Onion seeds are in demand these days as farmers have been purchasing it in bulk to prepare seedlings in nurseries for sowing them in December.

The harvesting months of the onion crop sowed in December are April and May.

The assistant director of Nashik-based National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), HK Sharma, said that the skyrocketing onion prices had proved as a blessing in disguise for the farmers who are in the business of selling onion seeds.

“As per the sale of onion seeds in districts of Punjab, it is estimated that there will be a rise of at least 20 per cent in the area under onion cultivation in Bathinda,” he said.

Bathinda is the lone centre of the NHRDF in Punjab that provide certified onion seeds to farmers, state governments and multinational companies. Farmers from Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and Chandigarh visit Bathinda to purchase onion seeds from the centre.

There are about 12 farmers in Bathinda and 30 to 35 farmers in other districts who are running nurseries to sell onion seedlings.

The centre procures onion seeds from Maharashtra, Gujrat and Madhya Pradesh and has certified nurseries in Punjab and neighbouring Rajasthan. The centre has sold 1000 bags (50kg each) of onion seeds last month to the Assam Government and got a fresh order of potato seeds from the agro unit of Mahindra and Mahindra in Chandigarh.

Despite an increase in the price of 1-kg seed packet from Rs 700 to Rs 1400 this season, there is no let-up in the demand of seeds, Sharma said adding that the centcre sells the seeds on subsidised rates.

There are four varieties of this crop in Punjab which include NHRDF-Red, ADR, ALR and NHRDF-II. After selling 25 quintal seeds this season, the centre is now left with only one quintal seed of NHRDF-red and ALR.

“Farmers from the far-off places also prefer to buy onion seeds from the centre only,” said the assistant director.

Ranjit Singh, a farmer from Joga village, said that he was anticipating a profit of Rs 1.5-2 lakh this season from the sales of onion seedlings. Farmers would sow seeds in December and harvest in April and May.

Farmers harvest green onion in November and dry onion in December.

Bathinda, October 25
The National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) will take 25 farmers of Punjab to a one-day trip to Nashik in Maharashtra for tips on onion cultivation.

The Centre-sponsored NHRDF has only one centre in Punjab at Bathinda and will bear all expenses of the visit. The farmers will reach Nashik on December 16 and leave after the training on the cultivation of vegetables next day.

HK Sharma, Assistant Director, NHRDF, said the trip was offered with an aim to encourage Punjabi farmers to grow onion. They will also made aware of garlic and potato cultivation during the trip. “The thrust will be on the cultivation of onion, which is bringing tears to 
everyone’s eyes these days,” he said.

The farmers will also be encouraged to grow garlic, the prices of which remained low for the past two years and is now likely to increase in the upcoming season.

Officials of the foundation said the farmers would be apprised of the varieties suitable to the climactic of Punjab.

The training programme will be beneficial for the farmers. The farmers will also be provided literature on the use of fertilisers and chemicals.

Drying and curing, handling, measuring temperature and humidity during storage, irrigation of vegetables and other techniques will also be taught to the farmers.

The officials said the aim of the visit was to increase the area under vegetable cultivation, especially onion, garlic and other essential vegetables. 

Bathinda, October 25
On the third day of the ongoing theatre festival being organised by the Natayam Theatre Group, a play titled ‘Kuj Taan Karo Yaaro’ was staged at the Balwant Gargi Open Air Theatre situated on the premises of Rose Garden here this evening.

Penned by veteran playwright Pali Bhupinder Singh and directed by Bhupinder Otreja of Abohar, the play inspired the audience to get up and work towards the progress of the country. It took a satirical look at the lack of work culture in India.

The play followed a story of an ailing old man who expects his son to take him to a doctor while the three sons expect the same of each other.

According to the director, while the old father is a metaphor of the ailing country, his three sons are metaphor of the citizens of the country who keep thinking that someone else will work.

Bathinda, October 25
The Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, has added another feather to its cap of academic excellence. Two students from the university have brought laurels to their alma mater by being selected to PhD programmes in two top universities of the UK.

