The Punjab government intends to start supplying 10 hours drinking water supply to 1000 new villages every year.

Addressing a Press conference, water supply and sanitation minister, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, said so far 1852 villages are being provided 10 hours water supply.

The minister said that 24 hours water supply was being provided to 107 villages and 24 hours water supply would be started in 50 more villages this year in the state.

He said that with the cost of 2200 Crore, hundred percent villages would be provided best water supply and sanitation facilities by 2021.

Bajwa said that new government projects are being started for the supply of canal water in the villages where the ground water is contaminated.

He said work of these two projects would be taken up in 2018 to be completed in next two years to ensure supply of good quality of water under World Bank and National Rural Drinking Water Supply Program.

Bajwa said the facility to pay water bills online has been implemented in the Mohali district and in next phase this facility would be implemented in the corporation cities.

He further said that the department for checking the water samples, the Water Supply Department would set up a world class testing laboratory at Amitrsar and the labs of Patiala and SAS Nagar would be upgraded at a cost of Rs 8.58 Crore.

Bajwa said that 157 new RO (reverse osmosis), a water purification technology, plants would be installed at the cost of Rs. 23.15 crore in the state. Apart from this, giving information about the current situation of the ongoing RO plant, he said that 2305 RO Plants were set up in the state, out of which 2184 are in working condition and 121 which are not functioning due to any reason.
He said 54 ROs of Mansa district would be functional byMarch 31 and estimate for repair of 25 ROs of the districts of Muktsar has been passed and the remaining 42 RO plants would also be operational by June this year.

The minister disclosing about the Swachh Punjab campaign in Punjab, said that all the villages of Punjab will be made open defecation free (ODF) this year. He said that so far, 13 districts, 86 blocks and 10238 villages have been declared ODF.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president, Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday asked Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh to direct the state police to register a case against Sanaur Congress leader Harinderpal Singh Mann for allegedly inciting violence and instigating Congress workers to murder their Akali opponents.

In a statement here, the SAD president said Mann had publically told Congress workers that hundreds of “kirpans” ( a small sword used as religious symbol by Sikhs) were in store with him and that he would distribute them to party workers during the forthcoming panchayat elections.

“Mann went on to instigate Congress workers to use the kirpans to murder Akali workers. Mann also told Congress workers not to be afraid of the consequences of such acts as he was there to provide them safe shelter,” he alleged.

Badal said Mann made this statement after telling people about his close relations with the CM and this amounted to misusing the CM’s name.

Badal said a separate case should be registered against the Congress leader for boasting that he was responsible for the party win from two wards of Sanuar during elections to the Patiala municipal corporation.

“Mann said both wards were won by using brute force and by beating up Akali workers. The state election commission should also take note of this statement”, he added.

The SAD president said this was not a lone case of Congress leaders using brute force to throttle the Opposition.

He said a few days back a young man Vinay Bajaj was gravely injured at Guruharsahai and when he approached the police to register a case against the son of Guruharsahai legislator Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, the police registered a case against unidentified persons.

Badal said earlier also there have been umpteen cases of Congress workers taking the law in their own hands and murdering and injuring Akali leaders and workers.

“All this is happening because you (CM) have refused to exercise the necessary political will and tell the state police to register cases against all Congress leaders who are shattering the peace in Punjab. Please start doing this by registering a case against Harinderpal Mann and stop the State from sliding into jungle raj”, the SAD president said.

With the media fraternity holding protests over filing of an FIR (first information report) against a newspaper journalist over the Aadhar leakage case, Punjab government, led by Chief Minister (CM), Amarinder Singh, has extended its support to the media protests.

Besides the CM, cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar, media advisor to Punjab CM, Raveen Thukral, joined the employees of the newspaper in condemning the FIR and demanding its revocation. In her report, the journalist claimed to have got access to personal details of over a billion citizens for just Rs 500 paid through a digital wallet.
Bajwa said the filing of FIR against journalist amounted to sheer victimisation and could not be condoned at any cost as such acts were violative of the democratic ethos and principles.
Jakhar lashed out at the attack on the Press by the current regime at the Centre. He cited the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh and various other incidents of blatant assault on the media.
Pointing out that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had opposed Aadhar when they were in the Opposition, Jakhar said the Centre should plug the flaws in the Aadhar system and ensure that privacy is safeguarded. The entire leakage episode should be investigated, he said.

Jakhar accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of suppressing the voice of the media, and in fact the people at large, and added that this did not behove well of a democratically elected government.

