Bathinda, October 9
The burning of the effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhakaran and son Meghnad on Dussehra today brought a week of festivities in the city to an end. As the effigies went up in flames at Railway Grounds and several other areas, the triumph of good over evil, a message symbolising the festival of Dussehra, was again reinforced.

The burning of the effigies also marked the finale of the Ramlila being held at a number of places in the city. Besides the residents of the town, thousands of residents from surrounding villages gathered to join the function, jointly organised by the Railway Welfare Society and the Linepar Dussehra Committee.

Vehicles on the roads found it difficult to ply smoothly. There were regular traffic snarls on almost every city road. People on foot occupied most of the roads giving little or no space to vehicles.

The ground was packed to capacity and the residents of the houses around the ground climbed atop their roofs to enjoy the fair. A number of boys even perched on the trees to have a better view.

The sites where Ramlila was held also witnessed a burst in cultural activities like fairs and song-and-dance extravaganzas. Simultaneously, the immersion of idols of Goddess Durga in the Sirhind canal marked the end of the Durga Puja festival.

Gracing the burning of the effigies at the famous Railway Grounds and the historical Ramlila Grounds near MSD Public School this evening was SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal along with a host of dignitaries, including SAD district in-charge Sarup Chand Singla.

The colourful function at Railway Grounds saw the burning of the effigies being preceded by the release of colourful balloons in the sky. The bursting of crackers preceded the burning of the effigies at Ramlila Grounds near MSD School.

Later, Sukhbir Singh Badal symbolically shot an arrow from a bow to set off the burning of Ravana's effigy.

City roads witnessed tight security to keep miscreants at bay. The police was checking vehicles at several places. Other main event was held at Partap Nagar main road, which started at 6 pm. The effigies were burnt and the sky remained lit for more than an hour and a clash between Ram and Ravan was shown in the air using a crane.

Besides Ramlila and erection of Durga Puja pandals in various parts of the city, the more than week-long Navratra period, which preceded the festival of Dussehra, witnessed a host of other cultural activities. Adding colour to the festivities were a host of festivals showcasing the Gujarati dance form of Dandiya. The 10-day festival saw these artistes performing to the beats of Dandiya to enthrall Bathinda residents. 

Sriganganagar/Abohar, October 9
The Dussehra festival attracted more crowds than last year in Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts.

Interestingly, the organisers tried their best to add new features to the effigies besides using spectacular fireworks which could be enjoyed from far off  localities also.

In Hanumangarh, the main Dussehra function was held at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium. The effigy of Ravana was 40 feet tall and its faced revolved. In Raisinghnagar, the organisers of Dussehra festival had also availed of the services of Punjabi artisans from Mandi Kalanwali who erected effigies of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhkarana of 50 feet each. Even in the small township of Khajuwala, the organisers preferred to have a 50 feet effigy of Ravana.

At Abohar, the size of the crowd surpassed previous years’ tally. Hundreds of people including women and children had to watch burning of tall effigies and  skyrocketing fireworks by standing on the surrounding roads of the government  senior secondary school for boys.

At Sriganganagar, the crowd at Dussehra was un-precedent but disciplined. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh volunteers took out an impressive march through the main roads of the town as part of the Vijay Dashmi celebrations.

Bathinda, October 9
With patients suffering from dengue fever pouring in at the local civil hospital and private hospitals, the total number of patients admitted with low platelet count has gone up to 46.

The hospital, in order to accommodate suspected dengue cases, has decided to add 10 more beds in addition to the existing 100 beds which is likely to be increased in the coming days.

However, authorities at the DMCH, Ludhiana, said as per the serology test, patients from Bathinda alone amounted to confirmed 30 cases of dengue. But they are referred to as suspect cases following the civil surgeon's instructions that they would only be confirmed after the test at civil hospital, Ludhiana," said DMCH authorities. The fact that patients are not restricted to any particular pocket of Bathinda points towards the inability of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation and the anti-larvae wing to control the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes in the city.

