Punjab: The week gone by

Important developments were seen in the educational sector last week. Badal announced the merger of NIIFT with NIFT and training of 52,000 youth in technical programmes.

On the entertainment front, talented singer Mika set a record by becoming the first Indian singer to perform for a crowd more than 25,000 people in a foreign country.

Also, Bollywood Khiladi Akshay landed himself in a controversy regarding his forthcoming flick ‘Patiala House.’

Badal seeks PM intervention in J&K issue
The Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention into the treatment being meted out to the Kashmiri Sikhs in Jammu & Kashmir.

The Sikhs residing in region are being forced to either change their religion to Islam and protest against Indian government or leave the valley.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee delegation along with President Avtar Singh Makkar, will talk to Singh on Monday to discuss the Kashmir issue.

Shiromani Akali Dal parliamentary party leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa will also be a part of the delegation. The party is also likely to raise the issue in parliament.

Earlier, Badal had written a letter to PM citing the Kashmir issue. The CM has now warned of “strong reaction” if the Sikh community is harmed in the valley.

CM initiates rejuvenation of village ponds; engages Erns & Young-Halcrow for project in Rajpura
Badal approved a pilot project worth Rs 33.46 crore for reinvigoration of 512 village ponds in all districts of the state.

The complete project will be done in two phases. The first phase is likely to be completed by March 31, 2011 and will be undertaken by the departments of Water Supply and Sanitation and Rural Development and Panchayats.

Zila Parishad has been appointed as the nodal agency for the implementation of the projects.

Rejuvenation of the ponds will lead to proper harvesting of rain water and will further aid in recharging ground water.

Besides, the CM engaged ‘Erns & Young-Halcrow’ to prepare a master plan for the prestigious project ‘Global Industrial & Knowledge City’, worth Rs 1200 crore in Rajpura.

The IT project will not only help the state to compete with global challenges, but will also generate employment in the state.

The Managing Director, Punjab Information & Communication Technology Corporation Ltd. (Punjab InfoTech), Rakesh Verma, confirmed the news and revealed that 1359.5 acres of land for the upcoming IT city had been already identified and an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore had been earmarked to undertake acquisition process.

GVK Goindwal Sahib Thermal Plant to expand its capacity
In a conversation with the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, GVK Reddy Chairman, GVK Group, offered to expand the capacity of GVK Goindwal Sahib Thermal Plant by 1320 MW (2 X 660) in addition to existing capacity of 540 MW (270X2).

Reddy informed the deputy CM that the work on existing 2 X 270 MW Goindwal Project was going on ahead of schedule. The project has achieved financial closure and the construction activity was in full swing.

He also revealed that the GVK group was confident to start generating power from this plant much ahead of the scheduled date of December 2011.

Reddy also disclosed that the main contractors of the project, BHEL and Punj Lloyd, have mobilized all the resources, and work is in full swing.

PTU gets approval for online programmes; CM announces merger of NIIFT with NIFT
The Punjab Technical University (PTU), established by the act of Punjab state legislature in 1997, will be launching its management and technical courses through distance learning programmes in Asia and Africa.

Initially, it will launch its courses in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries and later will move to African and Gulf countries.

The motive behind launching the courses is to improve the job prospects for working people and help them enhance their skills. These courses will also be beneficial for Indians living abroad, who cannot afford high fees of the courses available there.

For the overseas program, the students will have to apply online for different courses and e-books will be provided. On the completion of the course, an online test will be conducted and hence, PTU degree will be awarded.

PTU will also be establishing a world class textile institute worth Rs 150 crore in Punjab’s Barnala district.

Besides, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal approved a technical skill training programme in which nearly 52,000 youth will be trained every year through this short term course.

After this course, they can be employed in local trade or industry. PTU, Jalandhar has been authorized for providing such courses.

Badal also approved the merger of Northern Indian Institute of Fashion Technology, Mohali (NIIFT) and its centers at Ludhiana and Jalandhar, with National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi (NIFT).

He also agreed to provide a whooping amount of Rs 48 crore to NIFT over a period of three years along with the immediate transfer of the existing infrastructure at NIIFT, Mohali .

Mika creates history; Akki lands in controversy
The talented singer Mika Singh created history by becoming the first Indian singer to perform for a crowd more than 25,000 people in a foreign country.

The singer sang for the crowd at the Sydney Olympic Stadium, Australia on the eve of Independence Day.

Be it Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or local Australians, Mika made everyone danced to his tunes. Mika was quite happy with the response and hoped “to repeat this in India soon.”

On the other hand, Bollywood Khiladi Akshay Kumar landed himself in a controversy by donning a pink turban in a still from the movie, 'Patiala House.'

Reportedly, a still from the movie ‘Patiala House’ was uploaded by the crew on the micro-blogging site, Twitter. Though there was nothing wrong with the still, it was the clean shaven look of the actor that has been challenged by few viewers.

The movie stars Akki, Anushka Sharma, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia in the lead roles. The ‘Lady Rapp Singer’ Hard Kaur will also be seen enacting an important role in the flick.