Ferozepur, November 1
Former finance minister Manpreet Badal today addressed a series of meetings in Zira area of this district to mobilise people to join him in Amritsar on November 14, where he would divulge his future plans after being expelled from the SAD (Badal) by its president Sukhbir Badal a few weeks ago.

This was the first such meeting of Manpreet Badal in this border district, after he was dropped from the cabinet by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on the ground that he was going against the ‘people-centric and welfare policies’ of SAD (B).

The meeting is being seen as an attempt to expand his base by mobilising support from this pocket, considered as stronghold of the ruling Akali Dal.

His mother-in-law, Shavinder Kaur Jauhal, former president, Istri Akali Dal (Badal) and brother-in-law, Jai Jeet Jauhal, were with him during his meetings in Zira and its neighbouring areas today.

Addressing the people, Manpreet said his main aim was to rid the state of corruption, unemployment, drug addiction, poverty and debt and enable it to regain its old glory in all spheres of life.

Alleging that the ruling SAD-BJP combined had been using the state government machinery to stop the people from attend his meetings and rallies and threatening them with dire consequences if they attend the Amritsar’s function on November 14, Manpreet Badal claimed people would join him in large numbers and would take a pledge to bring Punjab out of the mess.

“I am being targeted by a section of the ruling politicians, who have been carrying out false propaganda on the issue connected with subsidies, which I never opposed. I want that every poor person of Punjab, who deserves subsidies, must get it,” he said.

“Is building a new Punjab, which is free from corruption, unemployment and every kind of social stigma, a sin,” he asked, adding that those ruling the state must understand that they must serve the people by sacrificing their own personal interests instead of making people their subjects and rule over them.

While claiming that he would not deviate from the path chosen by him, he claimed that he would go to every section of society to urge them to join his fight for making Punjab number one state in the country. This campaign would be in new shape after he visited the Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir to pay obeisance and Jalianwala Bagh to pay tributes to the martyrs of the freedom movement. 

Ferozepur, November 1
Four Pakistan-based smugglers were sentenced to ten years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) each by the additional sessions judge JS Bhinder after holding them guilty of smuggling of narcotics to India from across the border, today.

Besides, a fine of Rs one lakh has been imposed on each of them. If the convicts make a default in payment of the fine, it would add three more years to their actual sentence. The accused included Mohammad Iqlahk, Allah Basar, Fakir Hussain and Akhtar Masih.

All these smugglers had already been convicted by the court of Bhinder on May 5 and sentenced to five years of RI besides fine after they were found guilty of crossing over to India from Pakistan illegally on the intervening night of August 14-15, 2009 near the border post 177/10 in Mallanwala pocket of Ferozepur 
district.

They were undergoing their earlier imprisonment at the local Central Jail.

A case in this connection was registered at the police station (Mallanwala) under 307 and 34 of the IPC, Indian Passport Act and Arms Act.

These four smugglers, who also acted as weapon couriers for India-based anti-national elements, tried to make an escape, when they were noticed entering the Indian territory by the Border Security Force (BSF) jawans and subsequently challenged, by opening fire on them.

After they were captured and a search was carried out, two kilograms of heroin in two packets was recovered from their possession.

A case in this connection was registered at the police station (Mallanwala) under the NDPS Act. Bhinder convicted the accused 14 months after their arrest. 

Sadha Singh Wala (Moga), November 1
Jaideep Singh, a farmer of Sadha Singh Wala village of the Moga district has succeeded in reducing the alkaline and acidic content in soil and increase the fertility of his agricultural land in a macrobiotic way by not burning the residue of paddy straw and instead uniformly spreading it in the fields and allowing it to decompose before sowing the wheat crop.

He started this experiment in the year 2007-08 when the PH value of his soil was 9.3 and this year it has reduced to 8.3 without using gypsum at any extra costs. Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, an agro-scientist of the agriculture department, posted here, examined this soil from time to time. He said two years back the production of paddy and wheat from this land was just 50 per cent as compared to the nearby fields. Now, two years down the line, it has increased by 25 per cent.

