The Tribune – Some turn to Almighty, others to poll arithmetic

Minna Zutshi, Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 4. With less than 48 hours to go for the results of the assembly elections, candidates are at their anticipative best. While some are turning to the Almighty for favourable results, others are busy figuring out the possible electoral combinations and permutations.

Sanjha Morcha candidate from Khanna Gurpreet Singh Bhatti, back from Chandigarh after attending a meeting of the constituent parties of the Sanjha Morcha, said the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) at Khanna would organise a meeting of its workers tomorrow to chalk out the duty plan for March 6.

“Whatever be the poll results, we are satisfied that we stood for a change for better,” he said, adding, “After the results are out, we will pay obeisance at a gurdwara and a temple”.

Referring to the pre-result speculations as an exercise in futility, Congress candidate from Ludhiana West Bharat Bhushan Ashu said: “Whatever will happen, happen for the good. I don’t believe in any hypothetical discussions.”

“Though I don’t have any plans to visit any religious place as such, I will not disappoint my supporters. Many of them have taken vows on my behalf to visit some religious and spiritual places. I’ll go by their wishes after the results are declared,” he added.

SAD candidate from Dakha Manpreet Singh Ayali, while claiming that the poll results would be the logical conclusion of his “10 years of work at the grass-roots level”, said on the day of counting, he would visit Gurdwara Thara Sahib.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120305/punjab.htm#5

The Tribune – Area under wheat, rice cultivation up: Study

Naveen S Garewal, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 4. Punjab has not reached its stagnation point as far as cultivation of rice and wheat is concerned. A recent study has indicated that the area under rice cultivation has been growing steadily over the past decade while the area under wheat cultivation has also increased, but at a relatively slower pace.

The study conducted by agro-economist HS Shergill for the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC). The study titled “Strategy for Sustainable Expansion of Foodgrain Production in Punjab” says it was widely believed that the saturation point in the area under rice in Punjab had been reached. The results suggest that this is not true.

Shergill said, “We tested this hypothesis where the growth rate of the area under rice during the past five years (2005-06 to 2009-10) was compared with that in the preceding period of 1991-92 to 2004-05. The results indicated that the trend growth of the area under rice during 2005-06 to 2009-10 was not significantly different from the trend growth of the area under rice during 1991-92 to 2004-05 period”.

Results clearly suggest that the growth rate of the area under rice in the recent years did not decline compared to the earlier period, thus the saturation point is not yet reached. The area under rice from 1991 to 2010 increased at the rate of 1.62 per cent per year. The area under rice cover for this period increased from 20,69,000 hectares to 28,02,000 hectares, up 7,33,000 hectares. However, the expansion was not uniform. The area under rice increased in all the regions, but at different rates. The southwestern zone saw a growth of 3.21 per cent per year from 1997 to 2010 due to waterlogging in the area. There was a sharp shift from cotton to rice cultivation.

In the northern Malwa zone, the growth was 1.57 per cent during the same period. Even in central Punjab, the area under rice expanded at the annual rate of 1.49 per cent despite the fact that rice yield per hectare is lower in this zone compared to northern Malwa and eastern Malwa zone. In eastern Malwa, the growth in cultivation of rice was much lower at 0.98 per cent per year. The foothills in Punjab also saw a growth of rice cultivation at 0.78 per cent per year.

The study has shown that the area under wheat cultivation has also grown, but at a slower rate. By 1991-92, wheat was already being cultivated over more than three-fourth of the net sown area of the state and consequently, the scope of further expansion was lower. Despite that, the area under wheat grew at the rate of 0.48 per cent per year. From 1991 to 2010, an additional 2,85,000 hectares was put under wheat. By 2009-10, wheat was sown on 84.47 per cent of the net sown area of the state. The upward trend, of course, was punctuated by dips in some of the years.

The report concludes that the area under rice and wheat has continuously expanded over the last about two decades; and this expansion is widespread over all the regions of Punjab.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120305/punjab.htm#16

The Hindu – Nitish seeks special assistance

“Federal transfer structure hard on poor States”

K. Balchand

New Delhi, 5 March 2012. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has once again raised an issue relating to the federal transfer structure which he maintained was proving to be the main constraint in the development of poor States like Bihar.

Mr. Kumar called on Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday and submitted a memorandum outlining how poorer States in the general category became victims of the “inadequate federal transfer system” unlike those in the special category, which received significant fiscal relief.

Charging that “the cardinal principle of fiscal federalism” had not been applied in the case of Bihar, among the poorest general category States, he pleaded for more Central transfer for its development spending.

Demanding special assistance to compensate for its fiscal disadvantage, Mr. Kumar gave figures to show how poorly the State compared with others in per capita income, and development expenditure.

In his assessment Bihar needed an additional Central transfer of Rs. 25,295 crore per annum to bring it on par with the national average of per capita development spending.

He said the grant of Rs. 8753 crore extended under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) during the 11th Plan amounted to just Rs. 1750 crore per annum, leaving a gap of Rs. 23,545 crore if the principle of equalisation of federal transfer were to be applied.

He also said the State suffered in matters of central subsidies and investment of central enterprises. As against its share of 8.2 percent under both heads in proportion to its population, the State received only 2.67 percent and 1.82 percent respectively, he complained.

