B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Rlys to lease out vacant land for farming
Faridkot, November 4
Considering the financial crisis the Indian Railways is facing, the Northern Railway has started a move to allot its vacant land, alongside the railway track, to its employees to generate revenue under the "Grow more food scheme".

Food Safety Act not on Muktsar traders’ menu
Muktsar, November 4
Lack of focus in the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act is evident from the figures procured from the district health office here as not more than 92 licences have so far been issued to the traders dealing in food items across the district. Besides, only 653 registrations have taken place so far.

Project on waterlogging earns laurels for two Abohar girls
Abohar, November 4
Two schools girls from Abohar shone at the CBSE national science exhibition held in Delhi with their presentation of overflowing drains, fields and orchards ravaged by the diversion of surplus rain water from Lambi to Abulkhurana drain that took place in September last year. The project bagged the top prize.

A government functionary offers juice to Bhola Singh, who was sitting on hunger strike in protest against the non-acceptance of the demands raised by jobless linesmen, in Bathinda on Sunday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Bhog ceremony of Barnala’s daughter held
Barnala, November 4
Cutting across party lines, a large number of persons today attended the bhog of Sehaj Path of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, organised in memory of Amrit Kaur, daughter of former Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, at the Barnala House here. Amrit Kaur had died recently. After the bhog ceremony, Bhai Harjinder Singh Srinagar Wale recited kirtan.

Techies exhibit talent
Barnala, November 4
To showcase the technological skills of the engineering and science students of the region, an exhibition of technical projects was held at the local Aryabhatta Group of Institutes recently.

Man booked for stabbing mother to death
Fazilka, November 4
A 50-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed to death by her young married son over a petty family dispute in village Fatehgarh Tarobri of Fazilka sub-division.

Faridkot girl shines at Cyber Olympiad
Bathinda, November 4
Andria Thakur of class II-A from Delhi International School, Faridkot, brought laurels to the district by scoring the third position in Punjab and the 14th rank in India in the 12th National Cyber Olympiad conducted by the Science Olympiad Foundation, New Delhi. She will now take part in the second round of competition to be held in February, 2013.

LPG cylinder catches fire
Abohar, November 4
A tragedy was averted as fire brigade workers risked their lives to throw a burning LPG cylinder out of a house located near the girls' senior secondary school close to the main bus stand here on Saturday night. The incident took place in a thickly populated residential area of Street No. 14. The LPG cylinder caught fire in the house of octogenarian social activist Chiman Lal Wadhwa. They raised an alarm but the neighbours could not extinguish the fire. The kitchen fittings were reduced to ashes because of the fire.

Rlys to lease out vacant land for farming
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, November 4
Considering the financial crisis the Indian Railways is facing, the Northern Railway has started a move to allot its vacant land, alongside the railway track, to its employees to generate revenue under the "Grow more food scheme".

Besides generating revenue to arrest its financial slide, the railway is of the view that giving the surplus land on lease will help in checking encroachment on its land.

The scheme has already started in Ferozepur, Mordabad, Lucknow, Ambala and Delhi divisions of Northern Railway. In Ferozepur railway division, the railway has already received over 1,000 applications from its employees for the allotment of this vacant land on lease.

Though a proposal to allot the vacant land was mooted in the Railway Board's letter number 2009/LML/16/3 dated July 16, 2010, work on it started after a high-level safety review committee under the chairmanship of Dr Anil Kakodkar, in its report on February 17 this year, recommended the utilization of surplus land to generate revenue.

The expert group for the modernization of Indian Railway under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda in its report on February 25 this year was also of the same view.

It has been decided that the land would be allotted only to ground 'C' and 'D' railway staff and preference would be given to gatemen, gangmen and the staff belonging to the SC, ST, OBC and economically weaker sections of society, said NC Goyal, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ferozepur.

