Chandigarh, May 4
Cotton growers hoping for a bumper crop may suffer a setback. Thousands of quintals of non-certified Bt cottonseed is reportedly being smuggled into the state from Gujarat and being sold to unsuspecting farmers, that too at a premium.

With cotton selling at the highest-ever rate of over Rs 7,000 per quintal, farmers prefer cotton to paddy. Shortage of Bt cottonseed notwithstanding, they are procuring seed from retailers and some among them are selling spurious seed brought from Ahmednagar and other cities in Gujarat.

Because of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) forecast of an increase in cotton consumption during 2010-11 the international cotton prices for 2011 are expected to remain high.

Even as Congress MLA from Abohar Sunil Jakhar has raised the issue of spurious cottonseed and the high price for non-certified seed, notmuch has been done by the government to check its sale.

The Agriculture Department has, however, announced that it will constitute flying squads at the district and subdivision level to keep a check on the sale of spurious/substandard Bt cottonseed in Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar, Faridkot, Moga and Ferozepore districts.

According to Jakhar, in Abohar, which is a cotton producing area, each 450 gram packet of Bt cottonseed is being sold between Rs 300 to Rs 400, at a premium of 30-40 per cent.

Jakhar said the Agriculture Department could get the seed tested at the Nagpur lab before permitting the manufacturers to open sales.

He said he had in his possession a packet with different brands printed on both sides (6588 BGII and 6488BGII).

The area under cotton in Punjab has increased from 5.11 lakh hectares in 2009-10 to 5.30 lakh hectares in 2010-11. The yield has increased from 474 kg per hectare to 513 kg per hectare during the same period. Consequently, the production of cotton has increased from 14.25 lakh bales to 16 lakh bales.

Bathinda, May 4
Darshan Singh of Sheikhpura village in this district was arrested for selling spurious Bt cottonseed to unsuspecting farmers.

He was nabbed by a police party from Talwandi Sabo on a tipoff.

There is a scramble for Bt cottonseed of a particular brand among cotton growers. Earlier, officials of the Agriculture Department had issued show-cause notices to seed dealers in Muktsar and Ferozepur districts.

Sukhchain Singh Gill, SSP, said 33 packets, weighing 450 gm each, were recovered from Darshan Singh’s car.

He said the police had acted on a complaint by Ravinder Singh, Shri Ram Fertiliser and Chemicals Limited, Bathinda, alleging that Darshan Singh was selling fake cottonseed under the brand name of their company.

Chandigarh, May 4
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal may be all praise for the anti-corruption campaign of Anna Hazare, but when it comes to corruption within his own party, his stand is rather muted.

The Chief Minister, who is also patron of the SAD, is content merely with the resignation of his Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sohan Singh Thandal after his conviction in a disproportionate assets case. A tougher stand would have been the expulsion of the tainted leader from the membership of the party.

Under pressure, the SAD had asked Thandal, MLA from Mahilpur, to resign from the post after being sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment. But he continues to remain an “honourable” member of the SAD.

Thandal was charged with accumulating wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, accepting bribe for sending people abroad on forged documents, indulging in benami transactions, keeping unaccounted US dollars etc. Most of the charges against him have been proved. This one single case has belied the allegations of “political vendetta” levelled by the SAD-BJP alliance against the earlier Congress government of Capt Amarinder Singh.

The court has pointed out that Thandal accumulated huge wealth by indulging in corruption and purchased properties in his own name and in the names of others. He had sold property for Rs 13,56,800 between February 1997 to December, 2002 and purchased immovable property for Rs 20, 29,970 during the period. A huge amount was deposited in his bank account and he constructed a house spending Rs 25 lakh.

Since the case pertains to accumulation of assets between February 1997 to December 2002, the prices of properties are much lower than the cost today. For example, Thandal’s total salary for this period amounted to Rs 2, 50,014 and all explainable receipts from all sources to Rs 31, 46,254. But he spent Rs 35, 09,045 during this period.

Accepting the plea of the defence counsel, the court observed: “The difference between the assets/expenditure of the accused and his known sources of income has been found to be Rs 3, 62,700. This court is satisfied that from the evidence on the file, it is proved that the accused has committed offence of criminal misconduct as his assets/expenditure are disproportionate to his known sources of income and he has not been able to account for the same.”

Jalandhar, May 4
Ruby Dhalla’s comprehensive defeat in the Canadian elections has marred the Shiromani Akali Dal’s plan to use her as a star campaigner in the Vidhan Sabha elections in the state due to be held in 9 months from now.

During her recent visit to Punjab, Ruby was given a royal treatment by the SAD-led government. She was declared a state guest and provided security meant only for very important persons. She was provided with two high-end luxury sports utility vehicles (SUVs), which were escorted by police vehicles as she travelled in this part of the country. In all, the state government spent Rs 15 lakh on her visit.

SAD insiders said there was a definite intent in giving Ruby the treatment she got. Known for her glamourous appeal, the SAD had plans to utilise her campaigning skills to influence young university, college-going voters and the women.

Ruby has excellent communication skills and is fluent in Punjabi. However, her defeat in the Canadian elections has spoiled the Akali plans.

