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Rain spoils first day of PAU fair
Sidelights
Ludhiana, September 14 The main venue where the podium was set up was initially jampacked with people who keenly listened to the technical sessions conducted by the varsity’s experts along with enjoying the cultural interludes. However, after a heavy downpour for a short span people left the ‘pandals’ (tents) to take refuge in their vehicles. Said Dharinder Singh who had come from Fatehgarh: "I along with three friends had come here to see the latest agricultural machinery but the stalls were completely washed out. PAU officials were aware about the prevailing weather conditions and should have made some foolproof arrangements for the ‘mela’”. Inaugurating the fair university vice chancellor MS Kang called upon the farmers to refrain from burning paddy stubble. "We at PAU are constantly give messages to the farming community not to burn the stubble as it not only spoils the soil health but is equally detrimental for the air. The Punjab government will strictly implement the law for the same in the coming months," he added. Kang also advised against
the sweeping adoption of rice-wheat rotation that he said had resulted in water depletion in the central parts of the state. He urged the farmers to adopt efficient water technologies with reference to adjustments with the paddy transplantation dates. Willing to go for crop diversification, farmers from various districts of the state bought saplings of banana from the open sale counter at the fair. "Having interacted with farm scientists at PAU we’re hopeful of getting good fruit in terms of produce as well as dividends," said Rajinder Singh from Dhanaula, who bought some saplings. Not to miss the enthusiasm of the farmers and their wives who were competing in various competitions as they were readily waiting for the results. Having grown vegetables and fruits judiciously without using any fertilizers, some farmers were waiting for the results to be declared. "I’ve grown a special variety of tomatoes and am hopeful of bagging an award”, said a farmer.
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Pashu Palan Mela kicks off with flurry of activity
Ludhiana, September 14 The main attraction was the show of the university’s “elite” animals - Murrah buffaloes, Holstein Friesian crossbred cows, bulls, ‘beetal’ goats, pigs, rabbits, white quails and ornamental fish. The visitors also evinced keen interest in flavoured ‘lassi’, milk, low fat ‘paneer’ and many other dairy products produced in the varsity’s pilot dairy plant. Fish products like fish ball, fish cutlets and fish protein concentrate developed by the College of Fisheries drew huge crowds. “The farmers also expressed interest in fisheries profession, ornamental fish and saline water fisheries”, said GADVASU dean Kamaldeep Kaur. A stall put up by the varsity’s livestock product technology department also saw massive crowds. The department staff displayed different products from chicken, turkey and other meat varieties like patties, quail egg pickle, nuggets and balls. Experts urged the farmers to start their own business by getting training for preparation of these items. A huge number of livestock farmers visited the stall put up by GADVASU’s animal nutrition department to purchase the mineral mixture and uromin lick prepared by the university, which is sold at a very nominal rate to farmers. The latter were seen purchasing it in bulk because of cost factor and quality. “Bypass’ protein for livestock was also released by the department”, said MPS Bakshi, head of the varsity’s animal nutrition department. A question and answer session organised by university experts drew the biggest number of visitors, who raised queries and got on the spot remedies. University publications on
different subjects of livestock farming were also available. Different GADVASU departments provided useful literature to the farmers. Farmers were very enthusiastic for registering their names for the forthcoming training programmes of the university as the farmers have started thinking that scientific information by experts is the only method to earn better profit. Taneja also released a book entitled ‘Kandi Ilaqe Vich Pashu Palan’, written by AL Saini, HK Verma and Jaswinder Singh. Among those who put up stalls at the fair were various GADVASU departments, the Punjab animal husbandry department, the Punjab dairy development & fisheries departments, Milkfed and Markfed besides pharmaceutical and milk processing machinery firms. Various livestock associations set up under the guidance of the university, including Progressive Dairy Farmers' Association, Punjab Piggery Farmers' Association, Innovative Fish Farmers' Association and Punjab Goat Farmers' Association also put up their stalls for enrolling new members. The fair was attended by GADVASU board members, officers, heads of departments, faculty, students and staff. A team of the National Dairy Development Board also visited the fair. Speaking on the occasion, Taneja said: "Scientific methods are the need of the hour to uplift the livestock professions and to improve the productivity. Veterinary university is always at the beck and call of livestock farmers for any problem or query." He said the theme of the fair was "Vigyanak taknikan apnao pashu palan ton munaafa vadhao" (earn more profit in livestock farming by adopting scientific methods of rearing). GADVASU extension education director KS Sandhu said a large number of people expressed interest in taking up goat, pig and fishery farming and especially enquired about their training programmes. Talking about the response to the mela, Simrat Sagar Singh, dean of the College of Veterinary Science, said: "The fair received an overwhelming response on the first day itself. We’re expecting more crowds to pour in tomorrow”. “The main queries of farmers were regarding availability of high yielding livestock, for which they were advised to use the semen of the varsity’s proven bulls and produce their own calves and heifers. Live demonstrations on various aspects along with mastitis diagnosing kits, teat dip practice and acaricide drug applications were also demonstrated to the farmers”, he added. |
