NIGHT CURFEW TO BE IMPOSED IN ALL PUNJAB TOWNS & CITIES AS CM ANNOUNCES FRESH CURBS FROM DEC. 1

· CAPT AMARINDER ALSO ORDERS DOUBLING OF FINE FOR NOT WEARING MASKS OR KEEPING SOCIAL DISTANCE

· HOTELS, RESTAURANTS, MARRIAGE PALACES TO SHUT DOWN AT 9.30 P.M., ALL CURBS TO BE REVIEWED ON DEC. 15

handigarh, November 25: Amid the grim Covid situation in Delhi-NCR and apprehensions of a second wave in Punjab, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered a series of fresh restrictions in the state, including re-imposition of night curfew in all towns and cities as well as doubling of fine for not wearing masks or following social distancing norms, with effect from December 1.

The curbs, which will shall be reviewed on December 15, also restrict opening timings of all hotels, restaurants and marriage palaces till 9.30 p.m. Night curfew will remain in force from 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., announced the Chief Minister, warning people against letting their guard down under any circumstances.

Giving details of the new restrictions after a high-level state Covid review meeting, an official spokesperson said fine for now following Covid appropriate behaviour shall be hiked from the present Rs 500 to Rs 1000.

Given the in-flow of patients from Delhi for treatment in Punjab, it has also been decided to review and optimise the beds availability in the state’s private hospitals. The Chief Minister has asked Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan to work with the concerned departments to encourage more private hospitals to come on board and earmark beds for Covid care.

To further strengthen the availability of oxygen and ICU beds, Captain Amarinder has ordered strengthening of the L II and L III, with constant monitoring of districts that are not equipped with L III facilities. The management practices in GMCHs and Civil Hospitals should also be examined in light of the recommendations of the report received from the Expert Group, he said.

The Chief Minister has also directed the Health and Medical Education departments to make emergency appointments of specialists, super-specialists, nurses and paramedics, to further augment the manpower which was recently strengthened with the recruitment of 249 specialist doctors and 407 medical officers. The departments have also been asked to consider preparing 4th and 5th year MBBS students as reserve and back-up, in case needed in the future.

On the testing front, the Chief Minister stressed the need to fully utilise the 25,500 daily RT-PCR testing capacity, and directed targeted and regular testing of potential super spreaders, including Government officials. The District Hospitals must have 24 x 7 testing available, and the same must also be made available at other convenient locations where people can easily access the same, he said.

While the increase in contract tracing was a positive sign, steps must be taken to ensure that all these contacts are also tested, said the Chief Minister, adding that the Patient Tracking Officers must also be assigned this task.

To ensure that no deaths take place in home isolation, Captain Amarinder said the agency hired to look into these cases should keep close tabs on such patients. While mortality audit was ongoing, it was a matter of satisfaction that the Department was now collecting reasons for placing patients on ventilator by private hospitals, and there was a referral group available to monitor these patients, he added.

Referring to the reports of early vaccine coming in, the Chief Minister said while he was happy to note that the data base for healthcare workers was ready, the departments should also look at the other categories of frontline workers who could be prioritised for the vaccine.

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Punjab Government postponed exam of Ward Attendant

Chandigarh, November 25:Taking notice of upsurge in COVID-19 cases in Punjab, the State Government has decided to postpone the exam of ward attendant which would be held on 28^th November 2020.

Giving details in the press communiqué, the Health Minister Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu said that about 1.5 lacs candidates expected to appear in this exam for the post of ward attendant in the health department. The decision has taken in the video conference where Vice-Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Science Mr. Raj Bahadur was also present. Mr. Sidhu said that the next date of the exam to be announced soon.

He informed that it was also decided in the meeting that the course of B.Sc in Nursing and Pharmacy would be initiated in the next session at Dr. BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences, Mohali.

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• Nursing & Pharmacy Colleges to be opened under Dr. BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences in Mohali – Health Minister, Balbir Singh Sidhu

• B.Sc in Nursing and Pharmacy to be initiated in the next session

Chandigarh/SAS Nagar, November 25:Considering the prolonged demand of Mohali’s residents, State Government has approved the Nursing & Pharmacy Colleges under Dr. BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences in Mohali.