Ruby, Liberal Party candidate and sitting MP from the Brampton-Springdale constituency, had reportedly sought support in the name of the Akali leadership, especially Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, to influence the Punjabi voters but was defeated by Conservative Party candidate Parm Gill with a huge margin of 7,000 votes. Gill has roots in Puranewala village near Moga.

A senior Akali leader said that following her defeat, her ability to influence voters had diminished. She would no longer be an effective campaigner.

Chandigarh, May 4
Private traders seem 
to have completely ignored Punjab while making wheat purchases in the ongoing procurement season. With the state having the highest tax rate on wheat purchase by private entities, these traders have not even purchased 1 per cent of the total wheat that has arrived in various mandis across the state.

According to the information available with The Tribune, out of the 96.55 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat that has arrived in various grain markets till date, private traders have bought just 18,700 metric tonnes (0.19 per cent).

These traders have purchased wheat at rates varying between Rs 1,130 and Rs 1,175 per quintal. On the other hand, the state procurement agencies and Food Corporation of India have purchased 96.36 LMT of wheat.

Official sources said that this is the lowest purchase made by private traders in the wheat procurement process in Punjab in the recent years.

Even last year, participation of private traders, though minimal, was at least better than this year. Of the total 102.5 LMT of wheat that was procured from Punjab in 2010, private entities had bought 60,000 MT (0.604 pc).

“Though wheat procurement is on in full swing and we are getting an average of 2 LMT of wheat arrivals daily, we do not see any significant jump in the participation by private traders,” said a senior official of FCI, Punjab.

The main reason for these traders giving Punjab a miss for wheat purchase is that the state has the highest tax rate on purchase of wheat.

Private entities have to pay 14.5 per cent as tax on wheat, over and above the minimum support price (except for flour millers who pay tax at 10.5 per cent).

Till last year, the state was charging VAT at the rate of 4 per cent, 2 per cent as market fee, 2 per cent as rural development fund, 3 per cent as cess and 2.5 per cent as commission to the commission agents - totalling 13.5 per cent.

But this year, the state government has hiked the VAT rate to 5 per cent, thus taking the tax total to 14.5 per cent tax.

This is the reason that private traders are buying wheat from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan where tax rates are much lower.

Bathinda, May 4
Air Marshal DC Kumaria, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Air Command, today visited the Bhisiana IAF station near here and took stock of the operational preparedness of the troops.

Kumaria was accompanied by his wife Vaneeta Kumaria, who is the president of the Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional).

They were received by Group Captain B Balachandran, station commander and his wife Preetha Balachandran, president, AFWWA(L). The Air Marshal interacted with many personnel at different levels.

Earlier, he was presented a guard of honour which was followed by a presentation on the activities at the base.

Vaneeta Kumaria interacted with the wives of personnel at the station and visited various welfare institutions, including the station medicare centre and AFWWA(L) ventures.

Amritsar, May 4
The uncertainty over converting Khalsa College into a private university has forced teachers to resort to harsh steps. While observing a hunger strike on a rotational basis near the college premises here, the teachers today threatened to boycott the evaluation work again.

HS Walia, secretary general of Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union, said that the boycott of evaluation work had been withdrawn on the insistence of the Vice Chancellors of GNDU and the Panjab University. He appealed to the VCs to intervene in the matter. — TNS

Mohali, May 4
As the four-year term of the Chairman of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), Dr Dalbir Singh Dhillon, nears its end, a controversy over the selection process being allegedly manipulated to facilitate the selection of his son Taranbir as District Manager and his daughter Navneet Kaur as Director (Academics) in the board has arisen.

Both the children of the outgoing chairman have applied against the two recently advertised posts. Though the selection process for both the posts is underway, sources point out that every effort was being made to ensure that the wards of the chairman get the job, a fact vehemently denied by Dr Dhillon. “It is a mere coincidence that my wards have applied for the posts for which they qualify. Some politically motivated persons are trying to defame me”, he said.

The post of the Director (Academics) had been advertised earlier also but no one had applied. So, this time the board authorities, before inviting applications for this post, scaled down the eligibility condition from Reader in a university to a college lecturer with eight years of experience and having a research work of high caliber, a condition allegedly relaxed to suit Navneet Kaur.

Against the said advertisement, 15 candidates applied and 10 were short-listed. On April 25, the selection of the candidate had to be postponed, as none of the members of the selection committee under the Vice-Chairman of Guru Nanak Dev University were present. Incidentally, the Vice-Chairman of the PSEB, Dr Suresh Tandon, who is also member of the selection committee, could not attend the meeting.

Dr Dhillon claimed that he was nowhere involved in the selection process and the Vice-Chairman was looking after the entire process that was being held in a transparent manner. But he was quick to add: “My being Chairman of the board does not mean that my children who are well qualified can be denied the chance to apply”.

Regarding the selection of candidates against the posts of the District Manager, for which Dr Dhillon’s son Taranbir has also applied, Dr Dhillon said he was among the 450 applicants for six vacancies of the District Manager. The test for their selection has been postponed once due to administrative reasons. 

