PUNJAB

To mark the launch of International Year of (IMY) – 2023, Punjab Raj Bhavan on Monday hosts Millets Lunch for the city’s elite. City Beautifuls renowned people, including the members of the newly-constituted Administrator Advisory Council, bureaucrats, politicians, industrialists, doctors, academicians and media were seen feasting their palate with millets delicacies, including Little Millet Kheer (kutki ki kheer), Ragi Halwa, and the Steamed Ragi Dumplings.

Calling upon all to popularize millets, making a beginning with their own kitchen, the Governor shared the millet popularization and promotion initiatives in Chandigarh. Jowar and Bajra have been incorporated in the Supplementary Nutrition Programme for the beneficiaries of all 450 Anganwadi Centres. Presently, Khichri and Dalia of millets are being provided in the form of ‘hot cooked meal’ to the beneficiaries, he said.

He said that Anganwadi workers are mobilizing community members on regular intervals by organizing stalls of millet recipes’ demonstration. During POSHAN Maah-2022, more than 200 programmes or awareness activities were organized at Anganwadi Centres for demonstrations of Millets recipes.

The gains made on the vaccination front over the years have been squandered with the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) showing a drop of 13 per cent in the past five years in the state.

According to the survey, the number of children (aged 12-23 months), who were vaccinated with BCG, measles, three doses each of polio (excluding polio vaccine given at birth) and DPT or Penta Vaccines, witnessed a 13 per cent drop as compared to the last survey. The number, which was 89 per cent in the NFHS-4 (2015-16), has come down to 76 per cent.

In the area-wise breakup of vaccination, interestingly the rural areas have fared better than the urban areas. In the rural areas, 77.9 per cent children were vaccinated, but it was 76.2 per cent in the urban areas.

As far as the breakup of vaccination provider is concerned, around 91 per cent children received their vaccinations in public health facilities. However, eight per cent received most of their vaccinations in private health facilities.

The announcement was made by Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister Aruna Chaudhary and Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture Minister Randeep Singh Nabha in a joint press conference here at Punjab Bhawan. Both the Cabinet Ministers said that the pink ballworm had caused severe damage to crops in Mansa, Sangrur, Bathinda, Sri Muktsar Sahib and Barnala districts and to compensate these farmers their government is releasing this amount of Rs 416 crore. They said that 10 percent of the amount would be provided to the cotton picking workers as relief and the compensation amount will be sent in the accounts of Deputy Commissioners before Diwali and the District Administration will directly transfer the aid in the bank accounts of farmers.

The two ministers said that the Punjab Government is standing firmly with the farmers and every step would be taken for their welfare.

According to the Cabinet Ministers, 151335 acre crop in Mansa district has been damaged from 76 to 100 percent an amount of Rs.181,60,21,050 is being released for this district. Similarly, in Sangrur 145 acres suffered loss from 26 to 32 per cent, 3693 acres 33 to 75 per cent and 180 acres 76 to 100 per cent loss and provision of Rs. 224,01,328 has been made for this. He said that in Bathinda district, 683 acres have suffered loss from 26 to 32 percent, 85 acres 33 to 75 percent and 188308 acres 76 to 100 percent loss for which compensation of Rs. 226,15,23,700 is being paid for Bathinda. In Sri Muktsar Sahib district, 1906 acres crop have been damaged by 26 to 32 per cent, 7922 acres by 33 to 75 per cent and 50 acres by 76 to 100 per cent for which an amount of Rs. 4,71,90,800 is being released.

SBI-PHDCCI Roundtable Meet at Ludhiana was attended by the key policymakers from SBI and states industry to ideate the way forward for an ever closer cooperation between SBI and industry entities in Punjab to support the economic fundamentals and strengthen the business ecosystem.

Despite being least impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown, the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and allied sector inPunjabis projected to record a more than two-time drop in Growth rate, according toPunjab Economic Surveytabled in the state assembly.

The advance estimates shared in the survey show that agriculture one of the predominant sectors of the states economy is expected to grow by 1.4 % in 2021-22, after recording a growth of 3.1% in the previous financial year 2020-21. The sector grew at 1.81% in 2019-20, indicating uneven growth in recent years against the 2.2% Average growth rate registered between 2012-13 and 2018-19.

