Ferozepur, January 10
The state is likely to witness a different kind of politicking on the occasion of Maghi Mela, when almost all the principal political parties will hold their conferences at Muktsar on January 14.

While so far, no differences have cropped up among the Congressmen, the ruling SAD (B) will face an attack from Manpreet Singh Badal, who is also going to hold his political conference on Maghi Mela. During the previous Maghi Mela, Manpreet would heap praises on the functioning of the SAD-BJP government.

The Congress is trying to put up a united face at the Maghi Mela conference as former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and former MP Jagmeet Brar, who rarely shared cordial relations, will share the stage after about three years.

Both these leaders shared the stage on the occasion of Maghi Mela conference in 2007. Brar has also been trying to mobilise the maximum number of people for the party's conference to manage an effective show of strength as the next assembly elections are just a year away.

He has been holding meetings with the party workers in Ferozepur, Faridkot and Muktsar districts, known as the stronghold of the SAD (Badal).

“I will extend personal invitation to all the leaders of the party including Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Mohinder Singh Kaypee and Shamsher Singh Dullo to attend the Maghi Mela conference,” pointed out Brar, adding that he would do his best to bring a Central minister to the conference though Mohsina Kidwai, general secretary, AICC, and in-charge, Punjab Congress, has confirmed her participation.

“I am inviting Captain Amarinder Singh to my house on that day so that a message of unity can be conveyed to the masses,” he pointed out.

On the other hand, Deputy Chief Minister and SAD (B) president Sukhbir Badal is likely to leave no stone unturned to create a record by collecting a huge gathering at the party's conference to prove that the SAD-BJP alliance still commands respect and good following.

Even small meetings addressed by Sukhbir Badal in the Malwa region in the past few days have attracted a large gathering.

The advisor to the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Daljeet Singh Cheema said the entire party leadership would attend the conference. Some senior Central leaders of the BJP could attend the function, if the weather allows them to reach Muktsar on the occasion.

Bathinda, January 10
In connection with raising memorials to a Sikh martyr Baba Jiwan Singh (Bhai Jaita Ji) at various places, the Dharam Parchar Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) has constituted a research team to locate those places where Bhai Jaita Ji had stayed during his journey while carrying the head of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur, from Chandni Chowk, Delhi, to Anandpur Sahib.

Minister for Welfare of SCs and BCs Gulzar Singh Ranike said earlier, he had written to the SGPC to initiate research work on the matter. He was here to attend a function organised in connection with the martyrdom day of Baba Jiwan Singh at Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Ji.

Along with others, he also paid tributes to Baba Jiwan Singh.

The minister said the SGPC had also decided to set up four senior secondary schools in the memory of Ranghrete Singhs (Dalits who had made sacrifices during Guru Gobind Singh’s period) at Talwandi Sabo, Chamkaur Sahib, Machhiwara and Jalandhar.

Besides, a degree college was also being set up in the memory of Bhai Jaita Ji at Gurdwara Gurusar Satlani (near Attari) in Amritsar district at a cost of about Rs 5 crore, he added.

Ranike appealed to the gathering to participate in a state-level function to be organised on January 20 at Amritsar to mark the martyrdom day of Bhai Jaita Ji.

He also urged the gathering to support Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to defeat the Congress in the ensuing Assembly elections, as “all welfare schemes meant for poor and SCs/BCs were launched by Badal during his tenure as Chief Minister”.

Meanwhile, the minister distributed 10 cheques for Rs 15,000 each among the beneficiaries of ‘Shagun Scheme’ for 2006-07.

District Welfare Officer Sardool Singh Sidhu said the state government had released Rs 1.87 crore for 1,243 beneficiaries of the Bathinda district for 2006-07, which were being distributed these days.

Among others present on the occasion included former MLA Gurjant Singh Kutiwal, area in-charge of the SAD for Bathinda (Urban) Assembly constituency Sarup Chand Singla, Chairperson of Bathinda Zila Parishad Rajwinder Kaur, SGPC member Devinder Kaur Khalsa, organising secretary of the SAD’s SC Wing Tek Singh Khalsa, district president of the SAD’s SC wing (Rural) Darshan Singh Kotfatta, district president of the SAD’s SC wing (Urban) Dayal Singh and district press secretary of the SAD Om Parkash Sharma.

