Talwandi Sabo, April 10
Located on the southern tip of Punjab, this historical town, which played a significant role in deciding the course of the history of the Sikh community, remained neglected by successive state and Central governments for decades.

After remaining a small village, housing the fifth Takht of the Sikhs, for decades together after independence, it started developing into a town few years ago after the Punjabi University, Patiala, set up its University School of Business Studies and later, a college of engineering and technology for rural students.

The main thrust in development of different facilities in this town was witnessed in this town about two years ago when the governments concerned started pumping in money to create facilities in and around it.

Now, the entire town has been covered with underground sewerage system. Drinking water, which was a tradable commodity in this town a few years ago, is available in abundance. A Yatri Niwas has also been set up for the tourists. The SGPC has also set up a guest-house for the devotees in the premises of the Takht Sri Damdama Sahib complex.

Not only this, the town is being given a facelift so that lakhs of people, who will be visiting this place to pay their obeisance at Gurudwara Damdama Sahib and other historical shrines from April 11 on Baisakhi, could return with satisfaction and happiness.

Official sources said that all the outer roads of this town had been four-laned and decorative lights and iron grills had been fitted in their medians. The premix coating of a section of the roads was being done and is expected to be completed in a day or so. The roundabouts, located at the main entrance of this town from the Bathinda side, was being given a better look.

However, the anterior roads, which developed around Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, could not be paved with premix coating of bitumen concrete after the sewerage pipes were laid down.

Manjeet Singh, Executive Engineer, PWD, said that as the local municipal council authorities had not given sewerage connections to every household in the town, the anterior roads could not be given premix coating.

Surinder Kumar, Executive Officer, MC, said that so far, 500 houses out of about 2500 in the town, had taken sewerage connection. He said that residents were being persuaded to take sewerage connection before the anterior roads could be given premix coating. Sources said that Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, in a meeting with government officials held at his residence at Badal village a few days ago, expressed his displeasure over the delay in completion of projects within the stipulated time. 

Bathinda, April 10
Beware! If you have received a missed call from an unknown number, especially with the ISD code of Pakistan (+92), it might be a trick of fraudsters to trap you with the fake news that you have won a lottery worth lakhs.

Better avoid calling back and inform the police as well as the mobile service provider.

It has been observed that people all over Malwa are getting missed calls on their cell phones from different numbers but all with the ISD code of Pakistan.

If the complainants (recipients of missed calls) are to be believed, when people dial the number figuring as missed call in their cell phones, they are congratulated. This is followed by the disclosure that their number was selected for a hefty prize money in a draw of lucky mobile numbers.

Sensing the reaction of the caller, the person on the other side asks s/he to contact someone over the phone presenting him as a senior employee of some national bank, who further asks them to complete some formalities like providing the bank account, residential address etc, to receive the prize money.

Besides duping the caller of heavy ISD charges, the swindlers also seek money from the innocent by terming it as mandatory charges before getting the prize money transferred into their account.

"I too received a missed call from (+92343…….) and then when I called back, he introduced himself as Mr Joshi and said that "Namaskar, aapka mobile number lucky draw main chun liya gaya hai." Fearing it some racket, I immediately expressed my unwillingness to carry on and disconnected the call," said a college-going boy of Bathinda.

A senior official of a mobile company, seeking anonymity, said the company was flooded with similar complaints. He said that despite best efforts, they had not been able to nab the miscreants, who were duping the innocent.

Inspector General of Police, Bathinda Zone, that covers six districts of Malwa, Nirmal Singh Dhillon, said, "As the matter is already in our notice, the state police is doing its best to trace the miscreants at the earliest possible."

"Despite repeated appeals not to get attracted towards these calls, people still get duped at the hands of tricksters, lured by easy money. People must also apply their brain before getting fascinated 
by such phone calls,” the IGP said.

Ghudda (Bathinda), April 10
This obscure village with dusty streets and unhygienic environment in the hinterland of the Malwa region is being transformed into a township with modern infrastructure as the Central University of Punjab (CUP) and several other prestigious educational and technical institutions are coming up in its neighbourhood.

