EDUCATION

Veterinary students observe strike
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Aug 2 — The students of the College of Veterinary Sciences of Punjab Agricultural University here observed a full-day strike today. They were protesting against the “preferences” given by the state government to “unqualified” people over qualified veterinarians.

The students boycotted the classes and also held a rally. The rally was addressed by Dr Amandeep Riar, Dr Jiwan Gupta, Dr Deepak Minhar and Dr Ravinder Kang.

Students demanded that the Indian Veterinary Council Act, 1984, be implemented fully. According to Section 30 b of this Act, no person other than registered veterinary practitioners could practise veterinary medicine in any state or issue health certificate to animal-owners.

Dr Amarjit Singh, general secretary, Unemployed Veterinary Doctors Association, alleged that registered veterinary practitioners were not being appointed in veterinary dispensaries and hospitals. He pointed out that at all these places, veterinary pharmacists and Class IV employees practise veterinary medicine. They also issue health certificates, which is a complete violation of the Act.

The students alleged that recently 250 posts of veterinary pharmacists had been advertised, in which the government had given preference to “unqualified” people in violation of the Indian Veterinary Council Act 1984. Dr K.S. Aulakh, Pro Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said he would soon take up the matter with the Minister of Animal Husbandry.

Dr R.P. Sehgal, Dean,College of Veterinary Sciences, and Dr K. Dhillon, Former Dean, opined that job opportunities should be provided to the unemployed graduates. Describing the problems of the students as ‘genuine’, he said “after we are training them for a particular purpose, we must take advantage of their training.”

KVM scholarships for toppers
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Aug 2 — Kundan Vidya Mandir has awarded five year scholarships to some of its meritorious students who topped in various competitive examinations.

According to a press release, a scholarship of Rs 10,000 per year for a duration of five and a half years was awarded to Kamal Bali for topping the AIIMS and AFMC entrance examination. Bhuvnesh Bharara who secured sixth position in the AIIMS entrance examination was awarded Rs 5,000 per year for the next five and a half years. Abhishek Bajaj received a scholarship amount of Rs 3,000 per year for a duration of five and half years for securing sixth rank in Punjab PMT.

Besides, all the students were given a citation and a silver salver. The others who were honoured for their meritorious achievements with a silver salver and a citation included Akshay Gupta (rank 51 in PMT), Vinay Gupta (114 in PMT), Nidhi Jain (155 in CET) and Mudita Tiward (topper in class XII and ninth rank in CMC, Ludhiana). Sunila Sharma who topped class X examinations would enjoy full fee exemption for the next two years.

The toppers were honoured by the school management at a function organised in the school auditorium. Mr Sunder Lal Gupta, manager, KVM managing committee, congratulated the students, parents and teachers for the outstanding results this year.

The principal, Mrs I. Kumar, thanked the members of the managing committee for their noble gesture of honouring the toppers.

HEALTH

Health talk on breast-feeding
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Aug 2 — The Ludhiana district branch of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics started its week -long campaign on breast-feeding at ESI Hospital, here today.

A health talk on breast- feeding was delivered by Dr Inderpreet. Dr Rajinder Gulati, Secretary of the branch, talked about myths and realities concerning breast- feeding. Earlier, the function was inaugurated by Dr S.P. Jagat, Zonal Deputy Director- cum- Medical Superintendent, ESI Hospital, Ludhiana. The audience included health staff from the hospital and dispensaries of the city.

The guidelines regarding breast-feeding were given by the speakers. According to the guidelines every mother should be prepared for breast-feeding antenatally and initiate breast-feeding within half an hour of the birth. Do not give any other supplementary food or drink unless medically indicated for 4-6 months, bottles and artificial teats should not be given to breast-feeding infant.It should be followed up for at least 2 months after discharge.

CULTURE

Jasvinder leaves his stamp of authority

YOU have heard ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh, Anup Jalota, Ghulam Ali, Mehdi Hasan, Bhupendra, Pankaj Udhas, Manhar Udhas....... Now tune into ghazal album Yours Truly, courtesy Tips Music. Singer? Jasvinder Singh. And no red roses for guessing that he is the latest entrant on the ghazal scene. Son of the famous music director Kuldip Singh of Saath Saath and Ankush film fame, Jasvinder Singh is a winner of mega finals of Zee TV famous musical programme Sa Re Ga Ma.

Jasvinder Singh who was in Chandigarh yesterday for a short visit said in an interview that he is a dedicated and classically trained ghazal singer. Just like many other ghazal singers, he too, began his career with songs about love, romance and women.

“I primarily learned music under the able guidance of my father, music director Kuldip Singh. I am still learning classical from the famed classical singer Dr Sushila Pohankar and is also being guided by the ghazal king Jagjit Singh”, says Jasvinder.

Jasvinder further says’, “I am pleased that ghazals are popular even among the youngsters. I feel that since ghazals require good poetry and compositins, they give positive entertainment”.

Jasvinder Singh actually shot to fame by winning the mega finals of the popular Zee TV show Sa Re Ga Ma. “This was the first time that I had tasted success and when I sang, the audience was appreciative. This show gave me the opportunity to perform with some of the country’s most talented ghazal singers. I have also performed live at London, other parts of Europe and all over the Middle East, and has earned praise for my unique singing style. I have also won many inter-college events from malhars to Kaleidoscope”, singer recollects.

Before cutting his album Yours Truly, Jasvinder Singh has also sung for Hindi movies like Train to Pakistan and famous TV serials Naya Nukkad, Awaaz and Discovery of India. He has also proved his mettle at playing various musical instruments like piano, violin and tabla being professionally trained by the famous musician Melbourne Halloween.

Although Jasvinder is against using western musical instruments, he is always trying to find a balance between them and traditional instruments. “I use the violin, the base guitar, the synthesiser with traditional instruments like tabla and sitar. I prefer to mix both the sounds”, he opines.

Sharing his experience with ghazal lovers, Jasvinder says: “I have enjoyed working on my debut album Yours Truly a lot because it gave me a good chance to interact with great lyric writers like Bashir Badr, Rahat Indori, Naqsh Lyallpuri, Prashant Vasl and Payam Saeedi”.

Today the market is flooded with singers and their albums but Jasvinder’s album promises to enthral the ghazal lovers with his melodious voice.

— Dharam Pal