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Be The First on Historic All-Indian Trip to Antarctica

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Be The First on Historic All-Indian Trip to Antarctica

Been to all six habitable continents, and still yearning for more. Here's an opportunity for the diehard adventurer in you to explore what you would have only dreamt of – the icy continent of enchanting glaciers, icebergs, penguins, seals, whales and exotic sea birds like albatrosses and terns – Antarctica. That too in the most memorable trip ever planned exclusively for Indians.

A first ever 200-member all-Indian cruise on the luxury yacht, the Marseilles, France registered ‘The Great Majestic Explorer’ has been curated for you by The Q Experiences, an Indian luxury travel company, during the Antarctica summer – December 9 to 19, 2017. Though the ticket pinches deep into your pockets, starting from Rs 6.9 lakh per head, the company is promising a once in a lifetime experience.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

Anybody, from 5 years old to 55-65 years, and beyond, can undertake the voyage which begins from the southernmost city of the inhabited world –  Ushuaia, the capital of Tierra del Fuego, in Argentina (South America). One just needs an Argentina visa, getting which for you the company has included in the package. But one has to undertake the journey to Buenos Aires, the capital and most populous city of Argentina, on his or her own, with the company facilitating the journey, if required. Other add-on destinations like Brazil, before or after the “memorable” journey can also be considered.


 

Describing the uniqueness of the expedition, Vasim Shaikh, Founder of The Q Experiences, who himself undertook the voyage this January, during a media interaction at Hyatt Regency in Chandigarh on Thursday, said, “The travelers will be cruising through some of the most breathtaking glaciers of Neko Bay and Paradise Bay, anchoring at Port Lockroy, finally sailing to the largest colony of Chinstrap Penguins at Deception Island and visit the quietest place on earth – the majestic Weddell Sea. At every step of the way, there would be experts to guide the travelers and show the sights one had only dreamt of.”

From Ushuaia to the Antarctica, the voyage takes you through Drake Passage, which marks the convergence of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans, and experiences one of the roughest seas on this planet.

Vasim informed that under an international agreement, besides researchers, only 40,000 visitors from all over the world are allowed to set foot on the Antarctica every year. “Till a decade ago, out of these 40,000, Indian visitors were a meager 100 and so were the Chinese. Today, the Indians remain static at 100 and the Chinese have touched 4,000,” he added.

Vasim Shaikh in Antarctica

“After undertaking the memorable voyage myself, I wanted other countrymen also to get a feel of this exotic land, hence the idea to undertake an exclusive voyage for Indians and hold aloft the Indian flag on the White continent. Any ship anchoring in the Antarctica cannot have more than 200 passengers on board, hence the cap,” he shared.

Interiors of the luxury yacht

Chef Arun Kochhar

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  • The travelers would be on board “The Great Majestic Explorer” – a sleek, gorgeous yacht flying the Flag of India, 460 feet of utter luxury, which would have 132 elegant staterooms and suites, complete with French interiors designed by the French interior designer Jean Philippe Nuel.  

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  • To ensure a superior gastronomic experience to the travelers, Atul Kochhar, Indian Michelin-starred chef, will be on board curating the finest of Indian regional cuisine. In addition, the team of a catering centre of excellence run by Alain Ducasse Enterprise will also be on board to enhance the global cuisine. Buffets each day will be of a different theme.

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  • There are no time zones in Antarctica, hence it’s always zero o’clock.

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  • During the summer months, experience 24 hours of daylight.

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  • Travelers can expect zero degrees Celsius in the Antarctica peninsula on their voyage.

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Watch the mysterious stories unfold at www.thewhitecontinent.com

Ludhiana, Pathankot, Adampur to Join Bathinda

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Ludhiana, Pathankot, Adampur to Join Bathinda

Four towns in Punjab – Bathinda, Ludhiana, Pathankot and Adampur – will soon start operating flights under the affordable air travel policy of the Government of India. For this, the Punjab Government on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of India (GoI) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) under the country's flagship programme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik).

A spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said the tripartite agreement was signed by Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, on behalf of GoI and Tejveer Singh, Secretary Civil Aviation, Punjab Government, and G.K Chaukiyal, Executive Director, AAI, in the presence of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh.

