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Transplanters okay, nursery a ‘problem’
In Malwa, flood-hit farmers hunt for paddy saplings
A farmer of Ballewal village with the paddy saplings brought from Ladhowal. Photo by writer |
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US meddling in our foreign policy: Karat
Kidnap ‘victim’ accuses cops of shielding suspect
Custodial Deaths
Sidhu-Chhina tiff: Amritsar trust chief ‘called to Delhi’
Shinde assures CM to resolve power crisis
Haryana move: SGPC meeting on Aug 14
Punjab sees increase in software export
Dr Kharak Singh — a trailblazer
PSEB kind to residents of Brar’s village
Direct Payment
Foodgrain agencies to go on strike
Find Benipal’s turban, says Khalsa committee
SP, DSP acquitted in fake encounter case
Vigilance nabs six govt staffers
Four held for dera follower’s murder
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Transplanters okay, nursery a ‘problem’
Chandigarh, August 4 Ravinder Singh of Kauni village in Muktsar district, who carried out mechanised transplantation of paddy on 60 acres, says the experiment was a flying success. He says it was cost effective too with the transplanter using only one litrr of diesel per acre. Ravinder said the crop was looking good and he expected a normal harvest with the per acre cost of transplantation working out at only Rs 500 per acre. Farmers across the state paid between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 for manual transplantation of paddy. While Ravinder has no problems with the transplanter, he says preparing special nursery to be used on the transplanters is very difficult. The nursery has to be prepared in trays or on a plastic sheets in less than one inch thick soil. He says though he was able to manage, many other farmers had a difficult time in raising the nursery. Nirmal Singh of Mari Manga village in Tarn Taran district claimed part of his nursery just shrivelled up. He said using a very thin layer of soil to allow the transplanter better grip over individual plants did not give optimum nutrition to the nursery. “One has to give supplements to the plants two week after plantation or else they start drying up”. He says more training is needed to grow the ideal nursery. Jagjit Singh of Choni Nand Singh village in Hoshiarpur district said he transplanted paddy on 28 acres through the new transplanter. “We did not have much exposure to the machine or even preparation of nursery and so we did not go in for a large acreage”. Though the machine functioned properly, the amount of soil to be used to prepare the nursery remained a problem. There were few farmers who lost out due to broken parts. Harjinder Singh of Khandian Gulab Singh village in Muktsar said he was able to transplant paddy on 45 acres through the transplanter but fell short of his target of 100 acres after its gearbox broke down. “The company apparently did not have the spare part and gave us a down sized three gear box which did not serve any purpose”, he added. The Agriculture Department Director, Dr BS Sidhu, said though the transplanters had done a good job, there were problems in management of the special nursery beds. He said the enforcement of the model code of conduct before the Lok Sabha elections had affected holding of training camps to educate farmers on how to develop the ideal nursery for these transplanters.
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In Malwa, flood-hit farmers hunt for paddy saplings
Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 4 Though growing saplings in nurseries seems to be impractical now, seeds of late-sown paddy varieties are available for thrice the normal price. A large number of farmers from this part of Malwa, whose paddy crop and sapling nurseries were damaged in flooding, have been travelling long distances daily in search of saplings. Some of them had transplanted saplings twice in a month, but flooding due to overflowing drains destroyed them. Yakub Khan, a seed dealer running his business from the local Railway Road area, said it was for the first time in two decades that farmers were forced to purchase paddy saplings at this time of the year. “Every cultivator used to sow extra quantity of seeds for preparing paddy saplings. With every farmer having surplus saplings, these were not sold in the open market. But this year, after massive devastation due to recent flooding, we received unprecedented inquiries about the availability of saplings. Investigations revealed that even seed, that was earlier available for Rs 600 per bag (30 kg) was sold for Rs 2,500 per bag. Certified seeds with double tag were almost unavailable. “Paddy saplings were sown twice on my 7-acre fields since June, but flashfloods destroyed them on both occasions,” he said. “Not only has the sowing season come to an end, but also I have neither the money nor the saplings now.” Gurmel Singh of Ballewal village spent more than Rs 6,000 to procure saplings for his 2-acre field. “While Rs 2,000 were paid at a seed farm in Ladhowal, double the amount was spent on fare while wandering in search for them and on their transportation,” said a worker of the farmer who accompanied labourers to bring the saplings.
