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Kalam calls for second Green Revolution
Gehri Buttar (Bathinda), December 10 The President, said, “In the first Green Revolution you laid stress on merely producing foodgrains, but now you should first characterise your soil, match seed and fertiliser with it and ensure water management for boosting your production.” Calling upon the farming community to go for value addition of their agricultural produce, he said the farmers should not restrict themselves to merely producing foodgrains but should also take interest in food processing and marketing to add value to their product. He credited the then Food Minister C. Subramaniam and scientist Swaminathan for the first Green Revolution. He stressed on the need for a close coordination between farmers, leaders and scientists for ushering in another such revolution. He lauded the farmers’ endeavour of increasing their cotton production from 400 kg to 870 kg per acre and said, “One more revolution has to take place in the country and it is cotton revolution whose centre should be your village”. Reiterating his message for value addition to the cotton growers, Dr Kalam said setting up of industrial units in the area would benefit farmers. He also administered an oath to villagers in which they pledged to spread the success of their village to “many more villages and across the nation”. Quoting a Tamil saint, the President said, “The important elements that constitute a nation are being disease free, wealth, high productivity, harmonious living and strong defence”. Aiming to curb social evils, the President administered another oath to villagers in which they pledged not to discriminate between a boy and a girl in their education and growth, keep their family small, and not to fall prey to vices like drugs and gambling. The villagers presented a phulkari to the President on the occasion. Earlier, the President visited an exhibition where PAU VC K.S. Aulakh briefed him about the cotton varieties and the entire approach adopted for the village adoption programme. Governor S.F. Rodrigues, Finance Minister Surinder Singla, Vardhman Group Chairman S.P. Oswal and local MLA G.S. Kuttiwal were also present.
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Kalam-farmer interaction “stage managed”
Gehri Buttar (Bathinda), December 10 “A rosy picture of the farming community was painted before the President and real issues like debt trap, canal water shortage, unfair prices of our agricultural produce and poor infrastructure of the village were ignored,” lamented a group of farmers. They admitted that the cotton production had touched a new high in the village, but said 95 per cent of the farmers were forced to sell their produce below the MSP in the beginning of the season. “We sold our cotton at about Rs 1,800 and now it is fetching prices as high as Rs 2,200.” The farmers who interacted with the President were Jasbir Singh from Kotguru village and Gurpartap Singh from Nava
Pind, both of whom simply praised the village adoption project. The only exception was the local MLA, Mr Gurjant Singh
Kuttiwal, who raised the issue of the farmers committing suicides, poor quality of ground water and fragmentation of their landholdings. Replying to the MLA’s query, the President said Punjab had scores of water bodies and there was a need to activate them by
desiltation. He said the World Bank was running one such project and the state must be a part of it. Giving a word of advice to the farmers, he said, “Certain properties of your state’s soil have vanished due to over-usage of fertilisers and declining water table. You must cultivate vegetables, fruits and cotton in between conventional crops like wheat and paddy.” For land with low water table, he advocated the cultivation of getefa from which they could extract bio oil and could earn Rs 20,000-30,000 per hectare from it. Mr Kalam assured the farmers of taking up the matter of diversification and agro-food processing with the Agriculture Minister. Earlier, Finance Minister Surinder Singla sought Rs 1,000 crore to 1,200 crore for three years from the Centre for promoting crop diversification in the state. Interestingly, Mr Singla and Mr Kuttiwal blew their government’s trumpet and praised the Chief Minister for terminating water-sharing agreement. The minister on behalf of the Chief Minister announced an aid of Rs 1 crore for developing infrastructure in the village. The President offered 100 books for the village library from the library of Rashtrapati Bhavan and immediately handed over 10 books that he had brought along with him.