Lauding the Captain initiative, the Chief Minister said it would give a major boost to local trade and industry, especially in Ludhiana. It would also help the state explore untapped commercial potential in the border areas to create job opportunities for the youth.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

Under the scheme, the four airports are being connected through five proposals. While Delhi-Bathinda-Delhi flight by Alliance Air is already operational, Delhi-Pathankot-Delhi and Delhi-Ludhiana-Delhi, also by Alliance Air, would be made operational by July 2017. Delhi-Adampur-Delhi by Spicejet will be operationalized by August 2017 and Delhi-Ludhiana-Delhi by Deccan would become operational by September 2017, the spokesperson informed.

UDAN will make available one lakh seats of which 50 percent (50,000 seats) would be under fare cap (which is concessional fares). Viability Gap Funding (VGF) will be shared by Central Government and State Government in 80:20 ratio. The state’s share would work out to an estimated Rs. 3 crore per annum.

Sharing details of the scheme with the Chief Minister, Padhee informed that UDAN, an innovative GoI regional connectivity scheme in collaboration with the state governments, enables air operations on routes not served connecting regional areas, and promotes balanced growth, besides making flying affordable for masses.

Routes under UDAN are selected through a transparent bidding process. During first round of bidding, 27 proposals have so far been awarded, 128 routes involving 33 unserved and 12 underserved airports. The scheme has large outreach and all regions have been connected (Northern region 17, Southern 11, North Eastern 6, Western 24 and Eastern 12), she added.

Local Module of Hackers, Cheats in Chandigarh Police Net

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Local Module of Hackers, Cheats in Chandigarh Police Net

The Chandigarh Police claim to have smashed an indigenous module of an international gang of hackers and cheats with the arrest of three youths “in the act of hacking” from a city hotel on Wednesday. A laptop and four mobiles were recovered from them.

A case under section 66, 66C, 66D IT Act & 420, 379, 120-B IPC was registered against all three accused – Ankur Sharma, a resident of Badarpur, New Delhi, Rajesh Sharma, who hails from Zirakpur, near Chandigarh, and Pawan Singh, a resident of Ghaziabad and the youngest of the lot at 23 – and were remanded to police custody for 10 days for interrogation.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

Deputy Inspector General of Police Alok Kumar told a news conference that the modus operandi of the module, which appears to have been active for the past 4-5 years, was that they used to approach commercial undertakings, most of them in foreign lands, through their websites promising to boost their business for a commission and then get payments forwarded to them from hacked credit and debit cards from across the country and abroad.

The Cyber Cell of the Chandigarh Police is claimed to have been working on creditable information on the module for the last two months. On getting a tip off that the gang was in Chandigarh,  Cyber Cell incharge, Inspector Harinder Singh along with his team and an IT expert,  Rajesh Rana, raided a hotel in Sector-35, where all three accused were caught red-handed executing live transactions. A laptop and four mobile phones were seized. “Very important data has been procured from these devices, which can lead to some more arrests and can unearth big nexus.  Further investigation is in progress,” said a press release circulated at the news conference.

The police officials while claiming that at this stage it would be difficult to ascertain the extent of cheating, the very fact that the module had been operating with the help of possible mentors and guides in foreign lands for the past four to five years, could be indication enough that the extent could be limitless. There was also reasonable suspicion to believe that the network could be linked to hawala trade and that the money could have been used for funding anti-national activities, the officials added, saying further investigations would help unravel the deep roots.

The officials cautioned the credit and debit card users to ascertain the authenticity of the websites they visit before making any online payments to prevent chances of these being hacked and misused.

Half of PRI & ULB Seats For Women In Punjab

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Half of PRI & ULB Seats For Women In Punjab

In an apparent effort to promote Punjab as one of the more progressive states in the country, the Capt Amarinder Singh led Congress Government in Punjab has decided to go ahead with its plan to increase reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) from 33 percent to 50 percent.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh at Punjab Bhawan on Tuesday with the aim to table the draft Bill to amend the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 and the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, in the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha, commencing on Wednesday.

PHOTO BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) informed that the decision is in line with a key election promise of the Congress to help empower women in rural and urban areas by enhancing their reservation quota in the direct elections to Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads, besides Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats.

