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PAU 201 variety of paddy
Dist HQ status sought for Fazilka |
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Price rise
Dharna staged by farmers
Activists of farmers and farm workers' unions
attend a protest rally outside the mini-secretariat in Bathinda on Wednesday. A
Tribune photograph
Four killed in separate road accidents
Engineers’ Day celebrated
SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill flags off the new multifunctional Scorpio Getaway vehicles in Bathinda on Wednesday. Photo by writer
Normal route of trains restored
Concern over honour killings
Heritage festival
Women snatchers on the prowl
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Millers to boycott new crop
SP Sharma Tribune News Service
Bathinda, September 15 More than 30 lakh ton of the controversial paddy variety procured by various agencies last season has remained unmilled in Punjab as it did not fulfill the specifications of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The millers here, who have constituted a 21-member action committee to spearhead the agitation, have asked the Punjab government to lift the stacked paddy bags and vacate their premises as the grain has been rendered unfit for human consumption. Because of the high yield from the particular variety, farmers had last year preferred to sow the PAU 201 paddy in their fields as a result of which the rice shellers were overflowing with the stocks that were stacked with them for milling. Efforts of CM Parkash Singh Badal and other top functionaries of the government to persuade the Centre to relax the specifications of the FCI for lifting the grain were of no help as by the time the damage specification was increased to 4.45 per cent, most of the grain had started decaying, said Sanjay Kumar, senior vice-president of the rice millers association. He said that while the rotting paddy stock was lying in the open, the shellers with heavy financial investment were standing idle. Another miller, Ajay Goyal claimed that the procurement agencies were pressurizing them to undertake milling of the damaged stock. Goyal said that in a meeting of the millers and procurement agencies held here under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner on October 22 last year, it was decided that the PAU 201 paddy would be stored separately with the endorsement that it would be milled after a decision was taken about its specifications by the Centre. The millers pleaded that during trial milling of this particular variety of paddy, the damage content of the rice varied between 7 to 10 per cent that did not fall within the 3 per cent specification of the FCI.
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Dist HQ status sought for Fazilka Praful C Nagpal
Fazilka, September 15 Moreover, it is geographically suitable to be a district as it is situated at an equal distance from the two sub-divisions of Abohar and Jalalabad, he added. Earlier, hundreds of residents took out a protest march from the court complex to Mini-secretariat under the banner of the Joint Action Committee (Fazilka). Later, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal state secretary Satish Dhingra, Zila Banao Sangharash Committee chairman Rajesh Angi, Bar Association president Sushil Gumber and others sat on dharna. While addressing the gathering, Sushil Gumber warned that so far, they have been carrying out the agitation in a peaceful way. However, if their genuine demand is not met, they would launch the third phase of the agitation from October 10, which could be more aggressive. He said a big protest rally would be held and the members of the Joint Action Committee would block traffic on the busy roads of the town on October 10 to lodge their protest.
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Farmer unions stage protest
Our Correspondent
Ferozepur, September 15 The agitating farmers, while raising their voice of protest against the Centre as well as the state government, called upon the government to check price rise. Besides, they demanded other things including withdrawal of cases registered against the farmers in connection with the river water theft, 10 marla plots for residential purpose for the farmers, labourers and daily wage earners, a compensation to the tune of Rs 30,000 per acre for the flood-affected farmers and increase in minimum support price of the crop according to the rise in price index. The farmers’ rally was addressed by Gurvinder Singh, Sukhminder Singh, Bhag Singh, Gurbachan Singh, Gurmit Singh Jazz besides other leaders of the protesting organisations. They further demanded that the subsidised ration distributed under the PDS system should be made available through the government depots only and privatisation of the electricity board should be stopped. Later, they submitted a joint memorandum to the Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav.
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Dharna staged by farmers
Bathinda, September 15 Squatting outside the Mini-secretariat, as per the pre-announced plan of 17 farmers and farm workers’ organisations of the state, the agitating people, including a large number of women, staged their dharna for a couple of hours and kept on raising anti-establishment slogans. Addressing the gathering, speakers belonging to different organizations lashed out at the state government, accusing it of being ‘pro-farmer.’ Among the major issues, leaders spoke about their demand for revocation of recently imposed taxes on the agricultural motor pumps, domestic power bills for
labourers, hike in domestic power rates, conditional wavers and prevalence of caste-based discrimination. Further, they spoke about the allotment of 10 Marla plots to homeless people, space for debris, control over the inflation, strengthen the public distribution policy and proper disbursement of pensions, as their further demands. Prominent among others, Buta Singh of BKU Ekta (Punjab), Shingara Singh of BKU Ekta
(Ugrahan), Surjeet Singh Phul and Surmukh Singh Selbra of BKU (Krantikari), Later the agitators resolved not to get their electricity connection disconnected. — TNS |
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Four killed in separate road accidents
Faridkot, September 15 Police sources said Gursewak Singh (23), Baljit Singh (45) and Sandip Singh (21), all residents of Amritsar, were on their way back to Amritsar from Bathinda when the Maruti car (PB-08-BG-2687) rammed into a loaded truck. All the injured were rushed to the local Guru Gobind Medical College and Hospital by a local NGO. However, they were declared brought dead by the doctors on emergency duty. The bodies were handed over to the family members of the deceased after a post-mortem examination, this
afternoon. The police registered a criminal case under sections 304-A and 283 of the IPC against Dhyan Singh, driver of the truck, on the complaint of Amandip Singh, a family member of the deceased persons. Police sources further added that the truck driver had fled from the spot soon after the incident. Meanwhile, Jaswinder Singh Brar (49), working as a senior assistant in the district court, also died in a road accident when
he was going back home after completing the official work, late in the evening on Tuesday. |
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Engineers’ Day celebrated
Bathinda, September 15 The event was inaugurated by HL Sharma, chairman of Ferozepur Group of Colleges in the presence of Rajinder Sharma, managing director, Shivom Vashishat, general secretary, Dr OP Vinocha, principal of Ferozepur College of Engineering and Technology, Dr CL Singla, director of Ferozepur Institute of Management and Dr Vikas Chawla, vice-principal of Ferozepur College of Engineering & Technology. Meanwhile, Guru Ram Dass Institute of Engineering and Technology here celebrated Engineers’ Day in the college campus. September 15 is memorable in the annals of the engineering fraternity of the country as on this day 150 years ago, Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, the towering personality in the history of Indian engineering, was born. The function started with creative writing competition and power point presentation by the students. Prizes were given away by the chairman Prof. Harbhajan Singh and the principal Dr Ram Gopal Tathgir.