The crop husbandry sector is likely to have the most noticeable decline asGVAis expected to post a negative growth rate of -0.8%, against 2.4% in 2020-21. The fall in growth rate is expected to lead to a fall in the sectors contribution to overall gross state value added (GSVA), which is likely to slip from 30.7% in 2020-21 to 29.1% in 2021-22. In spite of the dip, agriculture and allied activities will continue to be the second highest contributor to Punjabs overall value added, after the service sector.

The survey has attributed the slowdown in the sector to production and productivity of rice and wheat reaching saturation level. Stress has been laid on diversifying crops and with special focus on pulses and oilseeds, which can help in saving Rs 621.33 crore of import value for pulses and Rs 5,221.60 crore for oilseeds by 2027.

Fallow and cultivable land has also come down from 6% and 5% of reporting area in 1960-61 to 2% and 0% in 2020-21, respectively. Not only this, land not available for cultivation has also decreased from 13% to 10 % between 1960-61 and 2020-21, pointing at limited scope for any expansion in the area under cultivation.

While the state has its own generation of about 5,500 MW from various sources, including solar, it can import a maximum of 7,300 MW from the northern grid.

Presently, Pspcl is receiving as much as 3,864 MW from the central sector, while it is purchasing 2195 MW from sources outside the state, 1192 MW from Banking. Besides, 950 MW is generated from Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), 1320 MW from Nabha Power Limited (NPL), 492 MW from Goindwal Sahib Power Plant; 579 MW from Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant (GGSSTPP)-Ropar, 844 MW from Guru Hargobind Thermal Power Plant Lehra Mohabbat (Bathinda).

PSPCL is also getting power from hydro stations, including 410 MW from Ranjit Sagar Dam, 110 MW from Shanan Power House (in Himachal Pradesh), 83 MW from Upper Bari Doab Canal (UBDC) Hydroelectric Power Station, 179 MW from Mukerian Hydroelectric Project (Hoshiarpur), 120 MW from Anandpur Sahib Hydel Project. In addition, 398 MW is generated from solar, and 74 MW (Biomass).

Punjab is highly dependent on the private players. The thermal power generation in the state is 1,000 lakh units, comprising 325 lakh units by state sector thermal Plants and 675 lakh units by the private sector. There is a breakdown in one of the units at the Ropar plant, while a 660-MW unit at the Talwandi Sabo plant has been out of operation since March 8.

Hydel supply to the state is 223 lakh units of which the Bhakra dam project supplies about 75 lakh units.

The government is all set to regulate the use of drones in the state under the National Drone Rules, notified by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. The Chief Secretary has designated the Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training as the nodal agency to talk to all government and private stakeholders to frame the policy on the drone use.

A senior government functionary said the department had been tasked with seeking comments from the departments that deal with the use of drones and giving permissions for their use.

Being a border state and rampant use of drone in narco-terrorism from across the border, it becomes imperative to regulate the use of drones, said the functionary, adding that many private players were increasingly using drones.

As per the national rules, any person operating a drone has to obtain a unique identification number unless exempted.

Launching the campaign, the State Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said: Mild, moderate and severe pneumonia in a Covid hit child can become an additional co-morbid condition to which he or she can succumb to death. Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of childhood mortality in the country and it contributes to approximately 15 percent of mortality.

Punjab Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), Mohali, which is going to start its OPD Services soon, will be the first government superspecialty institute in any branch of medicine or surgery in the state. The 50-bed institute will offer OPD as well as indoor services.

After Delhi, it will be second such institute for liver diseases in the country.

The outbreak of Covid-19 since last year has helped thePunjabgovernment achieve an unusual trend of peoples rushing to itsschoolsfor the admission of their children.
Enrolmentin the government-run schools has increased by 1.51 lakh in the ongoing academic session 2021-22 compared with the previous year. Of these 1.51 lakh students, 87% shifted from the private schools.

The highest enrolment has been in the higher secondary classes. The number of new admissions went up from 3,75,457 on March 31, 2021, to 4,02,411 on April 30. Similarly, the number of students who took admission increased from 6,15,042 to 6,55,937 in the upper primary classes. At the primary level, 10,04,400 enrolments were recorded against 9,48,785 in the previous academic session.

Thegovernmentschools in Ludhiana recorded the highest increase in enrolment in classes from LKG to XII of 3,00,990, 8.83% more than the previous session, while in Mohali, the number of students went up from 1,06,465 in 2020-21 to 1,15,100, recording a jump of 8.11%. The number of students went up from 59,025 to 63,421 in the current session in Fatehgarh Sahib.