Rain in north fuels hope for good crop
Fresh snowfall in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh and sporadic rainfall in parts of Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday has triggered hope for good crop this year.
The above-normal temperature in the last week of February was a cause for concern for the agri-scientists as well as farmers.
“Rain helps in lowering the temperature, which is good for better productivity. Strong wind leads to lodging of the near-mature wheat crop,” said agriculture director Balwinder Singh Sidhu.
Wheat is main stay for farmers in Haryana and Punjab and apple for horticulturists in Himachal.
The Met, however, has predicted more snow and rainfall in the coming days that would further bring down temperatures.
As per surveys both Punjab bumper crops this year.
“We are happy to see clouds and rain. Low temperature will delay maturing of the grain, leading to a higher yield,” said Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer from Samrala.
Following today’s snowfall in Kufri, Narkanda and Kalpa, icy wind gripped Shimla and nearby areas.
Shimla meteorological centre has predicted more snow, rain and hailstorm. “Due to western disturbance, more rain, snow even hailstorm is expected in state ” Centre’s director Man
A 42-year-old Indian in the US has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for plotting terror attacks in India by providing material support and resources to the Khalistan movement.
Balwinder Singh was a member of two terrorist groups and provided material support to “intimidate” the Indian government and harm persons who were not supporting the terrorism groups’ cause, said US attorney Daniel Bogden for the district of Nevada . Singh was sentenced by US district judge Larry Hicks in Reno to 180 months in prison on Tuesday, Bogden said.
“This case is an example of multi-law enforcement agencies working collaboratively together to protect the United States and our foreign allies from a terrorist act,” Bogden added.
Singh, who also went by the alias Jhaji and Baljit Singh, is a citizen of India and a permanent US resident. He had pleaded guilty in November last year.
According to court documents, between September and December 2013, Singh conspired with others to support terrorist attacks in India as part of the Khalistan movement to create an independent Sikh state in the Punjab region.
In October 2013, Singh and his co-conspirators agreed that one of them would travel to India and carry out a terror attack “likely an assassination or maiming of an Indian governmental official.”
In November 2013, Singh purchased two sets of night vision goggles and a laptop and provided these items to a co-conspirator. The co-conspirator attempted to board a flight from the San Francisco International Airport to Bangkok in December 2013 in order to carry out the attack but US law enforcement prevented him. After these events, Singh and his co-conspirators continued to plan the terror attack in India until
Rain helps in lowering the temperature, which is good for better productivity. Strong wind leads to lodging of the nearmature wheat crop.