His mantra: Diversify, don't crib

Fatehgarh Sahib: A 75-year-old progressive farmer of Patton village in the district, who took to fish farming years ago, is earning an annual income of Rs 1 lakh per acre. Baldev Singh is a source of inspiration for those farmers who have fallen into debt trap and, instead of adopting alternative means, are busy holding dharnas and blocking roads seeking loan waiver. He had started fish farming in 1992, after getting training from the department, initially on 2 acres along with his traditional agriculture. Later, he got 3 acres of panchyat land on lease. By using latest techniques, he cut the cost of fodder by keeping fish under composite fisheries, balancing natural diet in ponds and using organic fertilisers. The department provides 40 per cent subsidy for fish ponds in one hectare. He said the vocation not only helped him avert financial instability, but also raised his social status..

Befitting tribute to ghazal maestro

Abohar: A function, “Woh Kaghaz Ki Kashti” was organised by the RD Burman Fan Club, to pay tributes to ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh’s on his 79th birth anniversary recently at G-25 Civil Lines quarter in Sriganganagar, near here. Jagjit Singh lived with his parents in the quarter that was allotted to his father Jagmohan Singh Dhiman, who was a junior engineer in the Irrigation Department. Children painted Jagjit’s portrait and dignitaries offered floral tributes. A cake-cutting ceremony was also there. Budding singers sang the maestro’s evergreen ghazals and received standing ovation by hundreds of music lovers. Among the singers were Birbal Damla, Shalu Middha, Lovepreet, Shivam Kashyap and Dr Ram Gopal Tripathi. A similar function was organised by Rashtriya Kala Mandir at Ramjas Kala Sadan, an auditorium that was developed using funds collected at Jagjit Singh’s events since the ghazal maestro had refused to accept any remuneration for performing in his home town.

Who’s that scooterist?

Hoshiarpur: It was a routine afternoon and vendors, shopkeepers and commuters were busy with their daily grind when a scooterist arrived on the scene. He started asking people about their problems and that how was the policing, civic facilities and other things in the city. At first, most of them couldn’t understand what was going on. It was only after the rider took off his helmet that people recognised Industries Minister and local MLA Sunder Sham Arora. The people were overwhelmed to see that their MLA came riding a scooter like a commoner and without any security cover. Arora relished some golgappas, while talking to the people about their needs and expectations from him.

Payback time for singer

Khamano: Punjabi singer Babbu Mann has decided to set up a “fan colony” on his ancestral land at Khant village here. He said he would provide flats to poor people from the area free of cost. Singer’s uncle Darshana Singh and village sarpanch Balvir Singh said Mann wanted to do something for the underprivileged people of his area so he came up with the idea of building a colony. They said the colony would be named after Guru Nanak and about 50-60 houses would be constructed. Balvir Singh said trees of different types, including those of fruit and flowers, would be planted to give pollution-free environment to the residents. The colony would come up on the Khant-Sidhupur road and the work on this project was expected to start soon, said the sarpanch.

(Contributed by Surinder Bhardwaj, Raj Sadosh, Gurminder Singh Grewal and Sanjiv Bakshi)