Disclosing this here today, the Health & Labour Minister Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu said that the decision has been taken in the video conference where along with others Vice-Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Science Mr. Raj Bahadur was also present.

He said that the course of B.Sc in Nursing and Pharmacy would be initiated in the next session in new collages under Dr. BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences, Mohali.

Mr. Sidhu clarified that in case of paucity of land in the concerned colleges, it would be provided free of cost to the Institute.

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PUNJAB GOVT RELEASES RS. 1561.08 CR TO CLEAR PENDING PAYMENTS UNDER VARIOUS SCHEMES AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

RS. 802.35 CR RELEASED ON ACCOUNT OF CLEARING GPF/GIS PAYMENTS TILL NOV 24

Chandigarh, November 25: The Punjab Government on Wednesday released funds to the tune of Rs. 1561.08 crore on various schemes and development projects including sum of Rs. 802.35 crore towards payment of General Provident Fund (Final & Advances)/Group Insurance Scheme to its employees upto November 24.

According to an official spokesperson, the Finance Department has also released Rs.94 crore for Hoshiarpur and Rs.75 crore for Tarn Taran out of total Rs.169 crore on account of 14^th Finance Commission Grants and Rs.86.60 crore to Punjab Infrastructure Development Board for the execution of various development schemes and projects across the state.

Apart from these, a sum of Rs.69.31 crore has been released under Standard Object of Expenditure (SOE) to be incurred on electricity (Rs.38.68 crore), Petrol Oil & Lubricants (POL) Rs.18.60 crore, Rent Rates and Taxes (RRT) Rs.4.19 crore and other office expenses (Rs.7.84 crore). Another Rs.51.30 crore has been released under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Rs.50 crore each under Smart City Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) to boost the pace of urban development.

Pointing out further, the spokesperson said that Rs.48 crore has been released for the payment of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Rs.40 crore on account of fee paid for Court/Tribunal Cases etc. Similarly, Rs.39.96 crore has been paid to Punjab Urban Development Authority for debt servicing besides Rs. 39 crore to the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and Rs.26.42 crore under National Health Mission (NHM).

The Finance Department also released Rs.25 crore for Smart Phones to the youth, Rs.23.59 crore for execution of Flood Control Projects besides Rs.19.54 crore to the Welfare of SC/BC department for Shagun Scheme. An amount of Rs.14 crore has been released to fund Employment Generation & Training programme under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and Rs.7.01 crore for Technical Education.

These funds have been released to boost the tempo of overall development and growth in the state with a directive from Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to all the departments to intensify its efforts for additional resource mobilisation by cutting down wasteful expenditure to further consolidate state’s fiscal position especially due to sluggish economy amid Covid-19.

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INDUSTRIES DEPT LAUNCHES TWO-MONTH LONG REGISTERATION DRIVE UNDER RIGHT TO BUSINESS ACT

Chandigarh, November 25: The Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Punjab in partnership with Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) has launched a 2-month long MSME Registration Drive under the Right to Business Act, 2020.

Disclosing this here today, the spokesperson of the Industries department said that the drive launched during the Global Entrepreneurship Week last week from the Ludhiana district and will gradually be expand across Punjab. A webinar was held on the occasion with key stakeholders including industry associations, prominent entrepreneurs, NGOs, think tanks to inform them about the provisions and processes for in-principle approval and deemed approval under the Right to Business Act, the spokesperson added.

The Government of Punjab recently notified the Right to Business Act, which offers an easy process of self-declaration for newly incorporated MSMEs and exempts them from certain approvals and inspections needed to establish and operate in the state for a period of 3.5 years.

Elaborating further, the spokesperson added that the Act provides for a District Bureau of Enterprise (DBE) in each district, under the overall superintendence, direction and control of the State Government and the State Nodal Agency. The DBE is headed by the Deputy Commissioner as CEO and General Manager of the District Industries Centre (DIC) as Additional CEO, with other members to be notified by the Government from time to time.

The DBE maintains a record of ‘Declaration of Intent’ received, and issues ‘certificate of In-Principle Approval’ under the Act within 3 working days in approved industrial parks and within 15 working days outside the approved industrial parks, as per the recommendations of Scrutiny Committee. After the approval, a new MSME unit will be able to start its project immediately and may apply for Regulatory Approvals within three and half years from the issuance of ‘Certificate of In-Principle Approval’.