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Amritsar-Lahore bus to be named Punj-Ab Express
Chandigarh, December 10 The Punjab Government has purchased four modern buses at a cost of Rs 2.70 crore. From Pakistan, the first bus on this route would arrive at Amritsar on December 23. From the Indian side, the first bus would reach Lahore on December 27. These were the tentative dates fixed by senior officials of the two countries. However, the confirmation of these dates would only be possible on December 21. A meeting would be held on December 20 and 21 at Lahore between officials of India and Pakistan to finalise the technical details regarding the plying of bus on this route. The issue of plying a bus between Amritsar and Nankana Sahib would also come up at that meeting. Only after the December 21 meeting, the programme to flag off the bus by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, from Amritsar to Lahore would be decided. However, the Punjab Government would be sending a formal request to the Prime Minister to flag off the Bus on December 27, if that date was confirmed at the December 21 meeting. Meanwhile, the Union Government has directed the National Thermal Power Corporation to set up a 1500 MW thermal plant for Punjab in Chhattisgarh. It would cost Rs 7500 crore. The entire power generated by the plant would be meant for Punjab. The financial contribution by the Punjab Government in setting up of the plant had not been decided yet. The Punjab Government’s top brass had held a meeting in this connection with the senior officers of the Prime Minister and the NTPC on Thursday in Delhi. The plant is being installed near coalmines, as the generation of power would cost less. “ The power generation cost from the Chhattisgarh plant will only be 270 paise per unit but if the plant of similar capacity is installed in Punjab, its generation cost will be in the range of 450 paise per unit”, a Punjab Government official said. The Punjab Government has also got six months extension with regard to the unbundling of the PSEB. However, sources said that the government would not divide the PSEB in six companies as was proposed earlier. Now it would only set up one company, Transco, to fulfill the legal requirements of the Electricity Act-2003. “There are no encouraging reports from the states which had unbundled their boards by setting up various companies”, said the official. So, we will tread cautiously while handling the process of unbundling”, he added.
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Amritsar-Lahore bus dry run today
Amritsar, December 10 With this bus service, people of both Punjabs will save on time, travel and money. According to sources, the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, has requested the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to flag off the bus service on December 23. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr K.D.S. Bhullar, told TNS that arrangements were afoot for making this historic occasion a memorable one. He said an eight-member delegation led by the Secretary, Transport, Mr
A.R. Talwar, and comprising the state Transport Commissioner, Mr Iqbal Singh Sidhu, the Director, Transport, Mr Narinderjit Singh, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr K.D.S. Bhullar, the Under Secretary, Transport, Mr Varinder Singh, besides officers from the Punjab Roadways with the part of the dry run. The youth hostel has been converted into international bus terminal for the Amritsar-Lahore bus service. Meanwhile, a Rajya Sabha member, Dr M.S. Gill, has advocated that the government must taken initiative to open visa offices at Lahore and Amritsar to facilitate easy access for passengers.
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BKU brings Abohar to a halt
Abohar, December 10 More than 700 quintal of milk, tonnes of vegetables and fruits were denied entry to the town on Friday and Saturday. Normal business would resume by Sunday, a BKU spokesman said this evening. Mr Lakhowal and other senior union leaders addressed a meeting of workers who had thronged the new grain market from various parts of the state. They said the government was not ready to transfer the secretary of the market committee even when he had stayed in the office for the past five years. By forcing him to proceed on a month’s leave, the authorities were conspiring to fool the agitators, the union leaders said. The BKU insisted on an inquiry by the CBI into an alleged nexus between cotton traders and officials of the market committee as this had allegedly cost the state exchequer millions. Farmers, responding to the call given by the BKU, marched from the new grain market to the bypass-crossing, raising slogans against the government for its anti-farmer policies. They sat on an indefinite dharna at the crossing. Not only goods carriers, but buses too were not allowed to enter the town from 2.30 pm onwards. The passengers, including women and children, were seen walking to the town with luggage as even rickshaws were not available near the bypass-crossing. The SDM, Mr Jaskiran Singh, made a futile attempt to diffuse the situation by negotiations. He later made Mr Lakhowal talk to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Bidhi Chand Thakur on phone. Mr Lakhowal told the agitators that the Deputy Commissioner was busy at a marriage ceremony so the dharna would continue indefinitely.
