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Farmers await procurement of basmati 1121 variety of paddy
Fazilka, October 24
The farmers sitting on a heap of basmati 1121 variety of paddy awaiting procurement. There is a glut of popular cash crop 1121 variety of Basmati paddy in the local grain market as the procurement has not been started following deadlock over the payment schedule between the commission agents and rice mill owners.
The farmers sitting on a heap of basmati 1121 variety of paddy awaiting procurement. A Tribune photograph

Smuggling bid from Pak foiled in Hindumalkot sector
Sriganganagar, October 24
Lack of coordination among the Pakistan-based smugglers and their links in Ferozepur division has averted the inflow of a consignment that might have contained narcotics, fake currency or fire-arms, well placed sources said.

Acid attack on labourer’s son
Faridkot, October 24
After an altercation with a labourer, a quack in Nawan Salem Shah village of Fazilka area threw an acid like substance on the face of the labourer’s son. The 17-year-old son, Angrej Singh, has been referred to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot with serious burn injuries.

EARLIER STORIES

	Ex-FM sticks to his guns on fiscal mess October 24, 2011
	Deported from UK, Moga youth held in Amritsar October 23, 2011
	Commemoration Day observed October 22, 2011
	Badal steps up attack on Manpreet, Barnala October 21, 2011
	Basmati 1121 growers await buyers October 20, 2011
	Dengue scare grips region October 19, 2011
	CM flays Manpreet, Cong in same vein October 18, 2011
	142 pvt practitioners in state to be enrolled under IDSP October 17, 2011
	Biamass power plant to end stubble burning October 16, 2011
	CBI to probe Kotkapura bank embezzlement case October 15, 2011
	Revenue staff relent, end water tank drama October 14, 2011

