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Now, EC blocks board chief’s visits to mandis
Lakhowal’s plea to poll panel
Hail-hit Farmers
Shoe episode: Akalis make it poll issue
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‘SAD-BJP exploiting sentiments’
Uranium Traces in Children
Rahul to campaign for Ravneet Bittu
BSP may replace Sangrur candidate
This Malwa town is Mecca for farmers
A reaper-mounted tractor manufactured at Mansa.
Lalit Makan Murder Case
Farmers to get market info via SMSes
Dal Khalsa to hold march against ‘living gurus’
AISAD to field kin of Indira’s assassin
Toxic sludge irrigating fields for 20 years
EC’s nod sought on pay panel report
Cop acquitted in fake encounter death
Passport office employee held
Vigilance had 20 convicted
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Now, EC blocks board chief’s visits to mandis
Chandigarh, April 7 While Food and Supplies Minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon has kept quiet on the issue, Lakhowal told TNS that the EC restriction imposed on him was not in the interest of the smooth procurement of wheat in the state. “The EC alone will now be responsible in case farmers suffer,” he said. Lakhowal also asserted that the Mandi Board was the nodal agency responsible for procurement in the state and that it was absolutely essential for him to review procurement arrangements to ensure farmers coming to the mandis with their produce were not inconvenienced. “Recent rains have only added to the problems of procurements in mandis,” he added. The Chairman had earlier asked the EC for permission to visit mandis in the state. As much as 1.86 lakh tonnes of wheat had arrived in mandis in the state till yesterday with government agencies procuring 1.46 lakh tonnes. The government expects the total arrivals to be around 115 lakh tonnes this season. This has to be procured within the time gap of two weeks or so from 1,624 mandis. Official sources disclosed that special girdwaris had been ordered to access the damage due to inclement weather in the last two days. Chief Secretary RI Singh said this was part of standing instructions to deputy commissioners to conduct such assessments whenever needed. Arrangements for smooth procurement were in place with 966 transport contracts for shifting of paddy and 1,818 labour contracts to ensure smooth procurement being finalised till now. They said the procurement agencies had sufficient gunny bags at their disposal. Meanwhile, Bhartiya Kisan Union - Rajewal president Balbir Singh Rajewal demanded that the Centre announce a special package to Punjab due to the loss suffered by farmers on account of unseasonal rains as well as yellow rust disease which had occurred due to early warming. He estimated the loss to the wheat crop in Punjab at Rs 600 crore.
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Hail-hit Farmers
Jalandhar, April 7 President of the Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) Balbir Singh Rajewal said hailstorm-hit farmers would not accept Rs 5,000 per acre compensation. He said it should be increased to Rs 15,000 per acre. He also sought compensation for the farmers whose crops had been hit by yellow rust. He said the problem of stacking of rice and storage of wheat had not been resolved. He accused the Union government of playing politics on this issue. Though it had a huge surplus buffer stock of wheat and rice, it was not allowing export of wheat and non-basmati rice fearing rise in the price of these foodgrains. “While farmers were suffering, the Union government had become a silent witness to their misery, ” said Rajewal. Union undecided on support
to parties
BKU president Balbir Singh Rajewal said he had directed activists of his organisation not to join election campaign of any political party till they were asked to do so. At a recent convention of the BKU, he was authorised to decide the party for support in the Lok Sabha elections. Rajewal said he would talk to leaders of parties to probe what they would do for farmers if voted to power at the Centre. “Obviously, our organisation would support the political party that would do maximum for farmers,” he quipped.
