Follow legacy of Guru Arjam Dev Ji: Badal

CHANDIGARH, MAY 21

   Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today called upon the people to follow the noble teachings of Sri Guru Arjan Dev ji, the fifth master of the Sikhs, who sacrificed his life to uphold the rich legacy of humanism, secularism and universal brotherhood.

   In a message on the martyrdom day of Sri Guru Arjan Dev ji, Mr. Badal said that Guru ji laid down his life for the sake of humanity as a savior of dhrama (righteousness) besides reinforcing the faith of masses to demonstrate courage against the tyrannical forces unleashed by the then Mughal empire. Guru ji’s supreme and unparalleled selfless sacrifice would ever remain a source of inspiration for one and all. The real homage to the great Guru would be to follow his high ideals in the right earnest and strive hard to safeguard the interests of oppressed and disadvantaged sections of the society.

"We must remember the underlying spirit and message associated with Sri Guru Arjan Dev ji’s unprecedented sacrifice”, said Mr. Badal.

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US Ambassador Richard R Verma gets glimpses of Punjab’s rich cultural

AMRITSAR, MAY 20
United States of America’s Ambassador in Delhi Richard R Verma today got glimpses of Punjab’s rich history and culture at historic Khalsa College, here. He arrived at the college with top Embassy officials and witnessed the Sikh History Research Library and Museum, housing rare manuscripts, documents, books and photographs, dating back to 17th and 18th century.
The Ambassador, who was elated on seeing the treasure-house of the history, admired college’s heritage building, established in 1892. He was given a rousing reception by Khalsa College management and staff amid welcome dance presentation by college’s boys’ and girls’ troupe, separately. The students wearing traditional dresses sang songs in his honour while he broke the protocol and shook a leg and interacted with faculty members and students.
Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) honourary secretary Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina and Principal Dr.Mehal Singh formally welcomed the dignitaries. He showed keen interest in the educational pursuits of this one of the oldest educational institutions in North India and talked about ample opportunities of collaboration between US and Indian educational institutions.
The college management gave him a proposal for forging closer ties with various US Universities and colleges in the area of research in agriculture, bio-technology and aciences. ``We have number of professional colleges including veterinary sciences, engineering and pharmacy for which we intend the collaborations with US educational institutions’’, said Chhina.
Dr.Mehal Singh said the college wanted faculty and students exchange program, which was appreciated by the Ambassador. He praised the history and culture of Punjab and said more intense ties between the two societies would go in long way to foster long-lasting relations between two democracies. He said he loved to see Bhangra (traditional Punjab folk dance) being performed at open air theatre.
He said that the educational institutions’ tie up could play a vital role in establishing dialogues between various communities and nations. Richard said he was impressed by the grandeur architectural style and history. He wrote in the Visitor’s Book of the College, ``Thanks for the great visit to this historic and important place of learning, education and wisdom. May you continue to educate the future leaders of India, Asia and beyond’’.
``The building is so beautiful I feel I would have studied here’’, he stated adding it was pleasure to come to this historic institution. He was accompanied by Delhi based American Embassy’s senior staff including Jessica Edwardsen, Jonathan Kessler, Joe Kruzich and while College’s Dean (Academics) Dr.Navreen Bawa, Registrar Dr.Devinder Singh, Under Secretary DS Rataul were present.
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PR officers condemn Police attack on APRO

CHANDIGARH, MAY 11

    The 2011 batch officers of the Punjab Information and Public Relations Department today strongly condemned the brutal attack on an on-duty Assistant Public Relations Officer (APRO) and his staff by the Police during the yatra at Bathinda.

In a joint statement the officers including Navdeep Singh, Sherjung Singh Hundal, Gurmeet Singh, Amrik Singh, Manvinder Singh, Narinder pal Singh, Amandeep Singh, Prabhdeep Singh, Haakam Thapar, Preet Kanwal Singh, Kamal Pal,  Ravi Inder Singh, Jagdeep Singh Gill, Iqbal Singh, Subegh Singh, Inderjeet Singh, Avtar Singh, Bhupinder Singh, Harjinder Singh, Hardev Singh, Rajkumar and others said that the APRO was officially deputed by the department to ensure the coverage of yatra in Bathinda but the manner in which the Police officers dragged him out of his official vehicle and manhandled him clearly reflected the insensitivity of the Police towards the other departments on duty.

They said that manhandling of the PR officer was totally unwarranted and unjustified and the perpetrators of this heinous crime must be given exemplary punishment. The PR officers said that the matter was extremely sensitive as being part and parcel of the government service the PR officers have to go in field almost on daily basis and tomorrow any other PR officer could become the victim of high handedness of Police.

          Demanding an immediate strict action against the guilty Police officers, the PR officers sought personal intervention of Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Information and Public Relations Minister  Bikram Singh Majithia for giving justice to them.

Meanwhile, welcoming the decision of the state government to place the services of the accused officers under suspension, the PR officers urged the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Mr. Majithia to immediately terminate the services of guilty Police officers for disrupting a government officer to perform his duty and manhandle him in full public view.

The officers said that a criminal case should also be registered against the Police Officers for tarnishing the image of state government at a time when PR officers were covering the Dharamik yatra with full dedication and integrity.

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Badal exhorts industrialists to play procative role in promotion of technical education

CHANDIGARH, MAY 7

   Exhorting the industrialists to play a proactive role in promoting technical education by setting up ‘Integrated Skill Centers’ in the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today said that these were mandatory for safeguarding the interests of youth, state and even the entrepreneurs.

          Addressing the members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here late last evening, the Chief Minister categorically said that imparting skill training to the youth was the need of hour to make them gainfully self employed on one hand and to create a pool of skilled manpower to cope up with the needs of the local industry on the other.

He said that Skill Development was an issue of great importance for the country and its economy and for the future of our youth adding that it was the need of hour to impart skill training to each and every youth of the country. “You all can play a pivotal role in this noble cause which will further help in giving a major fillip to overall development of the country” added Mr. Badal.

The Chief Minister further said that every industrialist must dedicate 50% of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for setting up the Skill centres in their respective state. He said that this was all the more important because Skill Development of our youth could immensely help in solving the problems of unemployment and poverty.

Mr. Badal said that it was paradoxical that on the one hand industry has been grappling with non availability of skilled manpower and on the other hand a vast majority of youth was without jobs so there was dire need to remove this gap by imparting skill training to the youth for which industrial tycoons could play a pivotal role.

Lauding the FICCI for playing an instrumental role in the economic development of the country besides safeguarding the interests of the entrepreneurs, the Chief Minister said that role being played by FICCI on specific projects in the areas of Smart Cities, Medical Technology & Food Processing Sector was really laudable. He expressed hope that FICCI will also undertake activities in other focus sectors of Punjab and continue to work in the area of investment promotion. “I impress upon the captains of Industry present in this meet to lay special thrust on key focus sectors like agriculture & food processing, crop diversification, Dairy & Livestock, Medium and Small Scale Enterprises (MSME) and above all skill development for balanced and holistic development of the state” added Mr. Badal.

On the occasion President of FICCI Dr. Jyotsna Suri welcomed the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by Chairman FICCI regional advisory council Vice Chairman, Punjab State Planning Board Mr. Rajinder Gupta, Chief Secretary Mr. Sarvesh Kaushal, Financial Commissioner Revenue Mr. Karan Avtar Singh, Secretary Power Mr. Anirudh Tiwari, Managing Director Punjab Health System Corporation Mr. Hussan Lal and Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. Gaggandip Singh Brar.

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