Bathinda, January 10
Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal along with his MP wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal today reviewed various projects in the region including the under-construction Banawali Thermal Power Plant.

Starting his day-long tour of Bathinda and Mansa districts, Sukhbir directly reached Rama Mandi, where he held a Sangat Darshan. Reviewing the progress of the sewerage system there, he not only pulled up the officials concerned but also directed the DC Bathinda S Karuna Raju to personally monitor and expedite all development works there.

Further, they visited the under-construction Banawali thermal power plant in Mansa district and enquired about its progress. They expressed satisfaction at the pace of work.

Later, they reached Bathinda and held a meeting with the senior officials of the district, including those of the Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the Bathinda Development Authority.

Annoyed over the slow pace of the construction company handling the sewerage projects in Bathinda and Mansa districts, Sukhbir asked the Sewerage Board officials-either to expedite the work or cancel their contract and get the work completed at the departmental level. He was also not pleased to learn that a number of posts were lying vacant in all offices and many officials in the district had additional charges, including some in other districts. Finding it to be a main reason for the delay in the completion of projects, he called up the Principal Secretary (Local Bodies) over the phone and asked him to rationalise the posts.

Sukhbir asked the chief administrator of the BDA about the projects related to roads and lights in all mandis of Bathinda and Mansa districts and also the upgradation of the Sports Stadium. He directed the Improvement Trust officials to construct a Rs 15-crore hockey stadium at the Government Rajindra College, Bathinda, which would be designed by the Mandi Board officials.

Earlier, Harsimrat had a meeting with the councillors of the Municipal Corporation here.

Moga, January 10
Sugar production in the state is likely to increase by about 10 lakh quintals this year with a prolonged crushing season for the sugar mills by about 25 days as against the last year’s average of 76 days due to an increase in the production of sugarcane in the state. An estimated sugar production is likely to touch 28 lakh quintals this crushing season as compared to 18 lakh quintals last year. The increase in output is attributed to increase in the area of sugarcane cultivation.

The total area under sugarcane cultivation during the current season is 84,000 hectares as against 60,000 hectares last year. As per a senior official of the agriculture department, the total production of sugarcane has been estimated at 325 lakh quintals this season as against 211 lakh quintals last year.

The sugar recovery from the sugarcane juice is also expected to increase. All the 15 sugar mills in the state crushed about 211 lakh quintals of sugarcane last year. Agro experts said the increase in sugarcane cultivation is a good sign for the policy makers of the state. Otherwise, the preference for wheat and paddy has badly affected the underground water and soil fertility of the land. It may be mentioned that the installed crushing capacity of all the nine co-operative sugar mills in the state is 15,766 tones per day while that of the seven mills under private sector is 31,000 tonnes per day. The government has fixed the state assured price of advanced, medium and late variety of sugarcane at Rs 200, Rs 195 and Rs 190 per quintal for the current crushing season with an average increase of Rs 20 per quintal in all the three categories.

Bathinda, January 10
‘Lohri Dheean Di’ (daughters’ Lohri) was celebrated at the Goodwill Public School in Paras Ram Nagar here by three NGOs, namely the Bathinda Vikas Manch, the Suraksha Helper and the Goodwill Society on Sunday. The function was organised to help in raising the birth rate of girls and discourage female foeticide.

President of the Bathinda Vikas Manch Rakesh Narula said on Monday that about 100 new-born girls and their parents participated in the function. He said the newly born girls had also been presented with gifts on the occasion. — TNS

Phallianwala (Ferozepur), January 10
Hundreds of residents of this village staged a dharna and blocked traffic on the Muktsar-Jalalabad road today to protest against the failure of the police authorities to take action against those who attacked a number of residents and damaged their kuchcha and permanent structure to grab a piece of land last night.

