Punjab, January 21: Although the world is finding itself deep into the recession, the global financial meltdown is coming up as a boon for small-scale industries in Punjab. “This slowdown in the economy has certainly proved a blessing in disguise for many small-scale units operating here. Various small-scale industries have started getting good business,” said K.S. Mahal, general secretary, Mohali Industries Association (MIA).As big units focus on cutting costs by resorting to various means, the small-scale sector is going to see its full potential. Adhish Bansal, who runs a small auto bearings manufacturing unit in the industrial town Mohali, about 10 km from Chandigarh said, “Our business has gone up by over 60 percent in the past three-four months. Many of our new clients are from Gujarat and Maharashtra. Our workers are working round the clock to complete orders.” This has led to an increase in demand and an excessive work load. With deadlines to be met, owners feel compelled to refuse orders. “Earlier, we only had clients in this industrial area and did not send our products to other states. It's different now,” said Atul Mahajan, owner of a small-scale precision engineering equipment unit in Mohali. However, there is another side to this story as the bigger units in Punjab’s Jalandhar industrial area are a suffered lot as they cannot run production on a lower scale to execute small orders, said a senior MLA official.
New Kerela
Punjab farmers are getting lucrative proposals by Ukraine to make investments in the agri-business. Anatoily Pylypko, managing director of Vedi Chna, a private company that facilitates foreign investment in Ukraine said on Tuesday, “We have come to India to study the agriculture potential of this country and to invite farmers and investors who are interested to pursue agriculture on the fertile soil of Ukraine.” He was in Mohali to sign an agreement with an immigration consultants company, WWICS, based here. This accord will prove helpful for Ukraine to target Indian investors, entrepreneurs, businessmen and farmers, he stated adding that “Ukraine is likely to be included in the European Union by 2011 and there are several profitable opportunities available in the farm sector there.”
Punjab Mailonline
With Badal clan set to dominate the Punjab’s political scene, junior Badal and President of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Sukhbir Singh Badal is all set to take oath as Deputy CM today in the holy city Amritsar. S.F. Rodrigues, the Governor of Punjab will administer the oath at 1.30 P.M. local time. The historical and spectacular swearing-in-ceremony will be held with fanfare as over one lakh people are likely to join the event. The event is being compared to the oath taking ceremony of U.S. President Barack Obama. “The swearing-in-ceremony of Sukhbir will be more thrilling than that of Obama”, said Bikramjit Singh Majithia, former Information and Public Relations minister, who resigned from cabinet to accommodate his brother-in-law Sukhbir Badal. The event will be telecast live on some regional TV channels.
Punjab Newsline
A Canadian Sikh has got honours by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) for his work on Ecology. Dr. Jagtar Singh Bhatti has been awarded Peace Prize for his work on the effect of changing climate on environment. A special function was held at Akal Takht where Bhatti was honoured by Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh. His work will be a source of inspiration for the young generations, commented the Akal Takht Jathedar.
Tribune India