A piece of 500 acres of land has been acquired for the CUP that is functioning in a temporary accommodation in Bathinda. Construction of the university college at a cost of Rs12 crores is in full swing. The other institutions that are coming up are the sports school, horse riding institute of the Remount and Veterinary wing of the NCC, veterinary pharmacist college and a 50-bed hospital.

The area is getting transformed into a hub of academics and sports as a shooting range that has produced world class shooters has already come up in the nearby Badal village that is the home of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Infrastructure of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the state institute of nursing have also been set up there. The neighbouring Kaljharani village has a helipad that is mostly used for the flights of the CM and other VIPs to the area.

The area is being given a magnificent look by widening the nearly 30-km double lane road leading here from Bathinda. The village panchayat of Ghudda has suddenly become rich as it has earned a handsome amount of Rs 5.10 crores by way of giving its land for the CUP.

Badal frequently visits here to personally scrutinize the pace of execution of the development works in his ancestral village. The dusty streets in the village would have inter-locking paver and a proper drainage system is being laid. The village would also have a separate sewerage system so that any visitor to the CUP or any other institute finds a pleasant environment. KJS Cheema, special principal secretary to the CM, recently visited to take stock of the development works.

According to Deputy Commissioner S. Karuna Raju, a sum of Rs 58 lakhs has been earmarked for premix blacktopping of roads and every household would have piped supply of drinking water.

The sports school that is being established by the government to train the youngsters and restore Punjab's leading position in the field of sports would have six playgrounds including two each for basketball and volleyball, football, hockey and an athletic track that would cost about Rs 45 lakhs.

The astroturf for hockey and synthetic athletic track is estimated to to set up at a cost Rs 10.15 crores. Besides, an indoor stadium is also being constructed at a cost of Rs 4.29 crores.

Construction of the 5336 square feet horse stable of the riding school is also in progress. 

Moga, April 10
A man hailing from the Jat Sikh community has allegedly strangulated his five-year-old son to death at Shah Bukkar village in the Moga district, yesterday.

As per the details, Karamjit Singh, son of Buta Singh, a resident of Shah Bukkar village of this district was not married to the deceased boy’s mother. He allegedly had illicit relations with her which also spoiled the woman’s marital life.

The mother of the deceased child Sukhpreet Kaur ‘Sukhi’ also hailing from the same village got married to one Jasbir Singh at Nathewala village in the Baghapurana sub-division of the district about eight years back.

Preliminary findings of the police revealed that she had two children. However, she continued her extra-marital relationship with Karamjit. Karamjit was known to the woman prior to her marriage.

When Jasbir came to know about his wife’s extra-marital relationship, he kicked her out of his house six years back. He kept his two children with him. She came back to her parents’ house and again started meeting Karamjit. She allegedly gave birth to Karamjit’s child five years back.

In the meantime, Karamjit got married and his wife came to know about their relationship. Sukhpreet Kaur started staying at her maternal grandfather’s house at Mallah Kalan village.

A few days back, Karamjit’s wife left him and went to her parents’ house.

On being called, Sukhi came to Karamjit’s house and asked for some share of his property for her son Jaskaran Singh. Betrayed by his wife, Karamjit agreed to her proposal.He asked her to leave the child with him. She left her child with him and went back to Mallah Kalan village.

Karamjit allegedly strangulated the child to death and fled away from the spot. A criminal case of murder has been registered against him. The body of the child was sent to the district hospital for post-mortem.

Mansa, April 10
At least three occupants of a jeep including its driver were killed on the spot while three others suffered multiple injuries when the vehicle, by which they were travelling, dashed against a tree near Musa village, situated on the Mansa-Talwandi Sabo road here before noon today. The impact of the collision was so severe that the jeep was reduced to a mangled heap.

Jaswinder Kaur, in-charge, police post, Ramdittawala, who along with other policemen reached the spot, said the jeep, which was moving at high speed, dashed against the tree near a sharp curve as its driver could not control the vehicle.

She added that she along with the residents of nearby villages and passersby managed to shift the injured to the Mansa hospital.

