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PPCB catches sugar mill releasing untreated water into Beas drain
AGRO TECH 2012
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Procurement hit as gunny bags short in supply
Vital files left to rot in canteen at Muktsar district admn complex
Demands not met, rice shellers threaten to intensify stir against FCI
Cong councillors join Akali Dal
Five high-level bridges to be completed by June: Minister
Farmers should have freedom to sell produce, says Mittal
Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice-chairman and MD of Bharti Enterprises
Land-holdings getting bigger; MNCs see ready market
Soon, agriculture centre to boost competition
Folk singers to be paid a pittance
Probe on into attack on wrestler posted in CM’s security wing
Experts blame it on schools
Ropar Rural Haat fails to take off
Short-staffed hospitals irk Ropar residents
Apply for casual leave in advance, DGSE to teachers
Probe how illegal hotels came up near Golden Temple: HC
11 arrested with stolen goods worth
Rs 26 lakh
2 years on, police unable to catch
parole violator
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PPCB catches sugar mill releasing untreated water into Beas drain
Mukerian (Hoshiarpur), December 2 Led by Environmental Engineer Jagdish Lal, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) team swung into action after several environmentalists brought the matter to the notice of Senior Environmental Engineer (Jalandhar) SP Garg. The PPCB team raided the premises of Indian Sucrose Limited and collected samples of the effluents being discharged into the drain. Confirming the action, Garg said the samples had been sent for chemical examination. He said, "The factory was caught discharging untreated waste into the drain in violation of norms. The unit could face closure if the samples test positive." Indian Sucrose Limited, however, denied the allegations. Unit's assistance general manager Anil Sharma claimed that the PPCB team did not visit the mill's premises and instead collected the samples from outside. "We have all arrangements in place on the premises to treat industrial waste. Why will we discharge waste water into a natural drain when we have the treatment facility?" he reasoned. A former member of Mukerian Municipal Council, Gurwinder Singh, alleged that earlier the unit used to discharge polluted water into the drain at night. But when their illegal act went unnoticed for several years, they started releasing the untreated effluents even during the day, he alleged. “Apart from causing water pollution, the pungent smell emanating from the effluents has made the life of those residing in colonies downstream the drain miserable,” claimed Sulakhan Singh, president of Punjab Rajput Sabha.
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CM gives inaugural session a miss
Chandigarh, December 2 However, the CM attended the inaugural ceremony of the World Kabaddi Cup at Bathinda and also participated in a function at the Indian School of Business this
afternoon. Badal visite the Agro Tech exhibition in the evening and interacted with industry representatives. Malvinder Mohan Singh, CII’s Northern Region chairman, said the CII’s interface with the government was a continuous affair and that policy changes and other issues concerning industrialists would be discussed as and when needed. Earlier, while inaugurating the agri fair, Union Agriculture Additional Secretary Siraj Hussain said it would help in inclusive development of the agriculture sector. He spoke in favour of FDI in retail, saying “If any state in India stands to benefit from
FDI, it is Punjab.” Rakesh Bharti Mittal, chairman, CII National Council on Agriculture, and managing director, Bharti Enterprises, said the CII firmly believed that rejuvenating Indian Agriculture was possible only if the government and the private sector joined hands. “We need to work in a mission mode wherein the approach should be result-oriented, time-bound, area and crop-specific and be monitored closely,” he said. Chandrajit
Banerjee, director-general, CII, said: “CII Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence
(CII-FACE) has been set up. The centre will work towards building capacity while leveraging technology and innovation to improve productivity and the environmental footprint of agriculture. It will also focus on introducing efficiencies across the supply chain, right from the farm gate to the end
consumer.” Hari S Bhartia, chairman, Agro Tech 2012, and co-chairman and managing-director, Jubilant Life Sciences, said the CII expected 30,000 farmers to visit Agro Tech 2012.
On the sidelines...
