Jalandhar, February 2
Farmers are agitated as the DAP fertiliser price has been hiked by Rs 40 per bag (weighing 50 kg). The old rate was Rs 497.50 per bag. It has been increased up to Rs 537.50. Confirming the increase in the price, Ghuman Singh, a fertiliser dealer, said that the new stock would be sold at the new price.

Confirming the increase in price, an official said that since the Union Government had decontrolled the fertiliser price, the private companies had started jacking up the fertiliser price on their own. It is second time that the DAP price had been enhanced in four months.

Earlier, about three months ago, the DAP price was increased from Rs 467.50 to Rs 497.50 per bag.

The other reason for increasing the price was that the Union Government had reduced the subsidy by Rs 3,000 per tonne on the DAP. That subsidy was given directly to companies engaged in the manufacturing of fertilisers. To cover the reduction in subsidy, manufacturers had increased the price of DAP and that phenomenon had hit the farmers hard, said the official.

The BKU president Balbir Singh Rajewal said that the farm community was suffering because of the “anti-farmer” policies of the Union Government. He said that in the past some months, the Union Government had given big jolts to farmers by raising the price of various farm inputs, including various fertilisers. He said that there were also reports that the price of urea, a fertiliser, would also be increased soon. There were also reports that the diesel price would also be hiked.

He said when the onion price had gone up, a lot of hue and cry was raised. However, no one, except farmers, was raising his voice when the fertiliser price had been increased.

On the other hand, he said that the Powercom had started denying power to the farm sector. Farmers were given power only for three hours in a day and that also on alternate days and not daily. “To further harass farmers, the Powercom provides electricity to farmers after midnight,” said Rajewal. Warning against the prolonged power cuts in the rural areas in general and the farm sector in particular, Rajewal said if the situation on power front did not improve in a week, the BKU would gherao Powercom officials in their offices. He said the Powercom and the Punjab Government was testing the patience of farmers, who were made to suffer on all fronts.

Amritsar, February 2
Even as the Prime Minister Office has given an assurance to the kin of the martyrs of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre that they will get benefits on the pattern of freedom fighters, a gross discrepancy in the number of the martyrs has become controversial for the Amritsar administration.

There are three lists - the first is with the district administration, the second with the Jallianwala Bagh National Trust and the third with the Jallianwala Bagh Shaheed Parivar Samiti, which met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to deliberate over their demands.

The list which the district administration has was prepared by the British government in 1921. It has got 487 names. The Trust, headed by the Prime Minister, shows the number of the martyrs as 388, whereas the samiti’s list puts the number at 464.

President of the samiti Bhushan Lal Behl, whose grandfather Lala Hari Ram Behl was among the martyrs, said in 2007, the then Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, had pursued the matter and in 2008, the government had declared the Jallianwala Bagh martyrs to be equivalent to freedom fighters. However, the matter, which was further referred to the state government for a verification, has been hanging fire since then.

On the other hand, the administration carried on with the verification of the antecedents of the martyrs’ families, mainly from the Amritsar, Ajnala and Tarn Taran areas, according to the British list lying with the DC’s office.

Deputy Commissioner KS Pannu said: “After verification, we have found that out of the 501 persons mentioned in the British list of the martyrs, 14 are alive. The verification process was on and the matter will be expedited as per the government’s instructions.”

However, Bhushan demanded that the matter should be resolved only after shortlisting the names that were common in all the three lists. “Even after a lapse of 91 years of the incident, the martyrs’ contribution in the freedom struggle could not get its due,” he said.

Nevertheless, one of the main reasons for the delay was that the British list also mentioned the compensation amount given to next of kin of martyrs or those injured calculated according to their annual income then and the capitalised value of decrease in their income due to permanent or partial disability. This factor too had to be considered before extending them further benefits, officials said.

Chandigarh, February 1
The desertification of central Punjab is feared if its falling water table is any indication. The water table in 9,058 sq km of central Punjab has gone down by more than 20 metres in the past one decade and the trend is continuing with some districts registering a fall despite a good monsoon last year.

The latest study of water-level data for both the pre- and post-monsoon periods collected by the Agriculture Department paints a grim picture. The water table has gone down all over the state in the one-year period from June 2009 to June 2010. Some areas have even registered a fall in the post-monsoon period last year.