The representation of women in the offices of Sarpanches of Gram Panchayats, Chairmen Panchayats Samitis/Zila Parishads besides Mayors of Municipal Corporations and Presidents of Municipal Councils/Nagar Panchayats will also be enhanced accordingly, he added.

Exemption for Mega Food Parks

In another step, aimed at boosting the prospects of setting up Mega Food Parks in the state, the Council of Ministers decided to exempt all such parks from the requirement of seeing a license under the provisions of Section 44(2) of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995 (PAPRA) in the future.

Swapping High Cost Market Loans

With the state facing a tight fiscal position, the Council of Ministers decided to seek Government of India's approval to swap high cost market loans taken by the state government with new low cost market loans. This decision would go a long way in improving the financial position, besides providing better opportunities to incur expenditure on development works in the state, the spokesman said.

Do it Swayam

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Do it Swayam

The City Police is encouraging minor and young girls and women to take their security in their own hands. Taking its Self Defence Training Programme, launched in 2012, forward, the Women & Child Support Unit of the Police on Monday launched ‘Swayam’, under which besides teaching self defence techniques to school and college going girls, 35 Activa scooters with twin women cops in the saddle were launched to strengthen

At the function organized in Gymnasium Hall of Panjab University Campus, Punjab Governor and UT Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore and Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher were feasted to an impressive display of self defence techniques by 300 odd children, largely from Government schools, trained by the Chandigarh Police. Earlier, a play on the theme ‘Beti Padhao Beti Bachaoo’, presented by Naina Group of Delhi, set the mood for the programme.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

In her address, high on wit, Kirron Kher said barring the conce of security, it was the women who enjoyed life to the hilt. Unlike men, women had a lot to look up to, like wearing dresses, cosmetics and make-up of their liking. Making out a case for all families to have girls, she said, after marriage men should be living with their in-laws rather than the women – it will solve the problem of ‘bahu-saas’ for good.

Vice Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover and the entire top brass of the police, besides some municipal councilors were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Director General of Police Tajender Singh Luthra informed that Women and Child Support Unit of Chandigarh Police had been conducting Self Defence Training Programme for school and college girls since 2012. As many as 5,000 girls have been trained till date, he added.

Arrest of Police Inspector Could Lead to Drug Network

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Arrest of Police Inspector Could Lead to Drug Network

That the roots of the drug mafia in Punjab run deep is a well known fact. That such a well entrenched network cannot operate without the connivance of a section of the political class, administrative officials and police officers has also been quite apparent. Today's arrest of an Inspector (local rank) of the Punjab Police by the Special Task Force (STF) on the charges of providing protection to smugglers of narcotics, and organizing smuggling and trafficking of narcotics through his associates, may just have removed the lid from one such network.

Sensing a similar pattern in court acquittal on technical grounds of the accused in three recent cases of big narcotics hauls, the STF zeroed in on Inspector Inderjit Singh (substantive rank of Head Constable) and in coordinated raids   conducted in the wee hours of Monday at his residences 4 kg heroin, 3 kg smack, an illegal Italian make 9 mm pistol, live cartridges of various calibers Rs 16.5 lakh cash, and 3550 Great Britain pounds were recovered, STF chief, Additional Director General of Police Harpreet Singh Sidhu told a news conference at the Punjab Police Headquarters.

Sidhu revealed that after registration of case against the accused Inspector, joint raids were conducted by various STF teams led by Mukhwinder Singh AIG/STF, Jalandhar, Snehdeep Sharma, AIG/STF Ludhiana, and Harpreet Singh AIG/STF Rupnagar. Based on the investigations a case FIR No. 1 dated 12.06.2017 was registered by ADG STF under section 59 (2) (b) of the NDPS Act, 1985, and u/s 218, 466, 471, 120-B IPC at STF Police Station SAS Nagar against Inspector Inderjit Singh (No.108/Amritsar) and DSP Jaswant Singh, the latter being responsible for putting Inderjit Singh on investigation into the cases despite he being not authorized under law to investigate such cases.