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US meddling in our foreign policy: Karat
Bandala, August 4 The joint statement made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Egypt was a prime example of how the US dictates terms on matters that will have an adverse effect on our policies in the long run, he added. Citing an instance of such an influence on the arms deals, he said the end user clause in the case of defence equipment procured from the US puts us at a great disadvantage since it would allow foreign inspectors to come to India to ascertain that the equipment was not being used for other purposes. No other country from which we have bought arms in the past has ever imposed such a precondition, he pointed out. On Pakistan, he said we also wanted peace with our neighbours, but not at the cost of national interest. Great care must be taken to keep our goals in focus and not blindly tread the path shown by the US. Lauding the historic contributions of Surjeet, he said a spanking building would be raised in the memory of departed leaders in Delhi. The building would also house a centre that would conduct research on various socio- political aspects scientifically. Commenting on the debacle of his party in the parliamentary polls, he said they had deliberated on all factors that led to their defeat in their meeting in July and the party’s central committee would issue a report in October. On whether Lalgarh and Singur were also reasons for party’s defeat, he said they too were issues that had cost the party dear. Others present included CPM central committee member Nilotpal Basu, Lok Bhalai Party president Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, state CPM secretary Charan Singh Virdi and Gurchetan Singh.
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Kidnap ‘victim’ accuses cops of shielding suspect
Chandigarh, August 4 Addressing a press conference here the alleged victim - advocate Kiran Pandey - accused the police of attempting to clear the suspects and hampering a fair investigation into the case by bringing in the CM’s name in the FIR. Pandey was using the RTI to look into the suspected misuse of funds by the Ferozepur Cantonment Board, a local body headed by Joginder Singh Jindu. “Jindu is a prominent local political leader who is said to be close to Badal,” said advocate HC Arora, convener of the RTI Users Association who organized the press meet. Pandey was reportedly kidnapped on July 12, tortured and kept in confinement for five days. The police did not register the FIR for four days despite a specific complaint that mentioned names filed by his family members. On July 14 the RTI Users Association filed a PIL in the Punjab & Haryana High Court for registration of an FIR and proper investigation into the case. As a result the police filed the FIR on the night of July 16. “The FIR is unusual as both Badal and Sekhon were cited as being present at the latter’s house along with the alleged kidnapper, Jindu,” Arora added. Pandey said: “I’m saddened by the rule of the gun and goons in the region. One week prior to my kidnapping there was an attempt on my life, which I survived. Though I named the suspect who kidnapped me as Joginder Singh Jindu how can the police complete its investigation in the FIR itself and give a ‘clean chit’
to him by citing Badal and Janmeja Sekhon as witnesses?” “Badal should explain his as well as his cabinet colleague’s role in the case. We need answers from the CM as to what is his relationship with the alleged kidnapper, why the Punjab police is not investigating the matter and why no arrests have been made in the case,” added Pandey. Hemant Goswami, a social activist, asked: “Why has the police not yet recorded the statements of Badal and Sekhon, which it is duty bound under section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code?” “I’ve written to the DGP a couple of times but haven’t received any response till date. However, the government should take note we’ll take this issue to its logical conclusion, both in the interest of RTI users as well as to ensure justice for Pandey,” added Arora.
