AGRICULTURE

Wheat crop destroyed by fire
Our Correspondent

Machhiwara, April 21
Three acres of standing wheat crop in Bhupana village near here was reportedly burnt last evening when a fire broke out due to some sparking in electricity wires passing over the field.

According to the owner of the farm Mr Joga Singh, the fire broke out due to the negligence of the Punjab State Electricity Board. He said he had complained to PSEB officials about the system of wiring, two days before the incident. On April 18, a lineman visited the sight but he did not take any action in this regard.

He has demanded compensation for the loss from the Deputy Commissioner. He also sought a action against the guilty lineman of the PSEB.

KHANNA: About 18 acres of wheat was destroyed in a fire at Gagar Majra village, 12 km from here on Saturday.

According to information, wheat crop in 18 acres of land of three farmers Sukhdev Singh, Harnek Singh and Satpal caught fire. The Fire Brigade was called in but villagers succeeded in controlling the fire before the Fire Brigade reached the spot. A loss of Rs 2 lakh was estimated in the incident.

Bakery workshop 
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 21
The Department of Food Sciences and Technology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), is organising a two-day workshop on the preparation of bakery products on April 26 and 27. The main theme of the workshop would be the preparation of bakery products like eggless plum cakes, biscuits, coconut cookies, mawa cake, banana muffins, doughnut buns, soup sticks, puff pasteries, butter sponge, butter icing and several other bakery products. A communique released by the Head of Food and Technology Department, Mr Arvind K. Bakshi, the participants would be trained by American experts.

DEO denies charges
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 21
The District Education Officer (Primary), Fatehgarh Sahib, has refuted the charges of harassment of the primary teachers appointed under the Sikhya Karmi Scheme.

Reacting to a report published in this newspaper the DEO said, the teachers appointed under this scheme would be paid their salaries only after getting the written direction from the Deputy Commissioner Fatehgarh Sahib and hoped that the direction would be received within a short period. He said an amount of Rs 17.30 lakh had been withdrawn from the treasury on March 31 for the purpose.

School without teacher
Our Correspondent

Samrala, April 21
Government Primary School, Bomb, near here, which was opened in memory of Goa martyr Master Karnail Singh Isru, is on the verge of closure because the school does not have a teacher at the moment, according Mr Harminder Kaur, sarpanch of the village, here.

The panchayat has sent representations to the Chief Minister and the Education Minister, Punjab, for immediate action in the matter.

COURTS

State commission enhances compensation
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 21
In a significant judgement the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has enhanced the compensation for deficiency in services, which was to be paid by the Telecom Department for mental agony and harassment, from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000.

On July 13, 1999, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum had directed the department to pay Rs 1,000 on account of deficiency in services to Mr Bhupinder Singh a resident of Model Town. The forum had further directed the department to restore the telephone connection of the consumer with in 15 days.

According to the complaint, Bhupinder Singh was a subscriber of a telephone (410605) which was installed at his residence. The consumer had stated before the forum that the telephone was disconnected due to non-payment of bill on March 25, 1998.

Mr S.S. Sarna, the representative of the consumer, told that the grudge of the complainant was that his telephone remained disconnected for a period of 16 months. Mr Sarna further stated that the district forum had held that there was a clear deficiency in services and accordingly the forum had directed the department to pay Rs 1,000 as compensation for that. He disclosed that the consumer had appealed to the state commission because he was not satisfied with the amount of compensation (Rs 1,000) as directed by the district forum and demanded Rs 10,000 for mental agony and harassment.

The state commission observed that as far as grant of compensation, on account of harassment and metal agony was concerned, there could not be any yardstick to fix the same and obviously, some element of guess work has to be there. The commission held that keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the present case, the compensation of Rs 1,000 granted for mental agony and harassment was on the lower side and accordingly enhanced the compensation from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000. However, the other directions given in the order of the district forum would remain intact.

CULTURE

Chitra Sukumaran enchants
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 21
Renowned dancer Chithra Sukumaran, who is an exponent of Bharatnatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi and Kathakali, from Kerala gave a scintillating performance in Bhartiya Vidya Mandir last evening. Her maiden show in the city was organised by Swami Vivekanand Study Circle.

She came, performed and won the hearts of the audience by her lithe and graceful movements. She said, “I am very delighted to be in Ludhiana after my visit to Pakistan. I had been to Pakistan at their invitation and I am very happy at the response my dance performances received. I know Punjabis are fond of bhangra, but I am sure Ludhianivis will appreciate my dance form”.

Surely, the audience was bewitched by her performance. The function started with the rendering of Vande Matram. As per the dancing tradition, Chitra performed ‘Namaskara’, the first dance to be performed at the start of any Bharatnatyam. She paid tributes to the dancing deity Natrajan. She had expressive eyes and her eyes spoke eloquently when she depicted Ashtarasna. As the name suggests, she through her actions, eye movements, expressed eight different moods of human love.

She performed episodes from the life of Lord Krishna, known as Shri Krishna Karam. She stole the hearts of the people by her performance in the role of Parvati, who prays to Lord Shiva.

Chitra has represented Kerala in the International Peace Conference, held at Kathamandu in 1999. She performed Bharatnatyam at Bharatotsavam and won the best dancer award. She has conducted workshops in Brazil and many other Latin American countries.

The function was attended by Dr H.S. Sekhon, Dean, Agriculture Engineering, PAU, and Mr M.M. Vyas, Chairman, Improvement Trust. 

Hariharan to perform in city
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 21
In a press conference Mr Sunilkant Munjal , President of the Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam, informed that Hariharan, would be performing in Ludhiana. The Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam has also invited Ms Shovana Narayan for Kathak performance. The play is based on a long poem written by Mr Pavan K. Varma.