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Cotton growers fear huge loss
Thirty pilgrims hurt in mishap on Dabwali road
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Sans alcometer, cops find it tough to check drunken driving
Row over draining out rain water in Lambi villages
Govt official in SGPC poll fray, complaint filed
Play puts focus on plight of small farmers
Overflowing drain invites wrath of Abohar residents
Former MC booked for fraud
‘Gita holds the key to Indian philosophy’
Hindi in govt schools from this academic session
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Cotton growers fear huge loss
Bathinda, September 11 The growers are apprehensive that they might not be in a position to recoup even the cost of inputs in the crop. It is now about a week that the region has been experiencing rain that has resulted in waterlogging of the cotton fields in an area of more than 2.56 lakh acres. The leading cotton growing areas of Punjab include Bathinda, Fazilka, Muktsar, Moga, Faridkot, Barnala and Ferozepur. Those who managed to pluck some quantity of cotton yesterday fetched about Rs 3300 per quintal as the produce was discoloured, said a leading trader Ashok Dhunikey. The cotton growers were this time not expecting their produce to fetch the last year's price as the international scenario was then different because the floods in Pakistan and Bangladesh had destroyed the crop in the two countries and it was a bumper yield here. But the bad weather now has come as a bolt from the blue for them. Prior to the floods and the incessant rains, the experts were expecting a bumper crop of cotton as the early showers had further brightened the prospects of the crop. Generally there are three plucking of cotton in a season but most farmers had not yet plucked it even once before the produce got damaged. Vijay Kumar Nagpal, a leading cotton trader of Abohar, had about a month ago predicted yet another bumper crop of cotton even when some showers were required for the proper blooming of the cotton bolls. Nagpal had estimated that the cotton produce in the Abohar area this season might touch 2.25 lakh bales against 1.80 lakh bales last year. However, the rains and floods have now washed away the expectation of the farmers and the cotton traders. Many cotton fields in Abohar and Fazilka were waterlogged due to rains and choking of drains resulting in withering of plants. Keeping in view the lucrative price fetched by the cotton produce last season, the farmers this season had opted for cultivation of cotton instead of paddy as a result of which the total area under cotton had increased to nearly 5.30 lakh hectares against 4.83 lakh hectares earlier. A little more than 18 lakh bales of cotton was produced last year in Punjab and the estimates before the bad weather this time was of crossing 20 lakh bales. |
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Thirty pilgrims hurt in mishap on Dabwali road
Bathinda, September 11 The injured, including five children, were rushed to the local Civil Hospital by the volunteers of NGOs, Sahara Jansewa and Sangat Sahara. Five of the injured, all residents of Chamkaur Sahib, have been referred to the sector-32 hospital, Chandigarh, in view of their serious condition. The relatives of the injured alleged that despite the tall claims of Punjab government of having upgraded medical facilities, nothing has been done. "Two people are forced to lie on one bed and children too are sitting on chairs with their injuries,” alleged Rakesh Kumar, one of the injured. DC KK Yadav ordered two ambulances of the Civil Hospital to ferry the injured to Chandigarh free of cost as the injured were too poor to afford an ambulance. Relatives, however, said the treatment was delayed due to lack of infrastructure, doctors and even stretchers. The injured have been identified as four-year-old Taniya, Karanpreet (7), Salim Khan (15), Gurpreet (23), Jaswinder Kaur (30), Sunita Rani (45), Sham Lal (42), Gursewak Singh (23), Money (18),Lachhman Singh (25), Neetu (26), driver Surinder (37), Rakesh Kumar (40), Alka Rani (35), Jassi (14), Asha (20), Karanpreet (7), Ranjana (11),Uday (5), Balwinder (22), Harpreet (16), Harjeet Singh (35), Geeta Rani (30), Ruldu Khan (60), Chander Singh (24), Darbara Singh, Sarabjit Singh, Tarsem Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Chanan Rana and some others. Doctors, pleading anonymity, said the problem arises due to lack of pro-active approach of the senior government functionaries who converted a small area into an emergency wing where patients could not be treated properly. SMO Dr SK Rajkumar, said thr problem was due to the renovation of the new OPD block. The engineering wing of the hospital has been informed and the problem will be sorted out soon, he said. — TNS |
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Sans alcometer, cops find it tough to check drunken driving