What is more shocking is the revelation of the DMCH authorities that more than 40 per cent of the dengue positive cases are from Bathinda city and not from the city's periphery.

However, the district health authorities in their official reports, have restricted the number of confirmed cases to 30 in Ludhiana district. Neelam Bajaj, civil surgeon, Bathinda, stated that with change in the weather, the situation would improve in the coming days. Contrary to two dengue deaths reported from Goniana, district health officer Kasturi Lal said, "There has been no dengue death as far as the department's reports are concerned. The two deaths, which were reported five days ago, too, were not because of dengue."

As many as 12 new cases of suspected dengue had been reported from the private hospitals, nursing homes and DMCH, Ludhiana, since Tuesday. Two patients were admitted to the local civil hospital.

Kasturi Lal, district health officer, said that the maximum number of dengue cases are reported in September because there is an optimum temperature for mosquitoes during this month. "Once the temperature subsides, the number of dengue will also start decreasing," said Dr Lal.

Bathinda, October 9
The sub-continental bond still endures. It is most evident in the imprint of rich culture of Pakistan on the Malwa heartland, left by a set of people who hail originally from Lyalpur in Pakistan and have been giving shape to the formless soil.

Around 60 years back, at the time of the partition, 10-12 families left Pakistan and they made their way towards Bathinda thinking it was a dry area with the kind of soil they needed for making pottery.

The then judge at Ferozepur had allotted rooms to them in the Sirki Bazaar area here, which they still own. But later, shops were constructed in front of their rooms and it hampered their work. So, they shifted to Lal Singh Basti to earn a living.

The place where they now stay was purchased 40 years back at the rate of Rs 17 per yard.

Nikku Ram, 50, a potter, said, "My father had come here in 1947. We initially got a foothold in Rajasthan. We still speak Rajasthani and follow that culture. It is during this festival season we make the most profit. We sell diyas for Diwali and earthen items used in Karva Chauth. After the diyas and other items are made, some women come to us and take the pottery to the city and its suburbs to sell. The soil we use for making pots and diyas come from Jaitu Mandi. A load of soil in a trolley costs around Rs 800. We make around 300 to 350 pots and several diyas using with one trolley of soil."

The menfolk give shape to various earthen wares and the women doll up the final product using their artistic skills. It is a treat to watch them giving shape to the formless soil.

As you enter their abode -cum-workplace, you find see a heap of soil in one corner, wet diyas and pots lined up for drying up and some men sitting around the potter's wheel, called "chaak", shaping up the objects with hands covered with mud.

One can pick five diyas for a rupee and a pot for Rs 10-12. Baig Raj, 70, who stays near Nikku's house sat down near his potter's wheel recalling his days in Pakistan. Sounding nostalgic, he said India still didn't have a city like Lyalpur, which was huge and had four clocks fixed on a tower in Aath Bazaar area. People could see the time standing far off.

"I used to work as a potter there. We have been into this work for the past seven generations. I start making pots from 6 in the morning till 8 in the evening. One man is able to shape around 50 pots in 14 hours."

Baig Raj says that during the Diwali season, he takes his wares in a horse cart and goes to the city to sell them off. "We use to make earthen stoves but not many people need them now. We also made huge pots for boiling milk as families used to have over five litres of milk daily. But now, families have become smaller and aluminum utensils are preferred."

Sugna, Baig Raj's wife, clad in a Rajasthani dress, sat there daubing colour on the pots. "This is the prime season because we make the maximum profit around this time. But there is power cut for almost five hours daily and we are unable to make earthen wares because the potter's wheel is run on electricity. The government should think about us as we already are unable to sell much in today's era. Our work has come down by almost 75 per cent," she said, disappointment writ large on her face. 

Bathinda, October 9
The predominant importance of the agrarian economy of Punjab is being strongly felt by the business and trading community here, with most business establishments registering a decline in turnover compared to the corresponding period last year.

The ever-busy Dhobi Bazaar and the adjoining markets, considered to be the nerve centre of trade and business in Bathinda, present a dismal look against an otherwise heavy rush of customers.