*
The display of agriculture technology by international companies is attracting huge crowds. Machines that help in mechanised sowing and scientific storage technologies on display are getting many visitors *
Stalls selling medicinal herbs like aloe vera and euro olive oil are getting high footfalls and doing briskbusiness. Visitors are not just buying the aloe vera juice, but are cosmetics made from it . *
The Dairy Development Board, Punjab, plans to give mini kits to milk consumers in Punjab for checking adulteration. These kits will cost Rs 100 each
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Procurement hit as gunny bags short in supply
Chandigarh, December 2 The Food and Civil Supplies Department had recently allowed the agencies to use last year’s gunny bags. However, senior officials admit even older bags are being used. The agencies, including Punsup, Pungrain, Markfed, Punjab Agro Industries Corporation and Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, got gunny bags far below the ordered quantity. For instance, Punsup received 1.52 lakh bales against the requirement of 1.97 lakh bales. One bale has 500 gunny bags of 50 kg capacity each. A senior official said high demand for gunny bags from states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan during the wheat procurement season had led to the situation. The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals is the sole agency for supplying gunny bags to different states. It had reportedly failed to make adequate arrangements. Sources in Pungrain said: “High density polyethylene bags are also being used. But the jute lobby is very strong and it did not allow much supply of polyethene bags. The issue is handled by the Ministry of Textiles”.
Glaring shortfall * Various paddy procurement agencies have so far received 5.90 lakh bales of gunny bags against the placed order for 7.71 lakh bales * High demand for gunny bags from states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan during the wheat procurement season has led to the shortage * The authorities recently allowed one-time used gunny bags. But, older bags are also being used
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Vital files left to rot in canteen at Muktsar district admn complex
Muktsar, December 2 For, a majority of official files have been left abandoned in a dilapidated canteen in the District Administrative Complex here, which is infested by rats. These files may be containing record of certain official documents. A visit to the top floor of the complex found that several important files were lying in the canteen. Though the canteen is not in use these days, its door always remains open and most of the documents lie scattered and easily accessible to the public. Even the documents, a majority of them of the year 2009, were in a bad shape. Either their pages were partially torn or dust gathered on them had made them illegible. Rainwater too enters the portion where the files have been kept as there are no windows there. An employee of the administrative complex said the documents had been lying there since long. “Most of the files are related to domicile and caste certificates and carry a number of documents as proof. Still, officials concerned are least bothered about them,” said the employee. Additional Deputy Commissioner NS Bath, however, was ignorant of the matter. He said, “I get look into the matter. If any official has dumped vital documents in such conditions, action will be taken against him or her.”
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Demands not met, rice shellers threaten to intensify stir against FCI
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 2 Most of the rice is stored at Baladi Kalan village which is 14 km from Sirhind and 19 km from Bassi Pathana. The spokesman of the Bassi Pathana Rice Millers Association Lakesh Jindal said that they were already facing losses in view of the shortage of technical staff at the FCI. He said only 15 trucks load of milled rice per unit was being lifted daily as a result they were not able to get new quota of rice for custom milling. He said there were over 15 rice shelling units in the town with a stacking capacity of 300 trucks. He said that over 120 truckloads of rice were still to be lifted from the mills. Jindal warned that if the department failed to roll back the arbitrary decision, the association would be forced to intensify their stir. He said that they would also keep their units closed till the FCI appoints more technical staff to lift rice after custom milling.
unjust proposition * Millers protest against FCI’s decision to shift storage site from Sirhind to Bassi Pathana, which is more distant *
They have already been facing losses due to shortage of staff at FCI
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Cong councillors join Akali Dal
Amritsar, December 2 Prominent among those who joined the SAD are Ravinder Pal Singh Kuku, former president, Jandiala Nagar Council; councillors Kulwant Singh, Surinder Kaur, Vijay Rani, Sukhminder Singh Goldy, Tajinder Singh Happy and Rakesh Kumar Tonny; former councillors Baldev Raj Vinayak, Ashok Sharma, Haridev Sharma and Inder Singh; Mohinder Singh Virk, former vice-president, Jandiala Nagar Council; and Jagdeep Singh Judge, president, Youth Congress, Jandiala. The development is a setback for the Congress. “The move is bound to create ripples in the Congress camp. It will cause a major dent in the Congress vote bank in Majha,” said Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia while welcoming the members to the SAD fold. “The development reflects a change in the image of the SAD, which is fast becoming a secular party. It is for the first time that a large number of members of the Hindu community together chose to leave their parent party to join the SAD,” he said. Majithia said people had realised that it was the sincerity and dedication of the SAD that could steer Punjab towards prosperity.