Both Bajwa and Jakhar condemned the act of the Central government in getting the FIR registered, through the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), against a journalist who had merely done her job. Thukral conveyed Amarinder’s personal support to the agitating employees of the newspaper during a visit to their protest site. Though the CM could not meet them personally as he was ill-disposed, he had assured of his government’s full backing to the media in the interest of press freedom, Thukral told the protesters.

The CM was in favour of the central government plugging the Aadhar leaks instead of putting the plug on the system which had exposed the loopholes, said Thukral, adding that the Congress government in Punjab would do its best to fully protect the freedom of the fourth pillar of democracy.

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has extended the “Out of Court Settlement of Arbitration Cases Scheme” pertaining to various categories of electricity consumers’ up to 31 March.

An official spokesperson said that the scheme would be applicable for settlement of all disputes of electricity consumers pending in the Courts, including District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (DCDRF), Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum (CGRF), State Commission or in Arbitration and cases under appeal with Appellate Authority, as on 30 November, 2017.

He said that the scheme would also be applicable to electricity consumers or users against whom criminal cases on account of theft of energy were pending in any court of law or only FIR had been lodged up to 30 November, 2017 against them irrespective of whether challan has been submitted or not submitted to the court of law.

Such consumers would become eligible to avail the benefit of scheme only after payment of compounding charges, he added.

“Out of Court Settlement of Pending Court Cases Scheme” was re-introduced by the DHBVN in August 2017 and the DHBVN officials were directed to make all out efforts to settle maximum number of disputes pending in courts, arbitration, DCDRF and the State Commission.

Though, initially, it was decided that the scheme would remain in operation up to 31 December, 2017, however, later on it was extended further to settle maximum number of electricity disputes.

To increase the income of panchayats and bring to an end to illegal mining, Punjab government would go in for the open bidding of mining at the suitable panchayat lands in order to increase the income of the panchayats.

The rural development and panchayat department has decided in favour of the initiative to put an end to the illegal mining on the Panchayat lands.

Disclosing this at a Press conference, rural development and panchayat, Water Supply and Sanitation minister, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa said that 3,000 acres of Panchayat land on the banks of rivers and suitable for mining has been identified and it’s e-auction would yield an income of Rs 100 Crore.

The minister while mentioning another important project of the panchayat department said that in order to permanently end the problem of disposing dead animals (Hadda Rori) in the villages, the government proposes to establish three plants on Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode for disposing off in a scientific way the carcasses of the dead animals.

The plants would be coming up at Patiala, Amritsar and Ludhiana as pilot projects regarding which the necessary action is underway. This would lead to an income of Rs 5,000 from every dead animal after processing while putting a stop to the menace of stray dogs.

Listing another project, the minister further said that the department would encourage the planting of saplings besides promoting the concept of agro-forestry so as to augument the income of the panchayats after proper utilisation of the panchayat land in the semi-hilly and the kandi areas.

Under the scheme, the department has identified 1 lakh acre area out of which in the first year 35,000 acre area would be brought under use with 50 lakh saplings under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) being planted in the 25,000 acre area.

The saplings pertaining to Mango, Jamun, Dek, Amla, Guava, Mulberry, Arjan, Tahli, Kikar, Khed and Neem would be planted on the basis of 200 per acre. Apart from this, it is also proposed to give 10,000 acres of land on long lease to make its optimum use for agro-forestry and other allied agricultural occupations such as fish farming and bee keeping. This would yield Rs 10 Crore income to the panchayats, he said.

Bajwa further said that the Panchayat fund window e-panchayat has also been started to bring transparency and eradicate corruption in the department. Till now, 75 per cent accounts of zila parishad and panchayat samities have been made public on the departmental website.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday declared that India was not eyeing any country’s territory or resources even as he reminded the global community of the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence and ‘satyagrah’ to counter extremism and radicalisation.

‘’We have no intention of exploiting anyone’s resources nor are we eyeing any country’s territory. Our focus has always been on capacity-building and resource development,’’ he said in his keynote address to the Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) Parliamentary Conference.

India, he said, had never kept profit and loss in mind while formulating its policy towards any nation. ‘’Our developmental aid to other nations is also not based on the give and take model but on their necessities and priorities,’’ he added.

His statement is being seen as an indirect indictment of Beijing which is undertaking the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) despite India’s protests over the Chinese investments in the disputed region.

The remarks are also aimed at justifying India’s massive humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan for capacity-building in the embattled nation.

The day-long conference was attended by nearly 125 Members of Parliament and 17 mayors from 23 countries. India celebrates 9 January as the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) to mark the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa.

