Patiala, May 15: The commissioning of the 660-MW first unit of the Talwandi Sabo thermal plant scheduled for November 30 would be delayed by 10 months. Plant developer Sterlite Energy Limited has, in a letter, attributed the delay to non-signing of the fuel supply agreement (FSA) and non-availability of coal. But internal reports of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) as well as independent investigation carried out by The Tribune reveal that various electrical and civil jobs are running behind schedule.

New Delhi Concerned over the adverse impact of fertilisers on soil and crops, government plans to reduce subsidy on them and divert funds to organic manures, bio-fertilisers, green manures and promotion of organic farming.

“During the first Green Revolution, productivity was increased by 50% with the help of fertilisers. But today balanced fertilisers are needed. Urea is being used by farmers in high quantity which is affecting productivity,” agriculture minister Sharad Pawar informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The Annual Plan for Punjab for the current fiscal has been finalised at Rs.14,000 crore at a meeting here between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Initiating the discussions on Punjab's Plan performance, Mr. Ahluwalia lauded the State Government's efforts towards improving the health of the State's economy as also initiatives targeted at providing a boost to sectors such as health and education.

Planning Commission nod for cancer hospital in Malwa; water-logging, depleting water table to be dealt with. The Planning Commission today approved an annual plan outlay of Rs 14,000 crore for Punjab for the 2012-13 financial year. The amount has been hiked by 10 per cent as compared to last year's outlay of Rs 12,800 crore.

The Centre will be providing separate funds under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) for enhancing road connectivity in the six border districts of Punjab. The proposed move would benefit Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Taran Taran and Pathankot, according to Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh.

Also, the condition of minimum inhabitation of 500 persons for providing road connectivity under PMGSY would be relaxed to 250 persons in the case of border districts on the lines of tribal and naxal areas, he said on Saturday.

Ludhiana: Cultivation of basmati rice in Punjab must be discouraged and the farmers advised to distribute the area under three non-basmati paddy varieties with a different maturity duration, depending upon the availability of labour and water at the time of transplanting, suggest experts from Punjab Agricultural University here.

Chandigarh: Like record wheat harvest, the production of milk, too, is unusually high this year. But that hasn’t brought smiles on the faces of dairy farmers who are reeling under the ban imposed on the export of skimmed milk powder. As a result, most private players in the industry are not ready to buy milk from dairy farmers. This, in turn, has burdened Milkfed, Punjab’s dairy cooperative, which can’t say no to milk procurement. The Milkfed and two other big companies have been forced to buy excess milk.

Gurdaspur: Hazardous smoke resulting from burning of wheat stubble can be seen billowing out of every other field in the region despite the act being illegal. Fire in fields sometimes goes out of control and leads to fatal incidents. In a recent incident, Sardara Singh, a middle-aged farmer, along with his wife and two children, was going towards Sri Hargobindpur on a motorcycle when fire from a nearby field aided by strong winds trapped the family. The panic-stricken farmer managed to take his family to safety, but not before fire ravaged his motorcycle.

It is a good news that Punjab no longer cheers for. The state is headed for a record wheat harvest of over 120 lakh tonnes this Rabi season surpassing all previous milestones. It is almost 10 lakh tonnes higher than the previous record of 110 lakh tonnes. The high production has come from better yield per acre, an average of 7 per cent more, owing to cool weather conditions and timely winter rain that also brought down the incidence of pest attack and disease.

Faridkot: The state government had acquired large chunks of land for some specific projects many years ago. With the government failing to implement the projects, the land at many places has become a cause of protracted litigation. The original owners of the land, mainly farmers, want it back as its market value has increased manifold.

For instance, in 1977-78, the Education Department had acquired about 22 acres along the Kotkapura-Faridkot road for the construction of a B.Ed college. That time, it was a waterlogged area and the farmers readily agreed to give their land.