Barnala, December 20
Narinder Pal Singh, the recently appointed principal of Baba Gandha Singh Public School, Bhadaur, faced the heat of the school management for not keeping the school closed by declaring holiday on Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom day and on Harchand Singh Longowal’s death anniversary.

The unceremonious removal of the principal did not go down well with the parents as well as the school students.

The parents feared it might affect the studies of their children as the academic session is about to close.

The ousted principal had replaced Jayson Jose last July only. Ever since he took over charge, his work had been appreciated both by the students as well as the school management.

Narinder Pal said that he paid the price for not toeing the management’s line.

He alleged that the son of one of the trustees was appointed as coordinator of the school, out of the way. His salary was also raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 14,000 per month. When he objected to it, his services were terminated vide a letter today.

Baba Tek Singh Dhanaula, executive member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and chairman of Baba Gandha Singh Public School Trust, confirmed the removal of Narinder Pal Singh as the school’s principal.

Speaking to TNS, Tek Singh, however, said that his removal was the result of his failure to control the school affairs. In addition, the deputy commissioner had sent two notices to the school for not declaring the holidays on Harchand Singh Longowal’s death anniversary and Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom day despite the state government’s declaration of a holiday on both the occasions.

Since he was responsible for not implementing the state government’s orders, his services had been terminated, he added.

Meanwhile, Raj Rani, vice-principal of the school, has been given the charge of executive principal.

When Tek Singh was asked about the former principal’s allegation regarding coordinator’s job to the kin of a trustee, he said all the appointments were made by the former chairman of the trust, Mahant Piara Singh, and he had not recruited even a teacher during his tenure as the chairman of the trust. Tek Singh became the chairman when the Shiromani Akali Dal government came to power.

Regarding the disciplinary action against the school, as it was found open on both the occasions, Tek Singh merely said that the school had not received any notice so far from the deputy commissioner.

Bathinda, December 20
A delegation of as many as 50 persons from Gill Patti village knocked the door of SSP Bathinda today to consider the complaint against Sikander Singh and Raja Singh of the same village for issuing threats.

The complaint is lying with Thermal police station. The complainant, Sohan Singh of Gill Patti village, in a written application, stated that he had earlier lodged a complaint with the Thermal police that the accused was already involved in a dispute with a third party.

He further said that the accused along with some musclemen tried to kill him and his brother at the village bus stand on November 17.

The matter was placed before the village panchayat but the accused did not adhere to the guidelines for the panchayat members.

He said that there was a fear of assault, which had been reported to the police, but no action had been taken in this regard. After hearing their complaint, the SSP ordered the Thermal police to investigate the matter.

Abohar, December 20
The high-power committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Agriculture today visited village Balluana, located on Abohar-Malout (NH10) road in this sub-division to ascertain the ground realities regarding the impact of Mealy bug.

Anoop Malik, director, plant protection and quarantine, along with V.K. Yadav, deputy director, integrated pest management, and Jasbir Singh, assistant director, center for IPM, had detailed discussions with chief agricultural officer Rajinder Singh Brar, APPO Sukhdev Singh, district training officer Vinod Kumar, ADOs Bhupinder Kumar and Sarwan Singh, soil testing officer Hardyal Singh and Amarjit Lal Sharma, consultant, Sir Rattan Tata Trust.

Besides, they conducted spot inspection at some fields and orchards. The district officials said the Mealy bug had damaged about 12 to15 per cent of the cotton crop in the region and that the attack had been observed in Balluana village for the first time.

Enquiries revealed that before spreading to sugarcane fields, the Mealy bug had affected the mango plants in other regions, the district officials informed the visiting team.

Though the menace had a nominal impact on Kinnow and Guava orchards here, BT cotton fell prey to it, the officials observed.

The local officials said that the agriculture department was gearing up to wage a war against the Mealy bug menace, which would take effect from January 15.