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Delivery in jail toilet
Ludhiana, September 14 Jails Minister Hira Singh Gabria had ordered an inquiry into the alleged negligence on part of the Civil Hospital authorities, who had diagnosed her to be suffering from a tumour in her uterus while she had delivered the baby. Talking to TNS, Gabria said he had received the inquiry report, but could not say anything about its contents. He said he would visit Chandigarh tomorrow and then read the report. Only then he would be able to do anything in the case. The incident of alleged medical negligence on part of the health department came to fore on September 8, when Balwinder Kaur of Nawanshahr, undergoing a jail term in an attempt to murder case, gave birth to a baby girl in the jail toilet. The baby died on way to hospital. The incident triggered outrage among relatives of the woman. Amarjit Singh, father of the victim, had alleged that despite having conducted two scans at the Civil Hospital, she was told that she was not pregnant. Instead the jail officials levelled allegations that her daughter was making false claims to get bail in the case. He added that on September 7, she was taken to the Civil Hospital. After conducting an ultrasound scan, the doctor said she was not pregnant. She was referred to Rajindra Hospital at Patiala, but before she could be taken there, she delivered a baby girl. |
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Snatchers’ gang busted
Ludhiana, September 14 Following the arrest, the police recovered a car, two mobile phones, a country-made pistol and a live cartridge from the accused. The arrested persons have been identified as Jaswinder Singh, alias Jassi, a resident of Barnala, Harinder Singh, alias Mota, a resident of Seelon Kalan village, Dharminder Singh, alias Gattu, alias Vicky, a resident of Gagan Nagar, and Naresh Kumar, alias Sonu, a resident of Basant Nagar. The three who are yet to be arrested have been identified as Mann Singh, alias Babbu, a resident of Guru Nanak Nagar, Jaspreet Singh, alias Gora, a resident of Halwara, and Amarjit Singh, alias Saabi, a resident of Lohara. Talking to mediapersons at a press conference, ADCP City II Sushil Kumar said, "The Shimlapuri police had secret information about the gang and arrested the accused from near Dana Mandi today." Police officials revealed that when the police arrested the accused, five of them were travelling in a car, while two others were following on a motor bike. "On seeing the police party, the two snatchers on the bike fled the spot, and one of the five travelling in the car, too, managed to flee," said the ADCP. According to police officials, the gang members had installed a fake number plate on the car, while the bike was stolen. All gang members are in the age group of 22-25
and said to be drug addicts. "They committed crimes in order to buy their daily dose of drugs. Dharminder even has a criminal record. He had also been behind bars," ADCP Sushil Kumar revealed, adding that
the arrest might lead to important clues into other cases as well. The modus operandi of the gang was that it used to take along the clothes of the victims with them after every crime they committed. The accused confessed to doing this and stated that they did so to avoid the victims from following them. The gang members have also confessed to snatching a Tata Indica car, a mobile phone and Rs 2,700 from a person belonging to Dehlon village, following which a case was also registered at the Dehlon police station on September 3. They had also kidnapped a tempo driver in Payal and snatched Rs 25,000 from him. A case in this case was registered on September 10. |
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Tipsy jawans create ruckus in train, arrested
Ludhiana, September 14 The two jawans involved in the fight were taken into custody. Passengers travelling in the compartment said some jawans, having boarded the train from Jammu, were consuming alcohol, much to their annoyance. "When the train reached the Dasuya railway station, there was an altercation between two jawans, identified as Mahesh Kumar and Joga Kumar, which took an ugly turn, with both hurling filthy abuses at each other. The jawans grappled with each other, but intervention in the matter by some passengers and their colleagues failed to pacify them." According to eye-witnesses, the jawans who engaged in the quarrel not only threatened passengers and even their colleagues who were pleading to behave themselves, but also humiliated their co-passengers as the nuisance continued. As the train reached Ludhiana, the apprehensive passengers reported the matter to the RPF and other railway officials. The inspector and post in charge of the RPF Gurjasbir Singh told The Tribune that the two jawans involved in the brawl, were taken into custody and later handed over to movement control officer (MCO) of the Army deployed here for further action as per the Army law. |
Attack on Church
Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 14 The investigating team has been directed to ascertain whether activists of the All-India Mili Council, booked for the alleged blasphemy, were provoked after receiving SMS regarding rumours of burning of a holy book in Michigan or some external agency had geared the act to incite communal disharmony in the region. Investigations revealed that the district police had started verifying antecedents of at least seven activists of the All-India Mili Council, who were booked for allegedly fanning religious feelings of a particular community on Sunday night. A special team constituted for the purpose has been deputed to study profile of each individual and ascertain his association with any of the local and international organisation. Besides studying lifestyle, sources of income, previous record of participation in protests and demonstrations and genuineness of concern for religion, the cops will draw inference from telephone call records of immediate past. Sources revealed that services of experts in cyber crime would be availed to ascertain source of instigating SMS that probably had originated from Ludhiana. The police suspects that some organised gang had tried to disrupt the peace of the state by simultaneously exploiting religious sentiments of two minority communities; the Muslims and the Christians, in various parts of the state. Meanwhile, uneasy calmness prevailed in the region. Situation remained tense but under control. As a large number of Muslims, Hindus and Christian families are related with those living at Malerkotla. The telephone lines between two localities become busy immediately after spread of news regarding the incident. Locals remained anxious about their friends and relatives immediately after imposition of curfew at Malerkotla yesterday. Paying gratitude for the perseverance shown after the incident, DSP Amargarh Gurpreet Singh Sikand urged the social and religious leaders to remain watchful against anti-social elements who were suspected to exploit innocent members of both communities in future too.
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Petrol dealers to go on strike from Sept 20
Facing Closure Numerous petrol stations were on the verge of closure. Families of the Kargil martyrs to whom a few petrol stations were allotted have failed to sustain the business and shutdown the stations as they are not generating profit any more — Sukhminderpal
Ludhiana, September 14 Currently the petrol station dealers get a commission of 73 paise per liter on diesel and Re 1.14 per liter on petrol. The petroleum dealers putting forward their point said lot of petrol evaporates in the petrol stations, as a result, the dealers get only 50 per cent commission and they pay minimum wages, power tariffs and bank charges out of the remaining amount. Federation of the All-India Petroleum Traders National joint secretary, Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal, said: “All talks have failed. So there will be no sale or purchase of petrol from September 20 onwards.” “We have conveyed our decision to the government of India, through Sudhir Bhargava, additional secretary, petroleum and natural gas ministry. We want the oil marketing companies to raise commission to 5 per cent of invoice value instead of 2 per cent per liter which is being given to us at present,” said Grewal. Bhargava has been negotiating on behalf of the government with the petrol body. Although Bhargava is convinced with our demands but the government is not ready to increase the percentage of commission,” he added. Further he said in the present times when the rates of every commodity are skyrocketing, it has become impossible to continue with the same percentage. “The percentage of commission has been 2 per cent for the past several years,” he added. He said numerous petrol stations were facing closure. A few petrol stations were allotted to the Kargil martyrs. “Families have failed to sustain the business and have shutdown the stations as they are not generating profit any more,” added
Grewal.
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Kashmiris remember martyrs
Ludhiana, September 14 Kashmiri Pandits, having made the mega city their home after the mass exodus of Hindus from Kashmir in 1989, prayed before the Lord Shiva at the temple for an early return to the valley in a completely peaceful and secular atmosphere. They also condemned the burning of Shiva temple at Khanbal in Anantnag district yesterday by miscreants with the so-called objective of ethnic cleansing of Kashmir. Dr Tej K Kaul, past president of the Kashmiri Sabha, along with other functionaries of the body MK Ganjoo, Surinder Koul, R. Jalali, Vinod Bhat and Dr Deepak Bhat, who led the prayers, said it was felt that since the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India in October 1947, various governments at the Centre and state had not been able to follow a cohesive policy. "It has been ad hocism. Successive governments have failed to safeguard the life and liberty of its people to the extent that the identity of Kashmiri pandits is on the verge of extinction." The Kashmiris settled here further felt that restoration of their identity as residents of Kashmir as also citizens of India should be given the top priority by the government. Instead, it was felt that the government was bending over backwards to appease the militant groups, extremist and anti-national elements. The government at the Centre should not pay any attention to demands for autonomy and no dialogue should be held on this or other related issues without involving Kashmiri pandits, Sikhs and natives of Jammu and Ladakh, they added.
