Chandigarh, July 27 (IANS) Following the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Mandi Board will install solar power plants in all the mandis to provide affordable electricity across the state.
This has been stated by Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, while chairing a meeting with senior officials of the department here on Wednesday.
Dhaliwal ordered the officials to start the work of installing solar power plants in all grain and vegetable markets at once in the state.
Officials said under a pilot project net metering roof top solar power plant in four mandis are being installed and such solar power plants will be installed in 23 mandis.
The minister said a project report should be prepared for all grain and vegetable markets for setting up net monitoring solar power plants so that the people can be provided with affordable electricity. He directed to install sheds on which solar panels could be installed easily.
The minister also issued instructions to take action to strengthen the link roads and make them 18 feet wide under the Mandi Board.
Along with this, he said that the damaged link roads should be repaired immediately.
Harcharan Bains, Principal Advisor to SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, shared documents pertaining to the reported abuse of the state intelligence wing by a private company, Movedek Politico. Bains said there are credible reports that the highest-ranked police officers of the state were asked to collaborate with the private company in intelligence gathering.
Two-time Member of Parliament and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann will be contesting from Dhuri in the February 20 polls in Punjab. The announcement was made by state affairs co in-charge Raghav Chadha in Mohali on Thursday.
The party alleged that family members of Charanjit Singh Channi, a leader of the Congress, are being targeted in order to create a perception and influence electors into believing that Sardar Charanjit Singh Channi through his family members and the Indian National Congress is involved in the allegations of money laundering.
A complaint against Prateek Yadav, the younger son of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, had been sent to the investigating agencies in 2021 alleging fake companies being run by him. Prateek Yadav has a brother-in-law, Aman Singh Bisht, the younger brother of his wife Aparna Yadav.
National carrier Air India will commence normal operations to US from Friday, the airline said. On Tuesday, the national carrier said that it will not be able to operate a number of US-bound flights due to the deployment of 5G communications in the US.
Terming the nomination of Mann as a stage managed non-event, the SAD President said AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal never wanted to make Mann the face of the party in Punjab.