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HC against leniency to convicted cops in bail matters
Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 4 Laying down the law, a Division Bench of the high court, comprising Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Jitendra Chauhan, has also made it clear that the sentence awarded by the trial court to such police officials, after going through the evidence meticulously, cannot be suspended. The ruling, expected to act in future as a touchstone for the courts, came on an application for release on bail filed by two police officials from Sangrur, serving life sentence in a custodial death case. The Bench asserted: Since custodial deaths are a serious matter, and are taking place very frequently in the state of Punjab, we cannot show any lenience for suspending the sentence of the appellants, when they have been convicted and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment by the trial court, after elaborately going into all the aspects of evidence of the prosecution and defence”. The Bench also asserted: “The appellants are not undertrial prisoners that they should be presumed to be innocent. They are convicts and after having been held guilty by the competent court have been awarded life imprisonment”. The duo - Chamkaur Singh and Sohan Singh of Sherpur police station in Sangrur - were booked for murder and other offences under Sections 143, 364, 342, 302, 323 and 149 of the IPC after Ravinder Singh (25) of Kala Bula village near Sherpur was allegedly tortured to death on January 18, 2004. The first information report was registered the next day on the complaint of the victim’s father. Subsequently in June 2006, the Sangrur additional sessions judge awarded life imprisonment to six cops, including a DSP. Turning down the bail plea of the two cops, the Bench asserted: "We cannot overlook the fact that Ravinder Singh was in custody of the applicants in Sherpur police station…. Appellants were the ones who knew as to what happened within the four walls of the police station at that moment of time immediately before Ravinder Singh was taken to the hospital". Before parting with the orders, the Bench said the trial court had rightly held the parcel containing the organs had been tampered with so that a truthful and correct report did not come out.
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Sidhu-Chhina tiff: Amritsar trust chief ‘called to Delhi’
Amritsar, August 4 Since Chhina did not attend his office today, rumours were making rounds that he has been called by the BJP high command to Delhi to elicit his opinion over the matter. Senior BJP leaders on the basis on anonymity said the party might take decision on the matter in the next couple of days as byelections were over in the state. They said both leaders had declared to abide by the decision of senior party leader Arun Jaitley. The state BJP circles were abuzz with the talk of Local Government, Industries and Commerce Minister Manoranjan Kalia holding a meeting over the issue with the national leadership of the party in New Delhi two days ago. A senior functionary of the BJP said a section of the saffron party and Akali leaders didn’t like Sidhu continue in politics for his mass appeal. “They are scared of their political future with his presence in politics”. It has been over a month that Sidhu has not visited the holy city as he was annoyed at being sidelined while appointing Chhina as chairman of the trust. A close associate of Sidhu said he had promised the national leadership of the party that he would not speak over the matter to the media. Meanwhile, Congress MLA OP Soni, who had contested against Sidhu in the Lok Sabha election, said Sidhu had gone away from the city like a loser even after winning the election with a paper-thin margin.
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Shinde assures CM to resolve power crisis
Chandigarh, August 4 An official press statement here today claimed an assurance to this effect was given by Shinde to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal when the latter called on him in his office here late last evening. Badal sought the Union Power Minister’s personal intervention in the matter as Punjab was receiving only about 50 to 60 MW of power against 100 MW allocation due to coal supply problems and units being under annual maintenance. The Chief Minister also raised the issue of allocation of 1,500 MW power from 4,000 MW integrated Coal Pit Head Thermal Power Plant at Lara in Chhattisgarh as announced by the Prime Minister. Badal also informed the power minister that the entire work concerning 2,640 MW Gidderbaha Thermal Power Plant had been virtually held up due to the non-allotment of coal block/non-allocation of coal linkages from Coal India Ltd (CIL) sources by the Standing Linkage Committee on long-term basis. He asked Shinde to impress upon the Ministry of Coal for allocation of coal block for Gidderbaha power station having coal reserves of at least 400 million tonnes. Alternatively, the Ministry of Coal may be emphasised for allocation of coal linkages from CIL sources by the Standing Linkage Committee.
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Haryana move: SGPC meeting on Aug 14
Amritsar, August 4 The SGPC has also convened a meeting of its interim committee at Chandigarh on August 10 to decide a course of action. Avtar Singh, president, SGPC, said here today that the Congress and its government at the Centre had been meddling with religious matters of the Sikhs. He said in view of the Assembly elections in Haryana, the Congress was trying to divide and weaken the Sikhs. He said the SGPC was aware of statements made by Hooda. He wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take steps to stop the Haryana government from forming a separate committee for Haryana.