“If this experiment continues, the PH value of this soil would further come down to neutral between 6.6 and 7.4 making it one of the best fertile lands having natural micro-nutrients, which would result into good productivity,” he said.

The salts affected alkaline and acidic soils adversely affect the germination process of seeds, growth of plants and fertiliser intake efficiency becomes less resulting in less production.

He said the straw was the only organic material available in significant quantities to rice farmers. About 40 per cent of the nitrogen, 30 to 35 per cent of the phosphorus, 80 to 85 per cent of the potassium, and 40 to 50 per cent of the sulfur taken up by rice remains in the vegetative plant parts at crop maturity. “Straw is also an important source of micro-nutrients such as zinc,” he said.

Dr Brar said decomposing straw in the soil returns most of the nutrients and helps to conserve soil’s nutrient reserves for a longer sustainable period and helps in reducing the growth of weeds during the fallow period.

It helps easier wetland preparation with no need for a second plowing operation and reduces the intake of water as cracks do not develop in the fields during fallow period, he added. Thus, the water holding capacity of the soil also increases with proper aeration essential for growing crops. Various studies across the globe in paddy growing countries had shown that paddy straw after decomposition in soil improves the soil structure, soil texture and promote the activity of beneficial macro and micro-flora in the soil, which ultimately helps in improving the acidic and saline soils. 

Bathinda, November 1
“Focusing on facilitating the voters, Punjab is going to start celebrating National Voters Day on January 25, every year,” informed the chief electoral officer, Punjab, Kusumjit Kaur Sidhu, here today.

Sidhu was here to hold a meeting with deputy commissioners of Faridkot and Ferozepur divisions and apprise them about the fresh steps being taken for the election reforms in the state.

Speaking to media about the National Voters Day, Sidhu said all deputy commissioners had been directed to observe the day in its true spirit. They would make every adult aware about their right to vote and for this purpose, the help of educational institutes could be sought.

Further, the chief electoral officer said the department would appreciate if people voluntarily come forward to contribute in the awareness campaign.

She mentioned that the postmen could do the best for the cause as they were able to ask people door-to-door whether they had enrolled themselves as voters or not.

Further, Kusumjit Sidhu informed that following the guidelines of the Election Commission of India to bring reforms in the electoral system, a new and transparent electoral rolls management system (ERMS) was also going to be implemented in Punjab under which the whole voting system would be computerized.

Once the ERMS got implemented, voters could receive any kind of election related information including the status of their vote, online, she added.

To implement the system in its letter and spirit, the revision of electoral lists would start from November 12 and it would continue till November 27. The whole process would be completed by December 10. Everybody attaining the age of 18 years on January 1, 2011 would be eligible for getting himself/herself enrolled as voter.

Speaking about the fate of 25,000 labourers working with the Guru Gobind Singh refinery, Bathinda, the chief electoral officer said all of them, if they meet the basic conditions for gaining the right to vote, would be eligible to get themselves enrolled as voters here.

Bathinda, November 1
In a joint raid conducted at the house and the store of a supplier in Paras Ram Nagar here, the Health department staff and police officials recovered six to seven quintals of milk cake and about two quintals of ‘barfi’ said to be sub-standard.

However, the team also found about six to seven quintals of ‘patisa’ at both places and it was said to be apparently in good condition. The health staff has collected the samples of milk cake, ‘barfi’ and ‘patisa’.

Talking to this reporter over the phone this evening, district health officer (DHO) Dr RS Randhawa said a resident of Shahkot was the supplier of these products, who brought milk cake and ‘barfi’ from Nabha and supplied the same to villages. He said the owner had taken a house and a store on rent in Paras Ram Nagar here to run his business activities.

The DHO said as the milk cake and the ‘barfi’ were emitting foul smell and had fungal growth over it. So after taking samples, they destroyed the same in public interest, he added.

