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Rain hampers harvesting operations
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Procurement hit in Jagraon, Khanna
Trade volume at Attari doubles
Set timeline for works, govt to bureaucrats
Faulty transformers bug industrialists
53 revenue officials shifted
Badal seeks food projects, writes to Pawar
Farmers, arhtiyas block traffic
Dera chief exempted from court appearance
Act against buses plying illegally: HC
Nanhi Chhaan Scam
Vigilance books PSPCL officials on graft charge
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Rain hampers harvesting operations
Chandigarh, April 26 Parts of Doaba and Majha had rainfall last evening too. In Malwa, there have been reports of a downpour in Moga. The Director, Agriculture, Punjab, Mangal Singh Sandhu, said despite the rain, there had been no major damage to the wheat crop in any part of the state. At some places, the crop had been flattened because of high-velocity winds. The Met Office has predicted inclement weather during the next 48 hours. Asked to quantify the damage to crops owing to the bad weather, Sandhu said that it was “insignificant”. He said he was sure of a record production in the state that may touch the 167 lakh tonnes figure though the department had fixed a target of 165 lakh tonnes. He said the per acre yield in some areas had been reported close to 24 quintals. On procurement, the Secretary, Food and Supplies, DS Grewal, said more than a million tonnes of wheat had arrived at mandis. “We procured 10.24 lakh tonnes of wheat yesterday. But, with rain lashing some parts of the state last evening and this afternoon, the procurement figure is likely to go down ”, he said. The government expects to procure 108 lakh tonnes of wheat but in case of more arrivals, the procurement may go up to 115 lakh tonnes. To expedite the lifting of stocks, the government today rushed senior officials to various grain markets in the state. Jalandhar: Farmers fear that rain may lead to lodging of the wheat crop if it is accompanied by high-velocity winds. Jalandhar received 10.1 mm of rainfall in April last year compared to 15 mm this April. Whereas 2,43,000 tonnes of wheat had arrived in Jalandhar mandis at the end of April last year, this time only 2,18,000 tonnes have arrived so far. Of a total of 2,18,000 tonnes, 2,14,000 tonnes have been purchased by government agencies and the rest by private traders.
— Varinder Singh
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Procurement hit in Jagraon, Khanna
Jagraon, April 26 "We are worried. If it continues to rain, the quality of grain will suffer and procurement agencies will refuse to purchase our produce", said Bhagwant Singh of Sherpur village. Jagraon Market Committee Malkiat Singh, however, said they had made elaborate arrangements for protecting the wheat stocks. Today’s showers interrupted procurement operations at Asia’s biggest grain market in Khanna. Though commission agents tried to cover heaps of wheat with tarpaulin, most wheat bags were submerged in water. The Market Committee secretary said: "About 90,000 tonnes of wheat has arrived at the Khanna grain market of which 89,000 tonnes have been purchased." Procurement was also hit at the grain markets in Samrala, Machhiwara and Khamano. Demand for harvesters Though no substantial damage was reported from Mandi Ahmedgarh, panic-stricken farmers there rushed to hire combine harvesters instead of reaping the crop manually. Weather forecast Dr KK Gill from PAU, Ludhiana, said: “The weather is expected to remain the same till April 29 owing to some westerly disturbances. The hailstorm will cause more harm to the harvested crop than the standing one." — With inputs from Gurminder S Grewal and Mahesh Sharma
Clear stocks in 5 days: Sandhu
Ludhiana/Khanna: Expressing concern at huge stocks of wheat lying at the Khanna mandi, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister SK Sandhu today asked officials to get these cleared within five days or face action. Sandhu was on a visit to the Khanna and Ludhiana grain markets. He said the situation was not alarming and there were no "glut-like" condition in mandis. But at places like Morinda and Khanna where wheat arrivals were in abundance, it would take at least three days to clear the
backlog. — Shivani Bhakoo and Gurminder S Grewal
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Trade volume at Attari doubles
Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) Manager at the ICP Rameshwar says the number of trucks coming from and crossing over to Pakistan has increased. “As far as imports are concerned, the highest we have recorded so far is 192 trucks from Pakistan in a single day. Similarly, talking about exports, the highest number of Indian trucks crossing over to Pakistan has been 175.” This is almost double the number of trucks which used to enter India and cross over to Pakistan via the old check post. On an average, 100-150 trucks arrive from Pakistan daily, though the exports have declined over the past couple of days it being a lean season. Apart from longer trade timings (7 am to 7 pm), better infrastructure has contributed to the increase in the trade volume. At present, India is primarily exporting tomato and soyabean to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah land route while the import list comprises cement, coal, gypsum, dry fruit, dates, soda ash and chemicals. In the import list, cement and coal are the new additions. Earlier, traders would import cement through a goods train from Pakistan as the old check post at Attari lacked adequate infrastructure to facilitate its import through road. Randeep Singh, a leading cement importer, said the ICP would certainly help boost cement imports from Pakistan. “Through the Attari ICP, we can get cement within a week while the rail route took a couple of months,” he said. Now, trucks carrying goods are parked inside the ICP premises.This has come as a major respite for tourists who throng the border every evening for The Retreat. The process of computerisation and laying of communication lines at the ICP is underway and will take some time. Similarly, banking facilities are yet to take shape. Traders and porters lament that the labour charges have reduced even though the volume of trade has increased. “We are being paid Rs 1,600 per truckload of tomatoes as against Rs 2,070 paid earlier,” a porter said. touching new heights
Traders to halt trade from today
Upset over the "excessive handling charges" at the ICP, the traders today held a meeting under the banner of Confederation of International Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CICCI) and decided to halt the entire bilateral trade between India and Pakistan via Attari-Wagah land route from Friday onwards.
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Set timeline for works, govt to bureaucrats
Chandigarh, April 26 Sources said the new instructions had been issued primarily because of two reasons. One, the SAD-BJP alliance realises that very little was achieved from October last year till the declaration of results in the first week of March this year. This, they claimed, was because the bureaucracy, unsure if the SAD-BJP would return to power, was on a ‘go slow’ mode. Second, there had been huge gaps in the administrative reforms in various departments. The sources said Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal was of the view that the bureaucracy had acted as an impediment in enforcing reforms during the last term. For example, they said, Suvidha Kendras could not be established despite the fact that the move was initiated in 2009. The sources said there was a feeling that officers in the Local Bodies Department simply kept shuffling files among themselves. In contrast Sanjh Kendras, which encourage community policing, came into being because the work was under the Home Department headed by the Deputy Chief Minister. The sources said that going by the recent meetings chaired by Sukhbir, the government had gone on the fast forward mode and was keen to make real time changes at the ground level before the 2014 parliamentary elections. Sukhbir has asked officers to draw a timeline for reform works as well as for big ticket projects. All work allocated to them will be monitored by the Chief Secretary and the Deputy CM. The government’s first priority is to ensure completion of the big ticket projects. These include the three upcoming thermal power plants, road infrastructure and industrial and textile parks. Sukhbir has constituted a seven-member committee under the Chief Secretary to ensure these are completed on time. Deadlines have been fixed for this purpose along with monthly reviews. This year has been earmarked as the year of investment with the Deputy CM personally reaching out to industrialists to invest in the state. They are being promised a hassle-free and clean environment. The government is also keen on resource mobilisation, which has been initiated by jacking up rates, and smooth disbursement of social welfare doles for which technology is being brought in. Pulling up Socks
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Cong rebels want to return to party fold
Chandigarh, April 26 The group, led by SRS Lalli Majithia, who contested as an Independent from Majitha, claimed the support of six more rebels “who could not make it to today’s meeting.” Majithia said the group would take up the issue of vendetta cases against Congress workers and support such workers unitedly. Prominent rebels who shared the dias with Majithia were Sucha Singh Chhotepur, Hans Raj Josan, Varinder Kumar and Gurbir Singh Sandhu. Chhotepur said the group would meet the Lok Sabha Speaker and demand that a parliamentary committee be formed to look into the “cases of vendetta unleashed by the SAD-BJP alliance against Punjab Congress workers.” He said the group would also approach the National Human Rights Commission in this regard. On the PCC president’s statement that the Congress had lost because of the rebel factor and that they had accepted huge bribes from the SAD to contest as rebels, Majithia initially refused comment. Later, he said those making such claims should provide proof, if any. He said it was “wrong distribution of the party ticket” which had paved the way for the SAD-BJP victory.