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Punjab sees increase in software export
Chandigarh, August 4 Kalia said Punjab had realised that BPO and ITES industry were the potential sectors most suitable for the state. Punjab's BPO industry has contributed significantly with over 10,000 professionals working in this scheme in
the state. The Industry Minister said the state had one of the highest densities of optic fiber landline and white goods and more communications companies were investing in the state, expending and improving the reach of service to the common man. He said the year 2008-09 and 2009-10 Punjab Infotech would target new ICT Industries for investment in Punjab.
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Dr Kharak Singh — a trailblazer
Chandigarh, August 4 He was the founder of many institutions and organisations, dedicated Sikh philanthropist, besides being an ideal, selfless Sikh leader and a trailblazer, all rolled into one. After his Doctorate from Ohio State University in the US, he excelled in his chosen professional field of agriculture at the state, national and international levels. After serving the FAO, an agency of the UN, as an expert in several countries for about 14 years, he took a voluntary retirement from his lucrative international assignment to work for laying down the contours of a paradigm for the resurgence of Sikh society and Being a devout Sikh, well versed and well grounded in the fundamentals of Sikh philosophy and Sikh ethos, he set upon the task of providing a proper perspective to the emerging field of Sikh studies. He was a founder member of the Institute of Sikh Studies. As a member of the Dharma Parchar Committee of the SGPC, he was instrumental in bringing about many projects of far-reaching consequences. He also highlighted many others that were the urgent need of the time. He initiated the undertaking of a five-volume Sikh history “The Sikhs and Their Religion” from the Sikh perspective. He highlighted the need for a standard English translation of Guru Granth Sahib, so that differing interpretations of the original text in the available translations may not pass on to future translations into Indian regional or foreign languages. Another most compelling issue that engaged Dr Kharak Singh’s attention was the constitution of a world-level Sikh organisation that could deal effectively with the emerging challenges and problems confronting the Sikhs settled all over the world. For this, he was successful in launching the International Sikh Confederation (ISC). His views have been compiled in “Turn of the Century - Sikh Concerns and Responses”, published by Singh Brothers, Amritsar. To present his works and views, and promote the projects undertaken and envisaged by Dr Kharak Singh, a website www.drkharaksingh.com has been launched.
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PSEB kind to residents of Brar’s village
Patiala, August 4 The documents, obtained by Punjab Raaj Bijli Board Mulajam Aashrit Sangharsh Committee chief Rajnish Batish under the RTI Act, have revealed this fact. The persoons recruited under the category included Mangal Singh of Mallke village (Moga district), Kulwant Singh of Raooke Kalan village (Moga), Hardev Singh of Khosa village (Moga), Baljit Singh of Ghall Khurd village (Moga), Sukhchain Singh, Jagtar Singh, Sukhpreet Singh, Narsingh Sahu, Gogi, Harpreet Singh and Harjit Singh, all from Mallke village, Rajdip Singh of Nandgarh village (Muktsar), Maghar Singh of Gajjanwala village (Moga), Kulwant Singh, Raooke village, Harbans Singh and Balwinder Singh of Moga.
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Badal not serious, say farmers
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, August 4 CIFA president Satnam Singh Behru alleged here today that despite an assurance by the Punjab government to the Punjab and Haryana High Court that direct payment would be made to the farmers from July 1, now it was holding a secret meeting with commission agents under pressure from the BJP. Behru said Parkash Singh Badal was not serious about resolving their problem. Behru said on the recommendation of State Farmers Commission Chairman GS Kalkat, former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had framed a policy in this regard, but due to the code of conduct in place in 2006 it could not be implemented. He said they would also file contempt proceedings against the state government for backtracking on its commitment on direct payment to the farmers from July 1.
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Foodgrain agencies to go on strike
Jalandhar, August 4 The decision was taken by union leaders of Punjab Warehouse Corporation, Punsup, Pungrain, Markfed and Punjab Agro at a meeting held here today. The committee will hold a meeting in Ludhiana on August 16 to decide the further course of
action. Employees of various government procurement agencies have been objecting to government’s decision on storage of wheat in plastic bags.
