Chandigarh, June 24 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday, led the Vidhan Sabha, in paying tribute to eminent personalities, freedom fighters, political personalities and noted Punjab singer Sidhu Moosewala, all who had passed away since the last session of the Assembly.
On the first day of Budget session, the House paid respects to former ministers Hardipinder Singh Badal and Jathedar Tota Singh, besides formers MLAs -- Sukhdev Singh Sukhladhi and Shingara Ram Sahungra.
The House also paid tribute to freedom fighters Tara Singh, Swarn Singh, Crora Singh and Sukhraj Singh Sandhawalia, who played a pivotal role in emancipating the country from the clutches of British imperialism.
Meanwhile, the House also paid homage to mountaineer and Arjun awardee Gurcharan Singh Bhangu, who was bestowed this prestigious award in 1965 for climbing the Mount Everest, and athlete Hari Chand, also an Arjun awardee, who brought laurels to the country in field of athletics.
The House also paid tributes to the famous Punjabi Singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, alias Sidhu Moosewala, who had carved a niche for himself in the vast field of music and entertainment.
The legislative assembly also paid homage to eminent Sikh personality Principal Surinder Singh.
A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of departed souls as a mark of respect during the obituary references.
While Congress leaders restrained from commenting on the meeting, sources close to Bittu said that there was nothing much in the meeting which was a courtesy call. However, recent instances of Congress leaders leaving the party have triggered speculation of another Congressman desetring the party.
The BJP-ruled Haryana will convene a day-long special session of the Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday. A cabinet meeting was held on Sunday under the chairmanship of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who has condemned AAP moving a resolution in the Assembly to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab.
Talking to reporters on Thursday, Gursevwak Singh, the elder brother of Gurwinder Singh, who was one of the four farmers who died, said: "The case should be transferred to Delhi. We all know that the proceedings are being influenced here. No action was taken against the union minister despite his video threatening farmers having gone viral.
The Delhi Police on Thursday said that they have arrested eight persons in a case of vandalism outside the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. A senior police official confirmed that several teams were conducting raids to nab more people invovled in the case.
Appreciating this initiative of Punjab Mandi Board, Mann said it would benefit to over nine lakh registered farmers, thereby furnishing J-Forms digitally to them for their agriculture produce sold in the markets on their WhatsApp account in real time i.e. immediately on sale being confirmed on the system by the 'arhtiyas' and buyers.
Six gold bars weighing 699.5 grams and valued at Rs 37.30 lakh were detected and seized from a male passenger who arrived by Air India flight AI-952 from Dubai, Customs officials said. He had concealed the gold in his check-in baggage. Further investigation was on.