The PM said his government was following the “guiding principle” of “reform to transform” that helped India to move way ahead of the “jaisa pehle tha vaisa chalta rahega, kuch badlega nahi (nothing will change)” culture. “Thinking, aims and aspirations of our people are at an all-time high and that is because of the transformation the country is going through. The World Bank, the IMF and Moody’s are looking at India in a positive way,” he added.

The PM said the government’s aim was to root out corruption and with the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) it has removed many tax slabs and brought about transparency in transactions in various businesses. “Keeping in mind the needs of 21st century, the government is increasing the investment in technology, transportation,” he said.

Modi praised the contribution of overseas Indians in influencing the geopolitics of the countries where they were living.

“We feel proud. If I talk about politics, I can see that there is a mini world Parliament of Indian origin sitting in front of me. I can imagine how happy your ancestors must be on seeing you all here.”

He said the 21st Century was being considered the Asian century and India would be a major player and “you shall feel proud about our growth, hence inspiring us to work even harder”.
The PM also called upon the PIO lawmakers to be partners in India’s development and act as catalysts in the country’s economic growth.

Insha Mushtaq, a girl blinded by pellets in the Kashmir Valley in 2016, on Tuesday passed her Class 10 examination — and was immediately lauded by former Chief Minister Insha Mushtaq, a girl blinded by pellets in the Kashmir Valley in 2016, on Tuesday passed her Class 10 examination — and was immediately lauded by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.

The result of the exam conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir school board was announced on Tuesday.

National Conference leader Abdullah was the first to greet the girl for braving all odds to pass the examination.

Reacting to the achievement of Insha, who suffered the tragedy during the 2016 unrest in the Kashmir Valley, Abdullah tweeted: “May Allah keep rewarding your hard work and efforts.”

Senior separatist leader Umer Farooq also tweeted: “Congratulations to brave Insha Mushtaq… Despite going through the trauma of losing her eyesight due to pellets, she has managed an amazing feat. Her determination and resilience is an example for everyone. May Allah bless her always!”

More than 200 people hit by pellets fired by security forces during street protests in 2016 lost their vision either permanently or partially.

The unrest began on July 8, 2016 when Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces in Anantnag district. and separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.

The result of the exam conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir school board was announced on Tuesday.

National Conference leader Abdullah was the first to greet the girl for braving all odds to pass the examination.

Reacting to the achievement of Insha, who suffered the tragedy during the 2016 unrest in the Kashmir Valley, Abdullah tweeted: “May Allah keep rewarding your hard work and efforts.”

Senior separatist leader Umer Farooq also tweeted: “Congratulations to brave Insha Mushtaq… Despite going through the trauma of losing her eyesight due to pellets, she has managed an amazing feat. Her determination and resilience is an example for everyone. May Allah bless her always!”

More than 200 people hit by pellets fired by security forces during street protests in 2016 lost their vision either permanently or partially.

The unrest began on July 8, 2016 when Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces in Anantnag district.

 A court here on Tuesday sent a Jet Airways crew and her accomplice, arrested on charges of involvement in the smuggling of US dollars worth Rs 3.21 crore, to two days’ judicial custody.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Monday arrested Deveshi Kulshreshtha, who was on duty on a Hong Kong-bound Jet Airways flight, and her accomplice Amit Malhotra on charges of smuggling foreign currency.

Also Read: Watch | Jet Airways crew arrested for smuggling forex: DRI

Both were presented before a Duty Magistrate here on Tuesday, who remanded them to judicial custody till January 11.

“US dollars worth Rs 3.21 crore were seized from a lady crew of a Hong Kong-bound Jet Airways flight on Monday night at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here,” a DRI statement said.

With an aim to cater to the mass market, broadcaster Discovery Communications today said it will be launching its general entertainment channel (GEC) Jeet on February 12, with a reach of over 100 million households in the country.

This is the first time the company, which is known for its knowledge and lifestyle channels is foraying into the GEC space.

“With Jeet, this is our first entry into the next 120 million households, the mass of the population. Globally, we don’t do general entertainment channels but India is unique and rich and this is what it takes to win the masses,” Discovery Communications India senior vice president and general manager- South Asia Karan Bajaj told reporters here.

The new channel, which will replace the media firm’s Investigation Discovery (ID), will be a pay channel with five hours of fresh programming every day. Discovery Jeet will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

“The exciting content proposition, the never-before reach at launch and a disruptive marketing campaign make us confident about the success of the channel,” Bajaj added.

The company has also partnered with Netflix as the exclusive global over-the-top (OTT) platform partner for the content of its new channel, making it available to audiences in more than 190 countries worldwide.

“All of the content would be available on Netflix after it is aired on television. They have extraordinary global exposure and their philosophy of differentiated content is a very good marriage with us,” he said.