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Five high-level bridges to be completed by June: Minister
Chandigarh, December 2 These bridges are: on Sirhind canal at Roopnagar (Rs 90 crore), at Ludhiana-Rahon road near Mattewala on the Sutlej (Rs 63 crore), at Jhandha-Lubana-Dhnoya-Mukerian road on the Beas (Rs 63 crore), at Mirthal-Dina road on Chakki river (Rs 62 crore) and at Roopnagar bypass on Sirhind canal (Rs 12 crore). The Minister said work on all these projects was on full swing and by June, all these bridges would be opened to public. The state government had earlier opened six high-level bridges for transportation, which included an important bridge at Makkhu-Sultanpur Lodhi road on the Sutlej connecting Majha and Doaba to Malwa and a three-lane bridge on Amritsar-Jalandhar road, he said. Dhillon said the government had also sanctioned a bridge on Jalandhar-Kaputhala road near Khojewala, which would be built at a cost of Rs 34 crore. — PTI the bridges
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Farmers should have freedom to sell produce, says Mittal
Chandigarh, December 2 Vice-Chairman and Managing-Director of Bharti Enterprises Rakesh Bharti Mittal today expressed the sentiments at Agro Tech 2012 here. He said farmers should have the freedom to sell their produce to anyone they wished. While commission agents had played a positive role earlier, now they had become money-lenders alone. “This has resulted in the creation of a Rs 12,000 crore parallel banking system in rural areas”, he claimed. Mittal said he failed to understand why the Act was not being amended. Amendment of the APMA had also been proposed by the Punjab State Farmers’ Commission which wants to give a ready market to both the producers of ‘basmati’ as well as vegetable producers who have taken to net house cultivation in a big way. The commission wants the state to give its approval for establishing private collection centres in rural areas. Farmers also feel that modern collection centres with chilling and packing facilities would help them to market their produce better. Vegetable farmers are facing a capsicum glut but are constrained to supplying the same to local ‘mandis’. The need for FDI in retail was also expressed by Mittal who said unless this was done, private players would not establish the cold chain which was necessary to market vegetables and fruits effectively. Mittal said the state needed to focus on increasing the income level of its farmers and that this would only happen if it started recognising and facilitating the private sector to invest in agriculture. He said industry on its part understood that the policy of land aggregation, under which no one could own more than 17 acres to 22 acres, would remain but this should not come in the way of leasing out land to the private sector. He said Punjab and Rajasthan had both allowed long-time leases which would not give the lessee tenancy rights. Bot there was little awareness on the matter. The CII Agriculture Council chairman said the state needed to open up for allowing movement of agriculture produce from one state to another. He said continuation of free power to the agriculture sector would result in misuse of water. He said the state could instead encourage micro and drip irrigation by making it mandatory for farmers seeking a tube well connection to adopt these techniques.
Mittal
Speak
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Land-holdings getting bigger; MNCs see ready market
Chandigarh December 2 It is this market which the multinational companies are hoping to catch by displaying heavy-duty tractors, implements and technological solutions rather than cost-effective innovative farming methods for small farmers. A tractor company has sold two tractors worth Rs 20 lakh. Another company has sold vegetable processing equipment worth lakhs to another agri entrepreneur. Additional Secretary, Agriculture, Siraj Hussain, said the latest figures on Punjab being received by the Union Agriculture Ministry were bewildering. While almost all other states had reported an increase in their small and marginal farmers, in Punjab there had been an increase in big and medium farmers in the last one decade. Hussain said in Punjab, small farmers were opting to lease out their land instead of cultivating it themselves. He said 1.30 lakh small and marginal farmers had leased out their land and another 72,000 small farmers had sold their land. According to the Agriculture Census 2010-2011, the number of large farm-holdings has increased to 10. 28 lakh and the number of marginal farmer families have decreased to 1.01 lakh. It is not only big holdings above 20 acres which are on the rise. There are more than 2.79 lakh holdings of 20 acres. In contrast, the number of land-holdings of three to four acres is only 3.43 lakh. The Union Agriculture Additional Secretary said Punjab was in for trouble with other states picking up in wheat production. Wheat production in Madhya Pradesh had increased from 57,000 tonnes a decade earlier to 80 lakh tonnes now. He said in Punjab nearly all grain arriving in the market was procured by state agencies. He said this needed to change as the system could not be sustainable if the private sector was driven out of the market. Hussain said procurement by the state agencies could be gradually reduced with more participation of the private sector. Similarly, the private sector needed to be encouraged to participate in maize procurement. This was important as the Union Government had indicated it would not take the complete responsibility of procuring maize, touted as the best alternative to paddy.
