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Tag: Punjab Govt

Destructive Swarms Locusts (Tiddi)Spotted in Villages of Punjab

(Chd,Pb) Destructive Swarms Locusts Spotted in Various Villages of Punjab
Locusts were spotted in some villages of Punjab’s Fazilka, Muktsar, Bhatinda
Farmers from the three districts have urged the agriculture department officials to take urgent steps to tackle the pests.
According to officials, locusts, popularly known as ‘Tiddi Dal’, have come from neighbouring Rajasthan which was attacked by one of the most destructive pests earlier this month following which authorities there undertook a massive exercise to contain the outbreak.
A few locust swarms were also reported in Anoopgarh and Sri Ganganagar districts of Rajasthan after their attack emanated from the desert area of Pakistan, they said.
The surveillance by scientists of Punjab Agricultural University at Abohar revealed the presence of locust hoppers in small numbers or groups (5 to 20) in Fazilka, Muktsar and Bathinda districts
As per Experts Locusts are short-horned grasshoppers with highly migratory habits and voracious feeding behaviour. Appearance of locusts in winter months is a new phenomenon and may be linked to climate change events
India has not witnessed any full blown locust cycles after 1962, however, during 1978 and 1993, large scale upsurges were observed.
Localised locust breeding has also been reported and controlled during 1998, 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2010. Since 2010, the situation has remained calm and no major breeding and swarm formation have been reported

Pb Govt Gets Breather From High Court :DGP Row

(Chd,Pb) Pb Govt Gets Breather From High Court CAT Order Stated :DGP Row
The next date for hearing has been fixed for February 26
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday granted stay on the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that had set aside the appointment of senior IPS officer Dinkar Gupta as the state police chief.
The state of Punjab on Monday as well as DGP Gupta on Monday had approached the high court against the CAT order.
The petition challenging the CAT order was taken up by a division bench of justices Jaswant Singh and Sant Prakash
The court stayed the CAT order, said senior advocate Puneet Bali, the counsel for DGP Gupta.
On January 17, the CAT had set aside the appointment of Gupta as the state police chief that had come as a big blow to the Amarinder Singh-led state government.

Punjab Follows Keralite Path,Will Approach Top Court Against CAA

(Chd,Pb) Punjab Follows Keralite Path,Will Approach Top Court Against CAA
Shortly after the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution by voice vote against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday said his government like Kerala will approach the Supreme Court on the issue.
He said the Centre will have to make the necessary amendments to the CAA if it has to be implemented in Punjab and other states opposing the legislation.
“Like Kerala, our government will also approach the Supreme Court on the issue,” Singh told reporters in an informal chat outside the state Assembly.
In response to a question, the chief minister made it clear that the Census 2021 will be conducted on the old parameters in Punjab.
The new factors added by the Centre for the purpose of the National Population Register (NPR) will not be included, he added.
The Punjab Assembly passed the resolution by voice vote against the CAA, the second state after Kerala to do so.
Ruling Congress and the main opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supported the resolution, the BJP opposed it.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) sought inclusion of Muslims in the list of communities that could be granted citizenship under the amended law.
The CAA provides for granting citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who had migrated to India before December 31, 2014, from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It excludes members of the Muslim community.

Bhagwant Mann Booked For Protest Against Power Tariff Hike

Chd,Pb)AAP’s Punjab unit Bhagwant Mann MP Booked For Protest Against Power Tariff Hike
Around 800 unnamed AAP supporters have also been booked.
Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Harpal Singh Cheema slammed the Chandigarh Police for registering the case. Power rates in Punjab were hiked by 36 paise a unit with effect from January 1 for domestic consumers.
Party leaders alleged that power consumers were being forced to pay between Rs 9 and Rs 12 a unit which was “much higher” as compared to electricity rates in other states.The FIR was filed on Saturday against the Sangrur MP, around seven-eight legislators and others on the statement of a woman constable here, who complained that AAP activists had pelted stones and assaulted her and some other police personnel during the protest on Friday last.
FIR has been registered against Mann and others under various Sections of the IPC including rioting, voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant in discharge of his duty, disobedience to order promulgated by public servant.
The protesters created law and order problem and violated the district magistrate’s order under Section 144 in the area,
Police had used water cannons on Friday last to stop the Aam Aadmi Party leaders and workers protesting against the hike in power tariff in Punjab from moving towards Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s residence here.
The main opposition party in Punjab was also seeking scrapping of power purchase agreements signed during the previous SAD-BJP regime with private plants.

Punjab State Youth Festival-2019 Postponed

(Chd,Pb)Punjab State Youth Festival-2019 Postponed
“Punjab State Youth Festival-2019” which was announced to be organized by the Department of Sports & Youth Services, Government of Punjab at the campus of Chandigarh University, Gharuan on 23rd – 24th December 2019, has been postponed due to administrative reasons.
This festival would beheld in the last week of January, 2020 and the new dates would be declared later on.

