Bathinda, December 11
Welcome winter rains and the accompanying drop in temperature over the last few days in most parts of the state has significantly improved prospects for a bumper wheat production this year.

The rain, especially in the cotton belt, has gladdened the hearts of farmers because this weather is believed to be favourable when the wheat crop is in its vegetative growth stage.

“The rain has come at an appropriate time for farmers as it will give a big boost to the wheat crop which is at the tillering stage in most parts of the state,’’ said Dr G. S. Bains, head, Agrometerology Department, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

In Punjab, wheat crop is sown on approximately 34-lakh hectares area. ``Wheat has been sown in almost whole of the state, but around 10 per cent of sowing is left in the cotton belt of the state. In Bathinda, we have received 9 mm rainfall on December 10 and if the same weather continues, good yield of wheat can be expected. Same weather is expected for another 24 hours in the state,’’ said Dr Gurmit Singh Buttar, director, PAU Regional Research Station, Bathinda.

As per the Punjab government’s statistical abstract 2006, total area under wheat in Punjab is around 34.68 lakh hectares and in Mansa its 1.63 lakh hectares, Bathinda 2.43 lakh hectares, Faridkot 1.16 lakh hectares, Muktsar 2 lakh hectares, Ferozepur 3.86 lakh hectares, Sangrur 3.96 lakh hectares, Moga 1.74 lakh hectares, Gurdaspur 2.27 lakh hectares, Amritsar 1.85 lakh hectares, Tarn Taran 1.86 lakh hectares, Kapurthala 1.11 lakh hectares, Jalandhar 1.70 lakh hectares, Nawanshehr 0.72 lakh hectares, Hoshiarpur 1.45 lakh hectares, Ropar 0.59 lakh hectares, Mohali 0.48 lakh hectares, Ludhiana 2.57 lakh hectares, Patiala 2.46 lakh hectares and Fatehgarh Sahib 0.84 lakh hectares.

Mohinder Singh Sidhu, senior economist, PAU, said, “In Punjab, average yield of wheat per acre is 42 quintals. Maximum yield per acre was received in 1999-00, when it was recorded 47 quintals.”

“Even the total wheat production at that time was 159 lakh tonnes. Weather played a major role in that. Though the exact production levels can be ascertained only around March, but such weather can be considered to be a good start of an innings,’’ he added.

Bathinda, December 11
The birthday celebration of the chief minister was held on Saturday but the political parties continue to hog the limelight. The small boards put up by the political parties over advertising billboards to impress the dignitaries by extolling their virtues, continue to remain there irrespective of those who paid rent for installing them in the first place.

SAD (B) and BJP workers, while congratulating the CM on his birthday by using his portrait, covered the board with their own photographs. The reason for this is quite obvious but it has also provided ammunition to their political rivals.

The Municipal Corporation gives permission for putting up such boards on poles installed on the divider of roads only after receiving rent for them. The companies use these boards to advertise their new schemes and products.

But companies feel that the rent that they have paid for these boards has gone waste because they continue to serve the political parties.

According to Harminder Singh Jassi, MLA, Bathinda, “The SAD (B)-BJP are deriving benefits as the alliance is in power. But the Municipal Corporation should use its authority to remove such boards in the city.”

In charge of SAD (B) in Bathinda, Sarup Chand Singla, when asked about it, parried the question and assured that all such hoardings would be removed.

On the other hand, district BJP president Narender Mittal said all hoardings were put up on a contract basis and were meant for only two days. Now it is the duty of the flex makers to remove them all. As far as we are concerned, our purpose has been served.”

On his part, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Bathinda, D.P. Gupta said, “Within a day, all the flexes will be removed. The staff has been deployed for it.”  

Bathinda, December 11
“Being the principal of Government Rajindra College, Bathinda, is like a dream come true for me because its one of the best colleges of the state.’’ A cheerful Ram Krishan Bangar, newly appointed principal of the college said this while talking to TNS on the sidelines of a press conference here today.

