Punjab appoints ex-IAS Milkfed chairman
Chandigarh: Punjab Government on Friday appointed former senior IAS officer Amarjit Singh Sidhu as chairman of the State Milk Cooperative, Milkfed, with immediate effect. Spokesperson said that the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal cleared the file to this effect on Friday morning. It may be recalled that Sidhu rendered distinguished services in different administrative capacities during his long career spanning over 30 years. Sidhu retired on superannuation in 1997 from the post of Deputy Commissioner, Patiala.
Haryana relieves two officers for Central postings
Chandigarh: Haryana Government has placed the services of Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Mines and Geology and Electronics and IT department Yudhvir Malik for appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standard Authority of India, Department of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, with immediate effect. Similarly, the services of Additional Chief Secretary, School Education Department and chairperson Haryana Minerals limited, New Delhi, Surina Ranjan have also been placed at the services of central Government for appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Defence, New Delhi.
Brig (retd) Arora new Sainik Welfare director
Chandigarh: Punjab Government on Friday appointed Brig (retd) JS Arora as the Sainik Welfare director with immediate effect. Spokesperson said that the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal cleared the file in this regard this morning. Brig Arora was commissioned into Artillery Regiment in 1981 which he later commanded. On selection to General Cadre, he commanded an Infantry Brigade at ‘Dera Baba Nanak Sector’ in Punjab. He during his 33 years of distinguished service held varied command and staff appointments which includes Col GS (operations) of a Division, Brigadier operational logistics of Kashmir Valley and Deputy GOC of a lC Division.
Canadian prof on reducing food poverty
Chandigarh: Global Development Institute director and faculty at the Department of Geography, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada, Dr Garry Fehr on Friday delivered a special talk on the ‘Challenges and Barriers to Reducing Food Poverty in Informal Settlements’ at the Panjab University’s ICSSR Complex. The special talk was organized by ICSSR North-Western Regional Centre. Dr Fehr said that the cities can live to expand across valuable agricultural lands. The challenge of accessing nutritious foods becomes more costly especially for disadvantaged sectors of society. Consequently, governments at all levels plus NGOs and individuals are looking for innovative ways to reduce food in our cities and improve our collective sustainability.
Bhagtan, Khamano market committees formed
Chandigarh: Punjab Government on Friday nominated new chairmen and members in the market committees of Bhagtan and Khamano in Bathinda and Fatehgarh district. Spokesperson said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal cleared the file in this regard and formal orders regarding the nomination of the chairmen and members of market committee Bhagtan in Bathinda and Khamano Market Committee in Fatehgarh Sahib district would be issued shortly. As per the orders, Gagandeep Singh Grewal has been nominated as the chairman of Bhagtan Market Committee, while Jasmer Singh has been nominated as the chairman of Market Committee Khamano.
SBoP honours Asiad gold medallist
Patiala: State Bank of Patiala organised a function at its Head Office in Patiala to honour gold medallist in recently-concluded Asian Games- Mandeep Kaur 2014. Bank’s managing director SA Ramesh Rangan honoured Mandeep who was a member of 4X400 metres women relay team that won the gold medal in Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea. Bank’s chief general managers S Vijay Kumar and Haridas KV, general managers Sushil Kumar Bhandari, K Deena Ratnakar, AK Sinha, Parmod Sharma, among others were also present on the occasion.
Punjab procures 21.17 lakh tonne paddy
Chandigarh: A total of 21,17,897 tonne of paddy has been procured in all 1,806 purchase centres set up by the Punjab Government till Thursday evening. The Government agencies procured 20,17,169 tonne which is 95.2 per cent and the private agencies procured 1,00,728 tonne which is 4.8 per cent so far. Spokesperson said that Ferozepur districts has maintained its lead by procuring 2,99,139 tonne of paddy till date during the ongoing paddy procurement operations in the State while Kapurthala and Jalandhar district remained on second and third positions with the total procurement of 2,20,857 tonne and 2,05,814 tonne of paddy respectively.
ICAI holds inter-school debate meet
Chandigarh: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Chandigarh Branch, on Friday organised a branch level debate competition for the Class XI and XII of the tricity schools. The event was well attended by students from 20 schools with healthy participation of 40 contestants. The topics of debate were ‘Smart Phone: A friend or foe in my social life’, ‘Demographic profile of India: Is it an asset or liability’, ‘Reservation: Is it promoting or dividing the nationIJ’. The participants were judged by a panel of judges who applauded the deep knowledge of students into the subject.
Mittal inaugurates freshers party at Doaba College
SAS Nagar: Punjab Industries Minister Madan Mohan Mittal on Friday inaugurated the freshers’ party at the Doaba Group of Colleges at Kharar by lighting the ceremonial lamp. Mittal congratulated the students on their performances and commended the hard work put in by the participants. He added that such events instill a sense of cooperation and togetherness among the seniors and juniors. Mittal remarked that such programmes help in developing harmony and building leadership qualities and creativity in students. It is an attempt not only to showcase the talent, but also to find out the rich culture of the region and tap the young talented youth.
Cleanliness drive at Infosys Chandigarh
Chandigarh: Supporting the recently launched ‘Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan’, a cleanliness drive was organised by the employees of Infosys Chandigarh in the IT Park. The main objective of this drive was to increase awareness levels on hygiene as well as clean the IT park surroundings. The drive was inaugurated by UT Special Secretary Sandeep Hans in presence of SDPO East Parvinder Singh. For the smooth execution of this drive, the area was divided into five zones. The most publicly frequented and littered areas were selected for this initiative. The collected trash was deposited at a central place and disposed in a hygienic manner. 150 employees of Infosys participated in this drive, pledging their support to the ‘Cleanliness Agenda.’
Restaurant Vaango opens doors in ludhiana
ludhiana: Vaango, India's first South Indian quick service restaurant, has launched its two stores in ludhiana. It is first-of-its kind concept restaurant that offers authentic South Indian food in a modern youthful ambience. The menu also offers a range of exclusively created drinks along with a menu of healthy combos for quick eaters, lunch timers and young patrons. Customers can head out to Vaango at Pavilion Mall near the Fountain Chowk or Wave mall (largest mall in ludhiana) located at Firozepur Road.
Temperature continues to hover below normal
Chandigarh: The temperature levels continued to hover few notches below normal in various parts of Punjab and Haryana on Friday. According to the Met Department, the minimum temperature levels have witnessed decline by one to two degrees at some places in past 24 hours. A Met official said that the minimum temperature levels were recorded upto five notches below normal in some parts of the region on Friday. The union territory of Chandigarh recorded a minimum temperature of 14.8 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal. Karnal in Haryana recorded a low of 13.5 degrees, down by five notches from normal.