It will be a challenging task for the to keep tabs on digital content with many propaganda pages running on the Social Media spreading false information ahead of the Assembly Elections.
It is learnt certain foreign groups have generated posts on the social media in an attempt to propagate fake news about the 1984 riots, radicalise youth, and further exacerbate discord by exploiting the farmers protest ahead of the elections.
Punjab Cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Thursday said that he will meet the Chief of Punjab and Haryana High Court for the opening of more fast track courts for matters related to the NRIs.
Dhaliwal, who is the NRI affairs minister in the Punjab government, said he will meet the chief justice shortly to work out the modalities to expedite the process for setting up more NRI fast track courts.
Notably, several Non-Resident Indian (NRI), who originally hail from Punjab, had sought from the State Government to set up fast track courts for redressal of their issues, including property related disputes during the recently held NRI meetings.
Dhaliwal also gave instructions to depute legal advisors to provide requisite legal aid to NRIs.
He also ordered deputy commissioners concerned to resolve around 50 per cent of the grievances brought during these NRI milni programmes (Punjabi NRIs meet) through their nodal officers appointed specially for the cases of NRIs.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday declared the Shri Krishan Balram Rath Yatra as state festival. The Chief Minister also announced Rs 2.51 crore for Ludhianas Iskcon Temple.
As a mark of respect towards Lord Krishna, Shri Krishan Balram Rath Yatra would be celebrated as a state festival every year by Punjab Government, said Channi, who was accompanied by Cabinet Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, MLAs Surinder Dawar, Sanjay Talwar and Kuldeep Singh Vaid, and several others.
Recalling his regard for Bhagvad Gita, the Chief Minister shared that when he became a Municipal Councillor around 25 years back, a noble soul had advised him to recite one shloka from holy Bhagvad Gita for inner peace. The holy book gives a direction to life. Youth should imbibe the teachings of the Bhagvad Gita and practice it in their lives. If one could imbibe just one of the shaloks, it is enough to succeed in life, he added.
He also informed that the is developing Shri Bhagvad Gita and Ramayana Research Centre on 20-acres land in Patiala. The religious texts are the biggest source of inspiration which guide us towards the betterment of our lives. To further nurture our knowledge through the wisdoms in the epic texts of Ramayana, Mahabharat, and Bhagvad Gita, an exclusive research centre is being set up in Patiala, he said.
Punjab mulls tweaking law on telecast of Gurbani from Golden Temple
The two-day special session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, which is likely to be fiery as the government is planning to bring a resolution to add a new clause to The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925. The decision is aimed at ensuring free-to-air telecast of Gurbani from the Golden Temple, Amritsar.
Giving details, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the agenda for this resolution would be cleared by the Cabinet at its meeting slated to be held here tomorrow. He said the resolution would be tabled in the Vidhan Sabha on June 20.
It said 24 states and six UTs had furnished their views while comments from governments of Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Arunachal Pradesh and UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Lakshadweep were still awaited.
The Punjab Government maintained that in India, different communities are in majority or in minority in different provinces/states depending on their Population. Therefore, it becomes necessary to protect the interests of the respective minority residing in the state in accordance with the Constitutional provisions.
In order to promote Punjabi language and culture, the Punjab government will soon bring in a proposal in the forthcoming cabinet meeting for setting up Punjabi Film Development Council in the state.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi announced this during an award function organised at Chandigarh University, Gharuan, to honour Punjabi actors, singers and musicians for their contribution to Punjabi culture.
Channi said a proposal in this regard would be cleared in the coming cabinet meeting. He said it is the need of the hour to promote the glorious cultural heritage of the state through films, which are the latest and most effective way of Communication nowadays. He said it would go a long way in showcasing rich cultural heritage of Punjab across the globe.
Sharing information, the state School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said that the students of government schools can send their designs till November 10, 2022, for the logo of ‘School of Eminence’; and all the school heads have been instructed through a letter.
For the same, the department has also given five key guiding points for depicting good facilities in schools, use of multimedia and other e-Resources for digital education, well-equipped libraries and laboratories, Sports facilities, and facilities for co-academic activities.
PunjabEducation Minister Pargat Singh unveiled a career portal aimed at providing professional guidance to students of schools and colleges of the state.
One major reason behind the Unemployment problem of Punjab is the inability to choose the right career option.
The minister added that 10 lakh students would now get the requisite information about career counselling, courses and Scholarship sectors while sitting at Home.
Based on the 2011 Census survey, Punjabs projected Population in mid-2020 was 3.01 crore. Punjab was also at the top of the chart in 2019 but its crime rate per lakh population under the NDPS Act was 38.5% as a total of 11,536 cases were registered.
Himachal Pradesh, on the other hand, has climbed to the second spot in the country with 20.9% cases registered (per lakh population) under the NDPS Act last year. Out of the total 1,538 cases recorded under the NDPS Act in Himachal last year, 1,148 were for possession of drugs for trafficking and 390 for the possession of drugs for personal consumption. Himachals projected population was 73.62 lakh in mid-2020. The hill state was at the third spot in the country in 2019 with a crime rate of 19.7% per lakh population, with a total of 1,439 registered NDPS Act cases.
The number of cyber-crime cases in Punjab increased from 239 in 2018 to 243 in 2019 and 378 in 2020 even during the Covid-19 induced lockdown when many other crimes witnessed a downward slide. Punjab has a 16% conviction rate in cyber-crime cases.
As per the revised guidelines, the of India (ECI) has provided the facility of voting through postal ballots (PB) paper to senior citizens, who are above 80 years of age, Persons with Disability (PwDs) flagged in the electoral roll, and COVID-19 suspect or affected persons.
The revised guidelines, released the previous year, have already been implemented in the general Elections held in Bihar (December 2020), and in four states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, besides Union Territory of Puduucherry.
In these elections, held amidst COVID-19 pandemic, the postal ballot facility was extended to the senior voters who were considered to be the most vulnerable group.
As per the changes made in the guidelines, these category voters would be considered as absentee voters providing them the option of voting through postal ballot.
The ECI guidelines said that an absentee voter, wishing to vote by postal ballot, has to make an application to the returning officer of the constituency concerned during the period from the date of announcement of election to five days following the date of notification of the election.