The June 2009 to June 2010 data shows that central Punjab has been most affected. The districts of Sangrur, Barnala and Moga, which are known as the granary of Punjab, have shown alarming dips in their water table.

Moga has registered a dip of 1.75 metres followed by Sangrur with a fall of 1.50 metres and Barnala with a dip of 1.25 metres. Other districts affected in central Punjab include Ludhiana that witnessed a fall of 84 cm.

What is even more alarming is that areas in central Punjab have witnessed a dip in the water table even post- monsoon last year. This is the time when the water table invariably goes up, says the Agriculture Department Director, Dr Balwinder Singh Sidhu. Water readings taken in October 2010 that have been tabulated now reveal that Barnala witnessed a drop in its water table by 91 cm followed by Moga by 70 cm and Sangrur by 63 cm.

The water table has, however, gone up in many areas after the monsoons in October 2010. Patiala, Ropar and Nawanshahr districts have witnessed a two-metre increase. However, this increase could be short term in nature due to over exploitation, says Joint Director, Hydrogeology, KS Sodhi. He says post-monsoon recordings taken for the last 10 years have shown an annual fall of more than one metre in central Punjab districts.

Experts claim the state needs 52 MAF of water to sustain its present intensive cultivation. It has only 14.54 MAF of canal water leading to over exploitation of ground water.

With farmers reluctant to reduce area under paddy cultivation, this over exploitation is likely to continue. The Agriculture Director, Dr BS Sidhu, says the area under hybrid maize, which is being looked as an alternative to paddy, is stagnating at 1.50 lakh hectares. Sidhu, however, maintains efforts are on to manage water in a better manner and that a Rs 14-crore scheme would shortly lay underground pipelines to increase water application. He said laser levellers, which level land scientifically, were being given on subsidy to help stop water wastage.

New Delhi, February 2
Faced with the problem of managing and storing several million tonnes of wheat and paddy, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and put in place an effective mechanism for smooth procurement of foodgrains.

Badal met the Prime Minister here this morning and he was accompanied by Food Supplies Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon.

The Punjab Chief Minister termed the inadequate grain storage and procurement as a “serious problem” that was being faced by the state government. Annually, Punjab procures 11 million tonnes of wheat and 14 million tonnes of paddy. There is almost no space to store these essential commodities and reports keep pouring in of grain rotting.

Badal said the state government was executing a pilot project for construction of silos for storing grain and the same has been sent to the Ministry of Food. The state CM asked for reimbursement of storage charges of Rs 1,365 per tonne per anumn to the state government. He further stressed that adequate storage space needed to be created for storage of rice and also pointed out that an urgency has to be shown to move rice rapidly from Punjab to other states. A statement issued by the Punjab Government said that the Prime Minister shared Badal’s concern on these issues of national interest and said he would ask the Union Food Minister, Sharad Pawar, to find a practical solution. The state Chief Minister also reminded the Prime Minister that incidental charges on the handling of foodgrains, amounting to Rs 4,000 crore, were to be reimbursed to the state since 2003-04 and the case was pending with the Central Government. He also told the Prime Minister about the Amritsar-Tarn Taran railway line for which the Punjab Government had already approached the Railway Ministry.

Chandigarh, February 2
The Punjab government has decided to set up reverse osmosis plants in 18 villages in Moga and Kotkapura areas where uranium traces in ground water have been found to be beyond the permissible limits. The Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, Punjab, has also decided to change its norms for installation of tubewells in the Malwa belt of Punjab where traces of uranium have been found in the ground water.

“Now it will be mandatory for the staff to take ground water samples and get them tested for uranium content,” Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation PS Aujla said.

He said tests would also be conducted to detect presence of other heavy metals to take necessary safeguards.

Aujla said 18 samples in Moga and Kotkapura areas were found to have more than the permissible limit of 60 micrograms of uranium.

Aujla said a total of 400 samples had been sent for tests and the department has received report for 100 samples. out of which 18 were found to have high levels of uranium.

He said the tests were time-consuming and that further action would be taken after the remaining reports were received. He said the Department of Water Supplies had got tests conducted by Shriram Institute to detect any presence of heavy metals, including cadmium and lead in ground water. So far no traces of heavy metals have been found in any water supply scheme and were confined to shallow water sources.