The protesters, who have been extended support by the former Congress MLA Hans Raj Joshan and leaders of the CPI, were demanding registration of a case against Rakesh Grover, a municipal councillor, Jalalabad and politically connected person, for his alleged involvement in the attack.

They alleged that Grover along with his accomplice attacked a few structures including a shop in this village to grab a piece of land belonging to Chiman, a resident. In the attack, about four residents of village suffered injuries and they were not allowed to get treatment in the civil hospital by the attackers.

Surjeet Singh, a resident, alleged that when the attackers were challenged by a large number of villages, they fled from the spot while firing gun shots in the air. They left their vehicles behind, which were returned to them by the local police instead of taking action against the attackers.

Grover, when contacted, while denying the allegations, said Surjeet, who had formed a group, was trying to grab a piece of land, owned by his father Mohan Lal, located in this village. He said Surjeet had been playing mischief to cover up his crime and had deliberately demolished a portion of the boundary wall of a building to get a false case registered against him.

He added that a revenue official had also been playing a role in this case. He denied that he had gone to the village. He alleged that a jeep, which was parked outside a liquor vend owned by him, was also damaged by Surjeet and his goons.

Balbir Singh, DSP, who reached the spot, said both Chiman and Mohan Lal owned two separate plots located adjacently. A portion of a shop had been damaged near that place.

However, who had damaged it could not be known as the protesters were not getting their statement recorded to initiate a legal action.

SSP Kaustab Sharma said legal action would be taken in the case. The blockade was continuing at the time of filing this news report.

Sriganganagar, January 10
More than two dozen artists from Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana performed at the Shaheed Captain Navpal Sidhu Stadium in Padampur.

The third annual Sabhyacharak Mela was held to remember martyr Navpal, who had sacrificed life after killing three dreaded terrorists in Surankote area of Jammu and Kashmir during anti-insurgency offensive in 2002.

NRI Ninder Singh Chahal from the US, DSP Jai Singh Rathore, former minister Surinderpal Singh and Ruby Kunnar, son of Rajasthan Agri Marketing minister Gurmeet Singh offered flower petals at Navpal’s portrait. Navpal’s father Colonel Agyapal Singh Sidhu expressed his gratitude to all who were present there.

The Punjabi Sabhyacharak Society chief and singer Sukha Singh and secretary Inder Ahuja also spoke on the occasion. — OC

Abohar, January 10
Hundreds of fruit growers attended the state-level ‘Citrus Show and Exhibition’ recently. Ferozepur maintained its lead by winning 61 prizes in variety of competitions, followed by Hoshiarpur that bagged 23. Amritsar poorly trailed behind with just eight prizes. Pramil Setia of village Sappanwali won the first prize in maintenance of kinnow orchards contest at the state-level while Karamjeet Kaur of village Danewala Satkosi bagged the second prize. Both belong to Khuyiansarwar block of Abohar sub-division.

In the district-level contest for orchards, they maintained their respective position in the Ferozepur district. Bhupinder Singh Tarmala and Sukhdev Singh Abulkhurana won the first and second prize respectively in the Muktsar district, Harwinder Singh Mansa and Gurlal Singh Kotkapura in Bathinda-Faridkot region while in Hoshiarpur district, Harjinder Singh and Balbir Singh won the top positions.

Ten first prizes for the best fruit (kinnow) were declared. The winners included Goma Ram Sappanwali and Bhim Singh Shergarh. The chief guest Navreet Singh Kang was joined by Dr Lajwinder Singh Brar, director, Horticulture and Surinder Kumar Jakhar, chairman (IFFCO). — OC

Muktsar, January 10
The number of animals being registered at the National Livestock Championship-2011, being held at the Guru Gobind Singh Stadium in Muktsar, is increasing everyday.

The organisers said more than 4,100 animals from different states including 3,679 from Punjab, had been registered in the fair till today.

Among the total 11 categories of competitions, tent pegging and hound race were the main attraction. This was stated by member of the board of management, GADVASU, Balsher Singh.

Gurinderjit Singh Sandhu, Finance Commissioner, Animal Husbandry Department, presided over the events today while Usha R. Sharma, secretary of the department, was the chief guest. — TNS