Chandigarh, May 13 (DNS)- Punjab farmers never had it so good as far as wheat production is concerned. The latest estimate prepared by the State Agriculture Department has indicated that wheat production is likely to go well beyond 170 lakh tonnes. “We have informed the authorities that it should be prepared to procure wheat up to 125 lakh tonnes,” said Mangal Singh Sandhu, Director, Agriculture. Initial estimate was to procure 108 lakh tonnes and later it was revised up to 115 lakh tonnes. However, already about 121 lakh tonnes have been procured by the government agencies. Arrival of wheat is likely to continue in some select markets for the next few days. There are farmers who had a return of up to Rs 40,000 per acre from wheat crop this year. The return also includes value of dry fodder prepared from wheat stubble. “There has been a sudden jump in per acre yield of wheat this year,” said Gurdev Singh, a farmer from Mansa district. “Punjab’s per hectare average yield is likely to touch a figure of 48.5 quintal this year and it will be a new record,” said Sandhu. What were the main factors which led to a record production of wheat this year? Punjab Agricultural University says beside other factors, the most vital role in record wheat production is played by prolonged winter this year. “Climatic conditions in February and March, which is considered a crucial period in wheat crop life cycle, remained highly favourable for the crop to flourish and mature,” said SS Gosal, Director, ...
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Jalandhar, May 5 (DNS)- An Army jawan, who was on temporary duty with the Vajra Corps in Jalandhar Cantonment, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree here today. The deceased, lance naik Kanta Parsad Sachan who belonged to Gooja area in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, had joined at the Signal Centre of the Jalandhar Cantonment on a month's duty on April 27. His permanent posting was in Delhi. The police said prima facie it appeared to be a case of suicide even though investigations had been started in the case. Family discord was stated to be the reason behind his taking the extreme step. An Army spokesman said Kanta Parsad's colleagues set out to locate him in the morning when they found him missing. Around 8:30 am, they spotted the deceased's body hanging from a tree near the Signal Centre ...
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Phagwara, May 5 (DNS)- Ranjit Cheema, 43, an NRI, was shot dead in front of his house in Vancouver yesterday. When this reporter visited his native village Pandori Sher Singh, most residents expressed ignorance about the victim’s family. Sarpanch Gursharan Singh Ghoshi said Malkiat Singh Cheema, the deceased’s father, came to the village immediately after Independence. But the family shifted to Noormahal and then migrated to the the UK from where they moved to Canada. Ranjit, who was reportedly trying to re-enter drug trafficking trade in Canada, was gunned down by some unidentified gunmen. He even served a five-year jail term in California on the charges of trying to sell nearly 200 kg of ...
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Hoshiarpur, May 5 (DNS)- Rukmani Riar (24) of Budh Ram Colony here has done the district proud, securing the second position in the Civil Services Examination. Rukmani did her matriculation in 2003 from Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Dalhousie, securing 80 per cent marks. After graduating from Guru Nanak Dev University, she did masters from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Her teachers Gurnam Singh and Dr Rajesh Kumar encouraged her to appear in the Civil Services Examination. She lived up to their expectations and cleared the exams in the first attempt. Talking to this correspondent, she said she daily studied for over 10 hours. “I will serve my people with dedication and will not tolerate corruption,” said Rukmani who said she was not afraid of dreaming big. Her father Baljinder Singh, a retired Deputy District Attorney, and her mother Tedbir Kaur, who retired as a lecturer, said their daughter was exceptionally ...
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Chandigarh, May 5 (DNS)- Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today approved a comprehensive plan of Rs 122 crore for the development of Government Medical College (GMC) and Rajindra Hospital, Patiala. The CM took this decision at a meeting with officers of the Medical Education and Research Department and senior doctors of Rajindra Hospital. Sanctioning Rs 30 crore for 2012-13, Badal said the hospital would be developed into a state-of-the-art institution. He instructed the officers to fix priorities for the task immediately. The CM was told that the recently started Cancer Cure Centre at the hospital, which was equipped with a Rs 3 crore simulator and a Rs 28 lakh mammography machine, was working well. A hospital welfare committee and an academic committee were constituted to improve the functioning of the ...