The agriculture department is also seeking active cooperation from revenue, education, panchayat, horticulture, forest and public works departments for the weed eradication drive, which would be launched here soon. Besides, two agricultural experts would visit each village to make the farmers aware about how to tackle the mealy bug, the officials added.

The visiting high officials from the Central government noticed the cotton wood sticks stacked near the wheat fields and warned that the presence of Mealy bug in the heaps could be fatal for the crop after January when weather undergo a change.

The farmers should burn the sticks as fuel for their hearths before February, the official said.

The department had decided to intensify the stir to eradicate ‘peeli booti’ and ‘kanghi booti weeds’ besides ‘congress grass’, which causes allergy and respiratory diseases also apart from housing the Mealy bug, official said.

Ferozepur, December 20
The agriculture department has embarked on several measures to shield the cotton crop from the attack of Mealy bug, as a result, good cotton produce has been recorded.

Last year, the Mealy bug had posed severe problem for the cotton growers in the state, which led to the colossal loss of over Rs 150 crore.

The pest was particularly damaging in the Malwa belt especially in the villages falling under the districts of Ferozepur, Muktsar and Bhatinda, told DC Bhagwant Singh.

In this border district, Abohar, Khuian Sarwar and Fazilka are the three major cotton-growing blocks. In these blocks, almost 160,000 hectares has been covered under cotton crop during the current year out of which 70 % has been covered under BT cotton hybrids alone.

In the past few years, weeds like Pili Butti, Kangi Butti and congress grass has created major threat to the crop because these weeds act as an alternate host for major pests and diseases like American bollworm, leaf curl virus and above all, Mealy bug.

When contacted, chief agriculture officer R.S. Brar said that keeping in view of the past experiences, the department had started the drive to destroy these weeds.

Brar further said that in order to create awareness about Mealy bug and other weeds, several farmers’ camp were organised besides gram panchyats, youth clubs and school children were involved in the campaign. The campaign got tremendous response in villages like Danger Khera, Patti Bihla, Ghallu, Balluana, Kikkar Khera, Burj Muhar, Rureianwali, Kala Tibba, Arniwala and Mahuana Bodla.

The agriculture department also pressed several jeeps equipped with audio systems into service to make announcements about these weeds.

Experts from PAU Ludhiana were also invited to spearhead weed destruction campaign.

Five major farmers’ camp were held in Sitto Guno, Balluana, Arnuiwala, Bhaggu and Danger Khera.

All these efforts put together yielded rich dividends, as a result, the effect of Mealy bug was minimised.

Now, the department would again initiate special drive against Mealy bug from January 15, 2007, said the DC.

Fazilka, Decmber 20
Famous for its wool trade in pre-independence era, Fazilka went on to become a major wheat, cotton and paddy producing belt of North India.

Due to its high quality cotton, Fazilka was popularly known as ‘White Gold’ as farmers had flourished with its production.

However, with recent changing pattern of agriculture, the area is emerging as a major bastmati rice producing belt.

According to sources, in comparison to the last year, the production of basmati rice rose by five times.

During the last year, the arrival of basmati rice at the local grain market was recorded at 49,850 quintals. And this year, it rose to about 2,43,800 quintals.

Out of the total arrival, Markfed, the official basmati rice procuring agency, has purchased only 5,400 quintals of the produce and the rest of the produce has been purchased by the private traders, most of them being exporters.

Initially, the rate of basmati rice ranged between Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000 per quintal. But later, it rose to Rs 2,200 to Rs 2,300 per quintal.

The basmati rice traders feel that the basmati’s arrival is likely to continue in view of the remunerative price.

Besides getting remunerative prices, the cost of producing the rice is also less, as it requires lesser irrigation and fertiliser.

The climatic factors are also favourable for cultivating paddy in the area.

In addition, the cultivation of such paddy does not require very fertile land and can easily be cultivated on an average agricultural (Gasra) land.