Hitting out at the BJP-led government for its “regressive policies”, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday said what the country needed was policies and not leaders. He said alternative policies would be the basis of Opposition unity and hope for other secular parties.

Talking to the media at a “Meet the Press” under the aegis of Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) here, Yechury termed the idea of electoral bonds “regressive” and made a strong pitch for state funding of political parties and a ban on the flow of corporate funds directly. He said the bonds “remove limits of corporate funding leading to the establishment of shell companies. Nobody knows who redeems the bonds and it is very opaque and anti-democratic.”

“Contesting elections is now akin to a business enterprise, possible only for the wealthy. This needs stringent reform. At the outset, a good move will be to ban availability of corporate funds to political parties,” he said.

He wanted to know why the reports of the two committees ~ Dinesh Goswami and Indrajit Gupta ~ which favoured state funding were not implemented. There is a need for bringing a new legislation in regard to election funding, he said, adding that corporates should donate to the Election Commission.

Yechury described the prevailing situation in the country as a “critical time of our political history”. He said he unequivocally opposed any curbs of freedom of the press and felt the present curbs are worse than during the time of Mrs Indira Gandhi. It was “an undeclared form of emergency”, he added.

Yechury spoke on various issues ranging from the upcoming Assembly elections in Tripura to Opposition unity and foreign policy. He painted a gloomy picture of the government’s handling of various issues while being strongly critical of the “growing intolerance”. He slammed the government for not allowing Jignesh Mevani to hold a protest meet in the Capital.

The CPM leader said, “Gaurakshaks are going berserk all over the country. We demanded a ban on gaurakshaks and moral policing. Why are private armies of gaurakshaks being allowed and not one word of condemnation by the government? This is not acceptable.”

On the coming assembly elections in Tripura, Yechury said, “Tripura would be BJP’s Waterloo. For electoral benefit, BJP would let loose mayhem but we are prepared for it. The BJP’s fulcrum would be to unite all anti-left forces and a major battle is to be fought in Tripura and the outcome of the Assembly elections would have wider implications for the North East.”

On Aadhaar, he said, “we have been opposing Aadhaar as it is a violation of fundamental rights of the citizens under the Constitution.”

On foreign policy, Yechury said, “I am very worried as it has shifted in a big way. It was independent but has now shifted and become part of US global interest. The countries which we said were twin brothers like Nepal have now moved away. We cannot keep good relations with our neighbours. The Prime Minister visits Israel instead of Palestine and at the UN it votes with Palestine. It is much more than flip-flop and it is a direct shift towards a pro-US foreign policy detrimental to India’s interests.”

On the generational change in politics, Yechury said, “There is a generational shift and demographically the younger leadership cannot be left out and this generational shift is positive. Such a shift also shows youth taking up issues very relevant today.”

At least six persons, including four police personnel, were killed on Tuesday in an explosion near the Balochistan Assembly building in Pakistan’s Quetta city.

The explosion took place near a police truck parked on Zarghoon Road, in the city’s high-security Red Zone, 300 metres from the provincial assembly building, Geo News reported.

Hospital sources confirmed the death toll to Geo and said 17 others were injured in the blast.

The exact nature of the blast was not known yet, said the police. However, according to initial reports, a suicide attacker on a motorcycle was attempting to target the Balochistan Assembly building but detonated his explosives near the high-security Red Zone area.

A large number of security personnel had been present near the site of the blast as a session of the Balochistan Assembly had just concluded. The area also houses several important government buildings.

A bus was also damaged in the blast.

Security officials said a bomb disposal team was present at the location conducting necessary search and sweep exercise.

Superstar Aamir Khan gave the mahurat clap for the upcoming film Total Dhamaal here on Tuesday.

The film is being directed by Indra Kumar.

However, he played assistant to actor Anil Kapoor in directing the ‘mahurat’ shot, for which actress Madhuri Dixit switched on the camera. The shot took place in the presence of Ajay Devgn, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Javed Jaffery and Sanjay Mishra, read a statement from the film’s makers.

Aamir Khan sounds the mahurat clap… Madhuri Dixit switches on the camera… Anil Kapoor directs the mahurat shot… #TotalDhamaal shoot begins today… Stars Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi, Sanjay Mishra and Boman Irani… Directed by Indra Kumar… Presented by Fox Star Studios… Produced by Ajay Devgn Films, Ashok Thakeria, Markand Adhikari, Anand Pandit and Fox Star Studios… 7 Dec 2018 release.

