Malsian (Jalandhar), April 17
Having retired as a schoolteacher a few years back, Gian Singh had set up a small fish farm close to his home at Malsian here on Shahkot Road. But the project, aimed at keeping himself engaged and fetching a small regular income, has today turned out to be a become a booming business.

Now, Gian Singh and his son Paramjit Singh operate two fish farms on a stretch of 3.5 acres each that fetch them a profit of nearly Rs 3.25 lakh per annum. The duo has combined fishing with poultry, diary business and fodder-cultivation to set up an integrated farm that has helped them further raise their gross income.

Gian Singh is into composite culturing of six varieties of fish, including three indigenous ones, Catla, Rohu and Mrigal, and three exotic ones, Common Carp, Silver Carp and Grass Carp.

He informs that all varieties thrive in the same pond without causing any harm to each other. “Catla and Silver Carp are surface feeders taking planktons. Grass Carp, that consumes weeds, and Rohu are column feeders.

“Mrigal and Common Carp are bottom feeders,” he explained.

It was a visit to a fish farm in Andhra Pradesh, organised by the fisheries department, that Gian Singh believes had changed his life for the better.

“I had been sowing wheat-paddy on my land like any other farmer of Punjab. But I was barely able to meet my family needs. I had heard that fishery too was a profitable proposition, hence I contacted the department officials here and simply applied all what I had learnt. The subsidies that I received from the government further boosted my morale,” he revealed.

Marketing has also not been a problem for the fish farmer at all.

“I am selling at least 50 to 60 kg of fish at my farm daily for Rs 50 a kg. Most of the buyers, of course, are migrant labourers who comprise as much as 99 per of the total consumers here.

They are my fixed clients for they know that they will get the same fish for Rs 70 per kg in the market. Above all, my fish is alive for I keep it stored in a fresh water tank till it is sold,” he explained his strategy.

The integrated farm system has further helped him increase his profit. The droppings of the poultry and fodder produced in his fields act as a fish feed.

Besides, he has been sowing mustard and sunflower along the banks of the pond. The cakes of the flowers after extracting the oil too are used as feed, he said.

Another tip that this successful farmer tells is keeping a record of each and every sale and purchase made. “Or else how can you calculate your income. I assess my growth by comparing my annual income with the previous one.

In the financial year 2006-07, I have earned Rs 5.9 lakh while I have made an investment of Rs 1.75 lakh.

“I am not doing this for filing any returns to the income tax department. We have a full waiver for I and my son are independently looking after less than 7 acres of land,” Gian Singh gave the statistics most readily.

The progressive farmer now plans to start a duck farm in the fish ponds.

“The dropping of the ducks helps in increasing the growth of the fish. The ducks also help in aerating the pond naturally as these waddle around,” he says.

He also has plans to buy a de-boning machine that removes the bony structure of the fish and helps double the retail price in the market. A cold storage for poultry meat is also on the future agenda of this hi-tech farmer.

Baldev Singh Randhawa, Chief Executive Officer of the Fish Farmer Development Agency, and Harjinder Singh Randhawa, District Fishery Extension Officer, said the government was offering huge subsidies to the fish farmers at various steps, including excavation of pond, renovation, purchase of feed, aerators and other inputs.

He said the department had recently doled out subsidies to the tune of Rs 4 lakh in Jalandhar. 

Jalandhar, April 17
The district consumer disputes redressal forum has held a local parcel company liable for non-delivery of articles and ordered refund and compensation of Rs 47,000 to complainant Gurbhej Singh.

Gurbhej, a proprietor of Karam Tools here, had booked eight packages of goods with Golden Parcel Service on May 18, 2005 to be sent to Lucknow.

He was verbally told that the goods would be delivered from Jalandhar to Lucknow in three to four days.

But despite several visits to the Lucknow and Jalandhar offices, the complainant only got assurances but nothing materialised.

The parcel company in its reply, said that the complainant had not got any goods booked vide two bills and there was no question of these getting delivered at Lucknow.

It claimed that the bills were obtained by the complainant to get release his earlier goods which were detained by the excise department UP 
on March 14, 2005 as they were sent without proper documents.

The forum found the stand of parcel firm false. The firm could not produce documents regarding the good sent without proper papers on 
March 2005.

Phagwara, April 17
Come summers and people flock to potters to buy earthen pots or gharas, matkas and surahis. Though a mind-boggling range of refrigerators is available in the market, yet the cool water of earthen pitchers is more satisfying than that of the fridge. The earthen pitcher has been used since ages and has certain romance about it. Remember the importance of a 'ghara' in the love story of Sohni and Mahiwal.