Agri Census 2010-2011 * The number of large farm-holdings in Punjab has increased to 10. 28 lakh * The number of marginal farmer families has decreased to 1.01 lakh * There are more than 2.79 lakh holdings of 20 acres * The number of land-holdings of three to four acres is 3.43 lakh
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Soon, agriculture centre to boost competition
Chandigarh, December 2 The centre, to be set up in Delhi, is being set up jointly by the CII and the USAID. It will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee next week. Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of the Agro Tech fair, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General, CII, said the centre would improve competitiveness in the agriculture sector by catalysing innovation, building capacity and enhancing productivity. “This centre will work closely with farmers, companies, development institutions and the government, not just for improving farm productivity, but also to improve global competitiveness of India’s agriculture. USAID is a partner in this initiative and will help us create global linkages for agriculture and the agri industry,” he said. Banerjee said agriculture accounted for 14.5 per cent of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product)and engaged 58 per cent of the total workforce in the country, making it the mainstay of Indian economy and to food security and inclusive growth. “Though agricultural growth has been declining, production, especially of high-value crops, has been going up. Indian agriculture, however, is facing many challenges in land fragmentation, imbalanced use of fertilisers and slow pace of diversification. The centre will help farmers meet these challenges through integrated agiriculture development and transfer of farm technology,”
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World Kabaddi Cup
Ludhiana December 2 After the first World Kabaddi Cup, several Punjabi singers had come out with music albums glorifying kabaddi. While Bollywood actors, who only promote their upcoming movies from the World Kabaddi Cup stage, are paid hefty sums, folk singers who have promoted the traditional game through their albums are to be paid only a pittance. Among the Punjabi singers to perform at various Kabaddi Cup venues are Satwinder Bitti, Rai Jhujar, Balkar Sidhu, Raj Brar, Manpreet Akhtar, Gulzar Lahoria, Inderjit Nikku, Mangi Mahal, Sarbjit Cheema and Nachattar Gill The Sportes Department will pay between Rs 60,000 and Rs 1 lakh to these singers, said the sources, adding that if the singers were to be believed, they were being paid less than half the money that they charged for performing at functions and concerts. Sikander Singh Maluka, president, Punjab Kabaddi Association, claimed that the government would not make any payment other than the award money to the winners. "All other expenses will be borne by sponsors," he maintained. But the Additional Director, Youth Services, Charanjit Singh, said it would be the Sports Department that would pay these folk singers.
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Probe on into attack on wrestler posted in CM’s security wing
Chandigarh, December 2 Gurpal was shot at on the Rai-Sonepat road while he was travelling from Rai, where he had come to attend a sports camp. "We have registered a case under Section 307, IPC (attempt to murder). Investigations are being handled by Sonepat's DSP (Headquarters)," Alok Mittal, Alok Mittal,Inspector-General of Police, Rohtak Range, said. “We have already registered a case on the victim's complaint. We are not trying to hide anything. The incident needs to be fairly investigated, which is what we are doing," he said. Gurpal was reportedly heading back to his hostel after 8 pm when a car blocked his way. Two or three armed men got down. A terrified Gurpal sped away, but a bullet pierced is back.