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Sukhbir questions Natwar’s Patiala retreat
Chandigarh, December 10 “Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi must break their silence on allegations that Natwar Singh has retired into the Punjab Chief Minister’s residence to misuse the official position of his host in order to make things difficult for the DRI and the CBI when they set out on pursuit of the guilty in the oil scam,” said party General Secretary Sukhbir Singh Badal, in a statement through the party’s media office here today. Mr Badal demanded that the Chief Minister’s forthcoming trip to Dubai be put on hold. He also asked Dr Manmohan Singh to immediately put the activities of the Punjab C.M. “under the strictest scrutiny by the CBI and the DRI, as it was clear now that he was out to misuse his authority within the Punjab government to help the principal accused in the oil scam.” He said that it was incredible that the C.M. would agree to go to Dubai to examine projects of the Emmar Company which had already been threatened with “criminal prosecution” by PUDA. Alleging that the Chief Minister’s son, Raninder Singh, along with some other near and dear ones of the two brothers in law had been colluding and making secret trips to Dubai in connection with oil and other scams, Mr Badal demanded that passports of Raninder Singh, Natwar’s son Jagat and their relative and colleague Andaleeb Sehgal be seized and examined by the CBI to investigate the reasons behind their joint trips to Dubai in connection with unethical and illegal deals, including those relating to the oil scam. Alleging a clear link between the C.M.’s proposed trip and the developments surrounding the oil scam, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal said the possibility of the C.M. going there to clean up tracks on the oil scam as well as ensure legal immunity for massive black money already siphoned out of Punjab could not be ruled out.
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CM decries remarks
Reacting to Mr Sukhbir Badal’s outburst, the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, said in a statement here today that the utterances of Mr Badal exposed him as a man bereft of moral and human values.
“It is a tradition of our society to provide solace and comfort to a member of the family who may be under stress,” he said. He had invited Mr Natwar Singh, former Union Minister for External Affairs, along with his family, to take a break in Patiala from the stressful events of the past fortnight.
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Student’s death: police inaction alleged; dharna held
Pathankot, December 10 He alleged that about five days ago his son had gone to the school Principal in connection with extra classes in the evening. Thereafter he never returned home. He was found crushed under a vehicle near Batala. He was surprised that why Baghwan was going to Batala. Other students who attended extra classes with Baghwan that day said on the condition of anonymity that the Principal had brutally beaten him up that led to his death on the spot, Mr Dass said. He further alleged that as per the information collected by them the Principal after accidentally killing the student took the body to Batala and crushed it under his vehicle to feign an
accident. However, despite their request the police was not even registering an FIR in the matter. Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, President of SAD (A), also came in support of the parents of the student. He said he would take up the matter of non-registration of the FIR with the Punjab Chief Minister. However, still if the police fails to take action, he would file a writ petition in the Supreme Court against police excesses in the area. Mr Ram Lal, former MLA of the BJP, threatened of launch an agitation in case the police failed to register an FIR. Meanwhile, the protestors also submitted a memorandum of their demands at the office of the SP, Pathankot. The SSP, Gurdaspur, Mr Pamod Ban, and SP, Pathankot, Manminder Singh were both not available for comments. The attendants at their office said they were out of station. The mobile phones of both officials were also switched off.
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Forest scam probe begins
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, December 10 The DSP, Vigilance, today visited Gurdaspur and collected data regarding the scam. Sources said the Vigilance Department authorities had directed local officials to verify the facts in the case. Meanwhile, the state BJP has demanded a CBI inquiry into the scam. The state president of the BJP, Mr Avinash Khanna, told TNS that the BJP would take up the matter in Parliament. He said officials of the Forest Department had swindled crores in a Japan bank aided project. By swindling funds meant for increasing the green cover in the state, the present government had committed a crime against humanity. The state government had taken loan worth crores from the Japan bank for the project. However, by swindling the amount, the present Congress government had denied the benefits of the scheme to the people, he alleged. Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, president of the SAD (A), who was here today, also demanded an inquiry into the scam.
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Will Tikshan Sud be shown the door?
Pathankot, December 10 This was evident when the state President of the BJP, Mr Avinash Khanna, was asked about the news item in which it was reported that the party might expel the MLA from Hoshiarpur and leader of the BJP in Opposition, Mr Tikshan Sud. Mr Khanna while defending Mr Sud said the state executive of the party had no power to remove Mr Sud as he was a member of national executive. Many complaints had been received against Mr Sud that have been forwarded to the national executive. The final decision in the matter would be taken by the Central leadership of the party, he said. A senior party leader on the condition of anonymity said the main allegation against Mr Sud was that he had failed to project the party’s viewpoint in the Assembly. The complaints had been sent to the disciplinary committee of the party. Mr Khanna was here to inaugurate the state-level Bharatiya Yuva Morcha camp at Pathankot. The three-day camp was being attended by about 124 party activists. He further said the party would launch a full-scale election campaign in the state from January by holding rallies and dharnas. Mr Vinod Khanna, who was also present on the occasion, alleged that Congress leaders of the area were trying to jeopardise the development projects initiated by him in the area. The case of Pathankot airport was a clear illustration to the fact. He appealed to the Congress leaders to support the development projects. He said flights from the Pathankot airport might start from January. He had held talks with Jet and Deccan Airways in this regard. The officials of Deccan Airways have already conducted a survey to check the viability of the Pathankot airport. The Indian Airlines also might allot some flights to Pathankot. Mr Mohan Lal, former BJP minister, Mr Ashok Prashar, were also present on the occasion.