He said the samples would now be sent to the Public Analyst at Chandigarh for testing. After getting the reports from there, next proceedings would be initiated accordingly.

In case any product’s sample failed the test, a complaint would be launched in the court, the DHO said.

Meanwhile, Randhawa informed that the test report of the sample of ‘khoya’ taken from a cold storage here on October 28 had been received from the Public Analyst at Chandigarh. According to the report, the sample had been found to be adulterated.

So, they would now destroy about six quintals of ‘khoya’, which they had seized from the cold storage of a local sweet maker, he added.

The DHO also said that they would now launch a complaint against the owner of the ‘khoya’ in the court.

Bathinda, November 1
After the receipt of information, with regard to 21 new dengue positive cases from the DMC Hospital, Ludhiana and the CMC Hospital, Ludhiana by the district health authorities here today, the total 
number of dengue positive cases has risen to 119 till today in the Bathinda district.

District Malaria Officer Dr Malkiat Singh Gill said this evening that they had today received information regarding 20 new dengue positive cases from the DMC Hospital, and one new positive case from the CMC Hospital.

He said out of total 119 dengue positive cases, as many as 106 were from Bathinda city while remaining cases were from other parts of the district, eight from Talwandi Sabo block, two from Sangat block, and one each from Ballianwali, Bhagta and Nathana blocks

It is recalled that in the year 2009 only five dengue positive cases were reported from the entire Bathinda district while during 2008 as many as 359 cases, including 305 cases from the Bathinda city, were reported. This year also the number of dengue positive cases has been increasing day after day in the district, especially Bathinda city.

Dr Gill further said that they would conduct Mac Elisa tests on about 50 blood samples of suspected dengue patients tomorrow at the sentinel surveillance hospital (SSH), situated at the Civil Hospital here.

Bathinda, November 1
An Assistant Project Officer (Monitoring) of Bathinda District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Sadhu Ram Kusla has been suspended by the Financial Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayat Department, Punjab. He has been suspended in connection with a report of the Vigilance Bureau.

During suspension period, his headquarter will be office of the additional deputy commissioner (Development), DRDA, Bathinda.

Reacting to his suspension, Kusla termed the action of the Rural Development and Panchayat Department as arbitrary and illegal. He said neither he was charge-sheeted nor did the department seek an explanation from him before ordering his suspension. Moreover, he was suspended by the authority that was the appellant authority in his case, so where he should go now to seek justice in these circumstances, he added.

The ADC (Development) relieved Kusla from his duty this afternoon. The charge of the post has been handed over to the superintendent of the office of the ADC (D).

Meanwhile, Kusla has also sent a representation in connection with his suspension to the Financial Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayat Department, Punjab. In the representation, he stated that he had never been negligent in performing his duties rather he has been receiving threats for raising voice against corruption and female foeticide. So, his suspension order should be reviewed and that he should be given an opportunity to present his case and views personally, he added.

Kusla today also claimed that some persons had levelled allegations against him in the past that he had received Rs 8 lakh from them through someone for the renewal of their study centres run by the Punjab Technical University and the DRDA. He said however, the Bathinda deputy commissioner had got an inquiry conducted in this regard. “Nothing was proved against me and the inquiry officer instead recommended an appropriate legal action against the complainants,” claimed Kusla.

Abohar, November 1
While speaking at the UGC sponsored national seminar on ‘Special education- fighting for space’ at the DAV College of Education here on Monday, Dr Krishna Nand Chaudhary, HoD, Clinical Psychology department in the Christian Medical College (Ludhiana) said, “The newly-weds need to be educated over the fears of getting obsessed with special children, if they develop tense relationship.”

Dr Himanshu Dass, senior advisor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) expressed concern over the self-contradictory policies of the government on education of special children but appreciated the decision on zero rejection in admissions under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.