	Farmers await procurement of basmati 1121 variety of paddy Praful Chander Nagpal Fazilka, October 24 There is a glut of popular cash crop 1121 variety of Basmati paddy in the local grain market as the procurement has not been started following deadlock over the payment schedule between the commission agents and rice mill owners. As per the sources, 40,000 quintals of Basmati variety of paddy has arrived in the local grain market. As the procurement could not be undertaken, the farmers have stopped bringing paddy to the market and have started stocking it. “I would bring the basmati quality of paddy to the market as soon as the procurement begins because we cannot wait in the grain market for a long time following the festival season,” said Baldev Dhingra of village Mohammad Pira, alleging that they are being exploited at the hands of the traders. The farmers are the worst hit, who have been camping in the market fighting several odds and adverse weather conditions. “We have been camping in the market for the last 10 days awaiting the auction and nobody is ready to purchase our produce. The farmers should not be forced to bear the loss due to the wrangle between commission agents and private traders,” rued the farmers Wirsa Singh and Amar Singh, who have been camping in the market for the last week, safeguarding their produce. Notably, 1121 variety of basmati paddy does not fall into the category of minimum support price (MSP). Hence, the farmers depend upon the private traders only for the sale of their produce. Aarhtiya Association president Daya Krishan Sachdeva demanded that the traders should make the payment to the commission agents as per the norms of to the Punjab Agriculture Produce Market General Rule 1962 sub-rule 11-12-13 amended on October 9, 2010, in which, the purchaser is bound to make payment to the commission agents within two days, who in turn the commission agents have to release the payment within three days to the farmers. On the other hand, Rice Millers Association, Fazilka, president Tejwant Singh Tita said the rice mill owners purchase the paddy on behalf of the exporters and they in turn make the payment to the millers after three to four months. Hence, they are can not make payment to the commission agents in a couple of days. Local MLA, Transport and Technical Education Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani has intervened on Sunday. He conducted two rounds of the meeting with commission agents and rice mill owners separately but failed to work out any compromise till the evening.
	Smuggling bid from Pak foiled in Hindumalkot sector Our Correspondent Sriganganagar, October 24 Lack of coordination among the Pakistan-based smugglers and their links in Ferozepur division has averted the inflow of a consignment that might have contained narcotics, fake currency or fire-arms, well placed sources said. As per the information, the villagers nabbed a youth, who was suspiciously moving near the barbed fencing at village Mandera of Hindumalkot sector in the morning. He was handed over to the Border Security Force. The youth, identified as Nishan Singh, reportedly revealed that one Partap Singh had taken him here from the border village Bambasinghwala (Ferozepur) using a bike for an 'important task' but left after reaching here as he was awaiting signal expected from the other side of the border. The BSF launched combing operations with the help of scores of villagers but Partap could not be traced. All the roads that connect Hindumalkot with Abohar and Fazilka have been sealed. Finding that Nishan Singh, who cultivates land near the international border in the Ferozepur village, was concealing some vital information, the authorities were thinking of dispatching him to the joint interrogation centre. Notably, the BSF with the help of the district police had nabbed two brothers at Hindumalkot a few months back and recovered 1,900 grams of heroin along with 1.75 lakh fake currency and two nine MM Chinese pistols that had been smuggled from Pakistan. Their cousin was arrested by the Abohar police with contraband that appeared to be a part of the same consignment. The BSF had recently nabbed one Zaid Mohammad, who had intruded into the Indian territory for smuggling.
	Acid attack on labourer’s son Tribune News Service Faridkot, October 24 After an altercation with a labourer, a quack in Nawan Salem Shah village of Fazilka area threw an acid like substance on the face of the labourer’s son. The 17-year-old son, Angrej Singh, has been referred to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot with serious burn injuries. Gulzar Singh, father of the victim, said the doctors at the Civil Hospital in Fazilka have referred the case to Faridkot as the boy sustained serious facial burn injuries. Angrej Singh was allegedly attacked after his father’s verbal duel with the quack in the village. “First, the quack beat the boy with a stick and then threw a bottle of acid on his face,” alleged the father. Angrej was rushed to the Civil Hospital in Fazilka but the doctors, who attended on him, referred him to the Faridkot medical college. Gulzar Singh alleged that police have not recorded his son’s statement. Faridkot SSP Sat Pal Singh Sidhu said as the case is concerned with the Fazilka district and the Fazilka police would register a case in the matter, the Faridkot police is asking its Fazilka counterparts for necessary action as per the medico-legal report.
	Fireworks dumped in stadium, safety norms not fully in place Raj Sadosh Abohar, October 24 The office complex of the Nehru Stadium here has been dumped with fireworks of all ranges. Even the dressing room used by the players has not been spared. Bikers started roaming on the lush green lawns besides fixing tents, about a fortnight ahead of the festival of lights. The trading community had ignored the appeal made by several NGOs that people of the sub-division, instead of wasting money on polluting the environment by use of fireworks, should be prompted to help thousands of residents in 28 villages who have virtually been ruined due to the floods triggered by the overflowing of the drain water. Hundreds of families had lost their houses. They had also applied for transfer certificates to shift their wards from government schools in the affected villages. Chief Parliamentary Secretary Gurtej Singh Ghuriana, while handing over cheques worth rupees one lakh each to three families who had lost their kin, had confirmed that girdawari in some villages could not be taken up as fields remained submerged with stinking black water even after six weeks of the beginning of drain water fury. The sports associations had urged the administration not to permit conversion of the maiden stadium into a ‘Patakha’ as this would halt sports activities for more than a month besides damaging the cricket pitch, basketball and football grounds. The Municipal Council had earned about Rs one lakh per year by permitting cracker stalls did not spend anything for the maintenance of the stadium, the associations had resented. During the meeting of the citizens consultative committee at the Saanjh Centre here, the issue was raised. SP Virender Singh Brar had said that no one had requested for security there. The Municipal Council had informed the interested persons through the public address system to apply for obtaining permission to sell crackers at the stadium ground. A visit to the stadium found fire control gadgets had not been arranged for by the traders. They were also not using proper bill book for the sales to evade payment of taxes. Officials in the municipal council maintained that there could be no other safe place than the stadium for running the ‘Patakha Market’. Sale in other markets will not be allowed, they asserted. Interestingly, sales were allowed on all the city roads besides the residential areas last year, the Consumer Movement and Grahak Panchayat functionaries lamented.
	National-level stadium to be ready within three months, claims Mansa DC Tribune News Service Mansa, October 24 Mansa Deputy Commissioner Ravinder Singh has claimed that the under-construction stadium, which would be of national-level, would be completed in a record time of three months. In a press release issued here, the DC said fresh instructions have been passed to the contractors concerned to expedite the process of construction work. It is stated in the release that the entire district administration is on tenterhook to fulfill the dream of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal to hold the kabaddi competition in Mansa. The Deputy Commissioner claimed that there would be no compromise on the quality of work and the progress is beingmonitored on a daily basis by the senior district administrative officials. It is a matter of pride that the international sports events are being organised in Mansa. He further added that Rs 4.5 crores would be spent on the construction of stadium and three Kabaddi matches would be organised during the second World Cup Kabaddi.