Punjab Cabinet reshuffle in offing with minister submitting resignation
Darpan News Desk IANS, 30 May, 2023 10:43 AM
Chandigarh, May 30 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday forwaded the resignation of Local Government Minister Inderbir Singh Nijjer from the Council of Ministers to Governor Banwari Lal Purohit for early acceptance.
Disclosing this here, a spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said that in a communique to the Governor, Mann has impressed upon him to accept the resignation of Nijjer, who has resigned from the Cabinet on personal grounds.
The Chief Minister has also proposed the names of Kartarpur MLA Balkar Singh and Lambi MLA Gurmeet Singh Khudian for their induction as Cabinet ministers.
Mann has requested the Governor to accord approval to administer oath of office to the new ministers at 11 a.m. on May 31 at the Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh.
Taking umbrage at the Union Minister's new plan on how the future of Chandigarh would be decided, Badal said: "It is not in the ambit of Shekhawat to take a decision on this matter. This is a closed chapter. The UT status of Chandigarh is purely temporary pending transfer to Punjab."
Mann said in another significant decision, the state government has now decided to appoint Chief Minister Field Officers as Nodal Officers for NRIs to ensure redressal of their grievances. He said that these officers will prove to be an ideal Nodal Officer for NRIs as they will be effectively able to coordinate across departments and districts, besides having a direct communication with the Chief Minister's Office.
The passengers were later identified as Moshin Khan Saifi and Asim. Saifi was supposed to travel from Delhi to Hyderabad by Vistara Flight, whereas Asim was supposed to travel from Delhi to Dubai by Air India Express flight.
The official said that at about 4 pm, CISF staff at Terminal-3 noticed suspicious activities of a passenger in the check-in area. The passenger was later identified as Misam Raza, who was about to fly to Dubai on a SpiceJet flight. Raza was then diverted to the random checking point for a thorough checking of his luggage.
The arrested accused have been identified as Vikas Bhadana, Paras Sood, Thachang Tungshanao, Avinash, Ram Basua and Abhislash Singh, the call centre manager. While the call centre and house owner has been identified as Sachin Taneja.
A SAD delegation led by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and handed over a memorandum stating that the Chief Minister and the Excise Minister have violated the provisions of the Official Secrets Act by making official files of the state available to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and MP Raghav Chadha, besides private persons.