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New machines to put Bathinda cops in fast lane
Bathinda, September 15 Handing over the keys to the staff of police stations and the PCR, district police chief Sukhchain Singh Gill informed that upgrading of communication infrastructure would help it act in synergy to respond to any crises. All new vehicles have been fully equipped with global positioning system (GPS) and other emergency tools. Besides GPS, the vehicles are equipped with three different kind of hooter sirens, special beacon atop the vehicles, loudspeakers, etc. Noticeably, the vehicles are fully loaded versions, having facilities like air-conditioner, power steering and power windows. The new Scorpio vehicles were handed over one each to all the 18 police stations in the district, while the PCR vehicles are to be deployed at strategic points to respond to any distress call at the earliest. It has been informed that the vehicles have been introduced by the state police with the idea of reducing the response time of the police stations as the state police chief had been receiving complaints that miscreants had fast mobility resources and were easily dodging the cops. To counter them effectively, it had become imperative to provide the state police with robust, powerful and multifunctional vehicles and the newly acquired vehicles fulfilled these conditions, confirmed the police officials. Besides Bathinda, police stations in Mansa and Muktsar too were equipped with some new Scorpio Getaway vehicles as DGP Punjab PS Gill had recently allotted 30 vehicles to the police stations of these three districts. Punjab Police had purchased about 150 Scorpio Getaway vehicles for Rs 7.25 crore in the first phase. These would cover almost half the police stations of the state. |
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Normal route of trains restored
Bathinda, September 15 At least nine trains touching Bathinda and nearby stations were affected, in terms of diversion or partial cancellation, due to the violence that erupted in parts of Haryana on Tuesday, sources in the railway said. Sources added that the three long-distance trains which pass through Bathinda - Punjab Mail (2138), Udyan Abha Toofan Mail (3008) and Awadh-Aasam Express (5610) - were diverted on Tuesday. The Punjab Mail went to New Delhi via Ludhiana and
Ambala, while the Udyan Abha and Awadh-Aasam followed the Dhuri-Rajpura route, railway sources said, adding that the other turmoil-affected trains included 1
RB, 2RF, 343 and 344 and 4519/4520 Kisan Express. Meanwhile, confusion and chaos prevailed at the Bathinda railway station on Tuesday night following changes in routes of trains, particularly Punjab Mail. However, in its attempt to ‘compensate its last-minute decision’ of running trains on diverted routes, the railway immediately made arrangements to refund the fare and also allowed many passengers to travel in Udyan
Abha. Senior officials of Bathinda reached the station to help passengers, the railway officials claimed. “Over Rs 40,000 was refunded to passengers,” sources in the railway said. The Delhi-bound Intercity Express which leaves Bathinda in the morning also followed the normal route on Wednesday, sources said. |
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Sant Nirankari Mission to promote intercaste marriages
Raj Sadosh
Abohar, September 15 Interacting with the media at the residence of a follower Anil Vij here, he said mass marriage functions might be held to make people of all caste and creed realise that all human beings are one. “Ours is an all-encompassing spiritual movement that aims to establish universal brotherhood through the fatherhood of god,” he said. Speaking about the future plans in Punjab, he informed that the mission would make efforts to set up dispensaries and schools in many villages that still lack such facilities. This would be done by seeking cooperation from the panchayat of the respective village, he added. The mission has appealed to all the communities not to be misled by baseless propaganda on burning of the holy books and work for peace and tranquility in the region, he said.
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Group dance attracts huge gathering
Our Correspondent
Abohar, September 15 Legislator Sunil Jakhar was the chief guest during the morning session. He complimented convener Dr BB Sharma and organising secretary Prof BS Bhullar for making elaborate arrangements. Interestingly, the competitions are being held at three different locations in the same campus. However, group dances attracted a huge gathering. The auditorium where dramas were staged too remained jam-packed.
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Women snatchers on the prowl
Bathinda, September 15 Besides, some of these also target pedestrian women. Operating in a gang, one of the accused shouts from the rear to make the target lose her balance. Taking benefit, other women accused snatch their ornaments and flee. Admitting the prevalence of such women gangs, Bathinda police today claimed to have arrested three such women, accused of being involved two recent snatchings. Giving details, SHO Civil Lines Buta Singh said the women were involved in snatchings for a long time. Police recovered ornaments worth Rs 85,000 from their possession. The SHO said the accused belonged to Sangrur. Before being identified, they used to shift to other districts. It was also informed that one of the women had earlier undergone severe punishment despite she did not mend her ways. Police found the accused were living a lavish life with the money obtained from selling stolen ornaments. |
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Patwari admitted to de-addiction centre
Bathinda, September 15 |
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Fazilka, September 15 The owner of the field Surjit Singh stated that as he reached his fields today, he found the body of Mohinder Singh lying on the ground. Ladhuka police is probing the mishap. — OC
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Bathinda, September 15