The decline in trade is being attributed to the poor economic condition of people in the countryside. Dhobi Bazaar and the adjoining markets like Post Office Bazaar and Kikar Bazaar have recorded a low turnover in the weeks preceding the festival season. According to Mohit Gupta, a wholesale dealer, who supplies goods to retailers, the situation was bad. The orders had come down as people were not making any major purchases and were restricting themselves to spending on essential household items.

Although the market remains dull during this time, but it has been too disappointing. "It is not that people do not have money, they are holding it back as they are apprehensive about the time to come," Gupta pointed out, while adding, "the main problem for farmers who constitute over 80 per cent of our customers is that they are not able to sell their produce or get money from the lenders and commission agents."

The produce does not sell before October end. By that time, the farmers borrow money mostly from the arhtiyas (commission agents) and it is the borrowed money or the advance that they spend on purchases. But this time, with distress lifting of a good crop the arhtiyas are also not prepared to part with their money, lest it should turn into a bad debt. Even the money-lenders are reported to have vanished from the scene.

Ram Kumar, a retailer of consumer goods in Post Office Bazaar, said he had been observing a fall in the number of people visiting the market. He observed that while the number of people visiting Dhobi Bazaar had already fallen due to the work on the elevated road project, the plight of the farmers is another major factor. Most urban customers are shifting to modern markets on Mall Road, Amrik Singh Road and Bank Bazaar and this has added to the problems.

According to Mohinder Bindal, a dealer of electrical and electronic appliances on the GT Road, the drought conditions have complicated the situation. "It seems to be the last straw on the camel's back. There was already recession prevailing and now the drought has dashed hopes of a revival," he remarked. 

Abohar, October 9
Slow purchase of paddy by government agencies and private traders under the pretext of moisture too finds a mention in the recently published poetry book "Doha Darpan" penned by prolific writer Harnek Singh Komal. The poet says:

"Daagi jhhona Jat da, rulda vich bazaar

Daagi neta kol hai jhandi wali car"

(Spotted paddy faces poor fate in the market but tainted leaders move in flag cars).

In the medieval Indian poetry doha, a form of poetry, had got a glorious identity. Amir Khusro is known as the father of doha besides Tulsi Das, Kabir, Surdas and Jayasi. Baba Sheikh Farid and Guru the Bahadur had used doha as Shalokas. In the Gurmat-kav, poetry of the Sikh ideology, Doha was used as a supplement alongwith the major poetic composition. In Hindi dohas penned by Rahim and Bihari gained popularity globally. In modern Hindi poetry the tradition survives but in the Punjabi poetry of 21st century doha has almost disappeared.

Harnek Singh Komal, a celebrity in Punjabi poetry, has tried to revive doha in the Punjabi poetry  of modern time. He has elevated this form of the poetry with a modern vision in an impressive manner and followed the established decorum also.

Komal is perhaps the first Punjabi poet who penned a thousand dohas and brought out two collections in print form with the titles "Doha Darpan" and "Doha Nidhi".

Komal has not illustrated only love and beauty but associated these with contemporary society also. Doha, no doubt, is an old form of poetry yet the subject matter of dohas composed by Komal bears freshness. He says:

He has beautifully picturised modern life style, deteriorating ethical values, broken families viz relations, cultural pollution, muddy politics, collapsing education system, sufferings of peasantry, unemployment, threats to environment and social justice befittingly. He sees democracy defaced and observes that the sullying political system was producing corrupt politicians.

Chehra Lokraj da

Hoya hor da hor

Siyasat hai hun jammdi

Neta rishwatkhor

(Face of the democracy stands defaced. The politics now gives birth to corrupt politicians)

His dohas are capable of emerging as an authentic document of his contemporary society. Welfare of the universe forms base of his creation. Komal having authored 20 books had retired as a senior lecturer from a private college five years back and is presently settled at Malout, 30 km from Abohar. Interestingly he has never aspired for any award. 

Bathinda, October 9
Bathinda deputy commissioner Rahul Tewari visited the main yard of the grain market for an inspection before SAD chief Sukhbir Badal visited the place. The DC issued strict orders to the officials concerned regarding the lifting of paddy, payment and civic arrangements.

