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.
|