Moment of Regret?
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Faulty transformers bug industrialists
Perturbed by the "negligent" attitude of local PSPCL officials, the industrialists have decided to send their complaints to the PSPCL headquarters in Patiala. Ludhiana-based industrialist Ashish Singhania, whose unit in Mohindera Colony, Moti Nagar, remained closed twice in the past one week, has already filed his complaint. He said: "There was a power breakdown in the third week of April. The same happened again on April 25. Our problems multiplied when PSPCL's field staff did not pay any attention to our complaints. Subsequently, we suffered a heavy loss of production". Badish K. Jindal, president, Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations, said: "The department does not have additional transformers to be used in case of emergency. Besides, JEs usually express their inability to get the transformer repaired on account of resource constraints". Some JEs, preferring anonymity, said they were helpless because they did not have requisite equipment for repairing transformers. "We sometimes get the transformers repaired by hiring services of private mechanics and end up paying repair cost from our own pocket," said a JE. Arun Verma, director (distribution), PSPCL, said JEs were not doing their work diligently. "We have 4,400 (100-KV) transformers and 150 (200 KV) transformers in stock for emergency replacements. We have already told the industrialists to bring their complaints to our notice, so that necessary action can be initiated against the erring JEs," he said. industry’s concern Owners of various industrial units operational from Ludhiana have complained that they are incurring losses on account of frequent power cuts due to technical snags in transformers JEs SAY We do not have requisite equipment for repairing transformers. We sometimes get work done by private mechanics and end up paying repair cost from our own pocket Official speak We have 4,400 (100-KV) transformers and 150 (200 KV) transformers in stock for emergency replacements. We have already told the industrialists to bring their complaints to our notice, so that action can be initiated against erring JEs — Arum Verma, Director (distribution), PSPCL
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Power cuts hit Malwa region
Patiala, April 26 Though figures provided by the PSPCL authorities portray a comfortable picture with no power cuts being imposed in the main cities of the state, the ground reality speaks otherwise. For the past few days, power cuts ranging from two to four hours are being imposed on domestic consumers in Patiala. "It is surprising that despite the temperature being below normal, the PSPCL is resorting to power cuts," said Raminder Singh Aulakh, a local resident. Sukhminder Singh, a resident of Jodhpur village on Barnala Road, said for the past few days they were braving six to eight hours of power cuts. Similarly, in Sangrur, Ludhiana and nearby areas, half an hour to two-hour power cuts are being imposed. Patiala Rural MLA Brahm Mohindra said: "The Badal government has been befooling the masses by claiming that it will ensure uninterrupted power supply. The policies of the present government are not good enough to achieve this”. Arun Verma, director (distribution), PSPCL, said there was a temporary shortfall since some units of the Lehra Mohabbat and Ropar Thermal Plants were not operational. Verma claimed: "One unit of Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant got operational this morning, whereas one unit of Ropar Thermal Plant will be made functional by evening”.