Bathinda, September 11 At present, there are three alcometers with the officials of highway patrolling as there is only one inspector deployed with them. Only an inspector-level official can issue challans for drunken driving. The only inspector with the force looks after the Mansa, Muktsar and Bathinda districts with four patrolling vehicles. The traffic police officials said that they once borrowed an alcometer from the highway patrolling but returned it after a few days, as it is quite difficult to record the level of alcohol in the drunk drivers. "The drivers get furious, abuse us and we are unable to handle it. While many of those drunk refuse to blow in the gadget, others simply flee taking advantage of the darkness," said an official of the city traffic police, pleading anonymity. He added that the city traffic police, however, managed to issue three or four challans to some drunk drivers. Residents of Wala Road, Mati Das Nagar, Dabwali road, Goniana road, Model Town and some other areas residing on the outskirts of the city said fearing nuisance, they do not come out of their homes when it gets dark. Many commuters could be seen openly consuming liquor and creating ruckus at various places without any fear of the police in these areas. "An inebriated driver of an Innova kept on honking beside my car even though there was lot of space on the road last night. He was later identified as a resident of Model Town-Phase-III. The matter was brought to the notice of the police but no action has been initiated against him," said Gurdeep, a city resident. Bathinda IG Nirmal Singh Dhillon, when contacted, said he was busy in a meeting at Chandigarh and asked this correspondent to speak to the SSP. Senior Superintendent of Police Sukhchain Singh too said that he was quite busy and failed to reply. However, city traffic police in-charge Jagdish Kumar admitted that they do not have alcometers but efforts are being made to curb the menace of drunken driving. |
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Row over draining out rain water in Lambi villages
Lambi (Muktsar), September 11 On the one hand, the Drainage Department is busy in flushing out the rain water using pumps. On the other, the Muktsar cops are on high alert to avert clashes between the farmers of two adjoining villages. High tension prevails in the villages, Bhai Ka Khera and Baloch Khera, as over 100 farmers armed with sticks can be seen round-the-clock on the periphery of their village to check the opening of the rain water channel from the neighbouring village towards theirs. A contingent of ten cops has been deputed on the dividing road between the villages. A similar situation can be witnessed at Deon Khera and its neighbouring village Tappa Khera. Both the villages are flooded with rain water. The farmers in Tappa Khera reportedly want to drain out the rain water from their fields which would further swamp the already inundated fields of the next village Deon Khera. Nearly 50 farmers of Deon Khera are guarding the boundary of their village. A police team has also been deputed. “The cops are on high alert to avoid any untoward situation,” said Muktsar SSP Inder Mohan Singh, adding that the police teams are on round-the-clock patrolling at seven sensitive points in Muktsar. “We are trying to convince the farmers not to open the waterway as the flood situation is almost similar in all the villages of the area,” the SSP pointed out. “We have succeeded in soothing the tension at Bukkan Halal and Kutiawali village on Saturday,” he added. Angrej Singh, a police constable on duty at Tappa Khera, who mans the picket on the Seeto Guno-Malout road, said he received instructions from the higher authorities not to allow the opening of waterways. “If the farmers Bhai Khera drain the water towards our village Baloch Khera, it would wreak havoc as our fields and houses are already submerged under rain water,” said Sukhbir Singh, a former Sarpanch of the village. However, Kulwinder Singh, Sarpanch of another village Bhai Khera said they should not be blamed for the natural downward flow of rain. Hundreds of residents of Tappa Khera village staged a protest dharna in front of the Lambi police station on Sunday to protest against ‘partiality in the distribution of flood relief material’. “The police have summoned the village panchayat to sort out the issue,” said Gurpreet Singh Bains, SHO, Lambi police station. |
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Govt official in SGPC poll fray, complaint filed
Bathinda, September 11 In a representation to the office of the Election Commission, Iqbal Singh Tiwana from SAD (M) has complained that Darshan Singh from village Jaga Ram Tirath is working as a government employee with the market committee, Talwandi Sabo, and is contesting the SGPC elections from Maur constituency as well. Darshan Singh, however, said that he is indeed a government employee but he is not contesting the SGPC elections for a political cause. “I am contesting the elections for religious reasons. Nowhere do the Sikh Gurudwara Board Election Rules say that a government employee cannot contest elections. I have taken two months leave from my office,” he said. Meanwhile, Election Tehsildar Suresh Kumar said that his office has indeed received the representation and that it has been forwarded to the Gurudwara Election Commission to clarify rules on the query. — TNS |
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Play puts focus on plight of small farmers
Bathinda, September 11 Bunty Agnihotri directed the play. Principal, DAV College, Dr JS Anand said the artists had worked hard. President of Thespian Group Dr SD Garg, chief guest, managing director Bathinda Central Co-Operative Bank Jasvir Singh Brar and BS Malik, principal Mata Jaswant Kaur Senior Secondary School, Badal, were also present on the occasion. — TNS |
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Overflowing drain invites wrath of Abohar residents