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Shoe episode: Akalis make it poll issue
Chandigarh, April 7 Delhi-based journalist Jarnail Singh’s protest against Chidambaran today saw the SAD, which had already made the nominations of Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler an election issue, saying the incident should serve as an “eye opener” for the Congress. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said here today that it was significant that the journalist was not a fundamentalist but a liberal and educated Sikh with no political affiliations. He demanded that Sajjan Kumar and Tytler be prosecuted immediately. Successive Congress governments had shielded these leaders despite the fact that independent judicial commissions had indicted them, Badal added. Meanwhile, the SAD 1920 announced that it would support the SAD as “it could not compromise on the issue of injustice to the 1984 riot victims” even though it had ideological differences with the party. SAD president Sukhbir Badal gave a call to all like-minded parties to come on one platform to ensure justice to the riot victims as well as “punishment” to the Congress for promoting leaders responsible for the riots. Former Congress Leader Bir Devinder Singh, who resigned from the Congress on this issue recently, said the act represented the “collective anger and anguish of the entire Sikh community”. BJP president Rajinder Bhandari said the Congress should immediately withdraw the party ticket to Sajjan Kumar and Tytler. “Such elements” should meet due punishment under the law, he said. Meanwhile, the Punjab Congress seems to be looking to Delhi for resolution of this fresh crisis. Prominent leaders, including Capt Amarinder Singh and Congress Legislature Party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal refused to come on the phone despite repeated attempts. Pradesh Congress president MS Kaypee first feigned ignorance but said he would give his reaction later. When contacted late in the evening, he said: “I am at a meeting.” He immediately switched off the phone. However, sources said Bhattal had rushed to Delhi. Attar Singh adds from Patiala: Talking to mediapersons at his residence, Bir Devinder Singh said former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh should resign from the chairmanship of the co-ordination committee over the issue of Jagdish Tytler as it was on this very issue that Amarinder had resigned as MP in 1984 when the anti-Sikh riots happened. Regarding the Delhi incident, Bir Davinder said this was not an isolated incident and such incidents were happening throughout the world. More than 4,000 Sikhs, including women and children, had been killed in the riots and even after 25 years not even a single person had been convicted. Peer Mohammad to fight against Tytler Kulwinder Sandhu adds from Moga: The president of the All-India Sikh Students Federation Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad on Tuesday announced to fight the election from the Delhi Sadar constituency against Jagdish Tytler. The Damdami Taksal, SAD (Amritsar) and the Akali Dal (Panchpradhani) have extended support to him.
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‘SAD-BJP exploiting sentiments’
Hoshiarpur, April 7 Many leaders of the SAD and the BJP were exploiting the sentiments of these communities by raising issues like 1984 riots, allotment of Congress ticket to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar and the proposed construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya, etc, for their petty gains in the elections. Talking to this correspondent on phone today, Atwal said the issue of a clean chit to Tytler by the CBI raised at the time of elections was only to exploit the sentiments of Sikhs for getting their votes. Why Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had not raised these issues in the Lok Sabha during his five-year tenure as MP? asked Atwal. Former chairman of the local Improvement Trust Kanwar Vir Partap Singh also criticised all those political leaders who were playing with the sentiments of Sikhs and Hindus in the name of religion to garner votes.
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Uranium Traces in Children
Bathinda, April 7 Centre sources said permission to take samples was not taken from parents of the children and when the centre authorities asked which law the administration was following, they said none. The sources also stated that no notice about the administration team visiting the centre was sent. “The team came at 10 am and we got a notice stating that a team will be coming for collecting the samples at 12 noon. Children were forced to give samples,” a naturopath from the centre said. The report formed by the centre about uranium detection in hair samples of children was taken away by the CMO and his team. CMO SS Mahiya said, “The DC told us yesterday to visit the centre and take samples. A team of five doctors was constituted. We took hair, blood and samples of parents whose children are affected. We also took soil, canal water samples and these will be sent to PAU, Ludhiana.” The CMO yesterday said the administration had collected samples already and these were sent to Chandigarh. If the samples were already collected, then why were these collected again?