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Declining interest in Punjabi
Amritsar, December 2 HS Bhatia, former Head of the Punjabi Department, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), said Punjabi was not directly linked with employment. The notion that English helped one scale new heights was wrong. “Look at countries like China and Japan which have given great importance to their mother-tongue and yet have progressed,” he remarked. He said there was a dearth of Punjabi writers who had a grasp on burning issues and, hence, the decline in Punjabi writings. Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha general secretary Talwinder Singh said Punjabi was not being accorded priority in schools. He alleged that the government was not sincere in promoting Punjabi which had been "wiped out" in Chandigarh. He said it was high time that Punjabi was made mandatory in all schools. Rajinderpal Singh Brar, Head, Punjabi Department, Punjabi University, said the survey results were astounding in the light of a book fair organised by the National Book Trust in Bathinda recently, which had witnessed a record sale of books. “The findings may be true of the urban Punjabi populace but those in rural areas like reading Punjabi books,” he maintained. Until Punjabi was given priority in school education, the language could not be promoted, he added. Gursagar Singh from the Singh Brothers, a leading publishing house here, said Punjabi was not being given its due in public schools while government schools in the cities were in a bad shape.
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Ropar Rural Haat fails to take off
Ropar, December 2 The scheme provides for a direct contact between the seller and buyer, eliminating the middleman. The Centre privides 75 per cent funds for such projects while the land is provided by panchayats. The remaining money is contributed by the state government. Families living below the poverty line (BPL) are allowed to set up vends at these haats without paying any charges. The others are allowed to sell their products at a nominal fee. However, owing to a lack of interest by the implementing agencies, no business has been transacted there.
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Short-staffed hospitals irk Ropar residents
Ropar, December 2 A visit to Bhai Jaita Ji Civil Hospital, Anandpur Sahib, which is a constituency of the state Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, highlights the state of affairs. The number of doctors at the hospital has dwindled from 18 to 11 in the last two years. No orthopaedician, surgeon, gynaecologist, ENT or skin specialist is posted at the hospital and the radiographer resigned recently. In the absence of a regular doctor who specialises in medicine, a doctor from Ropar visits the hospital once a week on Thursday to attend to the local patients. Earlier, over 300 patients visited the hospital OPD everyday but now with most of the specialists having left the hospital, the number has dropped to a 100. The situation is equally bad at the other two nearest hospitals at Nangal and Nurpur Bedi situated at a distance of 20 km. At Nangal, the civil hospital building is still under construction and does not have a radiographer. So people, who need to get an ultrasound done, are referred to the hospital in Ropar, said a doctor
on duty. The hospital in Singhpura in Nurpur Bedi does not have a paediatrician and many cases are referred
to Ropar. At Morinda hospital, the situation is no better as it does not have any orthopaedician, ENT specialist, radiographer or a medicine expert. Ropar Civil Surgeon Rajnish Sood said he was aware of the matter and that efforts were being made to address the issue.
Over-stretched * Many posts for medical staff at government hospitals in the district lying vacant * Number of doctors at hospital in Health Minister Mittal’s constituency dwindled from 18 to 11 in last two years * The situation is no better at hospitals in Nangal, Nurpur Bedi and Morinda
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Apply for casual leave in advance, DGSE to teachers
Patiala, December 2 He also ordered that at any one time, the school head could not allow more than 20 per cent of the staff to go on leave. Upon joining, the female teachers get 20 and the male staff gets 10 casual leaves in a year. Earlier, teachers did not have to get their leave sanctioned as it was meant for emergency purposes but they now complain that the new order has defeated the whole purpose of the casual leave. A teacher of the city’s senior secondary school said, “In the morning, I sent an sms to the principal asking for leave since my mother had fallen ill. But the principal refused saying only 20 per cent of the staff could go on leave at a time.” Pannu said the only aim of issuing these directions was to ensure that the students didn’t suffer. “Teachers can always inform the authorities in advance. It is just a matter of sending an sms. We are not stopping them from taking leaves. It’s just that we want the schools to function smoothly. What if the entire staff goes on leave one fine day? Some structure needs to be put in place,” he added.
