waiting payment from Union Government has started making payment to the farmers directly. He also requested that a decision regarding PAU 201 varity of paddy be made at an early date so that procurement of this varity does not suffer. He also requested to extend milling season to December 31, 2008 for levy and CMR. He said that this year Punjab hopes to produce 165 lac metric tonnes paddy and procure over 145 lac tonnes paddy. He said that traders share in procurement has been drastically coming down from 13% to meagre 8%, primarily due to ban on export of non-basmati rice.

Explaining the payment position to the farmers for the paddy Mr. Kairon explained that Punjab is the only state that has setup electronic payment system in two districts to ensure payment to them within 48 hours of lifting of paddy. He said that from the next procurement season electronic payment season would be extended to all 1622 mandis of the state. He said that he was personally monitoring the payment position in all 1622 procurement centres of the state. Mrs. Alka Sirohi appreciated the new initiative of Punjab Government of ensuring payment to them within 48 hours. She said that she would also visit Electronic Clearing Houses setup in different mandis during her visit to mandis tomorrow.

Mr. Kairon explained to the Union Food SECRETARY that presently 95.22 lac metric tonnes wheat and 4.91 lac metric tonnes rice was stored in Punjab. He requested that wheat should be immediately moved out of Punjab so that there is a space for rice to store. Union Food Secretary assured that she would work out a plan to move average 14 lac metric tonnes wheat every month from Punjab. She also said that Jute Commissioner of India has assured to supply 80,000 additional gunny bags to Punjab keeping in view bumper crop in the state. Earlier Principal Secretary Food Mr. R.P.S Pawar explained the total procurement procedure.

Managing director of different procurement agencies gave an over view of procurement being done by their agencies. Besides managing directors of procurement agencies of Punjab and Haryana, Senior Regional Manager (SRM) of FCI of Punjab and Haryana were also present in the meeting. Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mr. Arunesh Shauker also participated in the meeting.

PUNJAB CM LAUDS KARAM SINGH RAJU FOR HIS BOOK ON GURU RAVIDASS JI

Chandigarh October 24, 2008

Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal released a book published by Information & Public Relations Department, Punjab on the life and philosophy of Sri Guru Ravi Dass Ji titled 'Vaani Aur Viyakhiaya- Guru Ravidass Ji' , authored by an eminent scholar and Retd. IAS, Dr. Karam Singh Raju here at his official residence.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Badal appreciated Dr. Karam Singh for bringing out this book exclusively to highlight the underlined objective of Guru Ravidass's Vaani in an idiom of a common man. He hoped that this book would prove to be beacon light to guide the mankind in order to attain salvation by shunning the path of materialism.

Expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister for sparing his valuable time to release the book Dr. Raju said that he would continue his endeavour to make concerted efforts to bring such publication for the masses so that they could be immensely benefited from the teaching of great Saints and Seers to propagate the message of love, compassion, harmony, peace and above all the oneness of God.

Prominent amongst those who were present on the occasion included Advisor to Chief Minister Mr. Harcharan Bains, Principal Secretary Information & Public Relations Mr. D.S.jaspal and Director, Information & Public Relations Mr. Tejveer Singh.