|
|
|
|
|
Recurring transmission loss for Powercom
Organic wheat rescues farmers in debt
Oil tanker turns turtle on
NH-10
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Former NASA scientist is Fazilka college
head
3,400 beneficiaries in Bathinda dist await Shagun amount
Farmers will not face problem: Fazilka DC
Gumber elected Fazilka Bar Assn president
Moga offices mock at Service Act
|
|
Recurring transmission loss for Powercom
Faridkot, April 5 Alleging that the curve was intended to harass them, two farmers of the village have moved a judicial court for the ‘prejudicial’ move of the corporation officials. Earlier, the officials had claimed that the curve in the power line was to increase its distance from a brick kiln in the area so that there was no adverse affect of the kiln ash on the power line. But since the curve has failed to check the deposit of fly ash on the transmission line and the corporation has now installed anti-fog disc insulators, the officials are finding it difficult to justify the curve. In a suit filed in a court in Faridkot, farmers Rakesh Kumar and Pammi Arora alleged that as an act of reprisal, the PSTCL officials ‘intentionally’ diverted a straight power supply line to cover their field so that it caused an adverse impact on the market value of their property. They alleged that the diversion in the high-voltage power-supply line divided their land into two equal parts and had lowered its market value. The farmers alleged that the reason for the ‘act of vengeance’ was that they had objected to an alleged forcible collection of `500 against The farmers alleged that the ‘act of retaliation’ not only lowered the market value of their property but also caused a loss of over `4 lakh to the PSTCL as the ‘unnecessary’ curve in the supply line increased its length by 200 metre. Further, the supply line is causing a recurrent transmission power loss due to the increased length. Earlier, the Faridkot Deputy Commissioner had deputed a Tehsildar to visit the spot and in his inspection report, the Tehsildar stated that there was no rationale in diverting the straight power supply line. Though the Deputy Commissioner asked the corporation authorities in November last year to take a necessary action in this regard, no action was taken so far, alleged Pammi
Arora. |
|
|
Organic wheat rescues farmers in debt
Faridkot, April 5 At a time when the majority of farmers with a landholding of 4-5 acres are under debt and have to wait for days at procurement centres every Rabi season to sell their wheat crop, the farmers practising organic farming are not only selling their 'much-sought-after' crop at their clients' doorsteps, but are also fetching up to `3,000 per quintal of organic wheat. Against the MSP of `1,285 per quintal of wheat this season, the crop produced from organic farming has already been booked at the price ranging between `2,700 and `3,000 per quintal. A rare case of crop diversification has come up at Chaina village where Amarjit Sharma has sown over 20 varieties of crops, including vegetables, fruits, sugarcane, potatoes, onion, pulses and other crops, by dividing his four-acre farm into small segments. Terming it as zero-budget farming, Vinod Jyani, a farmer with 120 acres under organic farming in Katehra village of Fazilka, said no single input had to be purchased in the natural farming system. "You just have to use the things, which are already available in your farm. Besides, the farmer does not have to bear the cost of fertilisers and pesticides, and also saves about 70 to 80 per cent of irrigation water by practising organic farming, said Jyani. "Cow dung jaggery and gram flour is used in natural farming. In the first two to three years, the yield falls by 40 to 50 per cent. But with zero input, and earnings nearly 100 per cent more than that of conventional method, natural farming brings in no loss to the farmer," said Harjant Singh of Rai Ke Kalan village. Even a study, "The economics and efficiency of organic farming vis-à-vis conventional farming in India", by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, revealed that though the yield under organic farming was nearly half, the market price realisation per kg of wheat was significantly higher in organic farming (about 117 per cent). The study indicated almost 16 per cent higher gross returns in case wheat was produced through organic farming, said Umendra Dutt, executive director of the Kheti Virsat Mission, a voluntary organisation promoting natural farming. |
|
|
Oil tanker turns turtle on NH-10
Abohar, April 5 As the oil scattered over the 90-feet-wide road, residents, including children and women, of a neighbouring colony carrying utensils/containers rushed to collect the oil. Notably, cottonseed oil cake prices have recently shot up and Abohar is considered as one of the major centres to produce oil cake. The driver and his assistant sustained injuries in the mishap and were admitted to a private hospital. They said the tanker was loaded at Bathinda to supply oil to an industrial house here. As per the documents available with the driver, the total value of the oil was assessed at `7.87 lakh. Meanwhile, apprehending more mishaps, the traffic on the road was diverted as the highway had turned slippery. Most of the vehicles passed through the city bypass while others picked up link roads to connect to the highway on the Abohar-Fazilka road. —
OC |
|
|
Former NASA scientist is Fazilka college head
Fazilka, April 5 The GCET is managed by the Ghubaya Educational Society founded by the Member of Parliament Sher Singh Ghubaya in 2010 for the development of the backward border area. Dr Sehra’s joining is expected to boost not only the academic standards of the college but also the research and development work. — TNS |
|
|
3,400 beneficiaries in Bathinda dist await Shagun amount