Aujla said the department had installed reverse osmosis systems in 375 villages and work was on to establish RO systems in 238 more villages. He said more than 1,000 villages would be covered under the scheme.

Two years back a UK based toxicologist had found traces of uranium and other heavy metals in hair samples of 149 children and adults living in the Baba Farid Centre for Special Children in Faridkot. Since then the BARC has conducted several tests on water samples taken from the area. Experts opine that uranium traces could be due to presence of a large amount of fly ash from thermal plants and cement factories.

Jalandhar, February 2
With a sudden rise in the temperature, an attack of yellow rust on the wheat crop has started in some parts of the state. The attack is more pronounced in fields adjacent to the sub-mountainous area.

“Hot and humid weather is considered conducive to the attack of yellow rust on various crops. As there have been hot humid conditions close to the sub-mountainous belt, the attack of yellow rust is more visible in that area”, said Balwinder Singh Sidhu, Director of the Agriculture Department.

In the past days there has been a sudden rise in the day temperature. Earlier, in the first week of January, this region experienced extreme cold conditions. A rise in the temperature can also severely hit the wheat yield in this region. Cold weather conditions till the first fortnight of February are conducive to a better yield of wheat.

Certain varieties such as the PBW-343 are more susceptible to the attack of yellow rust. “Farmers should closely monitor their fields and contact officials of the Agriculture Department if they observe an attack of rust”, said Sidhu.

“ Farmers must take preventive measures in the areas where the attack has taken place”, he said.“We have already placed an order to procure 1 lakh litres of a particular pesticide for distribution among farmers to check the attack of yellow rust”, he said. The pesticide would be made available to the farmers at half the actual price.

Ferozepur, February 2
Hundreds of people belonging to all walks of life, including leaders of different political parties, senior civil and police officials and representatives of various social and voluntary organisations, attended the funeral of Harcharan Singh Hero, a former acting PPCC chief, in his native village Talwandi Nepala today. The pyre was lit by his son Harpreet Singh Hero and other kin.

Hero, who also remained chairman of Markfed and the Punjab Mandi Board, had passed away yesterday.

He remained associated with both the SAD and the Congress and was once elected as a member of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha as an SAD candidate. He joined the Congress when Beant Singh was the PPCC president.

Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav laid wreath on the body as a representative of the Punjab Government. A section of MLAs belonging to both the SAD and the Congress also placed wreath on the body.

Among others who attended the funeral were Naresh Kataria, Darshan Singh Brar (MLAs), Inderjit Singh Zira, Hari Singh Zira, Bal Mukand Sharma, Jagtar Singh, Avtar Henry (former ministers and MLAs), Rana Gurjit Singh, Gurkirat Singh Kotli and Gurnaib Singh Brar.

Patiala, February 2
Minister of State For External Affairs Preneet Kaur has expressed concern over the lack of development of rural areas of her constituency abutting Haryana border. After touring the remote areas of her constituency yesterday, along with Shutrana MLA Nirmal Singh and DCC (Rural) president Tarsem Bansal, Preneet said during the last Congress regime, huge amount of funds were spent on construction of roads to interlink villages, construction of dharmshalas and other developmental works.

“But the present government seems to be least bothered for carrying out development works. Even, the necessary repair works are not being undertaken by the it,” Preneet said after interacting with a large number of residents of villages located beyond the Ghaggar at Behar Sahib, in Patran Tehsil of Patiala. The minister further said it was sad that the SAD-BJP government has abandoned the Ghaggar project that was sanctioned under the flood protection scheme.

The minister told mediapersons that residents have stressed upon the need of new a link road from Behar Sahib to Sangatpura Road and the upgradation of their local Government High School up to XII. The residents from villages Arno, Dera Jahangirian, Gurditpura also met Preneet for the redressal of their grievances. Preneet also held a similar interactive session with inhabitants of Teipur village, where people from other villages, including Sagra, and Matauli also gathered. The villagers urged that there is a need for the construction of a link road from Teipur to Shutrana. She assured people that when the Congress would return to power, the pace of development works would be brought on track.

Ropar, February 2
Farmers involved in a pilot project on farm tourism have sought more efforts on part of the Tourism Department to make it a profitable venture for them. A pilot project on farm tourism launched by the Department of Tourism, Punjab, has so far failed to yield profit for the farmers.