The total time required, from sowing to harvesting, is also lesser by about one month as compared to other paddy varieties.

The basmati rice crop can be harvested in about 3 and half months. The average yield is about 20 to 23 quintals per acre.

In the present changing agricultural scenario, the production of basmati rice is likely to increase and Punjab is likely to become a major basmati rice producing state in the country giving options for its farmers.

Bathinda, December 20
To diversify its activities and improve its financial condition, the Punjab Ex-Servicemen Corporation (PESCO) has lined up a series of new commercial ventures, which would provide employment as well as the welfare of ex-servicemen.

The PESCO would be opening outlets, one each in every district of the state, where agricultural implements and machinery would be given on hire to ex-servicemen and farmers.

Informing about this new venture, Major General (retd) U. S. Sidhu, Chairman and Managing Director, PESCO said, “Where ever we have the maximum number of ex-servicemen in the district and where we feel that our venture can be a success amongst farmers, we would take agricultural sheds on lease. These outlets would come up in all districts of the state where agricultural implements and machinery would be rented to farmers, with preference for ex-servicemen. From tractors to harvesting machines and threshers, and kinds of agricultural implements would be rented at these outlets.’’

When asked that who will fund the infrastructure required for these outlets, Sidhu said, “We have an annual income of around Rs 2 crore every year and so we are capable enough to buy all required infrastructure and agricultural machinery and implements.’’ “We had a workshop for bullet-proofing government cars, but with the decline of insurgency in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the orders too have come down. But I am in touch with J&K, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and north-eastern governments for bulletproofing their vehicles,’’ he said.

The PESCO has a stitching centre in Phase VII, Mohali, where ex-servicemen, war widows and dependents stitch clothes for the NCC.

“Some time back, we used to stitch uniforms based on the orders received from the Director General, Ordnance Services. This continued till 2002 and presently, we are stitching one lakh uniforms for the NCC only. I have written to the Ministry of Defence to give us orders for stitching uniforms for the armed forces as well as the Indian forces working for the United Nations.’’

Abohar, December 20
The Khuyiansarwar police here today arrested a resident of Rajasthan on recovery of two kg opium from his possession.

It has come to notice that the smugglers are now opting for the link road as the police tightened vigil on the highways that connect this sub-division with neighbouring cities of Rajasthan.

DSP Parampal Singh informed that ASI Pritpal Singh, in-charge of the Khatwan police post, intercepted a person near village Waryamkhera and recovered two kg of opium during the search.

The culprit was identified as Nawab Khan, a resident of Junagarh, in Bikaner district. A case under sections 18, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered at the Khuyiansarwar police station, the DSP informed.

In another incident, a police party, led by ASI Paramjit Singh, tried to intercept a motorcycle near Jandwala Hanwanta village close to the inter-state border in Maujgarh area today. The riders tried to speed away but hit a two-wheeler on the canal bridge.

The police party finally nabbed them and recovered 8,250 gm of poppy husk. The culprits were identified as Pritpal Singh and Anil Kumar Kaka, both residents of Bathinda. They have been booked under sections 15, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act, the DSP added.

Bathinda, December 20
They are a father-son duo, sharing the same Canon 400-D camera and with love for nature photography.

Nirlep Singh, a 45-year-old photo artist from Bathinda, works as a chief manager with the National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) while his son, Nirvair Singh, 14, is a student of class IX at the St Xavier’s School, here.

Both have put on display their 30 odd photographs at a four-day photo exhibition organised by the Rahul Kaushal Yaadgari Committee, which started at Teachers’ Home, here today.

Hailing from Faridkot, Nirlep, after doing BE from the Thapar Institute at Patiala in 1983, joined NFL the same year. But it was in 1992 that the artist inside him came out and the rest is history.

``I still remember borrowing a Pentex P-30 camera from my cousin while going on a trekking expedition to Leh with my group ‘Aarohan’ in 1992. Though my father Karamjeet Singh also had a flair for photography, but before 1992, I never got a chance to try my hand at it,’’ Nirlep informs.