In Ferozepur railway division, about 900 hectares of vacant land has been identified for its allotment under the "Grow more food scheme". The licence fee for the land has to be fixed on the basis of revenue generating potential of the land, said Rakesh Kumar, a senior section engineer (Land) in Ferozepur division. The minimum licence fee is Re 1 per square meter per annum, he said.

Besides making the allotment of vacant land, the vigilance department of the railway has also started checking the encroachment on its land. Notices will be issued to the outsiders who are cultivating the railway land illegally, said NP Bagga, Assistant Engineer, Planning.

The allotment will be permitted only to permanent employees. There will be no allotment to employees who have less than five years of service left and the allotment will be annulled at least one year before the due date of retirement. The size of the plot for allotment to an employee will not be more than one hectare.

Indian railway has about 4.32 lakh hectares of land of which 10 per cent is lying vacant alongside the railway track. Besides protecting valuable land assets from encroachment, the allotment of vacant land will add to the green belt and to the food security of the nation besides augmenting the revenue for railway, said NC Goyal.

Food Safety Act not on Muktsar traders’ menu
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Fact file

Not more than 92 licences have so far been issued to the traders dealing in food items across the Muktsar district. All shopkeepers, rehriwalas, vendors, milkmen and owners of business establishments with an annual turnover below `12 lakh have to get registered under the Act before February 5, 2013, after paying a fee of Rs 100. Similarly, those dealing in food items and having an annual turnover above Rs 12 lakh have to get the licence. Officials dealing with the implementation of the Act said staff shortage was a major reason behind the slow implementation of the Act.

Muktsar, November 4
Lack of focus in the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act is evident from the figures procured from the district health office here as not more than 92 licences have so far been issued to the traders dealing in food items across the district. Besides, only 653 registrations have taken place so far.

As per the information, all shopkeepers, rehriwalas, vendors, milkmen and owners of business establishments with an annual turnover below Rs 12 lakh have to get registered under the Act before February 5, 2013, after paying a fee of Rs 100.

Similarly, those dealing in food items and having an annual turnover above Rs 12 lakh have to get the licence.

Earlier, the date to get registered and procure the licence was fixed for August 4, 2012, but it was extended for six months up to February 2013. Still, the process of registration and issuing licences is going on at a snail's pace.

District Health Officer Dr Ajay Jhanjhi said, "We have carried out a number of awareness programmes to make the traders aware about the need to register or procure licences under the Act. Earlier, the pace was slow but now the process is gaining momentum."

"We are hopeful of registering or issuing licences to all the traders under the Act by February 4, 2013. Those who fail to do so would be penalised as per the provisions of the Act," added Dr Jhanjhi.

On the other hand, officials dealing with the implementation of the Act said staff shortage was a major reason behind the slow implementation of the Act.

The Food Safety and Standards Act has replaced the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act to make food adulteration a more serious offence and the punishment more stringent.

Project on waterlogging earns laurels for two Abohar girls
Raj Sadosh

Vidushi Gilhotra and Ashureet of LRS DAV Senior Secondary School, Abohar, explain the project that fetched them the first prize in the national-level CBSE science exhibition. A Tribune photograph

Abohar, November 4
Two schools girls from Abohar shone at the CBSE national science exhibition held in Delhi with their presentation of overflowing drains, fields and orchards ravaged by the diversion of surplus rain water from Lambi to Abulkhurana drain that took place in September last year. The project bagged the top prize.

Vidushi Gilhotra and Ashureet of LRS DAV Senior Secondary School carved a niche with their presentation at the exhibition which was inaugurated by Union HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju.

About 180 schools across the country participated in the research-based academic bonanza. There were six sub-themes and the theme of the Abohar girls' project was "Jal Amrit Bana Mrit Jal, Aao Dein Amrit Ko Nav Jeevan" under the category 'Agriculture and Food Security.

The girls had interacted with the farmers who had to uproot hundreds of fruit plants due to waterlogging or were forced to bid adieu to the cotton and wheat crops.

Speaking on the sidelines of a reception organised here, the two girls said many regions in the state are facing the problem of waterlogging. Almost 2.7 lakh hectares of agricultural land has been affected. The once fertile tracks have now been turned into water-filled pitches.