Those killed on the spot were identified as Upinder Yadav, Rakesh Sharma and Madan Lal. The three who suffered multiple injuries were identified as Kuldeep Yadav, Ashok Sharma and Dhakkal Singh. Those who lost their lives in the accident, were below 40 years of age.

Civil hospital sources said that Kuldeep Yadav and Rakesh Sharma, whose condition was serious, were shifted to Civil Hospital, Bathinda.

Their condition continues to be serious. Dhakkar Singh, who also suffered injuries, was being treated at the local Civil Hospital. His condition was stated to be stable.

Police sources said that those, who were killed or injured in the accident, belonged to different states and had been working on different jobs in the thermal plant, which was being set up by a private company at Banawala village.

Jaswinder Kaur said a case in this connection had been registered under section 174 of CrPC on the basis of the statement given by Dhakkar Singh. The kin of these persons had been informed about the mishap. The post-mortem of the bodies had been conducted. 

Bathinda, April 10
Resentment has been brewing among the junior engineers (JEs) of the irrigation and canal departments, Punjab, over the alleged denial of promotions to them by the authorities concerned as per the promotion rules introduced in 2004.

Though the JEs, who have been denied promotion to the rank of sub-divisional engineer (SDE), decided to hold a state-level agitation at Chandigarh from April 6, they were persuaded not to do so by state irrigation minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon.

NP Dhawan, general secretary, Diploma Engineers Association (Irrigation and Canal), Punjab, said that tomorrow, the association would hold talks with Sekhon again and if their demands were not met, an emergency meeting of the executive body of the association would be held immediately to decide the date of launching the agitation. He said an agitation in the shape of dharna would be started in front of the office of chief engineer (canal), Punjab, at Chandigarh.

He said that as per the promotion rules introduced in 2004, 40 per cent of junior engineers (JEs) were to be promoted to the rank of SDE as per the number of vacancies existing at a particular time.

He added that the state irrigation and canal department authorities kept following this rule till 2009. For the past two years, the authorities concerned had not given a single promotion to any JE as per this rule and hence, three JEs had already retired from service without getting a single promotion in their entire service career and four more JEs would meet the same fate this month.

He alleged that the state irrigation and canal department authorities had been denying career promotions to JEs on the pretext that promotion of employees in the department could be done on the basis scheduled of new expenditure (SNE) formula, which defeated the purpose of the promotion rules of 2004.

He said that in the past two years, promotion of employees from the rank of sub- divisional engineers to executive engineers, from executive engineers to superintendent engineers and from superintendent engineers to chief engineers, had been done twice in the last two years.

He said the JEs were being discriminated against in the matter of promotion by the authorities. 

Mansa, April 10
A major fire broke out in the branch of the State Bank of Patiala (SBoP), located in a thickly populated area on the water works road here, under mysterious circumstances late in the evening today.

One of the three guards, inside the bank premises when the fire broke out, tried to fire shots at Sulkhan Singh, SHO, city police station, when he along with other policemen reached the spot and tried to enter into the bank to bring them out.

However, Sulkhan, along with other policemen managed to overpower the guard before he could press the trigger of his gun. One other guard was also brought out from the bank premises, which was in flames. The third guard managed to flee from the scene.

It was learnt that after the police came to know about the fire incident, a team from the city police station immediately rushed to the spot. However, no fire tender was available as it was away in Talwandi Sabo for reasons best known to the authorities concerned.

RK Manchanda, manager of the bank, who also reached the spot after some time, said whether the fire had damaged the bank's currency chest or not could not be known at this time. He said that preliminary investigations had revealed that the fire had broken out in the bank due to short-circuit of electrical wires. He said that five guards were inside the bank when the fire broke out, and added that at this moment, was not aware of the whereabouts of the guards. However, one of the guards was found intoxicated on the roof of bank.

The fire had been brought under control at the time of filing this report. The team of bank officials along with cops including district police chief HS Mann had entered the bank premises to make on-the-spot examination of the incident.