Besides holding a few seminars, the tourism department did not do much for success of the project, they say.

Punjab Government had launched the project to attract tourists to provide them a glimpse of rural life. Progressive farmers and farmhouses of the district were roped in for the project.

Gurjitinder Singh Virk of Kandhola farm said Bharatgarh Fort at Bharatgarh, The Retreat at Ranjitpura village and Micky’s Farm at Kandhola village in Ropar were included in the diamond category for the project. “We did not take any money from the visitors who came to us under the project as the department has not fixed any rates for the stay nor are there any kind of tariffs,” Virk said.

Kanwalpreet Brar from The Retreat, Ranjitpura village, said, “We are registered with the Mahindra Home Stays. However, things could be packaged better to attract more tourists.”

“Government should facilitate things in such a way that the visitors can be taken around the region without any trouble,” he said.

Director, Department of Tourism, Punjab, Hussan Lal, said the department has advertised 23 farmhouses of Punjab on its website. The department has also entered into a tie-up with the Ludhiana Hotels Association wherein the tourists are told about farm tourism and given necessary details. Running the show actually depends on how enterprising the farmer is,” he added.

Ananpdur Sahib, February 2
Rajasthan MLA Gulab Chand Kataria, also the chairman of a committee of Rajasthan formed to look into the possibilities of irrigation in the state, today alleged that wrong policies of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) had led to the parched plains of Rajasthan. Kataria and other 13 members of the panel today paid obeisance at Takht Kesgarh Sahib.

Talking to mediapersons, he said Rajasthan was not even getting the requisite quantity of water for agriculture.

“The Bhakra dam and the Pong dam are not filled as per their capacity, which is unfavourable for Rajasthan farmers,” he said. He added that when both dams were established, it was decided that Rajasthan would get 42 per cent water from them. “But we are not getting our share. If the BBMB works properly, all partner states can get enough water,” he said.

He further said according to the rules, a representative of Rajasthan should always be present in its body, but since 2007, none of the board members had been taken from Rajasthan.

Members of the committee said as per the board rules, a meeting of the partner states should be held every month wherein the distribution of water to the partner states was decided. “In the past two years, instead of 24 such meetings, not even two meetings have been held in the presence of all partner states of the BBMB,” they added.

Patiala, February 2
Dr Rupinder Kaur Bansal, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Human Biology, Punjabi University, Patiala, has been sanctioned a grant of Rs 1.05 crore from the UGC, New Delhi, to work on a research project entitled ‘Genetic Polymorphism of selected candidate genes among alcoholic Jat Sikhs of Punjab’. The project has been assigned to Dr Bansal to focus on Punjab, which is today living in a dazed stupor, as 67 per cent of its rural household has at least one drug addict/alcoholic.

“By gaining a better knowledge of genes involved in initiation, maintenance and cessation of alcohol dependence, we would be able to provide good prevention and treatment possibilities. The findings would go a long way in formulating strategies to prevent alcohol related health hazards and holding counseling sessions for these patients,” Dr Bansal said.— TNS

Chandigarh, February 2
An incorrigible Police Department in the State of Punjab is in the line of fire once again for sending to the courts proxy officers instead of investigating officers (IOs).

Giving the state a virtual rap on its knuckles, Justice Alok Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked top cops and senior administration functionaries to issue directions to the Police Departments to send only IOs. Similar directions have been issued to the State of Haryana and Chandigarh.

The directions came nearly one and a half years after Justice Harbans Lal had raised the issue. Taking exception to the investigator’s failure to turn up in a Ferozepur bail matter, Justice Lal had made it clear that the IO’s failure to attend the court proceedings with the case record would lead to the initiation of proceedings.

The latest directions come at a time when the state and its Advocate-General’s office are already facing criticism for the failure of law officers to appear in cases. Only recently, Justice LN Mittal had asserted that the number of law officers in the state was double the strength of judges. Yet, the officers were not appearing.

Taking a fresh notice of the issue in a Mansa bail matter, Justice Alok Singh asserted: “The court is constrained to observe that instead of the IOs in most of the cases, head constables or a constable or an ASI, who is no where connected with the investigation, is appearing with the case diary, which is not supposed to exchange hands before the filing of the challan.”

