Zirakpur-Dera Bassi belt to be developed as urban conglomerate—Sukhbir Badal

CHANDIGARH–The ambitious plan to develop Zirakpur and Dera Bassi belt as most modern urban satellite towns was on the final stages of discussion and Punjab Government was contemplating to attract international real estate players in this area.

This was announced by Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab while laying the foundation stone of 3.5 km long 6 lane Ring Road in Zirakpur to divert Delhi- Mohali traffic away from the Zirakpur.

Mr. Badal said that he has envisioned this plan to facelift the total region and the focus was on planned growth of total area. He said that GMADA was also finalizing the contours of sectoral grid of this whole area and he has already ordered for planned development of inter sector roads.

Announcing a Rs 80 crore new International Sports Stadium at Nabha Sahib, Mr. Badal said that focus of the Punjab Government was nurturing the sports talent at the ground level besides providing them expert coaching from international coaches. Announcing tri-nation (India, Pakistan and Iran) traditional wrestling championship, Mr. Badal said that after ensuring Kabaddi a global recognition, the Punjab Government was also focusing on other traditional games like hockey and wrestling.

Promising a Sub-Tehsil status to Zirakpur keeping in view its fastest development in Punjab, Mr Badal said that he has asked the Deputy Commissioner to submit a proposal in this regard so that it could be taken into the next cabinet. Mr. Badal also asked Chief Administrator GMADA Mr. Ajoy Kumar Sinha to submit a proposal for linking Zirakpur with Kajoli water works to solve the chronic drinking water problem of this area.

Promising a total facelift of this region Mr. Badal said that besides this Rs. 100 Crore Ring Road, he would also lay the foundation stone of Rs. 2500 crore Chandigarh-Bathinda 4 laning project that would connect Zirakpur with Malwa through expressway.

Capt Amarinder, Manpreet are a spent force: Sukhbir Badal

FARIDKOT-Ridiculing the Congress-led UPA Government on foreign direct investment in retail, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said before a green signal, the Centre should have taken steps to safeguard the interests of small traders.

Also, to a query about friendship between state Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh and People’s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal, he said, “Both the leaders are spent forces and desperate to find a foothold in the state politics.”

Talking to mediapersons after addressing a gathering at Jor Mela at Guru ki Dhab near Jaito, Sukhbir said, “The UPA Government should clear its stand on the controversial issue. There are a number of stake holders in the country and it is imperative for the government to dispel their fears on the issue,” he stressed.

He claimed the Shiromani Akali Dal believed in value-based politics and resignation of three ministers in the past six months was a proof of this.

On the other hand, the Centre was landing itself in embarrassment as its ministers were allegedly involved in scandals but were sticking to their ministries, he said.
He said the SAD-BJP government had chalked out an ambitious plan of more than Rs 10,000 crore to upgrade the basic infrastructure to provide quality amenities in rural areas.
He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was reviewing the progress of Adarsh schools and action would be taken if any discrepancy was found in their functioning.

Sukhbir Badal moots 7 fast track courts for rape, other cases in Punjab

AJNALA: The state government would urgePunjab and Haryana high court chief justice for setting up of at least 7 fast track courts in the state for expeditious trial of all heinous crimes, including rape cases, said deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday.

He along with cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia was in Ajnala to attend a function organized by Christian community of the area.

"Punjab government is conveying to the high court that it was ready to provide total infrastructural support for setting up these fast track courts and bear all expenses for additional staff required for these courts," he said.

IK Gujral, the former Prime Minister of India passed away on Friday

Govt. declares 7-day mourning on IK Gujral's death, cremation today at 3 pm

Former Prime Minister I K Gujral, who headed a rickety coalition government in the late 1990s, died on Friday after a brief illness.

Gujral, 92, breathed his last at 3.27 PM in a private hospital after a multi-organ failure. He was admitted to the hospital on November 19 with a lung infection, family sources said.
The former Prime Minister, who was ventilator support, had been unwell for sometime. He was on dialysis for over a year and suffered a serious chest infection some days ago.

He will be cremated in nearby Delhi tomorrow.

IK Gujral with Chandrashekhar and the then Delhi Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj in May 1998.

Gujral, who migrated from Pakistan after partition, rose to become the Prime Minister with a big slice of luck after he came up through the ranks - starting as Vice President in NDMC in the '50s to later become a Union Minister and then India's Ambassador to the USSR.

Gujral, an intellectual who propounded the 'Gujral Doctrine' of five principles for maintaining good neighbourly relations, left the Congress to join the Janata Dal in the late-1980s.

He became Minister of External Affairs in the V P Singh-led National Front government in 1989. As the External Affairs Minister he handled the fallout of the Kuwait crisis following Iraqi invasion that displaced thousands of Indians.

Gujral had a second stint as External Affairs Minister in the United Front government under H D Deve Gowda, whom he later replaced as Prime Minister after the Congress withdrew support in the summer of 1997.

He emerged as the consensus candidate after serious differences developed among the UF leaders including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh and others as to who will become the Prime Minister.

It was another matter that his government survived only for a few months as Congress again became restive in the wake of Jain Commission report on Rajiv Gandhi's assassination.

Born on December 4, 1919 in Jhelum town now in Pakistan, Gujral belonged to a family of freedom fighters and had actively participated in the freedom struggle at a young age and was jailed in 1942 during the Quit India Movement.