Bathinda, April 10
To avoid labour pangs during the wheat harvesting season, which is about to start in Malwa, farmers of the region have started making advance agreements with the owners of the combine harvesters.Finding that the demand for machines is rising, the owners of the combine harvesters are getting their machines in order before the harvesting starts.

During a random visit of the district, The Tribune found a number of combine harvesters plying on the roads, while many were being repaired at the workshops.

Interacting with the owners and the drivers of the huge machines, it was found that they were quite enthusiastic about the onset of the harvesting season. “I have come a long way from Gujarat after the wheat harvesting season concluded there. This season seems to be quite remunerative as before reaching here, I have received seven phone calls from the farmers of Muktsar district. They have hired me to start harvesting their crops from next week,” said Major Singh of Kanjhla village, who owns a Nabha-made combine harvester.

Another owner, Jaswant Singh Balianwali said, “As people have started calling us in advance, it seems this time we will earn better profits than last year. Last season, we were paid between Rs 600-700 per acre, which we are going to revise up to Rs 800-850 per acre.”

However, he mentioned that the cost of fuel (diesel) and some other expenses too have increased, which need to be borne by the machine owners. Sharing their experiences of Gujarat, the machine owners said they were not very happy.

“Though I got Rs 1000 per acre for harvesting wheat there, it was not much beneficial. Besides fuel, there were various expenses including the depreciation of costly tyres, chains and belts, after deducting which the net profit amounted to nothing,” said Mukhtiar Singh of Kotkapura.

He said that earlier, Gujarat was an unexplored area, where combines were in great demand. But with time, people of that region also purchased machines on their own.

However, he was hopeful about the harvesting season in Punjab, as he said that the labour pang, otherwise not good for a state, would help them get good business. He said one machine reaps nearly 25 acres of wheat crop in a day. 

Bathinda, April 10
Gurjinder Singh Sidhu, national president of the ex-servicemen wing of the Shiromani Akal Dal (B) today demanded the immediate suspension of all cops of the Bathinda police involved in subjecting an ex-serviceman, Sukhdev Singh, to third degree torture.

Sukhdev Singh was among those employees of the PRTC, who were allegedly tortured by the Bathinda police to crack a theft of Rs 14 lakh from the PRTC's Bathinda depot a few days back.

Raising their voice for Sukhdev Singh, who was picked up by the police for questioning as he was posted as a security guard at the Bathinda depot of the PRTC, Sidhu said, "After the Bathinda police claimed to have nabbed the real culprits, it was exposed that Sukhdev and the other PRTC employees were beaten up for no reason."

"Besides, suspending all the cops involved in the torture, legal action should be taken against them," he demanded.

He threatened to lodge a complaint with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, if the district police chief did not accept his demand.

Among other members of the ex-servicemen wing, Mukhtiar Singh, GS Bhullar, Santokh Singh, Hardeep Singh. Chand Singh. Jaswinder Singh and Jagsir Singh, were also present at the press conference.

Fazilka, April 10
The Market Committee authorities did not allow the farmers to unload the maiden arrival of about 70 quintals of wheat in the grain market during the last two days on the plea that it contained high moisture content. As per the official sources, farmers of village Jhuge Gulab had brought the harvested wheat in the grain market.

The wheat contained 16.5 to 18.5 per cent moisture against the maximum permissible limit of 12 per cent. Market Committee secretary Vijay Madaan appealed to the farmers to bring dry wheat for smooth and timely purchase. In connection with the problems of farmers and commission agents, Aarhrtiya Association president Daya Krishan Sachdeva has sent a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepur.

According to him, the latest circular of the Punjab government has put the farmers and commission agents in trouble as it has been directed in the circular that the commission agents have to display board mentioning date of arrival, cleaning and moisture content present in the wheat.

Without mentioning the details on the board, no produce would be purchased. They have sought that proper distribution of labourers to the procuring agencies for smooth and timely lifting of the produce should be allotted. 

Maiserkhana (Bathinda), April 10
More than two lakh people belonging to different faiths today paid obeisance at the historical temple of Goddess Bhagwati here in the last 48 hours as part of the ongoing Navratras.People belonging to rural and urban areas of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and other parts of the country descended on this town, located about 35 km from Bathinda, to spend a night in the temple premises so that their presence is recognised by the deity.