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Jalandhar, May 03 (DNS)- CT Public School, Maqsudan, Jalandhar hosted the Sahodaya Independent Schools Inter School Street Play Competition. About 13 CBSE affiliated school teams participated exuberantly and with great fervor and zeal. Teams hailing from MGN Urban Estate, Apeejay (Rama mandi), Mayor World, Bawa Lalvani (Kapurthala), Manav Sehyog, Sanskriti KMV, DIPS Tanda, Apex International School (Nakodar), Shiv Jyoti Public School and CT Public School, Jalandhar presented their “Nukkar Natak” on the theme of “Social Evils” that have crept stealthily in our society. After inauguration Dr. Raj Sharma (HOD Hindi HMV College) and Ms. Kiran Dhawan (HOD SD College) were the members of Jury who adjudged the participating teams. Each school team performed splendidly keeping all techniques and precautions in mind. As it was a neck to neck competition, the task of jury was hectic. The Principal of the school, Ms. Ranjana Rajput honoured the position holders by giving them prizes. The first position was bagged by Kamla Nehru Public School, Phagwara, Second position by MGN Urban Estate and DIPS Tanda and the Third position was snatched by the host team, CT Public School. S. Charanjit Singh Channi, Chairman CT Educational Society, extended his felicitations to all participants. He appreciated the laudable efforts of all the enactment teams and blessed them for clinching laurels to their Alma Mater. He also commended the efforts of the teams who could not win prize and motivated them to do better in the near ...
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Jalandhar, April 30 (DNS)- The Competition of “Star Chef of Punjab Award 2012” was organized by Food Craft Institute Hoshiarpur under the close guidance and technical partnership from hotel and Tourism Industry associations of Punjab. The Jury members comprised of immigrant celebrity chef Mr. Manjit Singh Gill, Chef Praveen from Radisson, Jalandhar and other celebrity Chef. It was a well organized event where the preliminary rounds were conducted all over Punjab and selection was done by a panel for the final round which was held at FCI, Hoshiarpur. In the final competition eight winners of preliminary rounds from various districts of Punjab participated and competed for the overall title. The Runners Up of the title was given cash award of Rs 15,000. Palak Dilawari, student of third Year of CT Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology, Jalandhar stood First Runner up in the Competition, Category C-Culinary student at FCI, Hosiarpur. Syed Akhtar Abbas Principal CT institute of Hotel Management has stressed that Hospitality & Tourism Industry is progressing leaps & bounds & have immense scope for career Growth. On this occasion S. Charanjit Singh Channi – Chairman CT Group of Institutions Jalandhar have congratulated the Winners & also to the students who all have participated. ...
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Chandigarh, April 26 (Agencies)- LS Jakhar, Superintendent, Patiala Jail, today appeared in the district courts in connection with the contempt of court notice issued to him in the Rajoana hanging case. Jakhar appeared in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shalini Nagpal and tendered an apology in his reply. The court has deferred the next hearing of the case to May 5. On March 27, the court had issued contempt of court notice to Jakhar for returning the death warrants to hang Balwant Singh Rajoana, convict in the Beant Singh assassination case, twice to the court. The hanging was however, stayed by the Centre later on. In his reply today, Jakhar stated that he had no intention to lower the authority of the court and while tendering an apology, it was stated that he abided by the guidelines of the Supreme Court while returning the death warrants. He contended that the death warrant could not have been executed as the matter of other convict, Lakhwinder Singh, in the former Punjab CM Beant Singh assassination case, was still pending before the SC. He was thus performing his duty by apprising the court. Earlier on March 27, while returning the death warrants, the court had stated, “The Superintendent, Patiala Jail, has not once, but on two occasions, refused to execute the warrants of sentence of death by way of written communication dated March 19 and March 24. These publications intend to interfere with the due course of judicial proceedings, obstruct the administration of justice and also ...
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Chandigarh, April 26 (DNS)- The open toll system where motorists are charged for using national and state highways at flat rates has come under the judicial scanner. In a petition filed in public interest, advocate Dinesh Kumar Chadha said the people “are suffering financial losses due to the unfair policy of the government”. Elaborating, he said the people are not being charged fee for the actual length travelled. “In other countries, the tolled roads are normally accessed controlled. Therefore, toll is charged on the basis of the distance travelled.” Quoting examples, he said: “In Punjab the factual position is contrary to the mandatory provisions ... There would now be seven toll plazas from Chandigarh to Pathankot (220 km) and five toll tax barriers between Chandigarh and Jalandhar (151 km). “The journey from Amritsar to Jalandhar would see two toll tax barriers, whereas the total distance between these two cities is not more than 80 km. There would be three barriers between Anandpur Sahib and Chandigarh. “Moreover, there are a number of toll plazas within the States of Punjab and Haryana which have been established within the local limits of the municipal area of a town... “The growing numbers of toll tax barriers are now becoming an irritant for the commuters already paying VAT on the vehicle besides road tax and fuel cess.” Taking up the petition, a Bench headed by Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar issued a notice of motion to the Union of India and the State of Punjab for May ...
