Monday, July 9, 2018
- Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal and Education Minister, Mr. Ram Bilas Sharma presenting a bouquet to Union External Affairs Minister, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj as they called on her in New Delhi on July 9, 2018.
- Chandigarh, July 9- Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal and Tourism Minister, Mr. Ram Bilas Sharma met the Union External Affairs Minister, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi today and invited her to International Gita Mahotsav to be celebrated from December 7 to 23, 2018, in Kurukshetra.
- Mr. Ram Bilas Sharma said that the popularity of International Gita Mahotsav is growing in countries abroad and discussions were held with Mrs. Sushma Swaraj regarding promotion of this festival in the countries abroad and also on coordination with foreigners visiting Kurukshetra during the festival, he added.
- He said that the Present Government has been celebrating Gita Jayanti Mahotsav as an International event from the year 2016. The International Gita Mahotsav was inaugurated by the President, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind in 2017 and the ceremony was well attended by heads and saints of various spiritual and religious organisations. Last year, about 30 lakh people from all over the world thronged the Kurukshetra during the festival.
- The Tourism Minister said that this year, the main attraction of the festival would be International Crafts Fair, International Gita Seminar and exhibition of spiritual institutions and cultural programs at a grand level based on Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata and Lord Shri Krishna.
- Chandigarh July 9: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal met Union Water Resources Minister, Mr Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi today and sought Centre’s assistance in expediting various water supply projects of the State and removing obstacles in their effective implementation.
- While interacting with the newsmen after the meeting, the Chief Minister said that the Central Government has been requested to speed up various water supply projects of the region especially the construction work of Renuka, Kishau and Lakhwar Dams so that water supply in the state could be further increased.
- Mr Manohar Lal said that BML Hansi Butana Link Canal in the State is an important project of water distribution. As the Central Water Commission has an important role, the State Government has sought Centre’s assistance regarding the BML Hansi Butana Link Canal.
- In reply to a question, the Chief Minister said that the construction work of Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway would be completed in the month of July and Prime Minister; Mr Narendra Modi would soon inaugurate this ambitious project. He said that apart from this, Mr Modi would also lay the foundation stone of Gurugram-Dwarka Expressway.
- He said that apart from the water supply projects of the State, discussion was also held in the meeting regarding various issues concerning National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) especially Gurugram-Dwarka Expressway and Karnal-Kaithal and Karnal- Meerut roads .
- Chandigarh, July 9 – Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal will honour 1,103 village panchayats with State Village title in Chandigarh on July 10.
- In a statement issued here today, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr. O.P. Dhankar said that after presenting the example of educated panchayats among all other states, Haryana has also become the first state to honour the village panchayats with the title of Star Village ratings for outstanding performance on the basis of social norms.
- He said that of total 6,204 villages, 1,120 villages have been given the title of State Village, which is 18 per cent of total villages. He said that the villages with six star and five star ratings had been honoured by the Governor, Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki at Haryana Raj Bhavan here on July 6.
- Mr. Dhankar said that district Ambala was leading with 407 star village rating followed by Gurugram with 199 star village and Karnal with 75 star village rating. He said that 1074 villages have been declared star village for maintaining peace and brotherhood, 567 star village for better education and 109 star village on the basis of improvement in sex ratio. Similarly under Rare Star Ranking category, 12 villages are selected for Good Governance and 17 villages for cleanliness.
- He said that village panchayats will be honoured with colourful stars. The village panchayats with better performance in sex ratio would be honoured with Pink Star and those reducing dropouts in education would be honoured with Blue Star. Similarly, White Star would be given to panchayats for cleanliness, Orange Star for peace and harmony, Green Star for environment conservation, Golden Star for good governance and Silver Star for social participation. He said that these villages can use these stars on the Gram Gaurav Pats and Gram Sachivalayas. Apart from this, the information of star villages would also be available on Department’s website, he added.
- The Minister said that cash prize of one lakh would be given for each star. Therefore, a six star village will get cash prize of Rs six lakh. He said that the villages performing better in Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Swachhta Abhiyan would be given Rs 1.5 lakh each instead of Rs one lakh. He said that the villages with six star ratings would be eligible to get done additional development works worth Rs 20 lakh from the Department. Similarly, villages with five star and four star ratings would be eligible to get done additional development works worth Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively.
- It is worth mentioning here that village Kahnaur of Kalanaur block in district Rohtak had been awarded at national level with Nanaji Deshmukh and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya awards.
- Chandigarh, July 9--The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, has impressed upon the Central Government the need and urgency to create a statutorily empowered and dedicated board or authority for homogeneous development of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Haryana and Punjab, and its adjoining towns of Panchkula and Mohali, the region popularly known as the tri-city.
- In a communication to the Union Home Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, the Chief Minister has stated that such an authority would facilitate development of regional infrastructure in the tri-city, ensure effective coordination, and address such issues as traffic congestion and high quality healthcare and education.
- Even the International Airport is underutilized in the absence of proper access from Chandigarh, Panchkula and beyond. The Metro Rail Project has been in doldrums for too long. The growing urban character of the tri-city and the ever growing aspirations of residents of the tri-city require immediate solution, he stated.
- The Chief Minister said he would separately take up this proposal with the Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh, and the UT Administrator, Mr V P Singh Badnore.
- Tracing the steps taken in this regard, Mr Manohar Lal said, The Punjab New Capital Periphery Control Act was enacted by Parliament in 1952 to ensure healthy and planned development of Chandigarh, and, to regulate construction activities within ten miles of it. Both state governments have since prepared controlled area plans laying out land uses and restrictions.
- Since 1975, a coordination committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, MoUD, Government of India, has been attempting coordination in the activities involving urban planning. Another committee comprising chief secretaries of Haryana, Punjab and Advisor to UT Administration, Chandigarh, was constituted in 2012 for preparation of inter-state regional plan for Chandigarh. Despite several meetings held by these committees, many regional infrastructure issues are yet to be effectively addressed, the Chief Minister stated.
- “There is an urgent felt need to create a statutorily empowered and a dedicated board or authority to facilitate development of regional infrastructure and for effective coordination. The National Capital Region Planning Board Act, 1985 and the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority Act, 2017, can provide excellent starting points for creating a truly modern structure for achieving the vision of a faster, sustainable and balanced development of the entire Tri-city region. Needless to say, this endeavour would also require adequate financial support of the Central Government”, he added.