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Probe how illegal hotels came up near Golden Temple: HC
The court has also directed that no fresh building plan be sanctioned in and around the “galliara” area of Darbar Sahib till further orders. The High Court passed these orders recently during the hearing of a civil writ petition filed by the Punjab Human Rights
Organisation, an NGO, regarding mushrooming of unauthorised hotels around the Golden Temple. “The Municipal Corporation Commissioner is directed to conduct an inquiry and take action against those officers who were/are responsible for not taking action during the period of their postings against such hotels and allowed these to start functioning,” it said. Deputy Commissioner Rajat
Agarwal, in an affidavit filed in the case in May, had stated that 21 hotels situated in the vicinity of Harmandar Sahib were served with notices to stop functioning. However, some owners had approached the high court invoking writ jurisdiction and got the stay. The court later observed that the issuance of notices to 21 hoteliers proved that these were being run illegally in connivance with the MC authorities. Therefore, the MC Commissioner is directed to conduct an inquiry and take action against the erring officers. The court also asked the commissioner to produce original applications filed by hotel owners and whether they had got any building plans approved. aDharampal Gupta, MC Commissioner, said they had provided a list of officials as sought by the court. “It’s quite a long period of 25-30 years and many officials have retired or died by now,” said Gupta.
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11 arrested with stolen goods worth
Rs 26 lakh
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 2 A nine-member gang comprising youths from local villages was involved in the theft of goods in more than 15 schools. The police recovered 29 LEDs, 7 CPUs, three gas cylinders, one cooking range, a white Verna car, stolen from Delhi, and three Splendor motorcycles. The gang used to sell motorcycles and cars after preparing fake documents and number plates for the vehicles. Similarly, police arrested a three-member gang of vehicle thieves, who used to steal only Bullet motorcycles. The police recovered two motorcycles from their possession. Senior Superintendent of Police HS Mann here today said that Inspector Chand Singh, SHO, Mulepur, got a tip off that one Amandeep Singh alias Happy, resident of Naulakha village, was involved in some anti-social activities. Amandeeep ran a computer repair shop, Mann said. The SSP said that he formed a team to keep a close watch on Amandeep. In the meantime, they received several complaints from schools in the area that computers and goods had been stolen from their premises. He said that the police arrested Amandeep Singh and interrogated him when he admitted to forming a group of youths who stole computers, gas cylinders and other items from schools. Thereafter, the police arrested the other members of the gang identified as Harvinder Singh, Jatinder Singh, Devinder Singh, Gurtej Singh, Balkar Singh, Gurmukh Singh and Satinder Singh. Kulwant Singh, however, is at large. All the youths are residents of the villages in the area. The SSP said that the police had got the accused in a four-day remand and added that more theft cases were likely to be detected on further interrogation. Mann said they had arrested all three members of the second gang and recovered two motorcycles from their possession. They were identified as Mandeep Sharma alias Vicky, resident of Mohali, Gurpreet Singh alias Prince, resident of Morinda and Vinod Kumar, resident of Jatpura. They used to steal Bullet motorcycles from Chandigarh and already had many cases of theft pending against them, he added.
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2 years on, police unable to catch
parole violator
Patiala, December 2 The police said that Sher Singh was let off on a four-week parole in 2010. “He was to report back at the Patiala Central Jail in September 2010, but has been missing till date,” claimed the police. A case under various sections of the Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners Act, 1962, has been registered at Tripuri police station. —
TNS
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Tightening a noose around those violating norms, a team of the Punjab Pollution Control Board raided the premises of a Mukerian-based sugar mill and found the unit allegedly discharging contaminated water into a drain that flows into the
Beas.
Punjab went virtually unrepresented during the inaugural session of Agro Tech 2012 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal cancelling his participation, ostensibly because of state mourning following the demise of former Prime Minister IK
Gujral.
In case you have lost an original document issued by the district administration and you have applied for its duplicate, there is a possibility that your application is rejected and you are told to apply afresh for a new document.
Punjab is concentrating on vegetable and fruit cultivation for diversification but its inability to amend the Agriculture Produce Marketing Act
(APMA) has come in for criticism from industry which wants perishable commodities be removed from the purview of the Act.
The displays at the Agro Tech 2012 indicate that private players know better than agri experts and even the state government that land consolidation is taking place in Punjab and that farm operational sizes are becoming bigger.
It is this market which the multinational companies are hoping to catch by displaying heavy-duty tractors, implements and technological solutions rather than cost-effective innovative farming methods for small farmers.
Amritsar, December 2