Page 53 - Punjab

Punjab CM Mann orders review of all arm licenses to check gun culture

In a move aimed at checking gun culture and to maintain law and order in the state, the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday ordered review of all arm licences.

Study suggests special incentives for small farmers for stubble management

Special incentives for small farmers to scale up adoption of paddy stubble management measures and an increase in area under short-duration crop varieties are some of the key recommendations the Punjab Agricultural University has made in a new study. The study found that farmers believed the adoption of paddy stubble management raises their financial burden, and also several of them were unaware that in-situ management of paddy straw reduces use of fertilisers, insecticides and weedicides. The Department of Economics and Sociology of the Ludhiana-based PAU conducted an impact assessment study of the central sector scheme for promotion of agricultural mechanisation for in-situ paddy stubble management in Punjab. PAU principal economist Sanjay Kumar said the state government had asked to conduct the study in March last year. Funded by the state agriculture department, the study covered 110 villages in 22 districts of the state, Kumar said. The study selected 2,160 farmers 1,320 ...

3 killed, 4 injured in road accident near Ludhiana in Punjab: Police

Three people were killed and four others seriously injured when two cars collided with each other near Samrala, about 40 kms from here on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh national highway, police said on Sunday. Assistant Sub-Inspector Paramjeet Singh, who is investigating the case, said the three deceased are Sarabjit Singh ( 44 ), his wife Ramandeep Kaur ( 40 ) and another family member Charanjit Kaur (38). They belonged to the nearby town of Machiwara. They were travelling in a white car on Saturday night when the accident took place. The four who were injured were coming from Chandigarh side in another car. They were rushed to a hospital with multiple injuries. The injured belong to Kotkapura town.

NHRC seeks report from Punjab on stubble burning amid severe air pollution

The commission said that incidents of stubble burning should be strictly curtailed. It said that if the situation was not improved, a heavy penalty would be imposed on Punjab

Sun Pharma's Mohali plant in Punjab receives OAI status from USFDA

The plant was inspected in August and had received a form 483 with six observations earlier

Anand Marriage Act to be implemented in letter and spirit: Punjab CM Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said the Anand Marriage Act that seeks to give statutory recognition to a marriage in the Sikh community will be implemented in true letter and spirit. Mann said this after offering prayers at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib here on the occasion of 553rd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. He said several states like Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi have already implemented the Anand Marriage Act, but Punjab has lagged behind despite a notification in this regard was issued in 2016. This Act will be now implemented in right earnest, the CM said. On this occasion, Mann prayed to the almighty for peace, progress and prosperity in the state. Extending his heartiest greetings to the people on the auspicious occasion of 'Parkash Purb', Mann said Guru Nanak Dev's eternal teachings of 'Kirt Karo (work hard), Naam Japo (meditate on the lord) and Vand Chhako (share before consume)' are still relevant in the materialistic society. He appealed to the pe

New tax intelligence unit to raise revenue by boosting compliance: Punj FM

A new tax intelligence unit has been set up in Punjab to boost tax collections by improving compliance, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said on Tuesday. Cheema said the tax intelligence unit will work directly under the control of the Taxation Commissioner, while the additional commissioner (Enforcement) and the director (Investigation) will monitor day-to-day functioning. "One assistant commissioner, three state taxation officers, and six taxation inspectors will work full time in the TIU," Cheema said, adding that special data analysts, legal experts, cyber experts and system managers were being recruited to make TIU professionally competent. A state-level facility with all new technologies and data analysis mechanisms would be set up at the taxation office in Patiala. "It will be equipped with the latest hardware, software and artificial intelligence tools for analysis of data being generated by the GST portal, e-way bill portal, and toll data of NHAI. "The major emphasis

Punjab may witness 20% rise in aerosol pollution in 2023, says study

Aerosol pollution in Punjab is anticipated to rise by 20 per cent in 2023, and continue to remain in the "highly vulnerable" red zone for aerosol pollution, says a study.

Rajasthan, Punjab not doing enough to check stubble burning: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said incidents of stubble burning have risen by 160 per cent in Rajasthan and 20 per cent in Punjab from October 2021 to October this year. Farm fires in Punjab rose from 13,269 in October 2021 to 16,004 in October 2022, while their number rose from 124 to 318 in Rajasthan during this period, Singh said. This, he said, implies that the governments in the two states are not doing enough to check stubble burning and are, on the contrary, increasingly contributing to the deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR. On the other hand, states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have recorded progressive decline in the incidents of stubble burning, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences said. Farm fires in Uttar Pradesh declined from 1,060 in October 2021 to 768 in October this year, while for Haryana, the number dipped from 2,914 to 1,995 during this period, Singh said. "Such inferences indicate that either the governments in Rajastha

12 Punjab, Haryana districts see over 84% reduction in stubble burning

Twelve districts of Punjab and Haryana, covering three lakh acres of farmland of 50,000 farmers in 300 villages, has resulted in over 84 per cent reduction in stubble burning

Imran Khan addresses nation, says he knew about the assassination plot

I already knew about their plan to attack me but I will continue to call out the corrupt who are stealing people's money, said Khan in his address to the nation a day after he was shot in the leg

Stubble burning not political issue, states should work on it: Tomar

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday expressed concern over rising incidents of stubble burning in four major north Indian states including Punjab and appealed them to take steps to control it. The minister said since 2018, the central government has provided funds and machines to the states for the management of stubble burning incidents. Stubble burning is not a "political issue" and the states should work towards curbing it, he said. The minister said that PUSA decomposer, developed by the agri-research body ICAR, is effective in controlling stubble burning, and appealed to state governments as well as farmers to make use of more such machines. "Despite providing crores of rupees and 2 lakh machines, stubble burning incidents are rising and it is a cause of concern," Tomar said addressing a day-long event on 'Pusa decomposer'. Since 2018-19, the Central government has provided Rs 3,138 crore to four states -- Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana -- for the ..