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Funds hurdle in setting up of police varsity: DGP
Phillaur, September 14 DGP PS Gill stated that the proposal for setting up the university had been sent to the Central government, but technical difficulties were creating hurdles in this direction. The Tribune found out that though the state cabinet had sanctioned and even approved setting up of the university in the name of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the shortage of funds was the main hurdles in the process. Joint Director-cum-Dean, Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, Dr DJ Singh, revealed yesterday that 50 acres near the Sutlej in Ladhowal was not suitable for setting up the university as it was a flood-prone area. The proposal for exchanging it with the forestland near the bus stand had been sent to the forest department. The secretary (Forests) is yet to clear the file, he added. He had also met the Union government’s secretary in this regard. The secretary promised to release Rs 300 crore in different phases for the purpose. Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, too, has assured to provide Rs 25 crore for the university. Meanwhile, DGP Gill while replying a question about the supply and use of taser guns by the Punjab police said it was well equipped with modern weapons that were being tested and made available in almost all districts of the state. Replying to another question he admitted that there was a shortage of IPS officers in the state. The proposal for promoting 27 PPS officers to the IPS cadre have been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs, he added.
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Cong councillors take to streets; slam MC top brass
Ludhiana, September 14 The protesting Congress activists especially targeted Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura, charging him with indulging in politics even on development works. Making scathing attacks on the ruling SAD-BJP coalition in the civic body, Ashok Bagga, Rakesh Parashar, Sanjay Talwar, all councillors, and Jasbir Singh Chadha, former councillor and secretary, Panjab Pradesh Congress Committee, alleged that the work for the construction of the bridge on an open drain had been abandoned for the past several months. “Even after making repeated pleas with the Municipal Commissioner and the Mayor, construction work has not been resumed.” The Congress councillors as also PPCC general secretary Ashok Parashar Pappi and Congress Sewa Dal coordinator Sushil Parashar maintained that during three years of the SAD-BJP rule in the civic body, no development worth the name has taken place. “The municipal corporation has been rocked with one or the other scams. Rather than working for the betterment of the city and bringing about qualitative improvement in delivery of civic services, functionaries of ruling coalition as well as senior municipal officials have been busy with filling their personal coffers.” The protesting Congress leaders pointed out that the city population was grappling with same old problems of choked sewers, poor quality of drinking water, bad roads, total lack of traffic regulation and enforcement and water logging whereas the Mayor and his cronies continue to make false claims of development. They said as a result of poor coordination among the elected representatives of the city and the civic officials, coupled with politicisation of development works, the Congress councillors were facing embarrassment and were shown in poor light. “Not only this, the Mayor has been openly promoting factionalism within the ruling coalition as well to serve his personal political agenda, the Congress functionaries asserted.
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Sapling plantation drive by Youth Congress
Ludhiana, September 14 Rana outlined the disastrous effects of pollution on the human life, while emphasising on the need for taking urgent remedial steps. “Sapling plantation is a remedy for high level of air pollution in the industrial hub of the state. Each and every resident, especially the youths should come forward to make their environment and the city a better place to live in.” He said the party, as a part of its community welfare programme, had been carrying out sapling plantation drive in different parts of the city and the campaign had evoked a huge response from the residents as well. Balram Jagota, block president, Deepak Jaitly, principal of the school, Sukhdev Chander, Anil Parti, Kuldip Sharma, Tejinder Chahal, Amarjit Singh Jeeta, Sunny Bhardwaj, Jitender Singh, Dr Rakesh Bharti, Nitish Narang, Lal Singh Dhaliwal, Ranjit Kumar, Joginder Singh, Saurabh Thapar, Sudhir Kumar, Varun Sachdeva, Shakti Singh, Vishal Waraich, Deepak Kumar and Bittu Rana were among those present on the occasion.
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Vets hold protest at Kisan Mela
Things turn
ugly The situation took an ugly turn when the protesting veterinarians leaped towards the dais at the fair where dignitaries, including PAU vice-chancellor MS Kang along with deans, directors and members of the board of management were seated. Security personnel immediately swung into action but things got of hand when some protesters turned violent and began damaging plants. A visibly upset Kang remarked, "These vets should go and protest at their varsity (GADVASU). Neither PAU nor I am responsible for getting their jobs regularised." The situation was, however, brought under control and the first day of the fair went off peacefully.