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Dera Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur), April 26 (DNS)- A BSF jawan committed suicide while on duty at the Sadhawali border post near the Indo-Pak border yesterday. Border Security Force DIG PS Bains said the body of the jawan identified as Vishwajit (33) from Murshidabad in West Bengal, had been sent to his hometown after the post mortem was conducted at the Gurdaspur Civil Hospital. The jawan is survived by his mother, wife and three brothers. The DIG said a suicide note written in Bengali had been recovered from the jawan's body, which indicated that he had some matrimonial problems. He also had some dispute with his brothers, Bains added. In the suicide note, the jawan had stated that he could not take care of his family properly and that he was under tremendous stress following a failed ...
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Chandigarh, April 26 (DNS)- Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh today condemned the State Scheduled Caste Commission for recommending cancellation of SC certificate of Bhadaur legislator Mohammad Sadique. Reacting to the “illegal and unauthorised” recommendation to the Ludhiana DC, he said this was done at the behest of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance. He said the Akalis were in the habit of subverting constitutional and legal procedures to meet political ends. Amarinder said Mohammad Sadique’s case was subjudice and the Akalis, particularly DS Guru, should wait for the court decision. “We will use all legal and democratic methods, including mass protests, in case the government resorts to any such arbitrary and unconstitutional practice once again to disqualify a duly and democratically elected legislator”, Amarinder warned. The SAD alleged it was the PCC chief who was trying to subvert constitutional practices. It said on the one hand Amarinder was calling the issue a purely legal matter and on the other threatening mass ...
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Chandigarh, April 26 (DNS)- For supplying potable water to all cities and towns in the state, the government has envisaged an ambitious Rs 962 crore programme. This was decided at the first meeting of a committee constituted under Rule 4 of the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Fund (PMIDF) Act: 2011 headed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Sanctioning another instalment of Rs 350 crore for the completion of water supply facilities in various towns, Badal said the government had already provided Rs 306 crore under this project and the rest of the amount would be provided soon. The committee gave the nod to constituting a ‘Designing & Planning Cell’ comprising five experts to carry out the entire Municipal Infrastructure Development work in a comprehensive manner. Badal instructed Local Government officers to complete the entire water supply work in two years. Local Government Minister Bhagat Chuni Lal said HUDCO had sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore for Infrastructure development of which Rs 373 crore had been disbursed. Principal Secretary, Local Government, Suresh Kumar, said to constitute the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Fund and to provide financial aid to municipalities for development, the government had enacted the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Fund Act: 2011 under which the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company was formed for fund-raising from various sources. Also, 20 per cent of additional tax levied and collected under the Punjab VAT ...
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Chandigarh, April 26 (DNS)- A bumper harvest and non-availability of storage space has forced the FCI to move fresh wheat stocks procured by it to wheat-recipient states. The new wheat procured by government agencies, including the FCI, is being transported through special rakes in trains to the wheat-recipient states of Maharashtra, Bihar, those in the North East and in the South. In the wake of the slow movement of already stocked wheat and paddy, the agencies were facing a tough task in storing the additional wheat procured by them. It was, thus, decided that the new wheat procured by the agencies would be lifted and transported first. A senior FCI official said they had started moving the fresh produce to other states. “On an average, 35,000- 40,000 tonnes of wheat is being transported directly from the mandis everyday. We are using 15-16 rakes for transportation,” he said. Till date, various government agencies in the state have procured 43.82 lakh tonnes of wheat, with 86.7 per cent of the wheat being procured by state agencies and the remaining by the FCI. Private purchase has been a negligible 648 tonnes. Punjab expects that 115 lakh tonnes of wheat will arrive in its mandis this year. But the godowns are already full with last year’s produce. The total storage capacity in the state is 200 lakh tonnes. Already, 51 lakh tonnes of wheat and 67 lakh tonnes of rice are lying in the state’s godowns. With the state expected to procure another 115 lakh tonnes, it will have no space to store 32 ...