Bathinda, April 5 For the purpose, the District Welfare Office here has already demanded `5.10 crore from the government, but to no avail so far. When contacted over the phone this afternoon, District Welfare Officer, Bathinda, Pritam Singh Kore said however, the payment of the Shagun Scheme to the beneficiaries from the district had already been made for the period from April 1, 2011 to November, 2011 while the payment of the scheme to 734 beneficiaries for the period (from December 1, 2011 to March 15, 2012) was yet to be made. He said his office had already sent the cases of these 734 beneficiaries to the Welfare Department at Chandigarh for making the payments online. As per the information, the payment of the Shagun amounts would be made to these beneficiaries by April 15, he added. Kore further said the verification of the beneficiaries of the scheme till March 31, 2010, had already been done. The cases of remaining beneficiaries had been sent to the sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) concerned through the deputy commissioner for verification for the period from April 1, 2010 onward. He said, however, the offices of the tehsil welfare officers had started receiving the cases after verifications by the SDMs. After the receipt of these verified cases, the tehsil welfare officers will send the same to the office of the District Welfare Officer here for further forwarding it to the head office of the Welfare Department for making the payments under the scheme. |
|
Farmers will not face problem: Fazilka DC
Fazilka, April 5 Further, he claimed that all arrangements for smooth procurement of wheat in 79 grain markets and focal points of the district had been completed. Notably, Fazilka is the second district in the state after Sangrur to record the maximum arrival of wheat. The DC said the Pungrain, the Markfed, the Punsup, the Food Corporation of India each had been asked to procure 20 per cent of the total expected arrival. Besides, 11 per cent of the total expected arrival would be procured by the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation and 9 per cent by the Punjab Agro. Dr Garg further stated that out of the total procurement, 2,12,000 MT would be stored in Fazilka sub-division, 1,84,000 MT in Jalalabad and only 34,100 MT would be stored in Abohar sub-division. “Smooth procurement of wheat, prompt filling and lifting has also been ensured by deputing full staff and providing necessary infrastructure,” the DC said. He expressed the hope that the wheat would start arriving in the markets from April 13 and the farmers would not face any problem. |
|
Gumber elected Fazilka Bar Assn president
Fazilka, April 5 Sushil Gumber had successfully led from front an agitation for raising the status of Fazilka from sub-division to district headquarters. For the post of treasurer of the association, Gauri Sachdeva defeated Gaurav Dahuja by a margin of 15 votes. Notably, on the direction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the election process was conducted under the supervision of Bar Council observers, Baltej Singh Brar, Rajesh Kasrija and Gurleen Kaur. It may be mentioned that advocates Gulshan Mehrok, Gopal Rathi and Aman Sharma had already been elected as the vice-president, secretary and assistant secretary, respectively, unanimously. Out of a total of 147, 143 members of the association cast their votes. |
|
Moga offices mock at Service Act
Moga, April 5 Although application forms for arms licence are available at the Suvidha Centre set up in the Mini-secretariat, the employees there do not give the form until one obtains a written approval from the Deputy Commissioner (DC). Sometimes, it takes days for a common 'illiterate' man to meet the DC. Rajinder Singh, a local resident, downloaded the arms licence form from the district administration's website but the Suvidha Centre employees refused to accept it. They argued that none of the public utility forms available free of cost on the website were accepted by them. One has to pay at least `20 per application form even if it is downloaded from the administration's website. People are also facing bad experiences at the DTO office where a nexus between the contractor/employees of the Suvidha Centre and agents is giving rise to 'widespread corruption'. In the past, the local police had exposed the nexus on a couple of occasions, but it continues to thrive with 'rates of services' increased by the agents. In May 2011, the local police registered a criminal case under Sections 420, 218 and 120-B of the IPC against a clerk and an agent at the DTO office. A similar case was also registered in October 2009 against two employees and some agents. The employees of the DTO office and the Suvidha Centre are reportedly hand-in-glove with the agents. Resultantly, people have to shell out more for registration of vehicle, driving licence and other works. In many cases, the DTO himself got deposited in his office the penalty relating to traffic challans, which were actually sent to the chief judicial magistrate's court, resulting in harassment of offenders. Some offenders even had to pay the fine twice to get their driving licences or registration certificates of vehicles back. Further, hundreds of files related to registration of new/old vehicles are pending with the DTO office for the past many months. Vijay Sathi, a senior leader of the Congress and a former MLA, has demanded that the state government should take effective steps to change the 'colonial' mindset of the bureaucracy so that the common man gets time-
bound services through the Suvidha Centre without visiting the offices of various departments. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
A tanker carrying 11.5 tonne of cottonseed oil overturned while averting collision with a motorcyclist on the railway overbridge (RoB) on the Abohar-Malout road (national highway 10) here today.