“In the opinion of this court, only the IO can assist the court by telling the stage of investigation, material collected against the accused, whether custodial interrogation is required, etc. A head constable or any other police official not connected with the investigation shall not be able to place material before this court”.

Justice Alok Singh added: “Let a copy of this order be circulated to the Chandigarh SSP and the DGPs of Punjab and Haryana, along with the Home Secretaries of Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana, to issue necessary directions to the police departments that in courts, only IOs will appear in person, along with the case diary to oppose a bail application.

The Mansa SSP was also directed to file an affidavit why the IO failed to appear with the case diary and why a head constable was sent.

Chandigarh, February 2
As many as 10 additional district and sessions judges (ADSJ), including two from Haryana, have been elevated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court as district and sessions judges (DSJ).

The high court has ordered the postings and transfers of 14 judicial officers, including presiding officers of industrial tribunals. Out of the total, 12 officers are from Punjab. Available information suggests UT ADSJ, CBI Court, Darshan Singh, goes to Panchkula as the DSJ; and ADSJ SK Dhawan goes from Gurgaon to Ambala as the DSJ.

He replaces RK Bishnoi, whose offer to remain on leave till retirement.

DSJ Bhupinder Singh goes from Amritsar to Gurdaspur as a presiding officer of industrial tribunal; and ADSJ PS Virk remains in Chandigarh on “performa designation as the DSJ on establishment of this court”. ADSJ Ashok Kumar Singla goes from Tarn Taran to Hoshiarpur as the DSJ, while ADSJ HS Madan goes from Barnala to Amritsar again as the DSJ. ADSJ Karnail Singh goes from Kapurthala to Amritsar as a presiding officer of industrial tribunal as the DSJ; ADSJ Raj Shekhar goes from Moga to Patiala as the DSJ, while ADSJ Gurvinder Singh Gill remains in Fatehgarh Sahib as the DSJ.

Registrar recruitment Gubinder Singh remains in Chandigarh on “performa designation as the DSJ on establishment of this court”. ADSJ Satish Kumar Aggarwal goes from Moga to Bathinda as the DSJ, while ADSJ Sanjiv Bery goes from Amritsar to Barnala on the same post. Both ADSJs Sukhvinder Kaur and Haropal Singh stand transferred from Gurdaspur to Moga.

Panchkula, February 2
The district court here awarded one and a half years’ rigorous imprisonment to a government school teacher, Chhattar Pal Singh of Gurdaspur, in a cheque bounce case. Justice Renu Rana, Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, in her order also directed him to pay compensation of Rs 4.3 lakh in lieu of the bounced cheque to the complainant, Brig Surjit Singh of Mohali. The case dates back to July 17, 2003, when the teacher gave a cheque for Rs 4.3 lakh to the complainant. However, the cheque was returned by the bank to complainant with the remark - “Account shows nil balance”.

Chhatar Singh had induced Brig Surjit to purchase a plot on Tibri Road Gurdaspur for Rs 4.3 lakh. The complainant paid the amount to him. However, after showing his inability to purchase the same the accused returned the amount through cheque dated January 1, 2003, drawn on Punjab National Bank, Gurdaspur. After the cheque got bounced a legal notice was served on the accused on June 23, 2003.

The defence counsel urged the court that as his client Chhattar Singh was a government school teacher and the only breadwinner in the family, a lenient view may be taken in the case. Chattar Singh has also to take care of his ailing wife, the defence counsel added. However, the counsel for the petitioner stated that as he had failed to honour his liability and dragged the complainant to protracted litigation since 2003, therefore, stern punishment should be awarded to the accused. — TNS

Amritsar, February 2
Sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 9.97 kg of heroin and arrested three persons in this connection near Beas today.

The accused were identified as Tanveer, Shahid and Fukhran. Two of them hailed from Muzaffarpur (UP) and one from Garhwal. They will be produced before the court tomorrow.

Sources in the DRI said that following a tip-off, the heroin was seized and the accused were arrested when they were heading towards New Delhi in a car.

They declined to divulge the number of the vehicle in which the accused were travelling. They said since the investigation was underway, no more details could be shared. The drug was suspected to have been smuggled from neighbouring Pakistan.

Rumours were rife that the contraband was seized either from Sri Guru Ramdas International Airport or near it. The DRI sleuths denied it. — TNS