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53 revenue officials shifted
Chandigarh, April 26
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29 black bucks die at bir talab
Bathinda, April 26 The stray dog, somehow, entered the enclosure before the crack of the dawn and started chasing the animals. There were 34 blackbucks in the enclosure that is spread in an area of about 250 square
metres. Blackbuck is considered as the vehicle of the moon goddess and has also been declared the state animal of Punjab. @@With a large number of deaths reported in the past, it is said that the animal is neglected in Punjab in view of lack of its care in terms of its population, male-female ratio, inbreeding and other
factors. District Forest Officer (DFO) SP Anand, while admitting the death of 29 blackbucks, said he is conducting an inquiry into the incident. "The problem of stray dogs is acute in deer safari and at present, there are more than 50 stray dogs. The construction of the boundary wall of the safari is yet not complete," he said.@@He added that local policemen have also been informed about the incident as the possibility of mischief by someone could not be ruled out at this stage. He said the animals were cremated before the postmortem. Preliminary reports suggest shock and internal haemorrhage as the reason behind their
death. Meanwhile, Sandeep Jain, co-opted member of the Animal Welfare Board of India (Ministry of Environment and Forest), termed the incident as most
unfortunate. He said the condition of the black bucks is pathetic in all the zoos and deer safaris of Punjab. "The local authorities must adopt a pro-active approach and write to the Municipal Corporation to get rid of the stray dog menace. They should have secured the animals with double mesh to fill all the pilferages," Jain said. He demanded a high-level probe into the
incident. He said the maximum age of black buck in captivity is 16 years while it lives up to 8 to 12 years in the wild.
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Badal seeks food projects, writes to Pawar
Seeking Pawar’s personal intervention to direct the ministry to grant more such parks, Badal said this would not only give a push to agro industry in the state but also benefit farmers He pointed out that the state government in consultation with stakeholders representing the food processing industry had already prepared a blueprint inviting suggestions from them to be incorporated in the upcoming schemes of the Agriculture Ministry for boosting investment in this sector. These suggestions, if implemented, would go a long way in attracting investors to invest in Mega Food Park projects. Badal also said the state government had provided major concessions to such projects, including: exemption from basic stamp duty and registration fee on first sale/transfer of builtup space of units or land in project area and exemption from electricity duty up to 5% for 5 years.
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Farmers, arhtiyas block traffic
Fatehgarh Sahib, April 26 They were protesting against a delay in the lifting of wheat from mandis and the failure of procurement agencies to procure the produce. The Lahore-Delhi Bus carrying Pakistani citizens was also caught in the traffic blockade. It was only after the Sirhind SHO convinced the agitators that the bus was allowed to proceed. Addressing the protesters, the MLA said the farmers were being harassed by officials of the procurement agencies. He said approximately 1.5 lakh MT of wheat procured so far was not yet lifted and there was no space left in the mandis for farmers to stock their produce. He said there was no arrangement of plastic covers to protect the foodgrain from rain. All claims of adequate arrangements for procurement made by the government had fallen flat, he added. Rajinder Singh Oberoi, Tehsildar, assured the protesters that steps would be taken to solve their problems. Yashveer Mahajan, Deputy Commissioner, claimed that there was no problem in procurement and lifting of wheat.
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Reservation row: Dharna outside Thapar varsity
Patiala, April 26 Addressing the gathering, YOI president Rajwinder Singh Dhanaula said instead
of avoiding the issue, the university should come forward for talks. “The
Punjab government should take strict action against the university which was
given land to improve the standard of education in the state and not for
commercial gains. The university should either be asked to restore the quota or
surrender the land," he said. The activists handed over a memorandum to Naib Tehsildar Gurinder Singh Walia and District Revenue Officer Rajvinder Singh. Meanwhile, an indefinite hunger strike by former NSUI president Harpal Singh entered the second day. Alleging that the university generated about Rs 100 crore through its high fee structure, Harpal urged the government to constitute an enquiry committee to find out any misuse of public funds by the university authorities. "The
university is being run by proxy by Avantha Group as mentioned on its
website through its employees who are focusing only on commercialisation.