The drains constructed by the state government have not been able to resolve the problem. The farmers in Malwa region are helpless, heavily indebted and dismayed. Some farmers told them they had to take loans to fill the fields with soil while the others resorted to fish farming instead of trying the traditional cash crops.

Their project suggests using sub-surface drainage pipes to bring about the drainage of subsurface water that the present drain system is unable to do. The working principle further recommends exposing drained saline water to a strong magnetic field to increase productivity. They have estimated the cost on subsurface drainage system as Rs 50,000 per acre.

To store water for irrigation, common ponds can be funded by the state government. The magnetic treatment of water requires powerful magnets that can be installed in the existing irrigation pipes at the cost of Rs 1-1.5 lakhs and it requires no recurring expenses. One such system can meet the needs of about 25 acres of land for irrigation, the team suggested.

Principal Kusum Khungar said Kashish, Sahil, Himanshu, Gursimran Kaur, Preetika Setia and Priyasha are among the students who assisted the team.

Bhog ceremony of Barnala’s daughter held
Tribune News Service

Barnala, November 4
Cutting across party lines, a large number of persons today attended the bhog of Sehaj Path of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, organised in memory of Amrit Kaur, daughter of former Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, at the Barnala House here. Amrit Kaur had died recently. After the bhog ceremony, Bhai Harjinder Singh Srinagar Wale recited kirtan.

The bhog ceremony was attended among others by Congress MP from Sangrur Vijay Inder Singla, president of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee Paramjit Singh Sarna, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sant Balbir Singh Ghunas, senior vice-president of the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) Kuldip Singh, media advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister Harcharan Bains, former MP Rajdev Singh Khalsa, founder of Trident Group Rajinder Gupta, former ministers Jathedar Tota Singh, Gobind Singh Kanjhla and Baldev Singh Mann, and the family members, Surjit Kaur Barnala and Gaganjit Singh Barnala.

The condolence messages sent by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the senior BJP leader LK Advani, were also read on the occasion.

Techies exhibit talent

Barnala, November 4
To showcase the technological skills of the engineering and science students of the region, an exhibition of technical projects was held at the local Aryabhatta Group of Institutes recently.

As many as 42 projects, relating to various fields of engineering, like metro train, banking security system through GSM, hybrid electric vehicle, cheapest air-conditioner, density based traffic control system, besides those associated with latest technology like cloud computing, wireless communication and recent trends in automobiles, were exhibited.

An eminent team of professors from Thapar University, Patiala, adjudged the hybrid electrical vehicle based on the technique of no fuel and no pollution for first prize while the second prize was bagged by banking security system through GSM. — TNS

Man booked for stabbing mother to death
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, November 4
A 50-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed to death by her young married son over a petty family dispute in village Fatehgarh Tarobri of Fazilka sub-division.

According to Beant Singh Bhatti, the in-charge of police post Ladhuka in Fazilka, Sanjeev Kumar, a labourer, returned home on November 1 in an inebriated condition. He then allegedly started abusing his mother for allowing his wife to go and meet his sister. In a fit of rage, Sanjeev Kumar allegedly plunged a knife into his mother's stomach.

Kaushalya Bai was rushed to the local Civil Hospital from where she was referred to the medical college at Faridkot. But she succumbed to her injuries on Saturday night.

Police have booked Sanjeev Kumar under section 302 of the IPC.

Faridkot girl shines at Cyber Olympiad
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, November 4
Andria Thakur of class II-A from Delhi International School, Faridkot, brought laurels to the district by scoring the third position in Punjab and the 14th rank in India in the 12th National Cyber Olympiad conducted by the Science Olympiad Foundation, New Delhi.

She will now take part in the second round of competition to be held in February, 2013.

Vice-chairman of the school Ashish Tola and principal Navneet Thakur congratulated the child for the splendid performance and appreciated the efforts of her computer teacher Priya who has guided her.