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Chandigarh, April 26 (DNS)- Though Punjab has got a breather with the sanction of 4 lakh tonnes of scientific storage of wheat in eight silos of 50,000 tonnes each, the storage problem may persist for the time being. Nearly 10 lakh quintals of wheat, procured over the past five years and stored at different places in Punjab, will soon be liquidated as the FCI has acceded to the request of the Punjab Government to relax conditions for its disposal. Though efforts were made in the recent past to sell these stocks to poultry and cattle feed manufactures, the FCI terms and conditions for bank guarantee for the actual value of wheat stocks had been putting off potential buyers. As such, these stocks had been deteriorating at open storage sites. Last week, the FCI Chairman-cum-MD, Siraj Hussain, was in Chandigarh to hold meetings with senior officials of the Food and Supplies Department. The Punjab Government took up its grievances against the FCI, including the mounting recoverables. State officials said the FCI owed the government as much as Rs 14,000 crore, maintaining that incidentals, including transportation of foodgrain from the markets to storage sites, had not been paid since 2003-04. The FCI says that Punjab’s demand for increasing “in storage” charges for wheat at the Amritsar silo has been placed before the Central Government. At present, nearly 200 lakh metric tonnes of wheat, paddy and rice is stored in Punjab, only one-fourth in covered ...
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Ramsara (Bathinda), April 26 (DNS)- It will be a special day for the Malwa region on Saturday when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will formally inaugurate the Rs 20,000-crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery (GGSR) here. More than 300 labourers are working round-the-clock to meet the deadline of constructing a helipad and fire and waterproof hangars to accommodate about 15,000 invitees for the occasion. Material for these hangars has been brought from Delhi by a Mumbai-based company that has been awarded the job. The inaugural ceremony will be attended by several dignitaries, including Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, Union Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy and Union Ministers Ambika Soni, RPM Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Preneet Kaur and top officers of the petroleum ministry. Besides, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal would also be present. Steel tycoon Laxmi Narayan Mittal will receive the dignitaries. Rahul Kalra, who is handling the preparations, said tomorrow was the deadline for completing the work of the inaugural ceremony. Three hangars of 100 m x 150 m were being erected. Several JCBs and road-rollers were engaged in levelling sand dunes and constructing a helipad for three helicopters of the PM's entourage. A road was also being constructed towards the venue of the inaugural ceremony. Sukhchain Singh Gill, SSP, said elaborate security arrangements had been made for the ceremony. About 2,000 policemen from Bathinda, Mansa, Fazilka, Faridkot and ...
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Chandigarh, Apr 19 (DNS) The Punjab Government will soon establish State Urban Development Mission (SUDM), an overarching body to direct policy and programme formulation for holistic development, recognising contextual specificities of all cities. A decision to this effect was taken by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during a high-level meeting of local government department held here at his office to review the status of various ongoing development projects, an official spokesman said here. Badal said that under this mission, the state government would spend Rs 8635 crore to provide 100 per cent basic amenities in terms of Water supply and Sewerage & Sewage Treatment Plants (STP), Roads and Slum Development/ housing for Urban poor in all the towns of the State during next three years. He said that Rs 1470 crore had already been spent on the various ongoing development projects in 81 cities. He emphasised that these ongoing works should be completed in a time bound manner and schemes for the remaining 60 towns should also be prepared for implementation as early as possible. Emphasising the need for decentralization of power to further strengthen the Urban Local Bodies, the Chief Minister decided that all municipalities of the state should be empowered to carry out their functions as per given statutes. He desired that statutory reforms by way of enactment of Community Participation Law and Public Disclosure Law to improve the delivery of urban services and governance should be ...
