Identifying biomass burned patches of agriculture residue using satellite remote sensing data
The combine harvesting technology which has become common in the rice
The combine harvesting technology which has become common in the rice
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday demanded a special package for the farmers of the State who baled out the whole country from the biggest food problem by contributing a record crop of wheat in the Central pool during the ongoing procurement season.
Despite objections by the Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation and roadways unions, the Punjab Government has approved a draft that will allow private buses to operate in Chandigarh. All the buses will be air-conditioned and will start from various cities in Punjab including Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Bathinda.
Potato growers of Jalandhar region plan to install grading machines of international standard to cut cost and increase accuracy of grading of the crop. The growers have approached Holland-based company Allround Nu-Tech for the purpose, Jalandhar Potato Growers Association general secretary Jaswinder Singh Sangha said on Tuesday. "At present, potatoes are graded by hand on the field. The grading machines will not only cut cost, which is Rs 1 per kg, but also ensure accurate grading,' he said after attending a demonstration of the machine by the company.
The falling water level in reservoirs indicates the impending power crisis and uncomfortable summer for people in Punjab . The decade's lowest water levels in the Bhakra-Beas Management Board (BBMB)-managed Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar Dam reservoirs this time have caused concern among the state's power circles resulting in considerable loss of power generation in all BBMB-managed projects. This has also led to the dwindling of BBMB's share in Punjab's power kitty from the usual 175 lakh to 200 lakh units to an estimated 105 lakh units this time.
Stray cows in adjoining Sidhwan Khas air shelling range of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have been dying unnatural deaths. Villagers and IAF personnel on duty in the range, confirm the death of five cows a week. A visit to the range reveals several cows having been reduced to skeletons. Cows, chewing grass thrown inside the range boundary by concerned people from villages around, can be seen looking for meagre green with their snouts. "We often see stray dogs feasting on weak stray cattle and calves," Jagdev Singh, a farmer from Janetpura village said.
Forests, fields are all vulnerable
Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Abdul Aziz Zargar and Minister for Forests Qazi Mohammad Afzal today flagged off a team of 40 progressive farmers including women for tour to outside state. The team would visit Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand to get acquainted with the latest agriculture technology.
After dolphins, leopards have taken the state by surprise. Sighted in kandi belt, the wild cat, it was learnt, has made the area its new habitat. Sources say earlier, leopards used to come to Hoshiarpur, Garhshankar, Siswan and Pathankot in winter, from November to February, as the hilly regions became sparse in prey. But they had never made the region their habitat. Leopards have been here for about a year, says Satinder Singh, Siswan range officer, adding, "This is a recent phenomenon. We have seen pugmarks of leopards and a cub.'
Chandigarh In the agrarian states of Punjab and Haryana, power cuts have been the order of the day for years. This, in turn, has affected economic development in these states. While the two states have decided to spend almost one-third of their five-year Plan for 2007-12 on power projects, they have also realised that the immediate need was to save energy. With that in mind, Punjab has tied up with a US major, Econoler International, to light the streets of municipal areas of the state.
The news over the weekend that Punjab had crossed the 90-lakh tonne figure in wheat procurement was eclipsed by reports of at least five persons, including three women and one child, being killed and dozens, including six school children, admitted to various hospitals with serious burns as multiple fires destroyed thousands of acres of wheat fields in the State's south-western districts as well the adjoining areas of Haryana.
Punjab appeared to be set to create a record of sorts as the State Government on Friday claimed that procurement of wheat by various official agencies had already exceeded the target of 80 lakh tonnes fixed by the Union Government.
Punjab will set up an appropriate regulatory authority to control, manage and regulate water resources for its judicious and equitable utilisation. The state government will also formulate a new comprehensive and unified legislation on the management and administration of canals and drains in the state. These proposals are part of the State Water Policy-2008, the draft of which was approved today by the State Water Resources Committee, headed by chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh.
The Centre for Adult, Continuing Education and Extension (CACEE), Panjab University, in collaboration with the Ashoka Eco Club of Government Senior Secondary School, Khuda Lahora, launched a campaign
Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh today constituted a joint committee, headed by the Secretary, Planning Satish Chandra, for effective monitoring of Centrally-sponsored schemes. The committee will have a senior official of the Finance Department and an official of the department concerned. This was decided in a meeting held today. The Indian Express had highlighted the differences between the Finance and the Planning departments over monitoring of the schemes in these columns yesterday.
On April 6, the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice V K Jain, said pesticides threaten living populations as well as the the future generations. "Even mother's milk is no longer
The groundwater reserves are depleting at an alarming rate in Punjab besides a serious decline in the quality of water at many places due to overuse of the available resources, says a study. Out of a total of 137 blocks covered under the study, only 25 have been found safe with 103 of them being overexploited, five being critical and four in a semi-critical state, says a study conducted by the Water Resources and Environment Directorate, Punjab Irrigation Department.
There have been reports of a bumper crop in the region but a large number of farmers were hit hard by the recent unseasonal rain. In some areas, the wheat crop was totally washed away. The Tribune correspondents check out the field situation in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh Punjab There are many questions bothering farmers. How will they pay off their existing loans? Will they get a loan to sow paddy?
Rampant drug abuse and unsafe sex is pricking the Punjab Police hard, jeopardizing the lives of as many as 178 police personnel in the district of Tarn Taran alone. What has only compounded their case is the indifferent attitude of the government, which is yet to wake up to the ticking bomb within its ranks. In startling revelations that should be enough to jolt the police brass, Sandeep Kakkar, the senior medical officer at Police Hospital, Tarn Taran, told TOI on Tuesday that during checkup doctors found 178 police personnel carrying the Hepatitis B, C and HIV virus.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today directed all the DCs to examine the reasons of burning of wheat crop in the state and report immediately to departments concerned. According to an official spokesman, Badal directed that in case of fire affecting standing crops due to spark in the electric wires passing through the fields or any other reason, the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) and Revenue Department must be informed immediately for release of adequate compensation to the farmers.