A large number of newly-married couple also descended on the town to seek divine blessings for happy married life and prosperity. A large number of men and women were seen inching towards the temple while lying prostrate to invoke divine power to resolve their problems.

The Mela, organised twice a year during the Navrataras, also witnessed the participation of members of Sikh community in large numbers. Perhaps, it is the only big mela, which draws a huge crowd and where the political parties do not hold their conferences.

Punjab government has started round-the-clock bus service from different parts of Bathinda, Mansa and other districts of the Malwa region to help people visit this Mela.

According to a legend, Kamala, a resident of the area used to meditate for hours to invoke the Goddess Bhagwati. He prayed to the goddess for a glimpse twice a year. It is said the goddess granted his prayer and gave him her glimpse. To commemorate this event, thousands of devotees visit the temple twice a year when a Mela is held.

Apart from paying obeisance at the temple, devotees would perform the ceremony of digging out soil from the 'tilla' (mound), located near the temple, as it is considered to be a sacred ritual and marks the beginning of auspicious time for everyone.

Gurmeet Singh, DSP, Maur Mandi, who was tasked to handle the security arrangements, said that foolproof security cover had been provided at the Mela. Special watch was being kept on the activities of suspicious elements. Traffic movement has been made smooth with the deployment of policemen in large numbers.

The temple management committee has also made elaborate arrangements so that devotees could pay obeisance inside the temple without any hassles. 

Moga, April 10
Worried over the deteriorating condition of soil due to wheat-paddy cultivation, many innovative farmers in the Moga district have decided to grow moong in between wheat and paddy cultivation not only to earn more profit but also to conserve their soil. Moong helps nitrogen fixation, which increases the soil fertility.

Last year, moong was cultivated in just 700 hectares of land in the district. However, this year, the area under cultivation is likely to increase to 5000 hectares, thanks to the efforts of the scientists of the state agriculture department.

Revealing this to The Tribune, Dr Ravi Kumar Sabbarwal, Chief Agriculture Officer of Moga, said there is a myth that most pulses are grown on marginal lands, where soil fertility and moisture is poor with the farmer having to battle multiple challenges of plant nutrition and irrigation, in addition to warding off pest, weed and disease attacks in order to achieve a productive crop and viable yield.

He added that growing pulses particularly moong in the irrigated land in between wheat and paddy cultivation provide farmers an opportunity to enhance revenue and conserve soil, he said that pulses fix nitrogen, consume less water, provide a healthy, protein-rich food and are, in the long term, a sustainable crop.

Dr Sabbarwal said that by growing pulses in the irrigated areas the area under these crops could be increased without decreasing the area under wheat-paddy crops. In the wheat-paddy areas, wheat crop is harvested by April 15 to April 20 and paddy saplings are transplanted after mid-June and during this period of two-and-a-half months, summer moong could be grown in the irrigated areas.

He said that there are many short duration varieties of moong that could be grown in the summer. These varieties get ready in 60 to 70 days and give yield three to four quintals per acre with an average income of at least 10,000 per acre. The summer moong should be sown as early as possible so that it may be harvested before the rainy season sets in, he added.

Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, an agriculture scientist of the state government posted here said that the Union Government has also provided many incentives for the farmers under the National Food Security Mission to increase the production of pulses by expanding the area under these crops as well as by adopting new production technologies. Under the scheme, the government gives a subsidy of Rs 1200 per quintal on moong seeds, Rs 30,000 subsidy on rotavators, besides, subsidy on zero-till-drills, multi-crop planters, seed drills and other agriculture implements. “We also give rhizobium culture free of cost along with the seeds,” he said.

Ferozepur, April 10
To motivate the farmers to leave wheat-paddy cycle and to adopt cultivation of oilseeds and pulses for fetching monetary benefits, the local Krishi Vigyan Kendra has started organizing education camps in different parts of the district.

Under the camps, the farmers are being motivated to shift towards low input high value crops of short duration to stabiles their economy.