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Stop CM from visiting Dubai, Mann to
Cong
Pathankot, December 10 He has manipulated the whole thing to put the financial burden of the private visit on the state exchequer. There is no logic in the government claim that he was going to Dubai to invite investment in real estate business in the state. Dubai-based firms that the announced projects in the state are already in a controversy. While the people have invested in the concept floated by the companies, PUDA has declined any knowledge about them. The repeated visits of the Chief Minister to Dubai were also raising suspicion. He carried out his first visit without informing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This time also the Chief Minister has postponed the Assembly session due to his Dubai visit. Postponing the Assembly session just to attend a school function spoke of his interest in state development. He also accused the BJP and SAD for allowing the postponement of the Assembly session.
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Pak lawyers pay obeisance at Rauza Sharif
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 10 The delegation was accorded a warm welcome by the members of the District Bar Association led by Amardeep Singh
Dharni, president, A.S. Cheema, former president, K.S. Khera and others. The delegation interacted with the Bar members. They were presented “siropas” at the gurdwara. While talking to The Tribune Justice Khokher said they had come from the land of Guru Nanak Dev to participate in the golden jubilee celebrations of the Punjab and Haryana High Court with the message of love, affection, peace, prosperity and brotherly relations. She said Maharaja Ranjit Singh consolidated the judicial system and since then the Lahore High Court had been providing justice to the people. She said India and Pakistan had same judicial system and same problems. The concept of justice delayed is justice denied still prevailed in both countries. She said many generations had passed but both countries failed to deliver speedy and cheaper justice, where as the European countries had brought lot of reforms and changes in their judicial system. Justice Khokher suggested that Indo-Pak Bar Council should be constituted, which should be above political interference to suggest and amend the judicial system. She said the lawyer fraternity could play a vital role in strengthening the society and providing better life style to the people. The former justice said all members of the delegation were feeling at home here. She added that the hospitality and kindness shown on them was tremendous and beyond expectations and their visit to the Golden Temple was historic and they got lot of love and honour there.
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Visiting offices my duty: Bir Devinder
Kharar, December 10 The clarification came amidst allegations of corruption against the Local Government Minister, Mr Jagjit Singh, by the MLA and the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, supporting the minister. Addressing a press conference, he said as he was answerable to the people, it was his duty to visit the public places in the constituency so that the grievances of the people could be redressed. He said absenteeism and lack of accountability had become a trend among the blue-eyes officers in the constituency and it would not be tolerated by the voters for long. He said the PPCC President should not have criticised his manner of functioning through the media. “I could have been called to the office of the PPCC and told about the issue”, he said, adding that Mr Dullo could speak about his style of functioning and complaints against the other MLAs should also be discussed by the PPCC President. Talking about the offices and schools in the periphery of Chandigarh, he said the blue-eyed and corrupt employees often absented themselves from their workplace and were at the service of their “masters”, be it a politician, bureaucrat, technocrat or police officer. He further pointed out that a visit to government offices would reveal that absenteeism had become the order of the day and the government should act on it.
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Workshop on improving quality of buildings
Ropar, December 10 The convention was jointly arranged by Rayat, the Bahra Group of Institutes and Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd. Prof M.L. Gambhir, Director (planning and new initiatives) of Rayat and Bahra Institutes, said the key to improve the quality lies in equipping the trainees with the right kind of skills, in the right perspective. The objective of the programme was to empower semi-skilled workers through technology application and skill training to enhance productivity. Prof Gambhir said in the first six to eight week training programme on basic construction technology, emphasis would be laid on earthquake resistant construction. Most earthquake related problems were due to the lack of knowledge of appropriate construction technology, he added.