Photo By: Life in Chandigarh

Elaborating, Sidhu said reliable sources had provided information to the STF that Insp. Inderjit Singh, who was under transfer to Ferozepur Range, had earlier worked in Tarn Taran for a long period and was involved in nefarious activities with some narcotics smugglers. During the years 2013 and 2014 he had played a big role in providing protection to smugglers operating in his jurisdiction and he himself was organizing smuggling and trafficking of narcotics through various associates, Sidhu added.

The STF chief said the accused had made recoveries of narcotics in the past, but with the motive of obtaining illegal gratification from those in his custody on the promise of helping them in these cases, he got some of them acquitted, Sidhu revealed.

Sharing more details, Sidhu said the STF was already analyzing the cases acquitted of commercial quantity narcotics recovered during the period of last five years. On receipt of information from field units, it was found that in case FIR No.155/2013, FIR No. 100/2013 and FIR No.85/2013 of district Tarn Taran acquittal by the trial courts were on grounds that Inspector Inderjit Singh, who held the substantive rank of Head Constable at the time of registration of cases and subsequent investigation, was not competent to investigate the case as per the provisions/rules of the NDPS Act, 1985.

Sidhu said the accused Inspector had deliberately committed glaring discrepancies during investigation of the cases which appeared to be an attempt to favour the accused. During investigations it has come to light that the shortcomings were in a similar pattern in many cases. “These cases were referred to IGP/Border Zone and SSP/Tarn Taran, who in their reports ascertained these facts and recommended criminal action against the accused Inspector Inderjit Singh and DSP Jaswant Singh under section 59(2) of the NDPS Act, 1985.

He informed that Inspector Inderjit Singh was already facing a case registered against him by Punjab Vigilance Bureau under section 7, 8, 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The case is still under investigation.

Sidhu asserted that the investigations will unearth the entire network of smugglers and none found involved will be spared. The investigation into the case had been entrusted to Mukhwinder Singh AIG/STF, Jalandhar under the supervision of Pramod Ban, IGP/STF Jalandhar Zone.

Ever Heard Of Kulfi Stuffed In Mango!!

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Ever Heard Of Kulfi Stuffed In Mango!!

Ever seen or heard of a kulfi stuffed in a mango, literally !! Yes with the skin and pulp of the King of Fruits intact – just the seed preened out, and the kulfi filled in, a wonder of Indian 'juggad'. One just peels off the skin, like we do any other mango, and the dessert is ready to relish. This is one of the scores of lip smacking frozen summer specials laid out at the entrance of the Sukhna Lake, courtesy a well known national English daily and Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (CITCO). The festival, aptly planned at the height of summers, is drawing evening crowds in the hordes. The festival, which began on Friday, is on till Sunday from 4 p.m. onwards.

The ‘Bollywood Kulfi’, as the kulfi stuffed mango is called, is a novelty of the famous Sitaram Kulfi Bar of Paharganj in New Delhi and its price goes with the novelty – Rs 240 apiece. The other attractions of the kulfi brand like Mango Kulfi, Paan Kulfi, Pista Kulfi, Fruit Cream Kulfi, Rose Kulfi, Gulukand Kulfi come @ Rs 60 apiece with its famous ‘kachori’ free.

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

This is perhaps the first time that so many international, national and local ice cream and kulfi brands have pitched tents at a single venue in Chandigarh, with an unlimited array of flavours up for eats. There are the likes of ‘videshi’ brands London Dairy and Baskin Robbins, vying with ‘desi’ brands like Mother Dairy, Cream Bell, Vadilal, etc and local brands like Verka, Vita, Monica’s, HF Super (from Mandi Gobindgarh), Sitaram (New Delhi), Baba Dairy and Giani.

Indigenous brand Keventers from New Delhi has a range of milk shakes in three different categories – classic, fruity and thick (in texture).  They also have a chocolate drink with a combination of different flavours like hazzlenuts. Grecobe, The Green Coffee also has set up shop at the festival.

Monica’s has brought to the table a variety of less fat frozen desserts which are prepared with whole milk. The Geletos are claimed to be served at minus 13 degrees Celsius.

Another Delhiwala, Ashok wowed the crowds with his ‘shikanji’ (lemonade) and flavoured ice balls.
The Jas & Mey brand of Baba Dairy has brought some 24 flavours of candies and gallons like Paan, New Yorker, Belgian Chololate, Bubble Gum, Guava and Coconut. HF Super has on its palette a wide variety of kulfi flavours, including Khoya, Malai, Matka, Chaupatti and Pista. They also have an array of fruit sundaes.

