Bittu takes ‘ATM’ dig at Chadha after RS ouster
Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu took a swipe at AAP MP Raghav Chadha after he was removed as his party’s deputy leader of the Rajya Sabha. Bittu alleged that Chadha’s “role as an ATM” for the party was now over. “He used to raise funds for Arvind Kejriwal, but now Kejriwal has found a ‘bank’ instead. As long as he could deliver ‘maal’ from Punjab, he was useful; now his capacity is over as bigger players have entered and Kejriwal has opened a direct account. The middleman has been shown the door,” Bittu alleged. He also warned CM Bhagwant Mann that he could face a similar fate if he stopped aligning with Kejriwal.
‘Power quartet’ of women command in Faridkot
One of the most striking shifts in the Faridkot district of Punjab is that the women officers call the shots both in civil administration and policing, thus breaking long-standing barriers, as four of its top administrative positions are now held by women officers. Senior IAS officer Kanwalpreet Kaur recently took charge as divisional commissioner of Faridkot division. Her appointment completed what many are calling a rare “power quartet” of women’s command. Already Poonamdeep Kaur is the deputy commissioner of Faridkot. While on the policing side, Nilambari Vijay Jagdale is serving as IG of Faridkot Range and Dr Pragya Jain is SSP of Faridkot.
PBW 826 variety wheat decor at Lok Bhavan
PBW 826, a wheat variety developed by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana, has been selected for display at the Punjab Lok Bhavan during this year’s Baisakhi celebrations, as a symbolic gesture to state’s legacy and its contribution to national food security. Around 80 pots of PBW 826 wheat variety will be taken from PAU and prominently displayed at the governor’s house at Chandigarh. As this year instead of conventional floral arrangements it will be wheat-based décor. At present the PBW 826 variety of wheat currently covers 40 to 45% of the total wheat cultivation area in Punjab, largely because of its heat tolerance.
Harpreet Bajwa
Our correspondent in Chandigarh
hsbajwa73@gmail.com