He also said that the issue of completing all ongoing projects like the unfinished PTA (parent- teacher association) block in the college, construction of the college library, which is presently housed by joining six classrooms and others would be taken up on a priority basis with the authorities.

Bangar also said that he would take up the matter of staff shortage in the college with the officials. According to him, there are 82 posts of lecturers out of which 50 have been filled up. 32 vacancies of lecturers are still there. Then again, there are 31 seats for Class III employees of which 16 have been filled up. In class IV category, there are 23 seats and 12 have been filled up.

Bangar, a double master of arts in Punjabi and physical education is a sportsperson as well. A record holder in 20-kilometer road marathon at inter-varsity level as well as a national champion in 12.5 km cross-country, he started his career as a lecturer in physical education in 1977 from Government College, Sathiala (Amritsar).

Not only this, he has also donated blood 69 times and has penned 300 odd songs to his credit.

Hailing from Garhshankar in district Hoshiarpur, it took him almost 30 years to become a college principal. ``My parents as well as my wife were not educated but they always encouraged me to study. It is because of them that I have become a college principal,’’ Bangar informed.

He was promoted as a principal on November 1, and joined as principal, Government College, Sardoolgarh. Serving there for almost a month, he took over as the principal, Government Rajindra College, Bathinda on December 8. 

Along the zero line (Ferozepur), December 11
With the onset of winter, when fog engulfs the region and the sun decides to play truant, the task of the Border Security Force (BSF) sleuths manning the international border becomes all the more arduous.

Keeping in view the hostile weather conditions and low visibility, the BSF has to intensify the patrolling and launch special operations to thwart any attempt by anti-national elements, who try to sneak into the Indian territory taking advantage of the inclement weather.

Apart from protecting the border from external aggression, the BSF keeps a hawk’s eye on intruders, especially the smugglers.

While talking to The Tribune here today, Mohammed Akuil, DIG, BSF, said the force has already launched special operations, including “Operation Alert”, to keep a tab on any attempt to smuggle arms, ammunition or narcotics into Indian territory.

He said the BSF kept changing its strategy to keep an element of surprise in its operations, for which tactical manoeuvring of men and material was done. The operations launched depended upon the temperature, visibility and the size of crop along the international border.

The DIG said early that warning devices (EWD) had been installed along the border on both sides to keep track of any movement.

In addition, other surveillance equipment, including night vision devices, were also used during foggy and dark nights to penetrate thick weed growth along the border.

The BSF had also procured “Lorros”, the most sophisticated surveillance device available till date, and the same was being used in highly sensitive pockets, near zero line, that were prone to infiltration bids.

He said the BSF had also provided hand-held thermal imagers to its jawans deployed along the border, adding that the thermal imagers helped in keeping immaculate vigil during night.

The BSF has also deployed battlefield surveillance radars in some of the sensitive border areas, the DIG said.

Mohammed Akuil further said that the pockets and riverine gaps, where the fencing had not been done due to topographical restraints, special boat nakas had been set up.

At few places, near the riverine gaps, BSF sleuths periodically resorted to speculative fire at night in order to keep the intruders away. 

With the visibility restricted to few metres during foggy days, the mobile patrolling was also enhanced and in addition to that, horse patrolling was also done at the international border, he said.

The nakas considered sensitive were opened and interlocked with other adjoining nakas to form a human chain.

The DIG said recently, two additional battalions had been inducted under the Punjab frontier along with the existing BSF deployment, which reduced the area of operation under each battalion.

Whenever required, additional manpower was made available to form a physical barrier along the border.

About the various incidents, in which abortive attempts were made by some anti-national elements to sneak into India, the DIG averred, “Sporadic incidents do take place. But the BSF troops were vigilant enough to defeat any sinister design of the enemy.”

He said after the complete fencing of the Indo-Pak international border along Punjab, the BSF had been able to reduce cross-border infiltration, crime or smuggling incidents to a large extent.