I request the government to find a permanent solution to this problem.
The chairman of the Board of Governors of the university should be a
nominee of the Punjab Chief Minister and a local MP or MLA along with
chairman of the Punjab State SC Commission should be on the university’s
Board," he said. To support the demand of restoration of quota, members of the District Congress Committee, Patiala (Urban), including its president Prem Kishan Puri and general secretary Gopal Singla, also joined Harpal Singh.
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Dera chief exempted from court appearance
Dera chief’s counsel had yesterday moved an application in the court of District and Sessions Judge SK Aggarwal challenging the decision of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Harjit Singh who had summoned him to appear in the court on May 10. The next hearing in the case has been fixed on May 25. On April 2, the CJM court had dismissed a Bathinda police report seeking cancellation of an FIR lodged against the Dera chief for allegedly dressing up as Guru Gobind Singh and hurting religious sentiments of the Sikhs in 2007. Refusing the police’s plea, the CJM had directed the government witnesses to depose before the court on May 10. A Dera spokesperson had contended that the police had failed to produce a challan in the court within the three-year stipulated period and in this case more than four-and-a-half years had passed.
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Act against buses plying illegally: HC
Chandigarh, April 26 The directions came after Punjab State Transport Commissioner Harjeet Singh, in his affidavit, stated no tourist sleeper coach had been registered in Punjab as the Motor Vehicle Act and Punjab Motor Vehicle Act have no provision for such buses. The affidavit also stated that the brakes had not been applied on buses registered in other states and only buses plying without paying the taxes were being challaned. In an earlier reply filed before the High Court, the Transport Department had stated that 24 sleeper buses were found to be plying illegally and action was taken against such buses. But, petitioner Ramesh Sharma had questioned the plying of such buses when there was no provision in the Motor Vehicle Act. The Bench then directed the department to clarify why such buses could not be impounded. The hearing of the case has now been fixed for April 30.
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Nanhi Chhaan Scam
Moga, April 26 Moga Deputy Commissioner Arshdeep Singh Thind had ordered a magisterial probe into the scam while reacting to the news item ‘Duped in the name of Nanhi Chhaan’ published in The Tribune on April 21. The probe was conducted by Additional Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khera. The magisterial probe found that the contractor in connivance with an employee of the DC office, Jaipal Singh, and suvidha centre in-charge Gurwinder Singh started cheating people by selling forms at the centre for the last seven months with the promise of providing a grant of Rs 1 lakh to couples having one female child, Rs 2 lakh to those having two daughters and Rs 3 lakh to those having three daughters. The ADC, in his probe, clearly stated that there was no such scheme to provide financial assistance to couples having daughters. City police station (I) SHO Mohan Dass, who is investigating the case, said he raided the suvidha centre in the evening to get some documents but the centre was closed. He said Parminder, the alleged main accused, was eluding arrest. “We will nab him soon,” he said.
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Vigilance books PSPCL officials on graft charge
Moga, April 26 An FIR under sections 7, 13, 10, 13(2) and 88 of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against junior engineer Sukhdev Singh and accountant Jaspal Singh. Senior Vigilance officials said investigation in the case would be conducted by DSP Bikramjit Singh. Preliminary inquiry suggests that the duo allegedly forged the job order of the company to get material from the store for laying three-phase wires to provide 24-hour supply to a farmer living at Dhaani Roor Singh at Karahewala village. After forging the job order, the duo sent it to the executive engineer for sanction without getting it approved from the assistant executive engineer as per rules. The material released from the store was actually meant for another job work of Talwandi Bhai area in Ferozepur district. The actual work was not done by the officials, thus resulting in a monetary loss to the corporation. The Vigilance officials raided the residences of the officials but both are said to have managed to escape prior to the raids.
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Amritsar, April 26
Patiala, April 26
Chandigarh, April 26
Bathinda, April 26