The famous Satnampura, a sub-town of Phagwara, was once full of 'ghumars' or potters, who supplied the matkas and smaller matkis or 'chattis' for making 'lassi' or for cooking 'sarson da saag'.

So much so that in the entire city there are not more than half a dozen potters. They live on the periphery of the city.

Most of the ‘gharas’ come from Satnampura. One city potter Sarwan Ram has employed an apprentice to help him cope with the increase in demand for the poor man’s ‘fridge’. He told TheTribune that they had to get special ‘chikni mitti’ found near the river banks. Being wet, it can be kneaded well. And then their adept hands mould the clay in any desired shape.

He said, “We have a clay oven to bake the pots. We use cow dung cakes and small wood pieces. We leave them to bake over night. Baking hardens them and makes them more durable.

“Then we fill colours in the grooves to make them more attractive. But when one colours the ‘ghara’, then the porous holes which help in the evaporation of water get clogged and water does not cool as much as it should. The more the evaporation the more the cooling.

Some times one sees very pretty designs on ‘surahis’. These came with the Mughals as they liked ornamental things.

In Rajasthan, the pitchers assume different shapes and are mostly made of metal as these are more practical on long journeys.

In Maharashtra, most of the households have a ‘matka’ with a tap. The tap facilitates the drawing of water.

Of course, in the villages where refrigerators are not as common, ‘gharas’ and ‘surahis’ are still great favourites. They use ‘chattis’ for churning the curd to form butter.

Muskan says, “I always keep a matka at home as fridge water invariably results in a bad throat. But matka water is safe.”

The potters are, however, a vanishing breed, though many high society women have set up their own studios and are making exclusive designer pottery.

The broken remains of pottery of Harappan Civilization makes one realise that men may come and men may go but pottery will remain an all time favourite. 

Jalandhar, April 17
Guru Amar Dass Public School organised a talent hunt contest on the occasion of Baisakhi. The atmosphere was marked with ‘Punjabiyat’ and jubilation. The programme began with shabad recitation, followed by a group dance and enactment of Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Students participated in poster making, card making, solo dancing and solo singing contests. A large number of students participated and won prizes. Anmoldeep stood first in car making, Sehajman Singh was first in mono-acting, Balpreet was chosen the best in solo song, Melissa won prize for poetry recitation and Harmandeep stood first in paper reading. To mark the anniversary of Khalsa panth installation, a turban tying contest was also organised in which Mandeep Singh of class IX stood first in senior category while Amritpal Singh of VII was adjudged the best in junior category.

Baisakhi was celebrated in a cheerful and lively mood at Apeejay School, Rama Mandi. Students depicted scenes related to Khalsa Panth, harvesting of crop and Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Teachers also threw light on the life of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, architect of the constitution.

Jalandhar, April 17
Even though the main event for which Padmashree Milkha Singh came here, Jalandhar marathon rally, might have flopped miserably, his visit to the Sansarpur hockey ground would be cherished especially by the budding hockey 
players.

During his visit to the sports city after more than three decades, Milkha Singh visited the nursery of hockey - Sansarpur - on Saturday.

A rare sight, it may be termed, when legend of the track not only visits some other sports field but also encourages the budding players to bring back the lost glory of hockey.

“Throughout my life I have heard so much about this village, having to its credit a number of Olympians, I thought that I would come to this place during my visit to Jalandhar,” said Milkha.

Interacting with the tiny tots of the Karam Chand Thappar Hockey Academy, the Flying Sikh said: “Keeping in view the present scenario of the Indian hockey the hope for its betterment now is on the shoulders of the budding players.”

Its not important whether you get facilities or infrastructure or not, what is more important is the dedication towards the game,” said Milkha.

He was interacting with the players and giving examples from his own life.

“During my first international performance I didn’t even had running shoes, what to talk about practising on a proper synthetic track.

That time winning a medal for my country was the only priority in my life,” said Milkha.

For the tiny tots it was a moment of immense joy when the “king of the track not only spoke to them on one-to-one level but also shared a hockey stick with them.

“We had heard so much about him but never got an opportunity to meet Milkha Singh. It’s a dream come true for me,” said Mohit, a player at Sansarpur. “Meeting such legends inspires to rise high in life,” said his friend Sukhwinder. 

Jalandhar, April 17
With four players going on air Saturday, the wait is finally over for the lakhs of FM aficionados here who would now be able to feast on a hearty music treat.