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Rahul to campaign for Ravneet Bittu
Patiala, April 7 It was Rahul Gandhi who had played a key role in allotment of party ticket to a young Bittu, who is already banking upon the political legacy of his grandfather late Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and upon his image as a youth leader of “untiring” nature. Bittu has already been carrying his campaign on the lines of the agile and aggressive style of his grandfather and has been visiting every nook and corner of his constituency comprising important townships such as Garhshankar, Banga, Nawanshahar and Mohali. Besides Nangal, Rahul will also be boosting his party’s ongoing campaign in constituencies like Sangrur and Ferozepur during his two-day Punjab visit. “Rahul Gandhi is coming to Punjab to revive his links with the people of Punjab in general and people of areas around Bhakra dam — a dream project of Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru — in particular,” said Bittu, who met Rahul at New Delhi and who has been assured by him that he would spare no efforts in making the Congress win in Punjab.
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BSP may replace Sangrur candidate
Sangrur, April 7 With a view to obtain views of party workers and leaders, regarding party’s Sangrur candidate, party national general secretary-cum-in charge Punjab BSP Affairs Narender Kashyap and state president of the party Avtar Singh Karimpuri here on Monday held separate meetings with representatives of various assembly segments of Sangrur. Talking to The Tribune, Kashyap admitted uncertainty on the issue of candidate from Sangrur in the light of Balian’s ill-health. He said the party was waiting for improvement in his health, but if circumstances compelled the party to replace the candidate, the matter could be discussed in this regard. He said this was the first LS election when people of the country were considering the BSP as an alternative to the UPA and the NDA at the Centre. He also said at present almost all political parties were considering the BSP as a danger to their existence, this was the reason that they were forming alliances.
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This Malwa town is Mecca for farmers
Mansa, April 7 Many farmers from as far as Salem, Chennai, Karur and other parts of the South, Madhuvani, Khajria, Purnia and Motihari in Bihar and other states in the East and Central India visit the town to buy multi-purpose reapers. “Almost 50 reapers are dispatched from Mansa for other parts of the country daily during harvesting season,” said Roop Singh, a manufacturer of such reapers and other agricultural implements. Even some of the implements are exported to Nepal. “Though agricultural implements are manufactured in other towns also, Mansa has emerged the number one destination for buying harvesting implements,” Roop added. Costwise these reapers are not highly priced. A reaper costs from Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000 and is easy to operate. It is mounted on a tractor and can harvest crop on 10-12 acres in a day. This town is also known for other agricultural implements like harrows, fodder harvesters, self-propelled reapers, cotton seed drills, zero tilling drills, harvester-cum-chopper-cum loaders, hole diggers, shredder machines, trans-cutters, potato planters, potato diggers, bore-well machines, straw-reapers, crop threshers, maize shellers, etc. An interesting part about the town becoming a major centre of farm technology is that most of the local manufacturers have scripted their success story without any technical help from the state government and Industries Department. “Many years ago many of us started manufacturing camel and bullock carts and then shifted to manufacturing tractor-trailers and later to crop threshers, reapers and other modern implements,” said Narinder Pal Singh, director, Guru Reapers, who was one of the participants of a made-in-Punjab fair held in Canada a few years ago. “We used our brains and skills to achieve the success,” he added. “We need a modern industrial focal point for further growth of our industry developed over the years with a lot of hard work,” said Narinder Pal Singh. Fifty acres owned by a government organisation was purchased for setting up an industrial growth centre. “We will be happy if a focal point is set up here by the government,” he added.
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Lalit Makan Murder Case
Ludhiana, April 7 A resident of Kitchlu Nagar here, Kuki got parole to complete his MSc in plant breeding at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) under Dr Navtej Singh Bains from the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, PAU. Talking to The Tribune, he said he was thankful to the government, who took interest in his case. With young wife Sarabjot Kaur sitting next to him, Kuki said it was a traumatic experience for two decades and he did not want to go back to the dingy cell of jail again. "I am close to 50. I think I have suffered enough for the crime I committed 24 years back. It was an offshoot of ongoing frustration among Punjabis in 1984. I want to restore my dignity now," he said with a heavy voice. On asking about students standing by him when he was sent back to jail recently, Kuki said he was moved by the gesture of students, who were 20-30 years younger to him. "But they should not have boycotted classes. We can sort out things by initiating dialogue. I really do not want that youngsters should fall prey to violence as I have suffered enough for being violent". He said he was thankful to Avantika, daughter of Lalit Makan, who stood by him and appealed for his clemency to the Chief Minister of Delhi. In his message to the young generation, Kuki said frustration could lead to violence, but youth should be strong enough to overcome all hurdles in a non-violent manner. On getting the degree, he said he had submitted his thesis to PAU authorities and was waiting for viva to be conducted soon.