Our take: Worth visiting, with family and friends.

MC Moves to Cancel Contract, Take Possession Of Land

Sanjeev Kochhar
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MC Moves to Cancel Contract, Take Possession Of Land

The anger appears to have boiled over. The Municipal Corporation Chandigarh, on a collision course with JP Associates for some time now over the unsatisfactory operation of the municipal solid waste management plant in Dadumajra village, has finally resolved to cancel the contract and take physical possession of the land. A special session of the MC House called to discuss the future course of action, on Thursday, unanimously decided to take the extreme step, saying enough is enough.

The decision was taken with a show of hands by the elected councillors of all parties – BJP, Congress and lone independent – as also nominated councillors after an animated discussion. A committee of councillors and officers, headed by the Mayor Asha Kumari Jaswal, was formed to decide on ways and means to cancel the contract with JP Associates.

Mayor Asha Kumari Jaswal is amused as MC Commissioner Kavita Singh and Secretary Manoj Khatri look on

PHOTOS BY: LIFE IN CHANDIGARH

Later a delegation of councillors met Punjab Governor and UT Chandigarh Administer VP Singh Badnore, who is understood to have assured to go with the decision of the House. The delegation also met District Magistrate Ajit Balaji Joshi seeking to take over possession of the land from the company. The DM is learnt to have called a meeting on June 9 to decide on the matter after scrutinising all relevant documents, including the MoU signed between the MC and JP Associates.

During the discussion on the subject, councillors closed ranks to demand an immediate and permanent solution to the problem, which had posed a serious hazard to the health and well being of some 50,000 residents living around the dumping site in Dadumajra. Because of inadequate to no processing of garbage in the plant at different times, the stench from the dumping ground was becoming unbearable for residents, who were forced to live with mosquitoes and flies.

 Former Mayor Arun Sood makes a point

While various suggestions were being elicited from individual councillors on how best to deal with the situation, a suggestion from former Mayor Arun Sood for direct and immediate action found favour with the entire House baying for the company’s blood. It was thereafter resolved to pursue with the UT Administration to take physical possession of the land and to set in motion the process of appointing a consultant to look at various alternatives, including setting up composting facilities and garbage to energy conversion plant or garbage to methane gas conversion plant.

Conceding that there was a gulf between what the company had promised and what it had delivered on setting up the machinery for the garbage processing plant more than a decade ago during the time when the Congress was ruling the MC, one of the four party councillors in the House, Devinder Singh Babla said he was one with the House in demanding cancellation of the contract with the company and taking possession of the land. He even demanded blacklisting of JP Associates.

Devinder Singh Babla (Congress) on his feet with other party councillors

At the same time, he sought an inquiry into the functioning of the sanitary contractor, whom the MC was paying Rs 6.5 crore per month, for unsatisfactory work. He pointed out that even the local BJP MP Kirron Kher had expressed her displeasure over the functioning of the contractor, which she felt was one of the reasons why UT Chandigarh had slid from 2nd rank to 11th in the country in the Swachh survey.

Regarding ulterior motives being emoted into grant of contract to JP Associates in a hurry at the behest of then Congress MP of Chandigarh Pawan Kumar Bansal, he asserted “Let the MoU be circulated in the House and discussed threadbare to fix responsibility for lapses, if any, following which action should be taken against anyone found guilty on this score.”

Among other councillors who vent their ire on the functioning of JP Associates were Rajesh Kumar, Raj Bala Malik, Davesh Moudgil, Anil Kumar Dube, Vinod Aggarwal, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon, Shakti Prakash Devshali and  Maheshinder Singh Sidhu. Nominated councillors Dr. Jyotsna Wig, Kamla Sharma, Ajay Dutta and Maj. Gen. (retd) MS Kandal also spoke their mind.

