INFORMATION & PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB
MAJITHIA HANDS OVER RS. 5 LAC BANK DRAFT TO KASHMIR SINGH
Chandigarh, July 29: Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, Information & Public Relations Minister, Punjab today handed over three bank drafts totalling to Rs. 5.00 lac to Mr. Kashmir Singh, who was released from Pakistan Jail in March this year after languishing 35 years in different jails of Pakistan.
In a simple function organised here today Mr. Majithia handed over Rs. 5.00 lac collected for the family of Kashmir Singh by various NRI's at his initiative. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Majithia said that the release of Kashmir Singh by Pakistan Government was symbolic of beginning of new era of better ties between two neighbouring countries. He said that his release has depicted that both countries are now realising the value of human life and they are looking towards cordial future, putting the bitter memories of past behind.
He said that the freedom of Kashmir Singh from Pak jail came after untiring efforts of S. Parkash Singh Badal and S. Sukhbir Singh Badal and lot of well wishers of Kashmir Singh and our friends in Pakistan including Mr. Ansar Burney. Mr. Majithia said that the task that seemed impossible in the beginning got a kickstart when people of Pakistan also supported the release of Kashmir Singh and other innocent prisoners languishing in the various jails of Pakistan.
The Minister said that since SAD-BJP government took over the reins of power in Punjab S.Parkash Singh Badal has took various step to promote trade activity and people-to-people contact with Pakistani people. He said that with the opening of trade route with Pakistan through road via Attari Border, Pakistan Government was importing vegetables from Punjab to control the rates of vegetables in Pakistan. Similarly India imported Cement from Pakistan through road route ,stabilizing the Cement prises in India.
Mr. Majithia said that by strengthening the trade ties India and Pakistan can emerge as trading hub of South East Asia having its dominance in market in west as well as in Gulf Countries.
Mr. Majithia informed that Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal has already issued a grant of Rs. 10.00 lac to Mr. Kashmir Singh immediately after his release. He has also been granted lifelong pension of Rs. 10,000/- per month besides job for his handicapped son. Mr. Majithia said that Media Advisor Mr. Harcharan Bains had also given one residential plot to Kashmir Singh.
Mr. Kashmir Singh informed the Minister that he was facing problem in getting Passport to visit his daughter in Italy who was 2½ year old when he was arrested by Pakistan Authorities. He said that R.P.O Jalandhar has informed him his inability to issue him passport as he has not completed one year stay in India. Mr. Kashmir Singh regretted that on one hand Punjab government was offering him all help where as the attitude of Union Government was not helpful. Mr. Majithia promised that Chief Minister would take up this issue with Union External Affairs Minister to waive this condition for Kashmir Singh.
No.PR.2008/344
INFORMATION & PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB
SEMINAR ON 'HEALTH OF NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY' IN THE STATE OF PUNJAB
Chandigarh July 29: The Punjab Labour Department would organize a seminar on 'Health of Newspaper Industry' in the state of Punjab on Ist August, 2008 at 11.00 A.M. at Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar. The Labour Minister Sh. Tikshan Sood, would preside over the function.
According to an official spokesman besides the senior functionaries of the Labour Department, other expected participants in this Seminar are Sh. K.M. Sahni, Member Secretary, National Wage Boards for revising and fixing the wages of journalists and other news paper employees working in the Country and other members of the Board. The Government of India has formed a National Wage Board for revising and fixing the wages of such employees in the Country under the Chairmanship of Dr. Justice (Retd.) K Narayana Kurup and are known as "Kurup Wage Boards".
The spokesman said that the basic objective of these wage Boards is to assess the status of implementation of the recommendations of previous "Manisana Wage Boards", including the reasons and constraints for their non-implementation or partial implementation, so that the input gathered during such Seminars, interactions could be obtained to form the basis to formulate the guidelines for the recommendations of the "Kurup Wage Board" and to ensure its implementation in future.
He said that various representatives of the Journalists and other newspaper employees and of newspaper establishment employers' organizations are expected to express their views in this Seminar. It is an earnest effort as per the advice of Sh. K.M. Sahni, Member Secretary of these Wage Boards to assess the ground reality regarding the status of implementation of the previous "Manisana Wage Boards" recommendations vis-à-vis the real financial health of newspaper industry with the objective to know the capacity of this industry to implement various recommendations/guidelines of the present "Kurup Wage Board" in future.