Abohar, September 11 The protesters performed ‘syapa’ of the state government while members of the Azad Youth Club and Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha shouted anti-government slogans. They rued that the displaced families have been provided with tattered plastic sheets, which had been removed from the wheat storage plinths. Over 300 houses had collapsed. However, no arrangements have been made to give food to the affected residents for the last week. The farmers from Kuttianwali and Tarmala villages, making part of the Lambi constituency, have been diverting overflowing drain water to village Khubban for the past ten days. But none of the officials dared to check it. Naib Tehsildar Jagmail Singh and Wahabwala SHO Kuldeep Sharma have reached the site to deal with the situation. Jagmail Singh said most of the displaced families have been asked to take shelter in the government school. Four pumps have been arranged to drain out water. A JCB machine has been acquired to strengthen the bundh to check the inflow of water to Khubban from the neighbouring villages. |
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Bathinda, September 11 A case in this connection has been registered after detailed investigation by the Economic Offences Wing of Punjab police against Roshan Singh, Chhinderpal Kaur of Chandsar Basti, a former Municipal Councillor, Hari Ram of Bhai Mati Das, Jaswinder Singh of Kot Shamir, Satpal Sharma of Naruana, Mala Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Kulvir Singh of Fazilka and Madan Lal of Ferozepur. The complainant said that Roshan Singh was assigned the task of taking care of 6000 yards of land where crop is grown. The power of attorney was given to Roshan Lal. Roshan, however, sold off the land allegedly without the consent of its owner. Man dies of cardiac arrest: A man died of cardiac arrest on the Mall road today. The man was recognized with the help of the mobile phone found in his pocket. He was identified as Ramanand, a resident of Sanjay Basti, street number 1. — TNS |
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‘Gita holds the key to Indian philosophy’
Bathinda, September 11 "Offering namaz five times is mandatory for every Muslim to ensure that during second, the Almighty's name is being remembered. Quran itself says that it does not have anything new to offer. The ‘aayats’ (couplets) in Quran validate this fact. It is a reminder of the presence of the Almighty who created everyone alike," said Dr Mohammad Hanif Khan Shastri, the recipient of the National Communal Harmony Award 2009 who delivered the keynote lecture at the celebrations of the 116th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's Chicago address organized by the Swami Vivekanand Study Circle at the Teachers’ Home here today. Born in the Sonbhadra area of Varanasi, Dr Shastri faced opposition from the people of his community in the beginning. "But slowly, when they realized that my talks are based on rational thoughts, they started supporting me. Today, I address crowds of Muslims and they listen with rapt attention," he added. With a name that reflects communal amity, Dr Shastri has penned books like "Geeta aur Quran mein Samanyasya," "Ved aur Quran se Mahamantra" and "Gayatri aur Surah Fatiha" and is now busy with "Islamic Parampara Mein Sanatan Dharam Tathva." Literature has played a major role in knitting people closer and Dr Shastri is among those weavers who weave every colour in love. A devout Muslim proficient in Sanskrit, he studied Puranas under the Sampoorna Anand from Varanasi after completing his MA in Sanskrit. Sixty-year-old Dr Khan Shastri, a renowned Vedic, Islamic and Sanskrit scholar, works as an assistant professor with the department of correspondence, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. Meanwhile, addressing the gathering on the occasion, Special secretary, Finance, CS Talwar, who is also the founder patron of the study circle, spoke about the relevance of Swami Vivekanand's teachings in today's life. He spoke at length about the simplicity and crusade of Anna Hazare who has risen to become a national hero of the common man. |
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Hindi in govt schools from this academic session Bathinda, September 11 "Sadly enough, Hindi is a tough language for the teachers of Punjab. We realized that our children lack the basic skills in the national language and hence, decided to first train the teachers," said the sources in the department. Instead of introducing a new syllabus, the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) syllabus and the techniques under the NCERT guidelines would be followed. Last year, English was introduced from class I under the Parho Punjab project which has yielded good results. Besides introducing the language, Parho Punjab has also decided to select model schools and develop them as a precedent for the others. Eighty schools in different clusters have been identified for the pilot project. These have achieved the minimum learning level or are on the borderline. "This is being done so that our intelligent students are not ignored. Once they achieve the minimum learning level, we want them to prosper further. Techniques from here would be replicated in other schools," he added.
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Bathinda, September 11