Tewari inspected the procurement data, in which it was said that 5100 metric tonnes of paddy had arrived. Out of this, 4230 metric tonnes had been purchased while 2210 metric tonnes had been lifted.

Taking notice of it, the DC directed the district food and supply controller and other officials of the market committee that the lifting of paddy should cross the 80 per cent mark within two days.

He said it was expected that 18,000-20,000 tonnes of paddy would come to the market and if the lifting process remained so slow, it would stagnate. The DC also spoke to the contractor and ordered him to arrange for 100 more tractor-trailers to expedite the lifting process..

The DC also ordered the district food and supply controller to send a written request to the principal secretary (food) for deploying two more agencies. Tewari checked the quality of paddy and finding some deficiency, urged the farmers and arhtiyas not to reap the crop before it was ready for harvest. Farmers complained to the DC about the poor arrangements for drinking water and sanitation.

To inquire into it, he himself checked the water tanks and then visited the lavatories and ordered that these be maintained properly. Before leaving, he warned the officials concerned that in case of mismanagement, he would take strong action and also inform the Mandi Board.

According to information available, Markfed purchased 1550 metric tonnes of paddy, Pungrain 1970 while private agencies purchased 710 metric tonne.

About the delay, it was said that there was a strike by the laboures as one of the workers had died on Wednesday in an accident that took place in the market.

Abohar, October 9
The Punjab Mandi Board is arranging loans worth Rs 300 crore from different banks to meet its commitment for spending Rs 600 crore on the infrastructural development for the betterment of the farmers, chairman Ajmer Singh Lakhowal said.

Speaking to media persons at Kisan Bhawan here, Lakhowal claimed that till September end, the Board had gained Rs 200 crore profit as compared to last full year's figure of Rs 100 crore whereas it had been running almost in loss.

While justifying higher market fee, RDF and IDF, the board chairman, who is also the state president of Bhartiya Kisan Union, said Punjab was providing infrastructure better than other states. "You won't find a purchase centre even in 20 km radius in the neighbouring states whereas here we are opening such centres at a distance of 5 km even. We have relaxed conditions further. Now gram panchayat has to pass a resolution only to have purchase centre," Lakhowal said.

Elaborating on new plans, Lakhowal informed grain markets are being modernised. The work has already started at Ludhiana, Patiala and Phillaur. The markets are to be equipped with fruit ripening chamber, cold room, grading lines, re-conditioning, pack house and state of the art sanitation machines. Abohar will also have such facilities to promote kinnow farming and marketing. Cotton yard, farmers' information centre and cotton grading unit had already started functioning here.

Informing that the chief minister had approved the plan for constructing 1680 km new link roads, Lakhowal confirmed that 100 legislators would be allocated Rs 2 crore each for rural development in their respective constituency. The Board had decided to provide electronic weighing bridges in selected grain markets to check flaws in weighing of yields, besides a sum of Rs 25 crore was being ear marked for developing vegetable markets. Tatas and Airtel are developing air conditioned markets at Malerkotla and Laddowal (Ludhiana), we will also have to update our infrastructure, Lakhowal said.

Expressing satisfaction over entry of Cotton Corporation of India in 17 markets, he wished more markets could also be adopted. However purchases made by the CCI so far were good, he agreed. Regarding poor lifting of paddy from the markets, he said the principal secretary to the Chief Minister was personally monitoring the situation and had yesterday spoken to the deputy commissioners to act in a resulting manner.

The Board chairman claimed that the varying factions of Arhtia Association had agreed to the proposal that cheques against procurement should be given directly to the farmers with effect from September 1, 2009.

Lakhowal was received on his arrival by BKU workers and officials. He addressed a rally also.

Abohar, October 9
"Higher market fees, rural development fund (RDF) and infrastructure development fund (IFD) are posing a serious threat to cotton ginning industries, cotton growers and the state government", the Northern India Cotton Association cautioned the Punjab Mandi Board chairman Ajmer Singh Lakhowal today.

