Chandigarh, Nov 29 (IANS) The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has decided to deal promptly with the issues and grievances of the Punjabi diaspora.
It will organise five programmes called 'NRI Punjabiyan Nal Milni' to listen the plaints.
These programmes will be held in Jalandhar, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Ludhiana, Moga and Amritsar on December 16, 19, 23, 26 and 30, respectively.
After a review meeting with the NRI Affairs Department, the NRI Commission and the NRI Sabha, state NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said issues and complaints of NRI Punjabis will be resolved promptly as well as on the spot during these meetings.
He added that issues of NRIs belonging to Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar and Kapurthala will be listened and resolved during a meeting on December 16 at Jalandhar.
Similarly, the programme to be held at SAS Nagar on December 19 during which matters of diaspora belonging to SAS Nagar, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala districts will be resolved on the spot.
The Cabinet minister further said during the programme in Ludhiana on December 23, issues of NRIs of Ludhiana, Sangrur, Barnala and Malerkotla would be resolved.
He said at a programme in Moga and Amritsar on December 26, and 30 issues related to Moga, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Mukatsar, Fazilka, Bathinda, Mansa and Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran districts would be covered.
Dhaliwal said the basic facilities at the 15 NRI police stations will be improved.
"Rs 2 lakh will be given to every NRI Police Station and a total of Rs 30 lakh will be released soon," he added.
The minister said PCS-level officers will be deputed as nodal officers, who will resolve the issues and complaints of the concerned with the support of the district administration.
A pilot was killed and another injured when a Cheetah helicopter of Army Aviation crashed near Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang on Wednesday, officials said. Defence spokesman Lt. Col Mahendra Rawat said that the Cheetah helicopter, which was on a routine sortie, crashed at around 10 a.m. injuring both the pilots and they were immediately evacuated to nearest Military Hospital.
The arrested have been identified as Jaskaran Singh, lodged at Sub Jail in Goindwal Sahib, and Rattanbir Singh, who is out on bail. Police recovered 10 foreign-made pistols, including five .30 bore (made in China) and five 9mm (made in the US) along with eight magazines from both of them, besides a mobile phone concealed by Jaskaran Singh in his barrack.
The module is being jointly operated by Canada-based Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa, Pakistan-based Harvinder Singh Rinda and Italy-based Harpreet Singh, alias Happy. The arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh, alias Yog, a resident of Rajoke village in Tarn Taran district.
A police officer said that the narcotic substances were recovered from several soap cases kept in hidden chambers in an 18-wheel truck. The police have arrested the driver Hannan Ali. The vehicle was coming from Manipur and the consignment was most probably to be delivered in Guwahati.
Delhi Police had sought the custody of the arrested persons, which was granted by a duty magistrate on Tuesday. The four persons were arrested on Sunday night. Recently, a fresh case under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was lodged by the Delhi Police against the members of PFI, which was banned for five years by the Centre last week.
Punjab Police have arrested 5,824 drug smugglers, including 916 big fish, since July 5, Inspector General Sukhchain Singh Gill said here on Tuesday. He said 203 kg heroin was recovered. Additionally, 147.5 kg heroin was recovered by Punjab Police from seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 350 kg in just three months.