Ludhiana, September 14 The veterinary doctors, who work on contract basis, created a ruckus on the varsity campus, the fair’s venue, to press their demands. They carried banners and raised slogans against the government for not fulfilling their promise to regularise their jobs. Farmers and other visitors at the fair were taken aback with the sudden commotion as young vets lodged their protest. Talking to the Ludhiana Tribune, Dr Navdeep Singh Khinda, who led the protesting veterinarians, said: "We primarily work in rural areas throughout the state and get meagre salaries. Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal had pledged to regularise our jobs four years ago at this very venue but he has failed to keep his promise”. "We get peanuts for salary. Even a class IV employee in the department gets a higher salary. The worst part is that the state government doesn’t have an adequate number of qualified veterinary doctors”, he added. The protesters complained in spite of the shortage of vets the government had failed to give jobs to deserving candidates. They also expressed resentment against the government's move to set up privately run veterinary colleges in the state. The protesting doctors said today's protest was to “shake the government out of its deep slumber”. "Badal has made tall promises and claims that any body working for three years on a contract basis should be regularized. On the other hand, the animal husbandry minister says he can regularize only 125 persons where will the others go? We have been working four years without any increments," the veterinarians rued. They added though they had met several officials their pleas had failed to register with them. “We’ve boycotted some services so that our complaints are addressed but in vain”, they rued.
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Progressive farmers honoured
Ludhiana, September 14 Sukhdev Singh Bains from Shadipur village in Jalandhar district, Surinder Singh Dhatt, Brindpur village, Kapurthala, Amarjit Singh Gill from Ferozepur, Gurmel Singh of Barnala, Davinder Singh of Nakodar, Gurbir Singh of Amritsar, and Sukhminder Kaur of Tohra village became the proud recipients of the progressive farmers’ award.
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Award for five cops
Ludhiana, September 14 These cops are Surinder Mohan, Raj Kumar, Davinder Kumar, Ravinder Singh, Maninder Bedi and Rajesh Sharma, SHOs of Division Nos. 2, 3,4, 8, Daresi police stations and the in charge of the Merado police station, respectively. Announcing that these cops had done a commendable work in controlling the situation arising out of the conflict between two communities two days ago, ADCP Harsh Bansal said their cases would be sent to the DGP with recommendations. He added it was a difficult situation that these cops handled and stayed put in the Field Ganj area where tension got built up on Sunday midnight. ‘‘These people held parleys with the leaders of agitators and pacified them without allowing the situation to turn from bad to worse,’’ he added.
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ETT teachers to continue stir
Ludhiana, September 14 Meanwhile, many schools reopened and functioned as normal. The ETT teachers, who had been on a protest for a long time in support of their long-pending demands, have, however, decided to continue with their protest to press for the demands which are yet to be fulfilled. The decision was taken at a meeting of the ETT Teachers Union, Punjab, here today. At the meeting, Balraj Singh Ghaloti, senior vice-president of the ETT Teachers Union, said the state government had threatened them. "Instead of fulfilling our legitimate demands, the government is threatening us. This is unjustified and we will not accept this," he said while addressing the meeting. On the future course of action, Ghaloti said, "We will continue our protest dharnas till all our demands are met."
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Languages bind people, says Tewari
Ludhiana, September 14 He said, Hindi has always been used
for connecting various regions and communities of India and writers have done a lot of work for regional and national harmony of the country. He appreciated the efforts of the Punjab branch of the Hindi Sahitya Parishad for the promoting Hindi in the state, but he also emphasised that writers should work diligently to produce quality work.
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Hindi Diwas celebrated GMT: The Hindi Diwas was celebrated on Tuesday on the campus of GMT Public School. The morning assembly began with the recitation of “Gayatri mantra”. A speech to highlight the importance of the national language was also delivered. A poster-making competition was also held to mark the occasion. Students also recited poems in Hindi and accentuated the atmosphere. An essay-writing contest on the topic "Our national language" was also organised during the first half. Teachers were made aware about the significance of the language. Head of the Hindi department Manju Vij also encouraged the students to use this language. RAM LAL BHASIN: Students of Ram Lal Bhasin Public School, Phase I, Dugri, celebrated the Hindi Diwas with enthusiasm. It was celebrated to mark the importance of Hindi language. The celebrations included Hindi calligraphy and Hindi story telling competitions. Students narrated their stories with different morals. The motive behind the competition was to develop confidence, power of imagination and expression, learning ability and clarity of words among them. Participants had used various props to make the delivery of story more effective and left audience dumbstruck with their performance. Agaz-e-Aagman
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LUDHIANA: The Khalsa Institute of Management and Technology for Women organised a cultural function Agaz-e-aagman-2010 to welcome freshers on Tuesday. Students participated in group dance, solo songs and flower arrangement competitions. A fashion show was also held on the occasion. — TNS