Devendra Meena, a former M Phil bioscience student at the CUP, who was working as a Junior Research Fellow (CSIR-JRF) at the university has already joined the University of Oxford for PhD while another student Neha Jindal, a former student of M Phil economics (UGC-NET), will soon join the University of Kent in Canterbury this week.

Devendra Meena, originally from Rajasthan, is being funded by the Government of India for his PhD in population genetics. His area of research is genetics of facial features and certain other human features like eye and skin colour in UK population.

The study is based on the concept that scientists think that once genes for facial genetics are identified, it will be possible to draw a portrait of an individual from small amount of DNA. Once possible, it will be easier to draw portrait of criminals. This approach seems more promising as compared to criminal’s pencil sketch that is based on memory only.

Devendra was the also the first student in the CUPB who qualified the Council of Scientific and Industrial research (CSIR) Junior Research Fellowship. He also qualified Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR-NET) during his stay at the CUP.

He also runs a website which contains information about different fellowships for higher education in India and abroad. “Many students from villages have dreams of higher education, but lack of information and awareness is a barrier for them. I hope my website will help them in achieving their dreams,” said Meena.

Meanwhile, Neha Jindal has successfully secured a postgraduate fellowship from the University of Kent in Canterbury. She studied “Growing urbanisation and economic development in India: The role of middle class’ at the CUP before moving to the University of Kent. She wishes to extend this topic in a cross-country analysis. Neha also qualified National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the University Grant Commission (UGC).

Bathinda, October 25
The second day of the International Conference on Information and Mathematical Sciences started with a discussion on the role and application of mathematics in engineering and technology today. A panel comprising Bhudev Sharma (retired professor of mathematics, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, USA), Prof RR Bhargav, Ferozepur FCET principal Prof OP Vinocha, Prof Roger Marshal, Prof RP Singh and Baba Farid College principal Prof WS Brar shared their views during the talk.

Prof Bhudev Sharma was impressed with the developments made in the field of mathematics. He said engineering was a scientific way of looking at things around us and there were 72 categories of mathematics which solve problems of all areas. He quoted Mahavir Acharaya to prove that mathematics was a universal subject.

Prof RP Singh said mathematics was a tool that had dominated every area of life. It was applicable in practical life as simple harmonic motion could be used in the field of medicine.

Prof OP Vinocha opined that mathematics plays an important role in our lives. Prof RR Bhargav said not only mathematics, but mathematicians play a pivotal role in engineering. Anything which we find in mathematics has an application. We should look at the subject with a wide approach, he said.

Prof Roger Marshal said there was no area of mathematics that could not be used in engineering. Prof WS Brar also said statistics was used in research in the field of engineering.

Baba Farid Group of Institutions (BFGI) managing director Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal expressed his gratitude that scholars had come to the BFGI to enrich their knowledge. He said instead of normal paper presentation, there should be open discussions on practical problems so that the issues of society might be highlighted and the students and research scholars might find new areas of research.

Jagdish Parshad, Prof Sika, Prof Maduliks Dube, Satybir Singh, Munish Jindal chaired the technical session II at different venues of the BFGI. The delegates presented their research proposals on various issues in the fields of mathematics and information.

The technical session III was chaired by IIT Roorkee Prof RR Bhargav, former Pro Vice- Chancellor of BR Ambedkar University, Agra, Prof GC Sharma, PL Maggu, Manish Bansal, BFCMT Bathinda, and Bathinda BFC principal WS Brar. The delegates highlighted the importance of researches made by them in the field of mathematics and information.

Technical session IV was chaired by IIT Roorkee Prof Madhu Jain, MDU Prof JS Nandal, NIT Hamirpur Prof G Taneja, NIT Hamirpur Prof JN Sharma and ISITA president RK Tuteja.

In the evening, a cultural function was organised which added colour and vigour to the conference and enthralled the audience. Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Ravcharan Singh Brar was the chief guest. He was felicitated by the BFGI chairman with a memento.

