British High Commissioner meets Badal

Chandigarh, Jun 13 (UNI) The Punjab Government is likely to collaborate with British authorities and institutions to fight environmental pollution and the consequent health hazards.

The matter was brought up by Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal with British High Commissioner Sir Michael Arthur, when the latter called on him at his official residence this afternoon.

The chief minister sought cooperation from the United Kingdom authorities for the conservation of the environment, especially in the wake of the alarming situation of global warming which has posed a great threat to the ecological balance. Mr Badal said it was high time to seriously dwell on the issue of global warming.

While pointing out that a large number of doctors and engineers from Punjab were concerened about their future in the UK due to some stringent rules and regulations, Mr Badal sought the High Commissioners cooperation in ''protecting the rights of these professionals settled in the UK''.

On this, the High Commissioners assured the chief minister of full cooperation from UK government to ensure professional security and liberty to the NRIs settled there.

Mr Badal also requested the High Commissioner to send a delegation of English speaking teachers from UK to Punjab to improve the quality of rural education here.

The High commissioner also assured Mr Badal that he would take up the issue with British Council for sending English speaking teachers from UK to Punjab under 'education and talent exchange programme.' Mr Badal also sought the technical assistance from the UK to advise the state government for the rejuvenation of the canal system, the oldest one in the country, which was established by the Britishers.

The High Commissioner also promised to look into the possibilities for developing synergies in the fields of agriculture, bio technology, nano technology and information technology between the UK and Punjab government.

The High Commissioner also met Leader of the Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Punjab BJP Chief Rajinder Bhandari. He will be visiting Amritsar, Jalandhar and the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) at Ludhiana tomorrow.

UNI