— TNS
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Find Benipal’s turban, says Khalsa committee
Amritsar, August 4 Convener of the committee Bhai Mohkam Singh said if the government failed to recover the turban, leaders of committee, along with noted Sikh personalities, would tie a headgear on Benipal. He said it was an irony that the turban of a Sikh official was disrespected in the government of the SAD, which had initiated countless campaigns for safeguarding Sikh identity.
— TNS
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SP, DSP acquitted in fake encounter case
Patiala, August 4 The CBI had probed the case on the instructions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the brother of the deceased Sukhwinder filed a petition in the high court. Sukhwinder Singh, alias Neeta of Chavinda Devi village under the Kathunangal police station, had disappeared on August 24, 1990. his brother Bhupinder Singh wrote to the Chief Justice of India alleging that the police had picked up his brother and he had been eliminated in a fake encounter. The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered an inquiry into the disappearance of Sukhwinder and the inquiry was conducted by Harbhupinder Singh Nanda, the then Additional Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar. He confirmed the disappearance of Sukhwinder but concluded that no one from the police could be blamed for being behind the fake encounter. The deceased’s family then moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court again which ordered an inquiry which was conducted by the then Sessions Judge of Jalandhar, who gave identical findings. When the family moved a third petition, the high court asked the CBI to investigate
the case. The CBI after investigations held both the police officers guilty and registered a case of murder and kidnapping against them. The CBI then presented a challan in the court but the court acquitted both the accused citing lack of evidence as the reason. Counsel for the two police officers Satnam Singh Kler contended in the court that in both the inquiries no police officer had been named. He also argued that Sukhwinder had connections with terrorist organisations and police parties used to visit his house quite often. Kler argued that since the body of Sukhwider had not been recovered it could not be ascertained whether he was alive or dead.
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Vigilance nabs six govt staffers
Chandigarh, August 4 Disclosing this here today Harcharn Singh Bhullar, SSP-cum-Joint Director (Admn) said that bureau has put up its best efforts to eradicate corruption amongst public servants and others in every sphere in the state. In this direction, the vigilance officers have registered trap cases, disproportionate assets cases and criminal cases and ensured that suspect did not escape judicial punishment in the various courts in the state. Bhullar added that during the last month of July the vigilance had nabbed six corrupt public servants red handedly accepting bribes in different cases which included Gurdaspur ADTO, Balbir Singh Rana, Dr Manvinder Singh Ahluwalia and Medical Officer Bhagta Bhaika (Bathinda). The Vigilance Bureau had also registered seven criminal cases and four vigilance enquiries against suspect officials to probe into the allegations. Giving details, he added that the special courts have sentenced five accused after finding them guilty for one year to three years imprisonment, in four different vigilance cases.
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Four held for dera follower’s murder
Bathinda, August 4 Gamdoor Singh, alias Gora of Jhanduke village, Amrit Pal Singh, Raj Singh and Binder Singh, all belonging to village Kotdharmu, were arrested in the case. Giving this information on the phone late this evening, SSP Mansa, Manminder Singh said the arrested persons had confessed to the crime. The police recovered a .315-bore rifle, .32-bore pistol and a 9-mm pistol from their possession. Sources said the arrested persons belonged to a Sikh militant group. The police had earlier detained Mithu Singh, Baljeet Singh and Chhinder Singh of Alampur Mandra village for their suspected involvement in the crime. “We could not get evidence against the three suspects who were earlier detained. We will complete legal formalities to get them released from jail,” the SSP said.
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With paddy transplantation season coming to an end, paddy saplings, which once used to be available in plenty as a goodwill gesture during this season, have become a rare commodity in this part of
Malwa.
The CPM has alleged that the US was interfering in the foreign policy of India and this did not augur well for the nation.
Party general secretary Prakash Karat, who was here to attend a function on the first death anniversary of late Left leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet, alleged that the UPA government was bending over backwards to do America’s bidding to show its gratitude over the nuclear deal. We are formulating our foreign policy to suit the interests of the US in the subcontinent, he added.
Chandigarh, August 4