Prof Bhudev Sharma also thanked chairman Manish Goyal and organising secretary Manish Gupta for conducting such a conference. 

Bathinda, October 25
The Department of postgraduate political sciences of Government Rajindra College held a paper-reading contest for MA and BA classes commemorating the occasion of the United Nations Day .

The theme of paper reading was world peace. Principal Vijay Goyal shed light on the works of the UN in maintaining world peace and harmony. As many as 56 students presented paper.

Bathinda, October 25
The 59th Punjab State School Sports Tournament concluded today. The tournament was organised under the directions of Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka and the supervision of District Education Officer (Secondary) Harkanlwajit Kaur and Assistant Education Officer (Sports) Pavittar Kaur.

On the last day of the tournament, Sangrur defeated Ludhiana 1-0 in the hockey final and earned seven points. Ludhiana played Bathinda for the second place and won the match by 1-0. while Ludhiana bagged the second place with six points, Bathinda had to settle for the third place with four points.

In the girls' category, Badal Wing, Muktsar, earned nine points after beating Nehru Garden, Jalandhar, 4-2 and bagged the first place. Muktsar district team beat Ghudda 3-0 and grabbed the second place. Nehru Garden, Jalandhar, remained on the third.

National-level competitions

As part of the third chapter of the 59the Punjab State School Sports Tournament, national-level competitions of handball, netball and kabaddi will be held in Bathinda from October 28 and November 1. This was stated by DEO (Secondary) Harkanwaljeet Kaur. She stated that committees have been formed to look after the arrangements for the tournament.

Bathinda, October 25
The Centre for Comparative Literature, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, in a series of literary programmes on eminent personalities related to the Punjabi literature and culture, conducted a programme on the life, works and contribution of legendary Punjabi scholar, writer and teacher Prof Pritam Singh today.

While inaugurating the function, Vice-Chancellor Prof Jai Rup Singh welcomed the distinguished speakers and inspired the students to learn and follow the path of the legendary scholars like Prof Pritam Singh. A documentary throwing light on Prof Singh's life and work was also screened.

Nripinder Singh Rattan, former Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, talked about Prof Singh's personality. He said Prof Singh was a teacher of teachers who influenced five generations of Punjabi researchers. His research about Baba Farid was the result of 50 years of untiring work.

Dr Harbhajan Singh Bhatia, Professor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, said Prof Pritam Singh spent almost 60 years of his life in research and writing. He added that Prof Singh was a multifaceted personality who was a writer, compiler, editor, translator, collector, researcher and a critic.

Prof Gurbhajan Gill, president of the Punjabi Sahit Academy, Ludhiana, said he was an embodiment of commitment, simplicity and continuous struggle. He spent his whole life working for the development of Punjabi language. He recounted a historical event of Government College, Ludhiana, where with the efforts of Prof Pritam Singh, eminent Punjabi writers like Sahir Ludhianvi, Amrita Pritam and Shiv Kumar Batalvi, gathered at a single place.

Dr Sukhdev Singh, Professor, Panjab University, Chandigarh, termed Prof Singh's book "Sri Guru Granth Sahib Wale Sheikh Farid Di Bhal" as one of the most important books in Punjabi. He said it was due to Prof Pritam Singh's efforts that a public awareness compaign was organised to keep Punjabi as a medium of instruction in the primary schools of the state.

Remembering his father, Dr Harshinder Kaur said her father rose from a humble background and attained this stature through hard work and dedication. She said Prof Pritam Singh was honoured and respected in both eastern and western Punjab.

Delivering his presidential address, the Chancellor of the university, Dr SS Johl said there was an urgent need to document the life and works of eminent Punjabi writers and scholars so that the future generation could take inspiration from them.

He also emphasised on the need for uniformity in the education system in all schools of Punjab. At the end of the programme, distinguished speakers were felicitated by the university. A portrait of Prof Pritam Singh was also handed over to Jagmohan Kaushal, chairman, Teachers' Home Trust.