Led by its president Rakesh Rathi a deputation of the association in a memorandum submitted to Lakhowal on his arrival here this afternoon said Rajasthan and Karnataka were charging 1.5 per cent as market fees inclusive of RDF and IDF while it was just one per cent in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Orissa. Madhya Pradesh had recently reduced the fees from 2.2 to 1 per cent to bring it at par with other states.

Regretfully Punjab had imposed 6 per cent fees which were higher than the neighbouring state Haryana by 2 per cent, the deputation rued.

Explaining how farmers were being affected, the association told Lakhowal if farmers have to carry raw cotton in the neighbouring states to fetch higher prices then they have to incur additional transportation cost of Rs 50 per quintal. It is commercially proved that an industry can survive only if it has sufficient raw material to utilise its production capacity fully. Since because of higher market fees, RDF and IDF on cotton in Punjab compared to the neighbouring states a huge quantity of cotton was being sold by the growers on other side of the inter-state border.

The association said the state government suffers due to supply of free of cost water and electricity at subsidised rates. If cotton grown here is sold out then the government would not only loose the fee but VAT also. It is accepted principle that higher rate of tax leads to more evasion. In Punjab also the traders have to resort to evasion of market fees to be competitive with their counterparts in the adjoining states. The government looses VAT also in the process.

The deputation feared if this state of affairs continues then financial losses to farmers, ginning industries as well as the state government would increase many folds in the days to come. All fee and tax provisions should be rationalised and brought down at par with the adjoining states to earn maximum revenue, the association demanded. 

Mansa, October 9
Although the circumstances had posed many challenges to the residents of Sangha, a village in Mansa district, the villagers have overcome them with courage and patience.

Sangha is the largest village of Mansa district. Most of the families in the village had migrated from Lahore in 
Pakistan at the time of Independence. A government middle school came up in the village in 1970, a high school was set up in 1980 and a senior secondary school was established in the village in 1992. Gurdeep Singh, principal of a school, said that residents of Sangha had been exhibiting unity in every village-related activities.

He said that schools of the village had produced good students who had excelled in life.

Citing examples, he said that Gurinder Singh Batth, one of its residents had overcome social obstacles. Gurpreet Singh Batth is a lecturer at the Giani Zail Singh Engineering College, Bathinda, Shivjinder Kaur is a professor at an engineering college in Chhapianwali. Sohan Lal is a chest expert at Sardulgarh, Bhagwant Singh is Xen at Punjab State Electricity Board Patiala, Baljeet Singh Virk is mechanical engineer at the Government Polytechnic College, Bathinda and several others had brought laurels to the village.

Farmers of the village, which shares its boarder with Haryana, have been reeling under shortage of canal water. The villagers have also been demanding a stadium.

Bathinda, October 9
With a list of their demands, activists of the Mulazim Front had a meeting with the ruling SAD chief Sukhbir Badal at the Lehra Mohabbat thermal rest house, today. The activists reminded Sukhbir about the promises he had made to them at the time of elections.

After listening to the demands, Sukhbir reportedly assured them that early action would be taken in respect to their demands. A number of representatives from the employees federation, PSEB, teachers' union, veterinary pharmacists union, sugar mill employees union and the PRTC employees attended the meeting.

Sriganganagar/Abohar, October 9
The group led by Eishmadhu Talwar has established a record win in the election to the Rajasthan Shramjeevi Patrakar Sangh (Working Journalists Union), local spokesman Sunil Singhal said in the evening.

Quoting reports received from the returning officer, Singhal informed that 512 out of 649 electorates exercised their franchise. Eishmadhu Talwar defeated his nearest rival Prem Sharma by 297 votes. Rajinder Gunjal and Subodh Pareek were elected as vice presidents, Harish Gupta as general secretary, Anand Aggarwal, Jai Narain, Mohinder Yadav and Mangi Lal Pareek as secretaries and Sanjiv Pachauri was elected as treasurer.

The Talwar group candidates reportedly succeeded on 20 of the 21 posts.