3. Meaning of the word “Punjab”
The term Punjab comprises two words: "punj meaning
five and ab meaning water, thus the land of five
rivers."[5] The Greeksreferred to Punjab
as Pentapotamia, an inland delta of five converging
rivers.[6] In Avesta, the sacred text of Zoroastrians, the
Punjab region is associated with the ancient hapta
həndu or Sapta Sindhu, the Land of Seven
Rivers.[7] Historically, the Punjab region has been the
gateway to the Indian Subcontinent for most foreign
invaders.[6]
4. Punjab,India
Punjab ( i/pʌnˈdʒɑːb/; also spelt Panjab, is
a state in the northwest of the Republic of India,
forming part of the larger Punjab region.The state
is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal
Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and
southeast, Rajasthanto the southwest, and the
Pakistani province of Punjab to the west. To the
north it is bounded by the Indian state of Jammu
and Kashmir. The state capital is located
in Chandigarh, a Union Territory and also the
capital of the neighbouring state of Haryana.
5. Division of Punjab
After the partition of India in 1947, the Punjab
province of British India was divided between
India and Pakistan. The Indian Punjabwas divided
in 1966 with the formation of the new states
of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, as well as the
current state of Punjab. Punjab is the only state in
India with a majority Sikh population.[4]
6. Agriculture
Agriculture is the largest industry in Punjab.[8] Other
major industries include the manufacturing
of scientific instruments, agricultural goods, electrical
goods, financial services, machine
tools, textiles, sewing machines, sports
goods, starch, tourism,fertilisers, bicycles, garments,
and the processing of pine oil and sugar. Punjab also
has the largest number of steel rolling mill plants in
India, which are located in Steel Town Mandi
Gobindgarh, District Fatehgarh Sahib.
7. Disaster in Punjab
(july.08.2010) Patiala
With the flood situation in Patiala villages worsening
following the breach in the SYL Canal on Tuesday night,
Punjab has requisitioned the services of the National
Disaster Response Force.
One Ram Singh, 17, of village Sarala Kalan in Ghanaur died
and three others are still fighting for their life after they
were electrocuted by an electric pole which fell into the
water.
Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, who visited the
flood-affected areas after making an aerial survey of the
flood situation in Patiala, said 800 jawans of the Bathinda-
based National Disaster Response Force had been
requisitioned for deployment in the flood-affected areas.
8. "They would be in the flood-prone areas by tomorrow and start
relief operations." He added that two government officials
would also be deployed in each flood-affected village to help
rescue the marooned residents and carry out relief operations.
Badal also gave a cheque of Rs 1 lakh to Ram Singh's family.
At leat 108 villages around Ghanaur in Patiala district have been
hit by the 120-feet wide breach in the SYL Canal. With the water
continuing to flow into the villages, the Chief Secretary has
been asked to coordinate with his Haryana counterpart to
work out a solution.
Badal charged Haryana with diverting water towards Punjab
since it had put up bandhs in Hansi-Butana Canal, besides
causing a breach in the SYL canal.
Badal also charged the Centre with ignoring Punjab's demands
for protection of bandhs along the Ghaggar for channelising
water in the flood-prone area.
Badal said the CM would now take up the issue with the PM to
help clear the project for flood-control measures and for
channelising the Ghaggar waters in the flood-prone Ghanaur
and Kanaouri areas.
9. Formation of current punjab
The capital city of the undivided Province of Punjab, Lahore, was allocated to
the Pakistani West Punjab during the partition of British Indiain 1947, so a
new capital for Indian Punjab was built at Chandigarh. Shimla was named
temporary capital of the Punjab until Chandigarh was completed in 1960.
After years of protest by Akali Dal and other Sikh organisations finally Punjab
was divided along linguistic basis in 1966. On 1 November 1966, the Hindi-
speaking southern half of Punjab became a separate state, Haryana, and
the Pahari speaking hilly areas in north east were given to Himachal
Pradesh. Chandigarh was on the border between the two states and became
a separate union territory but serves as the capital of both Punjab and
Haryana. During the 1970s, the Green Revolution brought increased economic
prosperity for the Punjab, mainly due to the late Pratap Singh Kairon.
However, a growing polarisation between the Indian National
Congress central government and the main Sikh political party, the Shiromani
Akali Dal, developed during the 1970s. Hostility and bitterness arose from
what was widely seen by the Akali Dal as increasing alienation, centralization
and discriminatory attitudes towards Punjab by the Government of India.
This prompted the Shiromani Akali Dal to pass the Anandpur Sahib
Resolution, which asked for granting maximum autonomy to the region of
Punjab and other states and limited role and powers of the Central
Government.
10.
11. Sub-division
The area of Punjab can be divided into:
Malwa is a region of Punjab south to river Sutlej. The Malwa
area makes up majority of the Punjab region consisting 11
districts. Cities such
as Ludhiana, Rupnagar, Patiala, Sangrur, Bathinda, Mansa, Fi
rozpur, Fazilka, Rajpura, Moga andAjitgarh are located in
the Malwa region. Malwa is also famous for cotton farming.
Majha is a historical region of the Indian Punjab comprising
the modern districts
of Amritsar, Pathankot, Gurdaspur andTarn Taran. It lies
between rivers Ravi, Beas and the Sutlej. This region is called
the heartland of Punjab and is celebrated as being the
'Cradle of Sikhism'.
12. Doaba is the region of Indian Punjab between the
rivers Beas and Sutlej. The name "Doaba" literally
translates to "land between two rivers" ("Do"
two, "Ab" river; Punjabi). It is one of the most
fertile regions of the world and was the centre of
the Green Revolution in India. To this day, it
remains one of the largest per capita producers of
wheat in the world. The cities in Doaba
are Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar, Nawanshahr
and Kapurthala.
14. Parkash Singh Badal
From 1947, 15 people
have been Chief
Minister of Punjab.
Serving since
2007, Parkash Singh
Badal of the
Shiromani Akali Dal
party is the current
incumbent and
longest-serving
chief minister with
over 15 years in
office.