The DIG said though the BSF jawans were discharging their duties under strenuous conditions, their morale was high and in consonance with their motto, “Duty unto death”. They were fully geared up to guard the nation and defeat the evil designs of the enemy, he said proudly. 

Bathinda police doing yoga. —A Tribune photograph

Bathinda, December 11
The “biggest weight loser—the winner,” initiative taken by the district police to keep the cops physically fit and active is learnt to have given some positive results.

As per the official records, the staff selected for the fitness programme has collectively lost more than 1,020 kg of weight, just within a gap of five weeks.

A conversation with the police staff taking part in the contest revealed that ‘heavyweight’ policemen are nursing the hope of winning the competition.

As per the records, the team of Superintendent of Police (Detective), Sukhdev Singh Chahal, has emerged as the ‘biggest loser’ in the report. The team has collectively managed to lose 164 kg of weight in five weeks.

Chasing the target, the team of Deputy Superintendent of Police (Detective) Surinder Pal Singh has come second, according to the report, as it has lost 98.9 kg weight collectively.

The team of SSP Naunihal Singh, who is credited with initiating the scheme, has been able to manage the third place losing 92.5 kg weight collectively.

But the SSP himself has not managed to lose much weight. According to the doctor of Police Lines, the SSP was able to lose only 2-3 kg of weight in 35 days, even after regular exercise.

The other teams, reportedly, could lose 70-80 kg of weight on an average. But the team of the Deputy Superintendent of Police (Special) is learnt to be last in the race as all the members of the team could shed only 63 kg weight despite five weeks of exercise.

The biggest loser in the fifth weekly report is learnt to be a constable, Ram Singh, who lost 11 kg. In the officer’s category, SP (D) S.S. Chahal grabbed the top position by losing 6 kg.

The practice for the weight losing championship started on November 1 and the final will be held at the Police Lines, Bathinda, on February 9 next year.

Kundan Lal, medical in-charge, Police Lines, said, “All participants at the camp have been found to be normal even after losing so much weight. That is an achievement in itself. I hope, Bathinda cops will set an example in fitness.” 

Bathinda, December 11
The Central India Horse celebrates 150 years of its raising on December 15. Agar and Guna were the places where the regiment was raised and spent a major part of its pre-independence period. The regiment was initially raised as an irregular corps to operate in Central India but rose to the height of a horsed cavalry and served overseas in the Afghan War in 1878-80, in France and Palestine during the First World War and Egypt, Eritrea, Persia, Italy and Greece during the Second World War.

Though the Regiment operated as a reconnaissance regiment during the Second World War but it was converted to a tank regiment on return to India in 1946 after a long successful service overseas. The regiment has since maintained its impeccable high standards and has done the country proud in all operations post independence.

To celebrate this historic event, functions are to be held. It includes a Mandir function, horse riding display, folk dance and battle dance and dinner at the Commanding Officer’s residence on December 13, motorcycle display by a team of Corps of Military Police on December 14 and a multi-religious memorial service, sainik sammelan and anniversary dinner on December 15. The celebrations will be attended by many high-ranking dignitaries of the Army and civil.  

Bathinda, December 11
Thirty-six-year-old Boota Singh of Tungwali village was run over by a train on the Bathinda-Jakhal rail track, 10 km from here, this morning.

Sources said after receiving the information, GRP, Maur, reached the site of the mishap.

Volunteers of the Sahara Jan Seva took the body to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda. The family members of the deceased reported that he had been depressed for some time. Initiating proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC, the police handed over the body to the relatives of the deceased. —TNS 

Bathinda, December 11
Sunil Kumar of Seedian Wala Mohalla, located behind the bus stand, reported to the police that cash worth Rs 1,25,000 and six tolas of gold had been stolen from his house on Monday night.

Kotwali police has registered a case under sections 380, 457 of the IPC.

The police used sniffer dogs to look for clues about the theft.

No arrests were made till the filing of the report. 