Punjab sees 2,666 farm fires on Thursday, tally reaches 24,146: Data

Punjab on Thursday witnessed 2,666 farm fire incidents with Sangrur district seeing maximum crop residue burning cases. With the fresh number of farm fires, the cumulative farm fire cases during September 15 till November 3, rose to 24,146, according to the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data. The state had reported 39,178 and 20,433 crop residue incidents during the same period in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Out of total 2,666 farm fire incidents on Thursday, Sangrur topped the districts with maximum 452 farm fires, followed by 336 in Bathinda, 269 in Ferozepur, 254 in Barnala, 205 in Mansa, 180 in Moga and 168 in Patiala. The state had reported 2,413 and 2,512 active fire incidents on November 3 in 2020 and 2021 respectively, as per the data. Currently, the districts in Malwa region are reporting a rising number of stubble burning incidents. The farmers continued to set crop residue on fire in order to clear fields for sowing the next crop--wheat and ...

L&T may conclude divestment of its road assets by the end of FY23

Exit from Hyderabad Metro, Nabha Power may take 2-3 years, says CFO R Shankar Raman

Inter-state school education disparity significantly down since 2017: Rpt

Kerala best state, Chandigarh best union territory (UT) for school education, says Performance Grading Index (PGI) released by Ministry of Education on Thursday

Punjab govt to spruce up healthcare infrastructure, says Bhagwant Mann

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said infrastructure at government-run healthcare centres across Punjab would be developed to provide state-of-the-art medical treatment and diagnostic services. "During the Assembly elections, we had promised quality healthcare to the people and no stone is being left unturned for this," Mann said while addressing a gathering after inaugurating a new mother and child care hospital here. Mann said strenuous efforts were being made to equip government hospitals with ultra-modern facilities, according to an official release. A massive recruitment drive has also been started to fill vacant posts in the health department to ensure that people get the best healthcare facilities, he said. Mann said the government was focussing on opening new hospitals apart from upgrading the existing ones with latest facilities. Punjab will soon emerge as a hub of healthcare and medical education, said Mann, adding that 16 new medical colleges would be constructed

Stubble burning cases in Haryana not even 10% of Punjab's: CM Khattar

CM Manohar Lal Khattar has claimed that the cases of stubble burning in Haryana are not even 10% of that in Punjab

No deficiency in ensuring delivery of justice in Moosewala case: Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Monday asserted there was no deficiency on his government's part in ensuring the delivery of justice in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case, a day after the slain singer's father threatened to withdraw the FIR. Mann was responding to a question on a statement by Moosewala's father, who on Sunday said he would withdraw the FIR in his son's murder case if the slain singer was linked with gangsters. "From our side, there is no such deficiency that we are making any delay in delivery of justice. Every day, someone or the other is being arrested. From wherever we get any clue, we make arrests (in the case)," the chief minister said in Pathankot. Moosewala's father Balkaur Singh has also threatened to leave the country and given an ultimatum to the state machinery till November 25 to hear him out. Mann, who was in Pathankot on Monday to take stock of paddy procurement arrangements, dubbed the Moosewala murder incident as a very serious matter. He said the

Punjab CM decides to personally review efforts to check stubble burning

Amid farm fire incidents continuing in Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said he has decided to personally undertake review of the efforts in all the districts to check paddy straw burning. He also said that the state government had chalked out a plan to combat the stubble burning menace and directed the officers concerned to implement it in a result oriented manner. As part of the plan, the state government has recently distributed 30,000 machines for in-situ management of paddy straw thereby taking the total number of such machines to 1.20 lakh, said Mann in an official release here. He also urged people to play a pivotal role in checking environmental pollution in the state. "Now the time has come when every citizen should support the state government in making the state clean, green and pollution free, he said, adding that the state government would leave no stone unturned for this noble cause. The chief minister said the campaign has been initiated across the sta

Punjab govt suspends four agriculture officers for dereliction of duty

The Punjab government on Sunday suspended four officials of the Agriculture Department in the wake of stubble burning incidents in their areas, according to an official release. The development came as the share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution rose to 26 per cent, the highest this year, with forecasters saying that slow wind speed and an increase in stubble burning, especially in Punjab, may make it worse. Following directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal placed four agriculture officers under suspension with immediate effect for dereliction of duty, the release stated. The suspended officials are Chief Agriculture Officer (Sangrur) Harbans Singh, Agriculture Officer (Samana in Patiala) Satish Kumar, Agriculture Officer (Chohla Sahib in Tarn Taran) Harpal Singh and Agriculture Officer (Patti in Tarn Taran) Bhupinder Singh, it said. Sangrur, Patiala and Tarn Taran, among various other districts, have been witnessing farm