Abohar, March 27
Even as the cotton sowing season is to begin in mid-April, the owners of the ginning, pressing and spinning mills as well as the yarn manufacturing units have started urging the Punjab government to make arrangements for enhancing the area under the cotton crop in the coming season.

The owners of industries, which use cotton as the raw material, have felt the need for increasing the production of raw cotton in Punjab as its domestic demand witnessed a huge jump in the last few years. The situation has reached a point where some of the industrial units of the state had no option but to buy raw cotton from other states to meet their demands this year.

Bhagwan Bansal, president, Punjab Cotton Factories and Ginners Association, said that while the consumption of raw cotton in Punjab had touched 70 lakh bales per annum, its production ranged between 18-20 lakh bales every year.

“We have requested the Punjab government to make arrangements so that the area under the cotton crop in the coming season can be increased to seven lakh hectares from 5.33 lakh hectares, which was under the cotton crop this season so that the production of raw cotton can be taken to 30 lakh bales,” Bansal said. He added that the Punjab government must distribute the Bt cotton seeds among the growers through the Markfed.

Ashok Kapur, former president, Northern India Cotton Association, said the production of raw cotton in Punjab, Haryana and Sriganganagar circle of Rajasthan during 2010-11 would be less or equal to the production in the respective area in the year 2009-10.

This year, cotton production was estimated at around 38 lakh bales, which was almost equal to the production of raw cotton in the previous year.

However, the demand for raw cotton in the three states had gone up manifold as new ginning and pressing mills, spinning mills and yarn manufacturing units had come up in the recent past. Moreover, the capacity of such existing mills had been enhanced by their respective owners, he added. The prevailing market situation in the three states indicated that the demand for raw cotton had crossed the quantity being produced every year.

The situation had forced the industrialists to move to other cotton producing states like Gujarat and Andhra Pardesh to fetch raw material, he pointed out.

Sanjeev Godara, a leading cotton grower of the area and director, Punjab Mandi Board, said the cotton growers, who had fetched remunerative prices for their produce this season, wanted to increase the area under cotton this season, if they were assured of proper supply of Bt cotton seed and canal water.

Meanwhile, a senior functionary of the State Agriculture Department, pleading anonymity, claimed that as per their liberal estimates, they were expecting that the area under the cotton crop in the coming season could touch six lakh hectares.

Bathinda, March 27
The last week of the fiscal year 2010-2011 is proving to be a period of celebration for the Bacchus lovers as the liquor contractors in Bathinda are offering heavy discounts these days.

With the change of contract for the excise licences, the liquor barons are in a hurry to clear the stock because under the new excise policy, the government has declared that every fresh bottle meant to be sold in 2011-12 would have a hologram.

To check the sale of old bottles without hologram, the department would conduct raids at vends and anybody found guilty is liable to pay hefty penalties. Fearing penal action, the contractors are eager to clear the quota.

The discount offers have been a regular feature as the department used to apply pressure on the contractors to clear the quota. Still, some of the contractors used to retain the stock for selling it in April, the first month of the next fiscal.

Earlier, the discount on liquor used to take place in the last two days but this time, the process has been advanced by nearly 10 days, aiming to clear the whole stock within time.

As per the reports, the sale of almost every vend in the city has increased after the offer but it is still less than the expectations of the contractors as many people are hoping that the discount would be bigger in the last two days of the month.

Expecting the demand to increase manifold in the coming days at all vends, the staff there has prepared well to manage any unseemly situation.

As per the recorded prices, Punjab Made Liquor (PML), which is called 'Desi', is now being sold at around Rs 70 per bottle. Beer, which was earlier being sold at Rs 80 per bottle, is now on offer for Rs 60. The Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), namely, Antiquity Blue and Haig are being sold at Rs 550, while Blender's Pride, Peter Scot and Signature are on sale for Rs 350.

Meanwhile, Royal Stag and McDowell are on the offer for Rs 200 and Solan No.1 and Green Label are at Rs 180.

The shipper packs of the bottles are cheaper as Peter Scot, Smirnoff, Blender's Pride are on sale for Rs 3,800, while Royal Stag and Fuel Vodka are on offer at the discounted price of Rs 2,400 per carton. Meanwhile, a case of beer is being offered for Rs 600 these days.

It may be mentioned that finding that the sale capacity of vends in the city has increased manifold, the excise department has increased the number of vends from 70 to 98 with the total quota of liquor at 22.52 lakh proof litres for the coming year.

Sriganganagar, March 27
Physical disability is no deterrent for Sushil Bishnoi, a resident of Hanumangarh, in pursuing his hobby of preparing the models of four-wheelers besides paintings.

The portrait of melody queen Lata Mangeshkar was among his two dozens water-colour paintings.

He keeps tuning into his favourite songs while at work. Sushil is the eldest of the five children of Krishan Lal Bishnoi, a transporter.

Sushil suffered disability in his legs just a few days after his birth. He did not respond to the treatment.

After completing his school education, Sushil developed an interest in painting. He draws inspiration and support from his grandmother Saraswati Devi besides his father. His uncle Devi Lal and brother Pawan Bishnoi too extend him a helping hand.

“It costs Rs 1,000 to prepare a model even when I use waste material available at my residence,” Sushil said. — OC

Fazilka, March 27
A close associate of the local MLA, Surjit Kumar Jyani, Manoj alias Modi, a resident of village Kerian of this sub-division, was allegedly shot at by some persons on Saturday.

He sustained a bullet injury in his leg. Manoj had purchased a residential plot in the town from a Sriganganagar-based party a few days back. Later, they had a dispute over the sale of the plot.

SHO, City, Baljinder Singh said the police could not record Manoj’s statement so far as he was undergoing treatment at the medical college. He refused to comment on the alleged property dispute.

Abohar, March 27
To motivate the youth of the area, a team of Stallion Brigade will undertake a paramotor flying expedition from March 28-31. As per the details, paramotor flying is fast emerging as a premier adventure sports among the Army personnel.

The high-risk adventure has been planned and will be executed under the command of Brigadier Sanjay Thapa, Commander, Stallion Brigade. The four-day expedition, which would showcase the adventurous spirit in the Indian Army to in the region, will cover a distance of about 500 kilometres across the varied terrain of the western borders of the country.

A distance of about 80- 90 kilometers will be covered daily. The expedition team led by captain S. Sangwan comprises two Junior Commissioned Officers and 11 other ranks. The team has already undergone strenuous training at the Army Adventure Nodes.

The expedition team would make stopovers at the non-military areas of Padampur, Raisnghnagar, Anoopgarh, Rawla and Khajewala, all towns located in the close vicinity of the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan.

The expedition will be flagged off on March 28 and flagged in at Abohar by Major General KJS Thind, GOC, Amogh Division.