Name To Resonate In Haryana

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Name To Resonate In Haryana

Many among us mortal souls may still ask Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya, who ? But ask anyone within the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or erstwhile Jana Sangh, now Bharatiya Janaty Party, and you will realise what the man means to them. A man of simple means with high ideals, not known to compromise with his principles, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya, is today remembered for his unflinching faith in 'Antodaya' (upliftment of the last man or in other terms development of the bottom strata of socioeconomic hierarchy) and 'Ekatam Manavad' (or Integral Humanism, a philosophy which advocates the simultaneous and integrated program of the body, mind and intellect and soul of each human being).

In the centenary year of his birth, the BJP Government in Haryana has decided to take his twin messages down to the grassroots level in a big way. A proposed blue print of year long calendar of events, to coincide with the golden jubilee celebrations of the state, was put to discussion in the first meeting of the State Level Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Birth Centenary Commemoration Committee, presided over by Haryana Governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki, who is Patron of the committee, at Haryana Raj Bhawan, on Thursday.

Photos By: Life in Chandigarh

Besides Chief Minister Manohar Lal, who is Chairman of the committee, representatives of Deendayal Research Institute, which is the knowledge partner for organizing the events during the centenary year, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kanwar Pal, ministers, politicians, intellectuals, professionals and senior officers participated in the meeting.

The Governor and the Chief Minister unveiled a statue of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya in Haryana Raj Bhawan and went around a poster and book exhibition.

Prof Solanki said, by following the path of development shown by Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, with focus on the last man in the queue, Haryana, and the country could forge ahead in the 21st century.
Giving specific examples from the life of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, to highlight his simplicity and steadfast commitment to principles, Chief Minister Manohar Lal said the high ideals of the great thinker and ‘karamyogi’ will be taken down to the grassroots level by way of a string of activities and events across the state. He said the ‘Khel Mahakumbh’ scheduled to be held in the month of September and October 2017 was also being named after Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay. Apart from this, a Granth Mala based on the life of Pt. Deen Dayal has been published and 2000 copies of it have been distributed to libraries throughout the state, he added.

Among the suggestions aired by various participants were planting of 101 trees in each of the gram panchayats on the occasion of his centenary birth anniversary, setting up of learning centres for competitive exams and for special children in his name, setting up of labour colonies, convention centre, permanent light and sound shows, health scheme for treatment of poor people in private hospitals on the lines of Rajasthan and libraries in rural areas in his name.

Get Illegal Buses Off the Roads, Now : Amarinder

Sanjeev Kochhar
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0
Get Illegal Buses Off the Roads, Now : Amarinder

'Eitt chukko tei mafia milega' (pick up a brick and you will find a mafia). Punjab has come to such a pass. And less than three months into his tenure as Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, leading the Congress to a landslide victory in the February elections largely on the plank of providing a corruption-free government, is increasingly coming under pressure to rein in these mafias. His first attempt to put brakes on the mafias, through e-auctioning of the sand mines, has already landed him in a controversy over allegations of his Power and Irrigation Minister Rana Gurjit Singh cornering 'benami' contracts. Now it's the rampaging transport mafia, largely controlled by the political class, which is giving him sleepless nights.

Under pressure to perform in a hurry, and hyper sensitive about media criticism on these issues, Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered an immediate crackdown on illegal private buses plying on Punjab roads which are known to have captured prime timings on busy routes, leading to losses to state transport and corporation buses.

Photo By: Life in Chandigarh

Handing out a serious warning to the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) at a regular meeting of the state cabinet, the Chief Minister said no laxity in the matter would be tolerated and officials found guilty of dereliction or complicity would have to face penal action and punishment. 

An official spokesman said Capt Amarinder Singh directed the RTA to ensure that these buses, plying in blatant violation of the rules, are removed from the roads without further delay. The Chief Minister sought the intervention of the Vigilance Department in the matter and expeditious finalisation of the state transport policy to clean up the mess.
 
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha H.S. Phoolka in a statement observed that there has been no effect on the Transport Mafia in the state despite a change of guard. He demanded immediate cancellation of all illegal permits and revival of the state transport system.

Pointing to political class in the state which was controlling the multi-crore transport business, he said the mafia is making hay at the cost of the state exchequer with the active connivance of political leaders. The Amarinder Singh government had failed to take action against the thousands of illegal permits issued by the previous Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party, contrary to the promises made in the Congress election manifesto, he maintained.

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