The launch webinar was held under the chairpersonship of Mr. Alok Shekhar, Principal Secretary, Department of Industries and Commerce. Mr. Shekhar expressed that the Right to Business Act is aimed at easing the regulatory burden on newly incorporated MSMEs by providing enabling provision of self-declaration and also exempting them from certain approvals and inspections for establishment and operations of MSMEs in the state.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sibin C., Director, Department of Industries and Commerce present in the webinar and laid great importance on the concerns, feedback and suggestions from the entrepreneurs and industry associations. He expressed the willingness and agility of the Department to integrate and evolve as per the needs of the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Punjab.

So far 2 entrepreneurs from Patiala and SAS Nagar have successfully registered their enterprises under the Right to Business Act within record 13 and 10 working days respectively. The Department is deeply committed in the implementation of the bold reforms notified under the Act and invited commitments from the stakeholders to spread the word on the provisions of the Act across their member bodies and entrepreneurial networks.

The webinar saw attendance and participation from Mr. Upkar Singh Ahuja (CICU), Mr. Badishk Jindal (Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations), Mr. Manjit Singh Matharoo, (FICO Megha Machine Tool Cluster of Ludhiana), Gurmit Singh Kular (FICO), Charanjiv Singh and Vinod Thapar (Knitwear & Textile Hub), Ashok Makkar (Punjab Dyers' Association), Jeevan Gopisetty (NEMO), Rishi Agarwal (Avantis Regtech), Prashant Narang (Centre for Civil Society), Swati Murali (Haqdarshak) to name a few.

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Department of Health & Family Welfare, Punjab

Media Bulletin-COVID-19 25thNovember 2020 (05:00pm)

1. Details of Samples and Cases:-

1	Total Samples taken	3075865
2	Total samples collected on the day	24323
3	Total No. of patients tested positive	148435
4	No. of patients discharged	136622
5	Number of active cases	7129
6	No. of Patients on oxygen support	137
7	Patients who are critical and on ventilator support	13
8	Total Deaths reported	4684

On 25thNovember 2020

1.	Number of new patients on oxygen support	NIL
2.	Number of new patients admitted in ICU	NIL
3.	Number of new patients put on ventilator support	02 (Ludhiana-1, Mansa-1)
4.	Number of new patients discharged	444 (Ludhiana-81, Jalandhar-106, Patiala-45,SAS Nagar-4, Amritsar-29, Gurdaspur-6, Bathinda-55, Hoshiarpur- 42, Ferozepur-5, Pathankot-3,Sangrur-6,Kapurthala- 11, Faridkot-16,Muktsar-2, Fazilka-5, Moga-4, Ropar- 13,FG Sahib-1, Barnala-2, Tarn Taran-2,SBS Nagar-4, Mansa-2)
5.	Number of new deaths reported	31 (Bathinda-1,Faridkot-1, Gurdaspur-4, Hoshiarpur-3, Jalandhar-3,Ludhiana-2, Mansa-1, SAS Nagar-2, Mukatsar-2, SBS Nagar-2, Pathankot-3, Patiala-1, Ropar-4, Sangrur-2)

Patients reported positive on 25thNovember 2020- 785

District	Number of cases	Source of Infection outside Punjab	Local Cases	Remarks
Ludhiana	104	1 New Case (International Traveler)	37 Contacts of Positive Cases, 8 New Cases (OPD), 42 New Cases (ILI), 4 New Case (HCW), 2 New Case (Pre- operative), 10 New Cases	----------
Jalandhar	145	----------	----------	Rest Cases details pending as reports received late
Patiala	110	----------	13 Contacts of Positive Cases, 97 New Cases	----------
SAS Nagar	138	----------	----------	Rest Cases details pending as reports received late
Amritsar	62	----------	20 Contacts of Positive Cases, 42 New Cases	----------
Gurdaspur	31	----------	7 Contacts of Positive Cases, 2 New Cases (ILI), 7 New Cases (OPD), 15 New Cases	----------
Bathinda	25		2 Contacts of Positive Cases, 6 New Cases (ILI), 17 New Cases	----------
Hoshiarpur	26	----------	7 Contacts of Positive Cases, 6 New Cases (ILI), 13 New Cases	----------
Ferozepur	3	----------	3 Contacts of Positive Cases	----------
Pathankot	21	----------	21 New Cases	----------
Sangrur	15	----------	4 Contacts of Positive Cases, 1 New Case (ILI), 10 New Cases	----------
Kapurthala	6	----------	6 New Cases	----------