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Farmers to get market info via SMSes
Bathinda, April 7 Mahyco will distribute RML service that will provide farmers of Punjab and Haryana with personalised information pertaining to crop prices in local markets, weather forecasts and relevant news and crop advisory information in the local language via SMS messages. Raju Barwale, managing director, Mahyco, said the company had taken the initiative to provide farmers with personalised market-relevant information through RML because in the seven years since Bt cotton was approved for release by the Indian government, farmers had revolutionised cotton production in the country, doubling it from 136 lakh bales in 2003-04 to 315 lakh bales in 2007-08. Amit Mehra, managing director, RML, claimed that the new information service would help farmers to enhance crop yields and improve production over a very wide range of produce, including onion, cotton, soybean, pomegranates and kinnows. “Since its launch in October 2007 in Maharashtra, RML had sold nearly two lakh quarterly subscriptions. Farmers had reported significant financial benefits within a few weeks of using RML. This pioneering and innovative service played to the heart of RML by providing accurate, timely and unbiased information,” Mehra informed. He said the company aimed to turn the service into a sustainable business in a tight timeframe and planned to expand in other states too. "It is driven by the need for information in the farming community and the rapid rise of mobile penetration in India which is accessible and affordable to the farming community," he said.
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Dal Khalsa to hold march against ‘living gurus’
Hoshiarpur, April 7 It was decided by a meeting held under the leadership of HS Dhami here today. The meeting also deliberated on support to candidates in the Lok Sabha elections on merit irrespective of political affiliation. The decision was deferred to the next meeting. Party spokesman Kanwar Pal Singh said the march would send signal to those worshipping living human gurus, hence, disobeying the edict of the10th Master, who conferred guruship on Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib, Dr Manjinder Singh, Baldev Singh, Avtar Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Dr Arpal Singh were present at the meeting.
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AISAD to field kin of Indira’s assassin
Chandigarh, April 7 Shamsher Singh Maloya is the elder brother of Beant Singh, who had shot former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi dead in 1984 after Operation
Bluestar. AISAD president Jaswant Singh Mann also announced ticket for Jodhpur jail detainee Sarup Singh
Jodhpuri. Others allowed ticket today include Giani Gurcharan Singh from
Chandigarh. Mann said the Giani had been given ticket on the demand of residents of the city. Other ticket announced today include Gurcharanjit Sing Moda from
Amritsar, Kashmir Singh Mahalam from Ferozepur, Gurinder Singh Rao from
Patiala, Jatinder Singh Virk from Kurukshetra and Prof Ajit Singh Kahlon from
Karnal.