No.PR.2008/345
INFORMATION & PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB
75 AGRI INDUSTRIALISTS WILL MANUFACTURE LATEST TOOLS & MACHINERY FOR FARMERS
Chandigarh, 29 July:
Mr. Sucha Singh Langah, Agriculture Minister Punjab today hold meeting with 75 prominent Industrialists who manufactures Agriculture machinery and tools and discussed at length to provide latest and modern Agriculture equipment to farmers, so that farmers should get more produce with less cost and labour.
Mr. Langah stressed upon manufacturing, Paddy, Transplanter, Balers for paddy straw, cotter picker, harvesting and peeling machine for sugarcane, sprayers and pruners for orchards, to avoid inconvenience faced by the farmers. He said that government would extend all possible help to industrialists if they want to get latest technical knowhow from developed countries. Mr. Langah assured the industrialists that he would take up, their problems with Punjab Chief Minister and with Government of India.
Mr. R.S. Sandhu, Financial Commissioner Development appreciated the Agri-Industrialists for providing high quality Rotavator, Zero till Drill, laser land leveret, straw reaper to farmers during the previous year.
Mr. B.S. Sidhu, Director Agriculture, gave detailed information regarding subsidy being provided by the agriculture department for agriculture machinery and tools.
Mr. D.R Kataria, Joint Director Agriculture said that the agriculture department would organise Training Campus throughout the state to educate the farming community regarding latest technical knowhow.
No.PR.2008/343
Naginder Singh
CHIEF MINISTER OFFICE PUNJAB
BADAL CONSTITUTE CORE GROUPS TO EXPLORE POSSIBILITIES OF OVERALL DEVELOPMENT IN KANDI AREAS
CHANDIGARH JULY 29:
Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today constituted four core groups to be headed by the Ministers of Water Supply & Sanitation, Forests & Wild Life, PWD (B&R), Irrigation and Power to study the ways and means to combat the peculiar problems related to scarcity of drinking water, scanty irrigation facilities, uninterrupted power supply and menace of wild animals that had resulted in substantial damage to the standing crops besides loss of human life and property in the Kandi and Bet areas.
Presiding over a meeting of Sub-Mountain & Kandi Area Advisory Council, Mr. Badal said that these core groups would also comprise the MLAs from the Kandi and Bet areas along with the Administrative Secretaries of the respective departments to take stock of the situation and suggest remedial measures to overcome these hardships. On the basis of the consolidated report of these core groups to be submitted within a month, Mr. Badal mentioned that it would be finally posed to Centre for seeking additional funds to tackle the problems in a result oriented manner on the pattern of exclusive grants meant for the Border Area Development Programme.
The MLAs from Kandi area vehemently demanded to immediately repeal Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900 that had hampered the growth of these areas because even the basic civic amenities of drinking water, sewerage, electricity, irrigation, road network could not be provided to the residents.
These MLAs also drew attention of the Chief Minister towards the wide spread devastation caused by the wild animals like blue bull & wild bore and demanded to declare these vermin besides allowing the inhabitants of the Kandi area to kill them with in the prescribed norms of the wild life protection Act in order to save their crops and life.
It was also observed in the meeting that a comprehensive proposal could be prepared on the development of the Kandi area as a separate chapter by the Joint Development Commissioner to be included in the memorandum to be submitted by the state government to the 13th Finance Commission for seeking special funds for the overall growth and progress of the Kandi area.
The MLAs also highlighted the problems of poor conditions of link roads, power supply and irrigation facilities and solicited government's top priority to address these issues without any further delay. The members also urged the Chief Minister to seek the expert advise of the irrigation department to assess the feasibility of the canal based water drinking schemes in the Kandi area where deep drilling tubewells were not only a difficult preposition but almost a distant reality.
Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included Cooperation Minister Capt. Kanwaljit Singh, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Forests Minister Tikshan Sood, Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal, Member Parliament from Hoshiarpur Avinash Rai Khanna, Mrs.Mohinder Kaur Josh, Ch.Nand Lal, Mr.Des Raj Dhugaa, Mr.Arunesh Shakir (all Chief Parliamentary Secretaries) MLA Anandpur Sahib Sant Baba Ajit Singh, MLA Chamkaur Sahib Charanjit Singh Channi, MLA Morinda Ujjagar Singh Badali and MLA Kharar Balbir Singh Sidhu. Chief Minister's Media Advisor Mr. Harcharan Bains, Chief Secretary RI Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister DS Guru, Principal Secretary Finance DS Kalha and Secretary Planning Satish Chandra, Secretary PWD (B&R) Kulbir Singh and Secretary Water Supply & Sanitation PS Aujla and Director Information & Public Relations Tejveer Singh also attended the meeting.
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No.CMO-08/235