The four giants, Big FM (92.7), My FM (94.3), Radio Mantra (91.9) and Radio Mirchi (98.3), have already started their trial run which includes transmission of songs.

The official launch could take a week’s time. The setting up of stations in Jalandhar would ensure that places within the radius of about 80 km of the city are able to get the signals. With this launch Jalandhar which till date was termed as sports goods city can now be termed as the city of FMs as this is the only place in Punjab from where the FMs would be operating. Also FM Rainbow being run by All India Radio would now face a challenge.

While Radio Mirchi, having 11 centres across the nation, is already on with it programmes, the remaining are just playing songs from 7 a.m. till 11 p.m. Talking to The Tribune, Radio Mirchi station director Swapnil Limje said the flavour of their programmes would be distinctly Punjabi.

“The idea is to present songs in a listener-friendly language,” he said. Numbers played would be primarily a mix of Punjabi, Hindi and English.

Bhupinder Bhatti, station head of My FM said they would be coming up with programmes that would involve public participation. “Though songs would be ringing, the voice of the peppy RJs would only be heard after the formal launch next week,” said Lakhwinder Singh of Big FM.

Jalandhar, April 17
A list of 45 out of the total 100 pending cases of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum that have been shifted to Kapurthala, vide an order passed by the state commission received here yesterday, has been widely condemned by the lawyers and consumers here who have alleged that there were certain anomalies
in it.

While claiming that they will challenge the shifting of cases in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the senior members of Consumer Protection Council said 15 of the total cases shifted to Kapurthala had been admitted in the forum last year itself and there was no point in including them in the list. 
Senior vice-president of the council, Vinay Goel, said in an earlier order passed in this regard by the state commission, it had been mentioned that the 100 oldest complaints, excluding those in which arguments had been partly heard, would be transferred but the list had not been prepared accordingly.

Hearing for two cases, Joginder Singh vs PSEB and Hussan Lal vs United India Assurance, had been fixed for yesterday at Kapurthala but the lawyers and the affected consumers got to know about this at the eleventh hour only when they found the lists pasted on the wall of the forum.

Similarly, there was another complaint against the insurance company listed for hearing today. Tomorrow again, there are two cases, S.R. Kapila vs Saini Motors and Gurdeep Singh vs LIC, scheduled for hearing tomorrow 
at Kapurthala.

Advocate K.C. Malhotra said his client Hussan Lal had pleaded that he was finding it hard to bear the expenses of complaint lodged by him in the local forum and commuting to Kapurthala for the hearing of his case would further burden him financially. 

Jalandhar, April 17
A Nail Spa Academy was inaugurated at Cleopatra, a beauty centre here, by Sanjana Tomar, Femina Miss India Body Beautiful-2006, on Sunday.

Kapurthala, April 17
In a significant decision, District consumer disputes redressal forum, quashed Rs 10,740 added in the bill of a consumer under the head sundry charges by the Punjab state electricity board (PSEB).

In a six-page decision, forum president A.K. Sharma said PSEB was not entitled to the amount from the consumer Rajinder Kumar of Mohalla Shergarh of the city. The forum directed the PSEB to pay the consumer Rs 500 as damages for mental tension and harassment and Rs 500 as the cost of litigation.

The consumer Rajinder Kumar filed the complaint on October 3, last year, under the section 12 of Consumer Protection Act 1986. Rajinder Kumar stated in his complaint that some officials of the PSEB had come to his house on August 24 last year at 10 pm and asked him to open the door as they wanted to check the electric meter or to pay Rs 500. The complainant said that he asked them to show their identity.

It was further stated in the complaint that subsequently, the officials of the PSEB abused and threatened him. after the incident the PSEB officials lodged a false report with the police. Following the intervention of some influential persons, the matter was solved amicably and they reached a compromise, he added.

The complainant further stated that to his utter surprise, he received a memo number 1651, dated September 8, last year, in which false allegation of theft of electricity were levelled against him and he was imposed a penalty of Rs. 10,860.

Subsequently, Rajinder Kumar approached Assistant Engineer, PSEB, Sub Division City Number one, Kapurthala, against the illegal act of the board and denied allegations of indulging in theft of electricity.

However, the complainant received the bill for the next billing circle issued on September 18, last year wherein the PSEB charged Rs 10,740 as sundry charges although no such amount was payable by him. After hearing the arguments of the complainant’s counsel of both sides the forum quashed Rs 10,740 added in the bill as sundry charges.