Faridkot	8	----------	3 contacts of Positive Cases, 1 New Case (ILI),4 New Cases	----------
Muktsar	16	----------	3 New Case (ILI),9 New Cases (OPD), 2 Contacts of Positive Cases, 2 New Cases	----------
Fazilka	8	----------	6 New Cases (ILI), 2 New Cases (OPD)	----------
Moga	2	----------	2 New Cases	----------
Ropar	20	----------	20 New Cases	----------
FG Sahib	9	----------	9 Contacts of Positive Cases	----------
Barnala	4	----------	2 Contacts of Positive Cases, 2 New Case (OPD)	----------
Tarn Taran	1	----------	1 New Case	----------
SBS Nagar	17	----------	4 Contacts of Positive Cases, 2 New Cases (ILI), 11 New Cases	----------
Mansa	14	----------	14 New Cases	----------

=*1 New Case Source of Infection out of Punjab

2. Cumulative Cases:-

S. No.	District	Total Confirmed Cases	Total Active Cases	Total Cured	Deaths
1.	Ludhiana	22346	858	20599	889
2.	Jalandhar	17312	1075	15696	541
3.	Patiala	14281	568	13294	419
4.	SAS Nagar	14772	1605	12898	269
5.	Amritsar	12804	618	11708	478
6.	Gurdaspur	7322	163	6943	216
7.	Bathinda	8111	389	7543	179
8.	Hoshiarpur	6847	182	6418	247
9.	Ferozepur	4348	62	4151	135
10.	Pathankot	4913	200	4583	130
11.	Sangrur	4177	98	3891	188
12.	Kapurthala	4345	93	4070	182
13.	Faridkot	3612	171	3376	65
14.	Muktsar	3510	235	3191	84
15.	Fazilka	3541	198	3282	61
16.	Moga	2597	73	2438	86
17.	Ropar	2792	180	2470	142
18.	FG Sahib	2304	73	2124	107
19.	Barnala	2199	101	2041	57
20.	Tarn Taran	2049	15	1940	94
21.	SBS Nagar	2103	74	1957	72
22.	Mansa	2150	98	2009	43
	Total	148435	7129	136622	4684

*From Gurdaspur 3 case entries shifted to other states.

*From Mukatsar 2 repeat case entries deleted

*From Moga 10 repeat case entries deleted

Containment Zones:-

s.no	District	s.no.	containments	Total population of the area contained
1	Muktsar sahib	1	District jail	428
	Total			428

Micro Containment Zones:-

s.no	District	s.no.	Microcontainments	Total population of the area contained
1	Ropar	1	NCC CAMP Ropar	35
		2	GianiZail Singh Nagar, Ropar	204
		3	JHINJARI	251
	Total			490
2	Muktsar	1	Puda Colony Malout	468

	Total			468
3	Ludhiana	1	472 D Model Town Extn
		2	B Block Kitchlu Nagar Ldh	345
		3	5433/9 Raghuvir Park HaibowalKalan	496
		4	2736 stno 5 C Guru Nanak Colony Gill Road	468
		5	1662 Stno 1 Vishvakarma Nagar Tajpur Road Ldh	1612
		6	New KitchlunAgar Nr Radha Swami SatsangBhawan	105
		7	VillHariaUppal CHC Machhiwara	246
		8	#40 Agar Nagar ExtnFerozpur road Ldh	280
		9	B-19 B44 Tagore Nagar B Block Ldh	288
		10	1067 Dandi Swami Road Officer Colony DR. sandep Chopra Lane Ldh	156
		11	614/14, STNO-7 SHAM NAGAR, NEAR BUS STAND, LUDHIAN	352
		12	177 MODEL TOWN, LUDHIANA	225
		13	134-194 NEW MODEL TOWN, LUDHIANA
	Total			4573
4	Amritsar	1	KatraMoti Ram	89

				89
5	Jalandhar	1	Durga Colony	17
	Total			17
6	Pathankot	1	MISSION ROAD
	Total
	GRAND TOTAL		20	5637