Chandigarh : The rains lashed most of Punjab and parts of Haryana on Wednesday, leaving farmers a worried lot over the fate of their wheat crop nearing the harvesting stage.

According to the MeT office here, Punjab had widespread rains on Wednesday, covering almost the entire state, while Haryana had it in places like Faridabad, Kurukshetra, Palwal, Kaithal, Jind, Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar and Hisar.
Chandigarh too received some rainfalls today morning.

The rains, which lashed the two states on Monday too, have increased the worries of wheat farmers as heavy showers are harmful for ripening wheat crop.
Both Punjab and Haryana are the key wheat producing states in the country.

The rains, which are unusual during this time of the year for Punjab and Haryana, were caused by western disturbances.
Farmers say the rainy conditions are detrimental for their wheat harvest.

“The rains are unusual during this time of the year. During the past three days, the weather has been either rainy or overcast, which may delay the wheat harvest,” said Santokh Singh, a farmer from Jalandhar district.

 Another farmer from Kurukshetra said some agriculture experts have suggested that they should not harvest their crop for a week, so that the moisture content subsides.
There were reports that the winds accompanying the rains have slightly flattened the crop at a few places in the two states.
A MeT Department official, meanwhile, told that weather will be clear from tomorrow and temperatures, which have fallen around two to four notches due to rains, would start rising from Friday.

Jhajjar : Farmers of hailstorm affected eight villages here led by Beri MLA Raghuvir Singh Kadian on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to DC Sonal Goel demanding a compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for their crop loss.

The farmers belong to Majra-B, Majra-D, Dubaldhan Kriman, Dubaldhan Bidhyan, Mangavaas, Palda and Pahadipur villages. They claimed their standing crop of wheat suffered a loss ranging between 50 to 90 per cent due to hailstorm that wreaked the havoc on the crop on Monday morning.

Beopar mandal demands relief for rain-hit farmers

Hisar : Beopar Mandal president Bajrang Dass Garg has demanded adequate compensation for farmers who suffered crop loss due to untimely rains. Garg said the farmers’ produce of wheat and mustard lying in the open had got damaged. The market committee has been caught ill-prepared in making arrangements for the procurement.

He demanded that the farmers must be provided a bonus of Rs 300 in addition to the minimum support price to their yield.

Though Haryana has been declared the best state, the final ranking will come after feedback from applicants who have sought industry-related clearances from the state government.

• The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion will award 39 points after completing the exercise in another five weeks and give the final score of each state.
• In 2015, Haryana was placed at the 14th position. It was at the sixth position in 2016 and fourth in 2017.
• The state’s consistent rise in ranking has been attributed to the single-roof online portal involving a number of departments that offers over 70 services.

Chandigarh : Haryana has been placed at the first position in the ease of doing business ranking of states by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

The ranking is based on compliance to 330 of 369 action points under the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) as per which the state has scored cent per cent.
Though Haryana has been declared the best state, the final ranking will come after a feedback from applicants who have sought industry-related clearances from the state government. 

The DIPP will award 39 points after completing the exercise in another five weeks and give the final score of each state.

In the ease of doing business, Haryana was placed at the 14\th position in 2015. While the state was at the sixth position in 2016, it bagged the fourth position in 2017. 
Principal Secretary, Industries, Haryana, Sudhir Rajpal, attributed the state’s consistent rise in ranking to the single-roof online portal for all industry-related services, including clearances for setting up new units and also expansion of the existing industry. The portal offers over 70 services and involves a number of departments.

“The chief feature of the portal is that it is mandatory to apply online for any service. All clearances are granted online without the need for any human interface. There is no need for an applicant to visit any office,” Rajpal stated.

Launched in May last year, as many as 10,000 clearances have been given through the portal which gets over 350 applications every week for various kinds of clearances. 

“Every service comes with a time-frame within which it is has to be cleared or rejected. A maximum of 30 days have been given to the department for clearance, failing which it is deemed to have been cleared. Within 45 days, the clearance is sent in writing to the applicant,” the Principle Secretary explained.
The portal is open to public viewing and applicants can know the status of their clearances. “After attaining the top position, we are hopeful of retaining the top spot even on the completion of the feedback exercise,” Rajpal said.

