Australia to help Punjab’s efforts in cancer eradicationAustralia to help Punjab’s efforts in cancer eradication

Friday, 05/05/2017

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Chandigarh : Australia has agreed to provide its expertise to help the Captain Amarinder Singh government’s efforts to eradicate cancer by identifying the root cause of the water problem in southern Punjab, and in promoting modern practices in agriculture and allied industries in the state.

This was conveyed to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh here on Thursday by Australian High Commissioner Harinder Sidhu, who also extended her government’s cooperation to the state in the fields of education, sports, skill training, agriculture and animal husbandry.

The two sides discussed a host of issues of mutual interest for collaboration and bilateral cooperation, an official spokesperson said after the meeting, which was attended by the CM’s Principal Secretary Tejveer Singh and Media Advisor Raveen Thukral.

The Chief Minister sought Australia’s help in identifying the reasons for the poor quality of underground water, especially in southern Punjab, which was the major cause of the devastating spread of cancer in the districts of Muktsar, Bathinda, Sangrur, Moga, Faridkot, Fazilka and Ferozepur. The Australian High Commissioner, who has Punjabi roots as her ancestors hailed from village Dharamkot in district Moga, expressed concern over the situation and offered all possible help on behalf of her government to wipe out the cancer menace from the state.

Mutual cooperation in the fields of agriculture, food processing and horticulture was also discussed by the two leaders, with Captain Amarinder suggesting a farmer exchange programme between Punjab and Australia to enable the state’s progressive farmers to learn and develop new skills and techniques, and adopt modern farm practices of agriculture to maximize their yield. Sidhu also offered to help the state in exploring possibilities to develop new varieties of vegetables and fruits to supplement the income of farmers, besides giving technical know-how for ‘embryo transfer’ to improve cattle breeding.

Sidhu lauded Captain Amarinder’s successful efforts in wooing industry to Punjab. The Chief Minister, while apprising the High Commissioner about his deliberations with leading industry captains since taking over the state’s reins, said he looked forward to similarly having strong industrial collaborations and technical tie-ups with the Australian Government in order to put Punjab on the fast track of development.

Responding positively to a proposal by the Chief Minister, Harinder Sidhu said her government was keen to tie up with the educational institutions and universities in the field of higher and technical education in Punjab.

Sidhu seeks oz expertise in education

Chandigarh: Australian High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu on Thursday held talks with Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu here to discuss mutual co-operation in education and sports sector.

Sidhu, the minister for local government, tourism and cultural affairs told the high commissioner about the large number of students from Punjab studying in Australia and contributing towards the country’s prosperity.

Appreciating the role of Punjabis living in Australia, the high commissioner said that Australia and Punjab stand a grand chance of gaining from co-operation in education as well as sports, an official spokesman said.

Further elaborating, she said that the Punjab Institute of Sports recently inked an agreement with Australia regarding extending co-operation to each other which is working wonders for both parties on the sports front.

Sidhu also discussed the smart city project with Harinder and articulated his plan of developing Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar as “Smart Cities”, the spokesman said.

The minister also said that he is optimistic about getting whole hearted co-operation from Australia for this purpose.

The high commissioner responded positively while also expressing happiness at the initiative to strengthen co- operation between the two sides.

She also lauded the contribution made by Sidhu while representing India in cricket and MLA Pargat Singh in Hockey, the spokesman added.