The Punjab Government today gave in-principle approval to the construction of a shorter and alternative route to the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport from Chandigarh.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit and attended by Punjab Chief Secretary VK Janjua, UT Adviser Dharam Pal among other officers at the UT Secretariat.

The UT Administration has been deliberating on developing a shorter and alternative route to the airport, as the existing one is longer as residents have to travel 11.5 km to reach the airport via Junction 63.

The alternative route has been prepared after consultations with all stakeholders, including the Punjab Government, Ministry of DEFENCE, Air Force authorities, Chandigarh International Airport Ltd, Ministry of Railways.

Despite showing signs of easing, the prices in Haryana continue to remain above the comfort levels for both the rural and urban Population as the state endures a significantly high rate of compared to other states in the region and at the national level.

The sustained high level of inflation has put a continued strain on the pocket of the Haryana residents, affecting the overall cost of living. Inflation refers to the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time, lowering the purchasing power of consumers and pushing the cost of living.

Despite the rate falling below theReserve Bank of Indias (RBI) upper Tolerance limit of 6%, the inflation rate of the state remained higher than the all-India level, which stood at 4.70%.

Haryana featured among the states with the high rate of inflation, which was largely pushed by the surge in clothing, fuel and housing prices. Telangana (6.02%) and Uttarakhand (6.04%) are the other states which reeled under significantly higher rates of inflation.

The other states with high rates of inflation include Kerala (5.63%),Tamil Nadu(5.61%),Bihar(5.33), Uttar Pradesh (5.29%) andAndhra Pradesh(5.18%). The price data is collected by the field staff of the NSO by visiting selected 1,114 urban markets and 1,181 villages covering all the states and UTs.

The RBI will be among the 13 international regulators taking part in GFINs Greenwashing TechSprint. The central bank has invited Indian firms to participate in the event and has opened the application window for all India-based firms and innovators to apply. The window will close on May 21, 2023. RBI will participate in a virtual TechSprint hosted on the Financial Conduct Authoritys (FCA) Digital Sandbox.