Educated at DAV College, Haily College of Commerce and Forman Christian College, Lahore (now in Pakistan), Gujral took active part in student politics.

He became a member of the Rajya Sabha in April 1964 and was considered part of the 'coterie' that helped Indira Gandhi become Prime Minister in 1966.

He was the Information and Broadcasting Minister when Emergency was imposed (on June 25, 1975), which brought in arbitrary press censorship, but was soon removed.

Gujral was a Rajya Sabha Member twice between 1964 and 1976, a member of the Lok Sabha from 1989 to 1991. With Lalu Prasad's help, he became a member of Rajya Sabha in 1992 after his election from Patna Lok Sabha constituency was countermanded.

He was re-elected to Lok Sabha in 1998 from Jalandhar in Punjab as an independent with help from Akali Dal.

A controversial decision of his government was its recommendation for President's rule in Uttar Pradesh in 1997, which the then President K R Narayanan refused to sign and sent it back to the government for reconsideration.

His wife, Sheila, who died in 2011, was a poet and author and his brother Satish Gujral is a prominent painter and architect. He leaves behind two sons, one of whom Naresh Gujral is a Rajya Sabha MP and now an Akali Dal leader.

Fearing defeat, Sheila delaying DSGMC poll: Badal

Jalandhar/Chandigarh, November 18
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today hit back at his Delhi counterpart Sheila Dixit saying that she was deliberately delaying elections to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). Talking to newsmen at Khiala village near Jalandhar, Badal accused the Delhi Chief Minister of helping DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna whose defeat in the next DSGMC poll was inevitable. He said that as it would have an impact on the Delhi Assembly elections, Sheila wanted to delay elections to the Sikh institution. In a separate statement, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) took a strong note of the remarks of the Delhi Chief Minister asking her Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal to “keep off Delhi gurdwara affairs”. The SAD described her reaction as irrational and indicative of the fact that Dixit was not aware of the history of the DSGMC. The SAD said that it was strange that the Congress leader was asking the founding fathers of the DSGMC to become mute spectators to the denigration of the management committee responsible for the maintenance of historic Sikh shrines in the national capital. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said, “Will someone please go and tell her that Sikh affairs are very much a business of the Sikhs, and of the Sikhs alone, and that she or her government should stay away from the internal religious matters of the Sikh community. “Let her instead use her position to ensure better law and order in Delhi. By openly talking about an issue which concerns our shrines, Dixit has only confirmed Parkash Singh Badal’s observation that the Congress government in Delhi is indeed interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikhs,” he said.
Party spokesman Dr Daljit Singh Cheema reminded the Congress leader that it was in 1970 that the then SAD president Sant Fateh Singh led a ‘morcha’ in Delhi demanding a similar democratic body on the pattern of the SGPC for the management of Sikh shrines in Delhi.
“Parkash Singh Badal, all his senior colleagues and 16,000 other SAD leaders and workers went to jail in this morcha,” added Cheema.
“So the present DSGMC came into being in 1971 as a result of the sacrifices made by the Sant Fateh Singh, Parkash Singh Badal and other SAD workers,” he said.

Punjab to house its offices in three buildings

Chandigarh, November 4
Peeved at the lack of response from its various departments, the Punjab Government has once again written to the Finance, Principal and Administrative Secretaries to provide in detail the requirements for their respective offices.

The government will now house offices in three premises, Vikas Bhavan (developmental activities), Nirman Bhavan (construction offices) and a new mini secretariat (general administration).

A communication to the secretaries read: “There has been no satisfactory response to the earlier communication seeking details for office requirements for the next 50 years.”

The government intends to house offices concerned with developmental activities, such as rural development and panchayats, animal husbandry, fisheries, cooperation and agriculture, at Vikas Bhavan. Offices related to construction activities, including the PWD, water supply and sanitation, will find a place in Nirman Bhavan and directorates and other departments will be housed in the new mini secretariat.

The state government is looking for a central place for its offices.

A Principal Secretary said “The main office of the Education Department is located in the mini secretariat. Certain other offices are located in Sector 17 and some in Sector 34. Similarly, the police headquarters are located in Sector 9 and other offices in different parts of Sector 17.”

The government spends a tidy sum on paying rent for these offices. Certain owners, who want to raise the rent, have approached the court.

Institute to train farmers in crop management

Fatehgarh Sahib, November 4
The National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) has adopted three villages of the district to provide training in the management of various crops to farmers. These villages are Deramian Meer, Peerjain and Panjoli.

Deputy Commissioner Yashvir Mahajan said the NIFTEM had adopted these villages for four years. He said three teams of the institute had visited these villages and provided training to farmers for one week. The teams will camp in these villages for one week in October and November and two weeks in May and June.

Mahajan said the farmers should give a preference to the management of crops and the arrangement of proper storage facility after forming self-help groups. He said NIFTEM teams would conduct tests on water and soil samples in these villages to provide information about the soil fertility.

He said the institute teams would also provide training regarding grading of crops and its packaging so that the farmers could get better remuneration. The teams would also provide training to the farmers in the maintenance of village ponds and fish farming. He urged the farmers to benefit from the training programme and cooperate with these teams.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Sanjeev Kumar Garg said each team of the NIFTEM would comprise 10 members. He said Dr Koman Chauhan, Dr Neetu Taneja and Dr Bhasmati Bhattacharya would lead these teams in Deramian Meer, Peerjain and Panjoli villages, respectively.