A post shared by Taran Adarsh (@taranadarsh) on Jan 9, 2018 at 1:47am PST

Presented by Fox Star Studios, “Total Dhamaal” is jointly-produced by Ajay Devgn Ffilms, Ashok Thakeria, Markand Adhikari, Anand Pandit and Fox Star Studios. It also features Riteish Deshmukh.

Actress Richa Chadha, who has praised Neeraj Ghaywan’s Juice, says she wants to see more of the short film’s lead actress Shefali Shah on-screen.

Juice was named the Best Film at the Filmfare Short Films Awards 2018, and Shefali bagged the Best Actor (Female).

Richa tweeted on Tuesday: “Neeraj, the film was amaze! So real, like peeking into our own living rooms. I want to see so much more of Shefali Shah in films and in every possible medium! The whole cast was beautiful. Congratulations. Very well deserved. Love you.”

Juice is about gender and family dynamics, and it portrays patriarchy and misogyny. The 14-minute film also stars Manish Choudhary.

This is not the first time Ghaywan has won an award for a film. Earlier, the director received the Indira Gandhi Award for the Best Debut Film of a director for Masaan at the 63rd Indian National Film Awards.

Chip giant Intel has announced that two million vehicles from BMW, Nissan and Volkswagen will use Mobileye Road Experience Management (REM) technology to build and rapidly update low-cost, scalable high-definition maps throughout this year.

Intel bought Israeli sensor and chipmaker Mobileye last year for $15 billion.

In a keynote address at the “CES 2018” here on Monday, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich highlighted how data is transforming the world around us and driving the next great wave of technology innovation – from autonomous driving to Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Virtual Reality (VR).

Krzanich unveiled Intel’s first autonomous vehicle in its 100-car test fleet, the company said in a statement.

He also announced new collaborations with SAIC Motor and NavInfo to extend crowd-sourced map building to China.

Focused on the future of AI, Krzanich announced a partnership with Ferrari North America to use Intel’s AI technologies to apply data from the racetrack to enhance the experience for fans and drivers.

In the field of immersive media, he introduced Intel Studios and announced Paramount Pictures will be the first major Hollywood studio to explore this technology.

“Data is going to introduce social and economic changes that we see perhaps once or twice in a century,” Krzanich said.

“We not only find data everywhere today, but it will be the creative force behind the innovations of the future. Data is going to redefine how we experience life – in our work, in our homes, how we travel, and how we enjoy sports and entertainment,” he added.

Krzanich also announced that Intel will enable the largest scale virtual reality event to date with the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, using “Intel True VR” technology.

Realising the concern in New Delhi over some of the recent unsavoury developments in bilateral ties, Maldives President Yameen Abdul Gayoom is sending his Foreign Minister Mohamed Asim to New Delhi on Wednesday to mend fences with India.

Asim, who is visiting India as Special Envoy of the Maldives President, will have a detailed meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to discuss the issues which have affected the relationship. He will also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend him an invitation to visit the Indian Ocean archipelago. The Maldives is the only country in the region Modi has not visited so far.

Male signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China late last year without any debate in the Maldives Parliament, shaking India’s trust in the island nation. The signing of the FTA is perceived as a reversal of the Maldives’ ‘India First’ policy since it came despite an assurance from the President that an FTA with India would be signed first.

After the signing of the Maldives-China FTA, the Ministry of External Affairs had clearly stated that the Maldives should be sensitive to New Delhi’s concerns and keep in mind its “India First” policy.

The growing relationship between the Maldives and China has fuelled India’s fears of China increasing its clout in India’s own backyard.

In another recent incident, the Maldives government suspended three local councillors for meeting the Indian ambassador to Male. Media reports in recent days have also suggested that the Maldivian authorities have imposed undeclared restrictions on the movements of the Indian envoy.

Actor Mohan Babu filmed a thrilling action sequence for Gayatri.

He shot it at the Ramoji Film City.

“It was an absolute happiness to direct an obsessive artist like him and see him perform,” Kanal Kannan, the film’s action director, said in a statement.

Mohan Babu performed the stunt rig action sequence with style, and a lot of planning and practice was involved in order to minimise the risks, Kannan said.

Nero Motion control rig is being used for adding visual effects in Gayatri, in which Mohan Babu plays the hero as well as the villain. This rig is used to capture the fight sequence between the two of them.

According to the statement, the film’s makers had especially flown in a stunt rig from Australia, coupled with a well-planned stunt design and stunt co-ordinators, to create a unique visual spectacle for a fight scene.

The fight sequence is being shot for the last eight days and will continue for another three days. The shooting was halted for four days because of the birth of Mohan Babu’s son Vishnu Manchu’s baby.

Vishnu Manchu also features in Gayatri as a romantic character opposite Shriya Saran. The film will release on February 9.