Demanding special category status, Mr. Kumar complained to Mr. Mukherjee that the committee set up to examine the State’s claims had not submitted its report by the deadline of December 31, 2011. He urged him to expedite the matter and provide for more allocation in the coming budget and the 12th Plan document.

His other demands included Rs. 20,000 crore under BRGF during the 12th Plan and increase in limits for market borrowings.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/article2961229.ece

Netherlands 23 december till 2 January, Den Haag & Amsterdam

Due to the fact that now in March 2012 I am still posting December 2011 pictures I will start publishing five pictures a day instead of four

29 December, Den Haag, Leyenburg
HTM RandstadRail TramTrain 4 to Javalaan, Zoetermeer

29 December, Den Haag, Leyenburg
HTM RandstadRail TramTrain 4 to Javalaan, Zoetermeer

29 December, Den Haag, Leyenburg
Veolia, regional buses

 29 December, Den Haag, Leyenburg
HTM RandstadRail, tram and bus station

  29 December, Den Haag, Leyenburg
HTM Tram 6 to Leidschendam

To see more Belgium and Netherlands public transport pictures :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622685920411/

To see more Belgium and Netherlands gurdwara pictures :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622147381380/

More Belgium / Netherlands pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Jat quota deal falls flat, stir to intensify; Protesters threaten to block rail tracks

Raman Mohan, Tribune News Service

Hisar, March 4. The agreement reached between the government and khap representatives on ending the pro-reservation protests by Jats fell flat on its face today following a no-show by khap leaders at Ramayan village, near here. The protesters have threatened to block rail tracks at Mehuwala, near Fatehabad, and Gajuwala, near Narwana, from tomorrow.

Khap leaders were supposed to address the protesters at Ramayan at 11 am. The protesters kept waiting for them but khap leaders failed to turn up. Around 3 p.m. Jat leaders spearheading the protest met under the chairmanship of Dharampal Chhot and decided to intensify the agitation from tomorrow.

While addressing the protesters, their leaders did not mince words while criticising the khap leaders as well as the Hawa Singh Sangwan faction. Many prominent protesters said the Sangwan faction as well as those who reached the agreement with the government on Saturday with the government “sold the interests of the Jat society.”

The crowd at Ramayan swelled today as angry members of the community voiced their opposition to the agreement. Women were present in large numbers. The protesters chanted anti-government slogans throughout the day.

The mood at the protest venue was clearly aggressive. The protesters were hoping that khap leaders would force the government to announce reservation for the community in government jobs. The khap leaders apparently sensed the mood and chose to stay away.

Today was the 14th day of the protest. Since February 19, rail services have remained suspended. The protesters have been squatting on the track.

Spokesman for khap leaders Sube Singh Samain said all khap leaders would meet protestors at Ramayan tomorrow.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120305/main2.htm

Dawn – Afghan camps for Baloch militants shut: Malik

Kalbe Ali

Islamabad, 5 March 2012. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday that Afghanistan had closed the training camps of Baloch separatists in that country, adding that this was done at the intervention of Afghan President Hamid Karzai who had admitted recently that some of the troubles in Balochistan were originating from his country.

“After we approached the honourable President of Afghanistan with facts and figures he was kind enough to look into the matter by promising to stop infiltration of miscreants from his side of the border,” the interior minister told newsmen during a visit to the National Press Club.

During his recent visit to Islamabad President Karzai was informed about infiltration of militants into Balochistan. Mr Malik said “President Karzai had promised to stop the infiltration from Kandahar into Balochistan”. And now Kabul has formally given an assurance that infiltration of militants into the border town of Chaman will be stopped.

The minister said: “There was a training camp of 5,000 people in Kandahar but it has been dismantled now and its operators have moved out of the area.”

He said the Afghan government had promised that insurgents would not be allowed to operate in Pakistan from Afghanistan.

“We are monitoring the situation and those playing in the hands of foreign forces to destabilise the country will not be spared.”

At the same time, he said, the government was creating an environment conducive for talks with disgruntled Baloch leaders.

Mr Malik said that 135 cases had been registered against Baloch nationalists, but a number of cases were withdrawn when the Aghaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan Package was launched and the process to quash the remaining cases was under way.

He said the interior ministry had written a letter to the Balochistan chief secretary to withdraw the cases.

“The relevant letters must have been dispatched to the commissioners for withdrawal of politically-motivated cases,” he said. “However, the cases filed by private citizens and families of a deceased will have to be settled in court.”

The minister said all disgruntled Baloch leaders would be welcome in Pakistan and he himself would receive them at the airport.

Mr Malik said that although the phenomenon of missing persons was a serious issue, it had been blown out of proportion.

He offered an in-camera briefing on the matter to a group of media persons.

“However, speaking on record I want to tell everybody that 6,000 persons had gone missing initially but now the Chief Minister’s office has estimated that around 800 were missing after some progress has been made on the issue. The Balochistan Liberation Army claims that 900 persons are missing and the list compiled at the Supreme Court indicates that 400 persons are missing.

The minister said two judicial commissions had been established, one said that 48 persons were missing while the other was still to complete the inquiry.

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/05/karzai-acted-against-separatists-malik-afghan-camps-for-baloch-militants-shut.html