Nirvair, who loves nature and has a special liking for birds, says, ``Last year, when I went for a trekking expedition to the Great Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh, I carried my father’s camera with me. The camera, being a digital one, helped me plan my shots. That trip also gave me a lot of confidence.”

Besides having worked in the field of nature photography, Nirlep also has a prized possession—- portraits of Punjabi poets and writers like Gurdial Singh, Surjit Patar, Satinder Singh Noor and others.

``I have a lot of Bengali friends and they just love their poets and writers. They always keep their photographs at their offices and homes. I mean they are just crazy about them. But it’s unfortunate that we don’t have presentable portraits of Punjabi poets and writers. I have captured a few of them in my camera and am looking forward to having a book on their portraits soon.’’

Fazilka, December 20
The number of persons donating eyes on inspiration of the Social Welfare Society of Fazilka is increasing day by day.

Four more pairs of eyes have been donated in the last 24 hours. Chiman Lal Gilhotra, a local resident, died and his sons Chander Mohan, Ashok Kumar and Rajesh Kumar requested the members of the Social Welfare Society to get his eyes removed for transplantation.

Similarly, Chuni Lal and Ashok Kumar, sons of deceased Hans Raj Doomra, desired to donate the eyes of their father.

Sandeep Kataria, former vice-president of the municipal council of Fazilka, donated eyes of his mother Jagtar Devi Kataria today.

Ramesh Kumar Manchanda, another resident of the town, also donated the eyes of his wife Raj Bala.

They had contacted the members of the Social Welfare Society for eye donation.

Acting swiftly, a panel of members of the society, comprising Raj Kishore Kalra, Amrit Lal Kareer, Manohar Lal Sukhija, Surain Lal Kataria, K.L. Ahuja and others, requested the authorities of Shri Jagdamba Andh Vidyala, Sriganganagar, which at once sent their team led by Dharminder Kumar and got the eyes removed.

With donation of these four pairs of eyes, the total number of eye donors has risen to 25 in the past six months.

The eye donation project has gained considerable momentum in Fazilka and its surrounding areas as the number of eye donors is swelling constantly.

The people have begun to realise the utility of donating eyes after death and providing light to the visually impaired persons.

Abohar, December 20
Deputy Superintendent of Police Parampal Singh today sought assistance from the school children in checking drug trafficking in the sub-division.

Speaking at a function organised by the Aggarwal Sabha at the Ek Jot High School here, he cautioned the students against the use of tobacco-based sashay packs besides other narcotics and inspired them to request their elders at home to desist from consuming drugs.

He was of the view that anti-national forces were adamant on weakening the country by making youths addicted to drugs.

The government was fighting against this menace through different agencies but co-operation from the public mattered, he observed.

The Sabha also distributed shoes and socks to 60 students.

Faridkot, December 20
A local, Surinderpal Singh Sodhi, surgeon and implant dentist, has been elected unanimously as the consensus member of the Dental Council of India.

There were as many as five candidates in the fray, including Vimal Sikri, principal of G.D.C.Amritsar, Puneet Gidhar, general secretary of the Indian Dental Association (IDA) of Punjab, Jaidev Dhillon, professor and head department of the conservative dentistry from the N.D.C, Dera Bassi, and Inderjit Singh, member of the Punjab Dental Council besides him.

Padam Bhushan awardee Brigadier Anil Kohli gave a thorough hearing to all contestants and the evaluation was in favour of Sodhi from Punjab.

Sodhi, who was the president of the IDA, Punjab, in 2002, has been actively participating in the IDA and other social activities.

Sodhi said that he would devote time and energy to raise the standards of dental profession.

He has been conferred with the fellowship of the International Congress of Implantologist ( USA) at Mumbai.

Surinderpal Singh is one of the few in the northern India to get this fellowship.