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CT Group of Institutions is celebrating OPEN DAY on 22nd April 2012 from 10:00AM onwards, in Jalandhar at its Shahpur Campus. CT Group is the first Institution in this region to have this kind of social and academic awareness campaign. There will be Information booths with students and staff available to give advice about various career options after schooling and graduation. Expert academicians will be there to answer questions about various courses and dilemmas. Academicians will be conducting hands-on demonstrations in Labs, lecture halls and showcase some of the most interesting and innovative research across all areas of CT Group of Institutions. Student Services staff will be available to discuss everything from enrolment to graduation and give careers advice. Information will be provided about campus life activities such as sport, clubs, and the Auditorium and support services. They can visit the hostel and canteens around to see the campus life. CT Group of Institutions, is a multifaceted Group ,having 15 Institutions and provides 30 professional courses spreading across the field of Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Hotel Management, Polytechnic, Airlines, Biotechnology, IT, BA, B. Com, CT Public School etc. S. Charanjit Singh Channi shared,” The main reason for CT Group to conduct this is because it provides education from KG to PG level and CT Group believes in creating the awareness in the mind of all concerned regarding various career options. All students, their parents, friends, ...
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Jalandhar, April 17 (DNS)- In the present time, engineering sector is on boom. We can see that most of the people who have completed their intermediate, are going to choose only engineering sector now because there are large amount of scope in this field. Polytechnic deals with the technical aspects of engineering studies and is an advanced form of engineering. There are many scopes for polytechnic diploma holders these days and most of the companies are hiring most talented and well-experienced people. A diploma in a particular subject is always an added qualification that helps job seekers to get placed in a good company. Keeping in view the above scenario a Mega Job Fest named “Naukri” was organised by CT Group of Institutions at its Shahpur Campus, Jalandhar which witnessed the participation of 17 leading industries of the region that went for a mass recruitment drive for students across all the verticals. “Naukri” caught a more than overwhelming response as more than 800 students of 25 Polytechnic colleges with a geographical spread across entire Punjab & Haryana participated. Some of the renowned companies that participated included Convergys, Ambika Overseas, Bajajsons Ltd., Bharat Box Factory, Zoloto, Oswal Woollen Mills, Kamal Mills, ILK Impex, RKM Enterprises, Jagdambay Forgings, HCL Infosystems, Hindustan Hydraulics, R Brothers Ltd, Satyam Auto Components, Sharp Web Developers, GRL Tyres, Nivia, Satluj Enterprises and Ralson. The participating institutions included Govt. Polytechnic ...
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Amritsar, April 7 (DNS)- They lost their family members in illegal killings and disappearances during militancy in Punjab. In an effort to assuage their pain, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has ordered compensation ranging from Rs 1.75 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh each to families of 1,513 identified people who were killed and cremated in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts. Too little, too late? The commission might have closed the Punjab mass cremation case after a 15-year-long investigation, but the cry for justice and truth has not died down. The Supreme Court had referred the case to the NHRC in December 1996 after the 'disappearance' of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who had brought to light that a number of youths killed in 'encounters' were cremated by the police from 1984 to 1994 but listed as 'unidentified' in records. In 2006, the NHRC appointed justice KS Bhalla, a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court, for conducting an inquiry to establish the identity of as many bodies as possible of the 814 unidentified ones. In his report, justice Bhalla stated that the committee had been able to identify 143 bodies. For facilitating identification of the remaining bodies, the commission constituted another committee, led by IAS officer DS Bains. On March 22 this year, the Bains committee submitted its final report, which stated that it had identified 125 bodies. Our Team met several victims' families, some of whom have already received compensation or are in line to get it. ...
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Amritsar, April 4 (DNS)- Stuck in the legal tangle, the SGPC executive committee, headed by Avtar Singh Makkar, today passed the vote-on-account to manage the SGPC affairs up to July 31 this year in light of the recent Supreme Court judgment, which has fixed July 26 as the next date of hearing. Addressing mediapersons after the executive committee meeting, Makkar said: "We have passed the budget of Rs 665.46 crore for the fiscal 2012-13 which is Rs 85.48 crore more than last year's budget of Rs 579.98 crore. The executive has also given its approval for expenditure up to July 31". Even the official release issued by the SGPC carried forward this confusion and went on to say that the executive has passed both the budget as well as the expenditure up to July 31. However, when contacted, SGPC decretary Dalmegh Singh clarified that they had not passed the entire year's budget, but had only given their nod to the expenses for the period April 1 to July 31. Interestingly, a note circulated by the SGPC mentions about the allocations made under various heads for the entire financial year, although with a footnote that the executive has passed one-third of these for the period up to July 31. Makkar claimed that the executive's move was not in violation of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, and they had acted as per the Supreme Court orders dated March 30. "We cannot place this budget before the General House as the old House has elapsed while the new House has been barred from functioning till the further orders of the ...
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