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5 lakh jobs to be created in IT
Amritsar, December 10 Addressing media persons here yesterday after assuming the office, Mr. Sandhu informed that 289 acres of land was made available to IT companies at Mohali in the past and process was on to acquire 500 aces more land there. He said he would request the Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh to set up IT park as a part of SEZ here. He stressed that his thrust would be to facilitate in opening up of small IT parks scattered over various districts and small towns of the state. He would visit UK this month with the aim of wooing foreign investors.
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Veterinary officer caught taking bribe
Patiala, December 10 About Rs 1 lakh and bank deposits worth about Rs 4 lakhs apart from jewellery were seized when the house of the accused was searched by a team of Vigilance Bureau. He was trapped by a team led by DSP Banarasi Dass. Dr Goyal is second gazetted officer of the Punjab Government who has been caught red-handed while taking bribe. Earlier, the Patiala range Vigilance Bureau had arrested a Deputy District Attorney of
Fatehgarh Sahib district for taking bribe from an accused about three days ago. Mr Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, SSP, Vigilance Bureau, said a buffalo owned by Mr Mann Singh, a resident of Sehaj Pura in Samana subdivision, died after a snake bite about 10 days ago. As the buffalo was insured a death certificate of the same was needed for taking compensation from the company concerned. He added that Dr Goyal first took Rs 1,000 as bribe from Mr Mann Singh for issuing the certificate and again demanding Rs 1,000 more when the complainant went to him to take the certificate today. He said a trap was laid by the Vigilance Bureau and Dr Goyal was caught red handed. He pointed out that apart from bribe money of Rs 1,000, Rs 5,000 was recovered from the pocket of Dr Goyal, which was unaccounted. A case in this connection has been registered in the Vigilance Bureau police station under the
Prevention of Corruption Act.
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Death due to poisoning, say experts
Barnala, December 10 Giving this information here yesterday, Mr G. Nageshwara Rao, SSP, Barnala police district, disclosed that the Kotwali Police Station had sent the viscera of Mrs Jatinder Kaur for chemical examination at Patiala laboratory. She had died all of a sudden on August 13 this year under mysterious circumstances. Mr Rao further revealed that following a complaint by Mr Harbans Singh, father of the deceased, the Barnala Kotwali police had booked four persons — Mr Yadvinder Singh, husband, Mr Mehar Singh father-in-law, Mrs Sukhdev Kaur, mother-in-law and Mrs Rupinder Kaur resident of Toronto (Canada), under Section 304 of the IPC.
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Mohali man dies in mishap
Ropar, December 10 The mishap took place when Ravinder Singh and Simranjit Singh were on their way from Anandpur Sahib to Mohali on a motor-cycle and it was hit by a speeding truck coming from the opposite direction near Amadpur village. The police has registered a case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving against the truck driver. The truck driver escaped from the spot.
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Seminar on polymer science technology begins
Sangrur, December 10 The seminar has been organised to highlight the research work, being undertaken in various Indian universities, national laboratories, research institutes and practical aspects in industries. Inaugurating the seminar Dr Bajpai emphasised on the importance of polymers in daily life and said it was a good platform to enhance the interaction and exchange of ideas among industrialists, researchers and academicians, working in the field of polymer science and technology. Dr I.K. Verma, Reliance Emeritus Professor of the Centre for Polymer Science and Engineering, IIT, New Delhi, delivered the keynote address. Dr N.P. Singh, Acting Director, SLIET, Longowal, said the need of the hour was to keep oneself abreast with the improvements and advancements in the exciting field of polymer. Dr P. P. Kundu, Chairman of the seminar, said about 100 delegates were taking part in the seminar from all over the country.
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Campus placement programme
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 10 College Principal Dr Dilbag Singh Hira said the students were shortlisted for jobs for company sites all over India and overseas. He said more than three hundred students from seven different colleges of the state appeared in group discussion and out of which 42 students were shortlisted for the interview where only 15 students got shortlisted. He said 14 shortlisted students were of BBSBEC, while one student was from SIET, Dera Bassi. Dean Training and Placement I.P.S. Gill said Mr Rohit Mehta, Manager HR, Mr Pardeep Goyal, AGM (HR), Mr Manoj Madani, AGM (Materail) of the Punjlloyd supervised the entire selection process.
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GND varsity technologist honoured
Amritsar, December 10 Dr Jasbir Singh was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for meritorious services in the field of electronic and communication engineering and his contributions in the field of digital signal processing and communication technology.
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