Pb Govt Shows U Turn On Land Bank

(Chd,Pb) Punjab Govt Shows U Turn On Land Bank
Punjab minister Sunder Shyam Arora on lashed out at Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) chief Simarjit Bains for “spreading misinformation” against the government over its decision to create land banks in rural areas to boost industrial development.
The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on December 2 given in-principle approval to amend the law for transfer of common village land in rural areas to the state’s industry department for setting up industrial projects.
The cabinet also gave its nod to amend the Punjab Village Common Land (Regulation) Rules, 1964 to create land banks.
The LIP has decided to launch a statewide stir against the government’s decision from January 4.
Accusing Bains and his party of “spreading misinformation”, Arora said: “The protest planned by LIP over the issue is a political stunt. Simarjit Bains is indulging in total falsehood and fabrication to mislead the people.”
Bains had earlier announced that the LIP’s ‘Saadi Panchayat, Saadi Zameen’ (our panchayat, our land) agitation will be launched from Bhamadi village near Khanna.
“The land belongs to panchayats and it is the only source of their income. The government doesn’t have any right to deny the village bodies that,” Bains had said.
Arora, however, pointed out that the scheme to create rural land banks was voluntary, and a matter of the panchayat’s choice.

Khattar Accused Pb Counterpart of Misleading on SYL

(Chd,Hary)Khattar Accused Pb Counterpart of Misleading on SYL
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar accused Punjab of “misleading” on the Sutlej-Yamuna link canal despite the apex court ruling in their favour.
He said this during a review meeting on the canal issue.
The chief minister was informed that chief secretaries of both states would be meeting the central water secretary in New Delhi on December 6 over the issue.
Khattar also slammed the neighbouring state on stubble burning.
“Punjab is misleading the country by targeting Haryana on the issue of stubble burning and holding the state responsible for increasing pollution,” he said.
In September 2019, the Supreme Court had given four months to Punjab, Haryana and the Centre to find an amicable solution to the SYL canal issue.
Haryana has been seeking the completion of the canal to get its share of 3.5 million acre feet of river waters.

Agitating Pb Farmers Adversely Hit Function of 25 Trains

(Asr,Pb)Agitating Farmers Adversely Hit Function of 25 Trains in Punjab
Several farmers’ unions squatted on railway tracks in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur districts on Tuesday making various demands including payment of outstanding dues of sugarcane.
The protest hit the operations of 10 to 15 express trains and a dozen passenger trains, affecting 25,000 passengers,
Agitating farmers blocked the railway tracks at several places, affecting train movement at Amritsar-Beas section (Beas-Butari), Amritsar-Tarn Taran section (Tarn Taran-Bhagtanwala), Ferozepur-Fazilka section (Jhok-Guruharsahai) and Ferozepur-Jalandhar section (Makhu-Mallanwala Khas)
In Amritsar, farmers squatted on the railway track at Rayya town near Beas, around 40 kms from Amritsar city. They shouted slogans against the state government for not meeting their demands.
Farmers were agitating for arrears for sugarcane+ registration of cases for stubble burning + withdrawal of the FIRsand Complete waiver of farm loans and pension for growers above 60-years of age.

Capt Govt Will Distribute Smart Phones from 26th Jan

(Chd,Pb) Capt Govt Will Distribute Smart Phones from 26th Jan
The Congress-led Punjab government will start distributing free smartphones among girl students in class 11 and 12 of government schools in Punjab who #donotown a smartphone.
1st batch of 1.6 lakh smartphones will be given to make them more tech-savvy,” Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh tweeted on Monday.
Before coming to power, the Congress had announced this in its poll manifesto
The state government had announced its ‘Mobile Phones to the Youth’ scheme, in line with its poll promise, in its budget for the financial year 2017-18.

Punjab Hikes 4% Share in National Pension Scheme

(Chd,pb) Punjab Hikes 4% Share in National Pension Scheme
The Punjab cabinet on Monday decided to hike its share in the national pension scheme from 10 per cent of basic pay and dearness allowance to 14 per cent, in line with a move by the Centre some months back.
4,%, point-hike in the government’s contribution comes after demands by workers’ unions and will cost the state an additional Rs 258 crore every year.
It will come into effect from April 1, 2019, a government statement said.
Earlier, the state government was required to match the minimum 10 %, contribution made by its employees who are part of the National Pension System (NPS).
The state government has 3,53,074 employees. Of them 1,52,646 are covered under the NPS.
The government has also agreed to give the benefit of death-cum-retirement gratuity to all state government employees recruited on or after January 1, 2004 and covered under the pension scheme, it said.
Increasing the share to 14 per cent will mean an additional Rs 285 crore this year, the government said.