To start with, the farmers are being asked to go for oilseeds and pulses cultivation because of their good demand in the market.

Yuvraj Singh, Pandha, Assistant Professor (Plant Protection), KVK, Ferozepur, said to realize the production potential of oilseed and pulse crops through the adoption of innovative and improved production technologies, front line demonstrations (FLDs) activity had been under taken by KVK. Under the activity, KVK, Ferozepur had conducted FLDs of Gobhi Sarson and Raya (oilseeds) and Gram crops on around 45 acres of land during Rabi season of year 2010-11.

For this, 58 farmers of different villages of the district were given the seeds of improved varieties and a critical input free of cost along with technical knowhow.

“To share the impact of demonstrations among other farmers and identify the technological gaps, three village level farmer awareness field camps were held on harvesting stage of field demonstrations of the crops at Toot, Gadriwala and Basti Ram Lal villages falling under Ghal Khurd, Zira and Ferozepur blocks of district Ferozepur, he added”

Lavleesh Garg, Assistant Professor, Extension Education, said that FLDs on summer moong crop were also conducted on fields of 25 farmers covering an area of 22 acres during last year with emphasis on its timely sowing, seed inoculation and timely irrigation. 

Fazilka, April 10
Fazilka, the cotton-rich town of Punjab bordering Pakistan, which has carved a niche for itself in different fields, will add another feather to its cap on April 16, 2011, when it will join the league of 40 big cities, which are available via open street digital maps.

This border town, which has suffered huge losses on account of the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, has already attracted the attention of countrymen for its handmade juttis (footwear), tosha (a sweet), first car free zone, dial- a-rickshaw service and for starting different projects connected with environmental conservation.

“In the era of technology, local Graduates Welfare Association Fazilka (GWAF) has joined hands with Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana, to prepare a digital map of Fazilka and make it available to public through Internet,” said Navdeep Asija, Secretary (Administration), GWAF. The project is called Open Street Map.

Through unrestricted access to data, such digital maps will empower the citizens and will result in numerous innovations. The project will help the government and NGOs in their social welfare schemes by providing geographical information for their projects.

"The quality data so produced will also facilitate easy navigation for commuters. It is very useful for a small town like Fazilka,” said Asija, adding that the GWAF had selected 20 people belonging to 
different sections, who would be having a GPS device to capture the ground realities, land marks, eating outlet, hotels, restaurants, and other related attributes as a part of the mapping party.

“The information collected by them will be combined and uploaded. Geeta Softech, Fazilka, will be acting as a facility provider. The concept is fairly new to India and is fast catching up, said Vinod Kumar, Director, Geeta Softech, adding that information will be available on the website http://osm.org.

“Fazilka city is one of the hot spots in border area tourism in the Malwa region of Punjab for its original art and culture, rural tourism, black buck sanctuary and border retreat.

Such information on a digital map will help visitors at large,” he claimed. 

Sriganganagar, April 10
A schoolgoing girl of a Dalit community was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped at the house of a Youth Congress leader by seven youths including the leader last night.

Padampur SHO Kanta Singh said a case has been registered under sections 328, 366, 376 (2) (6) and 143 of the IPC and Sections 3 and 5 of the SC ST Act.

Srikaranpur DSP Sahi Ram Bishnoi has reached Padampur to supervise theinvestigation. Raids were being conducted by different teams to nab the accused. Bishnoi assured the protesters that raids would be intensified after getting the statement of the victim recorded under Section 164 CrPC by the civil judge. District in-charge of the Youth Congress Hanuman Meel strongly condemned the incident and said that the state leadership was being informed about it for necessary action.

“Such elements will not be allowed to remain in the party,” he said categorically.

Giving details, the SHO Kanta Singh said the victim aged about 16 years is studying in class X.

She came out responding to a phone call from the house of her maternal uncle in village Delwan located near Padampur town. Seven youths including a leader of the Youth Congress kidnapped her by covering her mouth with a piece of cloth. The persons nominated in the FIR have been identified as Vikas, Kapil, Rajiv, Baldev, Sukhia, Sonu and Shivratan.