Abohar, December 11
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta) Ugrahan workers, led by district secretary Gurmail Singh Burjan, today assured full support to the farmers of Kundal, Bhangala and Chanankhera villages, against the acquisition of agricultural land for setting up of a proposed 1100 MW thermal plant.

Burjan said the farmers had formed local-level struggle committees to resist the proposal for the plant. It was learnt that after finding the proposed thermal plant as unfeasible at village Seeto Gunno, another survey was conducted for Malukpura, Dhaba Kokrian and Bahadurkhera villages but the farmers there filed affidavits against the acquisition of their agricultural land.

Then, the focus shifted to villages around Kundal, near the Abohar-Malout road (NH 10), to earmark 2500-acre land for the project. However, the farmers of these villages had also reacted sharply.

The district secretary said that the cost of power generation had risen due to steep rise in coal prices besides cost of transportation, as the region was far from the coal mines. Moreover, medical experts had, time and again, confirmed that the pollution caused by such plants led to respiratory diseases besides cancer.

The BKU has decided to organise a rally at the sub-divisional complex here on December 18 to register protest over the proposal, Burjan said. 

Muktsar, December 11
A local court today warned the city SHO of legal action after receiving a complaint from an undertrial that he was beaten up by political persons inside the prison.

The undertrial, Mandeep Singh, was arrested on a complaint lodged by the local BJP leaders, Surinder Kumar and Satish Kumar, for his involvement in a case where a group clashed over a piece of land here on December 9.

The police today produced Mandeep in the local court for extension of his police remand where the defence counsel, Babu Singh Sidhu, stated that owing to political pressure, his client was beaten up by private men inside the police station.

The accused, booked under various sections of the IPC and the Arms Act, said before the court that during his police remand, he was beaten up by BJP men inside the prison.

After hearing the proceedings, Judicial Magistrate Class-I Rajiv Khalra warned SHO Baldev Singh that he would be judicially taken to task if the court received another such complaint.

The judge also asked the police to investigate the case thoroughly. The police remand of the accused was extended for a day. — TNS 

Ferozepur, December 11
In an operation conducted on Tuesday morning, the sleuths of 07 battalion, BSF recovered 7 kg heroin, worth Rs 7 crore in the international market, from area close to Border Outpost (BOP) Pacharian near border pillar 181/2&3 along the Indo-Pakistan border.

BSF sources said that there was specific information that some cross border smugglers were trying to push huge consignment of narcotics inside Indian territory.

The sources said that the BSF troops had been alerted in advance about such attempt. Today morning, while it was raining, the sleuths deployed near BOP Pacharian spotted some movement near the fencing. As soon as the troops reached the spot, the smugglers who were trying to smuggle heroin inside Indian area returned towards Pakistani side leaving behind the consignment.

The consignment was in the form of seven packets weighing 1 kg each. According to the information, BSF troops sealed the area and a thorough search was launched to nab the smugglers, who taking advantage of the inclement weather managed to flee. 

Abohar, December 11
Different organisations have decided to organise a dharna and a protest rally outside the deputy commissioner’s office on December 17 in Choohriwala Dhanna case.

The representatives of the Lok Sangram Manch, the Bhartiya Kisan Union Krantikari and the Technical Services Union said here on Tuesday that they had apprised the district administration on November 29 of the alleged atrocities committed by the police in village Choohriwala Dhanna on Diwali night.

The joint action committee has already started holding meetings in over dozen villages to mobilise support for the December 17 protest. — OC 

Barnala, December 11
To chalk out a strategy to deal with Punjab bandh announced on December 14 to protest against the installation of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s portrait at the Sikh museum in Golden Temple, Amritsar, various Sikh organisations held a meeting at Baba Gandha Singh Gurudwara here today.

After the meeting, district president of Sikh Students Federation Surinder Singh said the members had decided to oppose Shiv Sena activists’ forceful closing of shops in the city and in the villages.

He said they would oppose every effort to make the Punjab bandh a success.