Dr Mausami Bhaumik from the National Institute for Mentally Handicapped (NIMH), Prof Shankar Lal from Lady Irwin College (New Delhi), Dr Saravjeet Kaur, principal Guru Ramdass B.Ed College (Jalalabad) and Rajni Nagpal also addressed the gathering.

Local college managing committee, chairman, Dev Mittar Ahuja welcomed the dignitaries. Principal Dr Venita Singh presided over the evening session. 

Faridkot, November 1
The health department has recovered over 66,000 tablets of psychotropic drugs from a wholesale chemist at Faridkot on Monday. The raid was conducted on the instructions of Dr S. Karuna Raju, district magistrate of Faridkot district.

The DM said this chemist, a wholesale dealer, runs his business from a building right behind the local medical college. “We formed a team comprising officials from the drug, police and the health department. During the raid, we have seized 800 tablets of a kind of drug and 65,600 of another formulation, which can be used as psychotropic drugs.” The chemist could not produce sale and purchase documents for this stock, he said, “We have also collected samples of a few medicines for laboratory test.”

The team formed by the DM comprised Karan Sachdeva, drug inspector, Pardeep Singh, SHO police station (city) and VP Singh, a medical official. The district administration has also written to the state drug department to initiate action against him, the DM added. 

Faridkot, November 1
An undertrial facing charges of murdering his wife has allegedly committed suicide in the jail premises.The district magistrate has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.The deceased identified as Joginder Singh, former sarpanch of Lalleana village, allegedly murdered his wife on August 2, this year.

Earlier, his mother was also murdered in a similar way. He was suspected of killing her but the police did not find any evidence against him. The cops have recorded the statments of his kin. — TNS 

Ferozepur, November 1
The officials of agriculture department held a demonstration today in connection with the operation of Happy Seeder machines, which could be used for sowing wheat crop directly without burning the paddy straw after cutting the paddy crop, at village Mankian Wali of this district.

BS Chahal, district agriculture officer (Ferozepur) said the department was trying to popularise the machine so that the farmers must start using it by stopping the burning of paddy stubbles and straw to prepare their fields for sowing of wheat crop. He said besides saving the environment from getting, it could be used to increase the soil fertility.

Arun Dhawan, assistant agriculture engineer (Ferozepur) while explaining the working the Happy Seeder machine, informed the farmers that with this technique they could save Rs 1500 per acre besides enhancing the soil health. “Wheat sown with this technique requires about 20 per cent less water,” he claimed. BS Malli, block agriculture officer (Zira) explained the farmers regarding various programme being run by the department for their benefits.

Bathinda, November 1
Contestants from Amritsar dominated in Taekwondo ring on the third day of the inter-district tourney for schools held at Sports Stadium here today when fierce fights for top medals were witnessed throughout the day. Boys and girls of schools from across the state are participating in the five-day Punjab School Games (Taekwondo) under age group of 14, 17 and 19 years.

In the U-14 (Boys) group, Hunardeep of Bathinda clinched gold medal by defeating Kirandeep of Tarn Taran in the 38-41 kg category. In the 23-25 kg category, Harsimranpreet of Amritsar won gold while Arun of Ludhiana had to contend with silver.

In 21-23 kg category, Umesh of Patiala beat Altaf of Jalandhar to win gold medal while in 16-18 kg category, Sahaldeep of Amritsar won gold as he defeated Siwankar of Jalandhar. As far as the matches in girls group are concerned, in U-17 group, in 41-44 kg category, Rashpinder of Patiala won gold while Harpreet Kaur of Amritsar won silver.

In 38-41 kg category, Navjot Kaur of Faridkot defeated Meena of Ludhiana to win gold while in 35-38 kg category, Amandeep Kaur of Jalandhar won gold as she beat Daljeet Kaur of Kapurthala. In 32-35 kg category, Sonam of Amritsar clinched gold by defeated Rani of Muktsar. Amarjeet Kaur, deputy district education officer (Secondary), Bathinda, handed over the prizes to the winners.