Patiala, May 4
The engineers working with the two power utilities of Punjab — Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) — have expressed dismay over the Punjab government for not notifying the tripartite agreement signed by the Punjab Government, managements of PSPCL/PSTCL and the employees/officers unions, post-unbundling of the Punjab State Electricity Board.

The representatives of the PSEB Engineers Association stated that the tripartite agreement has no legal sanctity without the notification.

HS Bedi, president of the association, said that although it has been mentioned in the tripartite agreement that the state government will ensure that separate provident and superannuation funds are created with the initial contribution by the PSPCL, but the same has not been done by PSPCL till date.

“Moreover, employees’ monthly deductions from salary towards GPF are not being credited to the statutory fund and PSPCL is continuing its past practice of utilising this amount for their routine business, thereby violating not only the tripartite agreement, but also provisions of the Company Law,” claimed Bedi. Notably, after the bifurcation of the erstwhile PSEB in mid-April 2010, two companies PSPCL and PSTCL were formed.

On November 19, 2010, a tripartite agreement between the Punjab Government, managements of PSPCL/ PSTCL and the trade unions was signed. But five months on, the pact has not been notified.

Meanwhile, Bhupinder Singh, general secretary of the association, has condemned the state government for handing over all its future power generation projects to the private sector.

“The SAD-BJP government has abrogated its responsibility of setting up power-generating plants under the state sector to provide affordable power to its consumers. All the progressive states are adding substantial new power generation projects under the state sector by investing 20 per cent equity from own resources, but Punjab is the only state in the country that is depending entirely on private sector to meet its future power requirements,” he said.

The leaders of the association alleged that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) route being adopted by the Punjab Government to award the new power projects to private companies is non-transparent.

“In a study carried out by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, it has been established that power from plants set up under the MoU route is costlier than the power plants set up under the state sector or awarded through transparent competitive bidding route,” said Bedi and Bhupinder.

Chandigarh, May 4
Nearly 18 years after Jarnail Singh of Jagraon disappeared soon after being kept in “illegal police custody”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice of motion to the state, its DGP and other respondents.

In his petition placed before Justice MS Sullar, the victim’s brother Hardev Singh has asserted: “After illegal detention, the detainee has been killed in a fake encounter by the Punjab Police”.

He has further claimed that all efforts since 1993 to locate Jarnail Singh have proved futile. On the other hand, the family has been receiving threats from the Punjab Police to keep their mouth shut.

The petition, filed through counsel Gurvinder Singh Sidhu Tangrali, says Jarnail Singh was initially detained illegally by the police in 1992. He was “maltreated by inspector Sant Kumar, but the panchayat managed to get him released”.

However, the police picked him up again the same year. “The police tortured Jarnail Singh mercilessly and he was beaten black and blue without any rhyme and reason”.

In January 1993, Jarnail Singh was told by “Paramjit Singh Khaira, DSP, Raikot, that after every 10 days he shall appear in the office of the DSP to mark his presence”.

On February 21, 1993, Jarnail Singh went to mark his presence, though no case was registered against him. But, he was kept in police custody. Since then, neither the village respectables, nor his relatives, know his whereabouts.

Hardev Singh added that they even approached an NGO, the Committee for Information and Initiative on Punjab. It wrote back to the petitioner saying he could file a petition for claim regarding the disappearance. But, as the petitioner did not want claim, but justice, he kept on pursuing the case and visiting the offices of the authorities concerned, counsel Gurvinder Singh asserted.

Seeking directions to the respondents to hold an independent inquiry into the matter, they have also sought directions for the registration of an FIR against the police officials concerned regarding Jarnail Singh’s illegal detention.

Taking up the petition, Justice Sullar has fixed July 21 as the next date of hearing.

Kharar, May 4
A Kharar court today sent Punjab Maoist chief Harbhinder Singh Jalal to five-day police custody. Jalal was arrested yesterday from Gharuan bus stand in a specially-planned operation.

Mohali SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said Jalal had been arrested for being involved in anti-national and unlawful activities. The police has also recovered a fake voter identity card issued by the Election Commission of India from his possession. “The I-card is fake. Besides this, we have also recovered .32 revolver and instigating literature,” he said.

Jalal (47) was arrested on Tuesday from near Gharuan village at 8.30 am. He was travelling from Ludhiana to Chandigarh in a Punjab Roadways bus. A police team intercepted the bus and arrested him.

Jalal is a resident of Jalal village in Rampuraphul tehsil of Bathinda district. Sources said Jalal started his journey to Maoist ideas with Punjab Students’ Union’s Randhawa group. His most recent association has been with the radical farmer union leader Surjit Singh Phul. The police claimed that Jalal was epicentre of Maoist activities in not only Punjab but other areas as well.

Sources added that for past some time, Jalal had been underground and his wife, working with the Health Dpartment, too has remained low profile. His wife is known to be leader of the Aurat Mukti Manch. Few months ago, his family had shifted from Jalal village to Mehraj village in Bathinda.

Meanwhile, Jalal raised slogans of Inquilab Zindabad when he was produced in court today. He claimed that he had been a law-abiding citizen and was being implicated in false cases. The police had asked for 10-day remand, but court allowed police to keep him in custody only for five days.