Ludhiana, January 11
Led by Punjab Agricultural University’s Board Member Sukhdev Singh Chahal, several progressive farmers have demanded short duration training courses in allied agricultural activities like bee-keeping, mushroom cultivation, dairy farming food preservation etc. They have also suggested that apart from organising such courses for the beginners, the university should conduct refresher or orientation courses as well at its Krishi Vigyan Kendra to impart the latest knowledge and new technologies to the farmers.

This issue was raised at a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee at Bathinda on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by the Director of Extension Education, Dr S.S. Gill.

Parwasi Bharati Award Winner Mr Gurcharan Singh Tungwali, and PAU Award Winner woman entrepreneur Ms Daljit Kaur shared their experiences of benefiting by following package of practices drawn up by the PAU for their farm operations. Ms Daljit Kaur said the training imparted to her by the university experts helped her to earn around Rs 4,000 per month. She engages herself in dyeing of fabrics etc.

The District Training Officer, Mr Biker Singh Sidhu, suggested that the university should hold training courses on compost making from farm wastes and also on creating awareness and educating farmers on the needs of using various technologies and also leaf colour chart for spotting out abnormalities in the field crops.

It is pertinent to mention here that the farmers of Bathinda are now in the process of setting up a Dairy Farmers’ Association after having successfully established the Bathinda Horticulture Association and the Bathinda Bee Keepers’ Association.

Responded to the demands and suggestions of the participants, Dr Gill said apart from re-inventing Krishi Kigyan Kendra, efforts were on to supply disease-free fruit plants from the university’s regional research stations to the orchardists and also start short term training courses.

The Scientific Advisory Committee meeting was attended by district officials of the departments concerned.

Ludhiana, January 11
Around 30 students of the current. MBA final year of the Punjab College of Technical Education (PCTE) have been selected in campus recruitment process started for 2006 at the start of last semester. Companies, which have already visited the PCTE campus so far, include Nestle India Bulls, ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.

A spokesman of the college said here today that the PCTE had been made a nodal centre for the recruitment by lClCl Bank this year also. At least 30 students from the Department of Business Management, Kurukshetra University, were also invited on the PCTE campus to participate in the recruitment process.

Ten students from the PCTE got selected and around seven were selected from Kurukshetra University. Every year, the PCTE invites various companies on its campus for the process.

The students have been placed in these companies at a minimum package of Rs 3 lakh.

Ludhiana, January 11
The Ludhiana chapter of the Sangam Kala group will organise fourth audition here on January 15 in the auditorium of Government College for Women. The group is a prominent, non-commercial and registered cultural organisation which operates at the national level and was found in the memory of immortal singer Master Madan. This competition has spotted talents of numerous singers of today such as, Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Jaspinder Narula and others.

According to Ms Radhika Jaitwani, president of the Punjab chapter, the group has decentralised its activities by forming 44 regional chapters. Ludhiana chapter would organise its fourth audition of the competition. She said this pioneering venture will help in encouraging aspirants and provide them the proper forum. Hero Honda will be the chief sponsor of the competition.

A panel of eminent judges of the competition, being organised at the regional level will select the promising talents and help facilitate the finalists to participate in the national level competition which will be held on Feb 11 at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. The panel of judges also includes Harsh Mangal, a finalist of the Indian Idol competition.

Ms Jaitwani said there were two categories of songs. Film and non film. The participants may apply for both the categories. The age groups for the participants include 5-12 years, 12-18 years and 18-25 years.

National President of the group, Mr VSK Sood and national programme coordinator, Mr Sanjay Pandey will preside over the function.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, January 11
“Had Indians been corrupt, they would have never fought for independence and opted to remain people of a British nation for ever,” opines Raman Sharma, a talented youth of Lohgarh village in Ludhiana district and student of DAV College, Jalandhar, who has been selected by Swami Vivekanand Study Circle here for Role Model Award for 2005.

A student of MA (English), Raman has won the award for his prompt answers to questions on the integrity of Indians. “I feel hurt when someone paints Indians as corrupt whereas it is the system that corrupts a person not the individual. I am of firm opinion that we could have not achieved independence, had our brethren been corrupt,” said Raman.

Admitting the darker side of society, Raman says: “It does not matter what black sheep steal from the treasury, more important is how economically we utilise the remainder.” He says one could adjust the sail if he is not able to change the direction of wind. Moreover, we would be considered a problem if we are not part of solution, adds Raman.

Dr A.K. Jain, general secretary of the Circle, said Raman, along with 20 students from Punjab and Chandigarh, had been selected on the basis of an interview held by a board comprising experts from various fields. “With an intention to inculcating patriotism, honesty and excellence in the youth we have been honouring outstanding youths, who have been following the teachings of Swami Vivekananda,” said Dr Jain while talking to Ludhiana Tribune.