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Toxic sludge irrigating fields for 20 years
Bathinda, April 7 The effect of crops irrigated with sullage can be observed through symptoms like plaque on teeth, joint pain and grey hair of villagers. Farmers of Kot Bhara, Kot Bakhtu, Kot Fatta, Ramgarh Bhunder, Chathewala, Jeewan Singh Wala, Shergarh, Mallwala, Kaile Bandar, Chak Ruldu Singh Wala, Pathrala, Manak Khana and other villages along the banks of the Lisada drain near Bathinda, have been using this toxic black water for 20 years for irrigation. The drain carries sludge of factories located in Barnala district. While crossing Bathinda district, the drain becomes almost dry as its water gets used in fields. The official apathy is evident as farmers, pooling money, have installed motors along the banks of the drain to lift water to supply it via steel and cemented pipes buried in earth to fields. Satwant Singh, a farmer of Kot Fatta village, said, “This water stinks, obviously it will leave a harmful effect on crops also. As a precaution, we sell whatever we produce and buy canal-irrigated yield of crops for our consumption.” Showing carrots sown in his field for self consumption, Balwinder Singh of Kot Bhara village said, “My grandchildren have refused to consume it”. Civil Surgeon Neelam Bajaj said, “To check the water and its effect on crops is the task of the Agriculture Department. And laboratory tests are very expensive, but soon, we will try to get some of the crops examined, in the interest of public health”. Chief Agricultural Officer, Bathinda, Paramjeet Singh Sandhu said, “To check the menace, we had requested PAU. But no response has been received.” DC, Bathinda, Rahul Tewari skirted the issue saying, “Till now, no formal complaint has come to me regarding this”.
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EC’s nod sought on pay panel report
Chandigarh, April 7 A government spokesman said Chief Secretary RI Singh in a letter to Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu had sought the permission of the EC so that pay panel chief SK Tuteja could be advised accordingly. The government set up the fifth pay panel on December 19, 2006. The terms of reference of the commission were issued on March 3, 2008, and these, inter-alia, included submission of report of the commission in one year. The letter said the commission had prepared the report for presenting it to the government. As the model code of conduct was in force due to the Lok Sabha elections, the commission required the permission of the EC to present the report.
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Cop acquitted in fake encounter death
Chandigarh, April 7 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted Sita Ram of killing Surjit Singh in a fake encounter. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life by the trial court. Acting on his appeal, the Bench of Justice KS Garewal and Justice Sham Sunder ruled: “SI Sita Ram may have been careless in placing the injured man in a canter without proper medical assistance and this may have hasten the process of death, but there is no direct or circumstantial evidence to establish SI Sita Ram fired the fatal shot”. Sita Ram was the SHO of Valtoha police station in October, 1993, when an encounter took place between a police party headed by him and some “terrorists” crossing over from Pakistan in Ram Singh Wala area. Two unidentified terrorists were shot by the police and the bodies were taken to the Patti Civil Hospital, where one of the “dead”, Surjit Singh of Valtoha, was found alive. The prosecution had claimed SI Sita Ram forcibly took injured Surjit Singh “for treatment”. After sometime, Sita Ram and his companions returned with Surjit Singh’s body. After hearing the arguments, the Bench asserted: If SI Sita Ram had simply taken the deceased out of the hospital for treatment at Amritsar, and the deceased died on the way on account of the bullet injury received by him a few hours earlier, Sita Ram would not be guilty of murder at all. “The appellant mishandled the whole affair, by his callousness and disregard for human life. He should have taken greater care to ensure the deceased lived, instead of just dumping him in a canter and transporting him from Patti to Amritsar. These are certainly some actions of the appellant which show his negligence, but do not establish that he committed culpable homicide. The Bench concluded: Extra-judicial killings were the order of the day during the period of militancy in Punjab…. The Supreme Court acted with great speed and firmness to get the case registered. All this is very well, but without proof that SI Sita Ram had fired the fatal shot after he had started the journey for Amritsar, the conviction of SI Sita Ram cannot be sustained.
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Passport office employee held
Moga, April 7 As many as 226 fake passports made by fraudulent means with the help of accused persons during 2006-2007 were detected by the police. The record from 1995-1996 to 2005-2006 was yet to be scrutinised by the investigating team.
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Vigilance had 20 convicted
Chandigarh, April 7 Harcharn Singh Bhullar, SSP-cum-Joint Director (Admn), said in March, the bureau had nabbed 12 public servants which included three revenue officials and a district manager of BankFinco for accepting bribe. The bureau registered three cases and one vigilance inquiry against the suspected officials to probe the allegations.
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Mansa, April 7