Meanwhile, as per the “implementation scorecard” of the BRAP, Haryana is followed by Chhattisgarh, while Gujarat is at the ninth spot, Himachal Pradesh at 16th, Punjab at 20th and Chandigarh at the 28th position.

BHOPAL : The Election Commission is fully prepared to conduct Lok Sabha and assembly polls simultaneously, but it’s for the government to make necessary changes in the law, chief election commissioner O P Rawat said in Bhopal.

Every polling booth in the coming assembly election in Madhya Pradesh will have VVPAT machines, he said. Congress demanded linking of Aadhar with voter cards to stop fake voting. “Just before the visit of the CEC, massive irregularities have been unearthed. Nearly 7 lakh voters were found ineligible during recent verification of electoral rolls,” said PCC spokesman Ravi Saxena, adding: “In every assembly constituency, there are about 70,000 to 80,000 fake voters.”

On the controversy over removal of 6.73 lakh names from the voter list, Rawat said that they are not ‘fake’ voters but absentee, shifted and dead ones. It is an ongoing process to identify such voters, he said, adding that during summary revision in January this year, 3.83 lakh voters were removed. Now, these 6.73 new names will also be removed. Congress demanded physical verification of every address where more than 25 voters claim to be living.

CPI demanded that bureaucrats and government employees inclined to RSS be identified and kept off poll duty. Rawat did not say anything beyond: “We will look into the complaint.”

When local officials raised the problems faced due to snags in ERO Net software that is used to prepare voters’ lists, Rawat said technical problems will be rectified within this month. Voter lists will be made more transparent and correct before the assembly elections, he assured.

Deputy election commissioner, Sandeep Saxena, said that the new version of ERO Net software would be launched on April 19. Upon the suggestion of the chief electoral officer, CEC gave his nod for a fresh summary revision of the voters’ list in August and September this year.

Asked why bureaucrats who are removed by the ECI are reinstated by state governments, Rawat said, “ECI and government work under the ambit of the law. ECI does what it feels is required”.

Chandigarh : Space and economy constraints seem to have taken over and the once in demand books of the likes of Shakespeare and Ayn Rand are lost in these dusty lanes.

Space and economy constraints seem to have taken over and the once in demand books of the likes of Shakespeare and Ayn Rand are lost in these dusty lanes. 

From Class-10 books to UPSC study material, the Sector 15 second-hand book market is a one-stop-shop for students. However, space and economy constraints seem to have taken over and the once in demand books of the likes of Shakespeare and Ayn Rand are lost in these dusty lanes.“We concentrate on course books now, as there is less space here,” says market welfare association general secretary Sandeep Chaudhary ,42, who has been in the business for 22 years.

If syllabi were a subject

Students visiting the market go back with books coupled with clarity of the syllabi. “Shopkeepers here may not hold big degrees, but they know everything about the syllabi spanning myriad courses,” Chaudhary tells as a students comes, says namaste, touches his feet and walks away. “I give my old books and buy new editions of the books as per my requirement,” says 19-year-old Sahil Narwal.

FACTS

Books are bought at 40% MRP and sold at 60%.
Notes from private tuition institutes also available.
Shopkeepers’ margin on the notes is Rs 200-300.

Back in 1970s, when Gurcharan Gulati was all of 10 years of age, he dipped his toes in the second-hand book business.

“Earlier, I used to buy books from a kabadi and then sell near Aroma (in what was Nehru Shastri market). There was no concept of second -hand books then. But it gained popularity subsequently. These books also help students from economically weak backgrounds,” Gulati says.

Its not all old horses here.Samarth Gulati, 19, who is pursuing bachelors and wants to go abroad, takes care of his father’s business in the market. I enjoy working here, he says in a distinctly dismissive way.

Fond memories

The market holds a special place in the hearts of all Panjab University students.

“In 2014, I was pursuing masters in journalism from PU. I was looking for a book here but had forgotten the title. I described the book the best I could to the shopkeeper. A man, in his mid 50s, with a basic matriculate degree and patience, figured it out saying — “Wonderful book. Amazing author. You are looking for The Kite Runner, right?” narrates a nostalgic Gursimranjit Kaur,27, who is a freelance writer.