Punjab CM seeks direct flights between London, Chandigarh
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Apr, 2022 10:02 AM
Chandigarh, April 5 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday asked British Deputy High Commissioner Caroline Rowett to take up the start of direct flights to and fro between London and Chandigarh with the British High Commissioner on priority.
Rowett, who paid a courtesy call at the Chief Minister at his official residence here, said she would certainly take up this matter to facilitate the Punjabi diaspora settled in Britain, besides people residing in neighbouring states to enable them to have a seamless journey to Punjab.
She also congratulated Mann for securing a massive mandate for the formation of the state government under his stewardship.
Emphasising the need of immediate direct air link between Chandigarh and London, Mann apprised Rowett that the Chandigarh International Airport caters to the growing demand of the people of neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chandigarh.
Apprising the Chief Minister about the latest technologies to combat the menace of straw burning and bio-waste management, Rowett evinced keen interest for technology transfer in these fields as the UK has the time-tested and the most advanced expertise to effectively handle them.
She also apprised Mann that the UK has certain advanced postgraduate courses which could be run in collaboration with some local universities and prestigious institutions of higher education to enable the state youth to be gainfully employed across the globe.
Likewise, she also expressed her desire to tie up with the state sports university to start courses on a mutual basis to equip students from both the sides with the advanced courses in sports to promote sports education in sports sciences, sport technology, sports management and sports coaching by adopting best international practices.
Assuring support and cooperation to the visiting delegation, Mann said the state would welcome these initiatives to ensure holistic development of Punjab in a meaningful manner.
On Monday, after a detailed hearing in the matter, a bench, headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said the court will set up a committee headed by a retired top court judge to probe the PM's security breach and asked both the Centre and Punjab government to not move ahead with their respective inquiries into the matter.
Several Supreme Court advocates on Monday claimed to have received an international call with a recorded message asking the apex court not to help the Central government by taking up a case connected with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach in Punjab last week.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress are projected to poll 40 per cent and 36 per cent votes in Punjab, respectively, as per the ABP-CVOTER Battle for the States survey. The 117-member Punjab Assembly will go to the polls on February 14, and the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.
The highest quantity has been procured from Punjab (1,86,85,53 MT) followed by Chhattisgarh (67,65,986 MT) and Telangana (65,54,739 MT) while the highest number of farmers benefitted in are Chhattisgarh (16,90,459), Telangana (9,67,134) and Punjab (9,24,299).
Hockey is one of the most popular sports in Punjab and many players from the state have been integral parts of the national team. The 117-member Punjab Assembly will go to the polls on February 14, while the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court to secure and preserve all records in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab, and also asked the state and Central committees to refrain from conducting inquiries till Monday, when it will take up the matter again.
