Ludhiana, August 20
A two-day agricultural officers' workshop on rabi crops will be held in Punjab Agricultural University from August 22.

The workshop will be inaugurated on August 22 in Pal Auditorium by Dr Kirpal Singh Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, while Dr R.K. Rampal, Director of Agriculture, Punjab, will preside over the inaugural session.

According to Dr Jaspinder Singh Kolar, Director, Extension Education, the field officers of the Department of Agriculture and scientists of the PAU will finalise the package of recommendations for the forthcoming rabi crops through mutual discussions.

The finalised recommendations will be published in the form of a book in Punjabi as well as in English. This will be followed by a large-scale campaign to educate the farmers about these recommendations by organising a series of kisan melas during September.

Ludhiana, August 20
Students and teachers of Rajindra Model Senior Secondary School, Haibowal Kalan, yesterday observed a strike in protest against alleged exploitation by the school management.

The Affiliated and Recognised School Teachers Welfare Association, Punjab, supported the strike and participated in the rally organised in the school premises.

Meanwhile, members of the association said the management had accepted all demands of the students and had called for a meeting with the teaching staff.

The Principal of the school, Mr Ravi Nandan Sharma said the dispute was minor and everything had been solved amicably.

The students and the teachers alleged that while the teachers were underpaid, the students were being “ forced ” to shell out money at one pretext or the other. Their other demands included immediate reinstatement of some teachers who had been allegedly sacked without a notice.

Mr Sharma denied the charges saying that action was taken as per the agreement and no one was terminated.

The trouble started as soon as the classes began in the morning. The teachers and students of higher classes came out and started raising slogans. This caused tension in the school premises and the police was also called.

The strike comes close on the heals of a similar incident in Sanatan Dharam School. According to Mr Rajinder Kohli, general secretary of the association, the teachers were upset with the management for the past several months and were forced to strike due to its lack of response to their genuine demands.

He said the problem could be solved only if the management agreed to these demands which included security of job, increment in the salary as per rules, deduction of the provident fund, no compulsion on teachers to attend the school during holidays, fixed working hours as per the directive of the PSEB, salary through cheques and free education for teachers' wards.

Sahenwal, August 20
A cultural programme to honour budding artistes was organised by the Lok Sath Cultural Manch, Sahnewal, on Sunday.

The programme was organised by Mr Rajinder Singh Raju and Mr Amrik Dharaurvi.

The chief guests on the occasion were Mr Shamsher Singh Kaile, president Sahnewal Nagar Panchayat, and Mr Dharam Singh, former president of the panchayat. The guest of honour was Mr Gurdeep Singh, president of the B.R. Ambedkar Club, and Mr Rajinder Singh Cheema, DSP.

Folk singers who entertained the audience include Inderjit Nikku, Sohan Sikander, Mintu Dhoori, Manjit Rahi, Balbir Lehra, Meet Dehlon, Ram Saroop Rajisthani, Surinder Ghawaddi, Bhupinder Sidhu, Mehmood Warsi, Amarjit Sandhu, Neetu Virk, Razia Dhillon, Rani, Kiran, Chand Majara, Harjit Pandher, Randeep Renu, Navjot Neha, Maninder Sandhu, Sukhvir Pappu, Atma Budhewalia, Pardeep Sangla, Raj Mohammad, Jagtar Raian Wala, Nirmal Khan, Ravi Rajasthani, Pardeep Vicky, Happy Lapranwala, Gindi Grewal, Ranjit Pandher, Bhajan Dhillon Danipuria, Harmilan Gill, Nishi Ghaloti, Sakattar Sekhon, Rafiq Khan, Nirmal Rohi, Lovpreet Lovely, Happy Dharaur, Gurpreet Jaggi, Vijay Kumar, Sony Koomkalan, Gagan Umaidpuri and Kuldip Sahnewalia.

The singers were awarded mementoes. The bhangra club “Mehak Punjab Di” was the main attraction of the show.

The Rooh Punjab Di award was received by Mr Surjit Singh and Mr Ravinder Kapila, friends of filmstar Dharmendra on his behalf. The Lal Chand Yamla Jat award was presented to Kamaljit Dhoori, while Gurpal Singh Pal was given the Asa Singh Mastana award for his contribution to Punjabi folk music.

Ludhiana, August 20
Though established swimmers, along with competitors from the Punjab police, reigned supreme with as many as 10 records being rewritten during the three-day 34th Punjab State Aquatic Championship for men and women which concluded at Punjab Agricultural University, here, on Sunday, it was the two young girls from Ropar district who were at the centre-stage.

Prabhjot Kaur(11) and Bhavneet Kaur (12) gave an awesome performance and bagged 14 medals, including 7 golds for their district. The girls from the sub-junior category exhibited great stamina and the calibre to compete against senior players at the meet.

Prabhjot Kaur, class VII student, and Bhavneet Kaur, a VIII class student, of Shivalik Public School, Ropar, are trainees of Mr Surjit Singh Sandhu. The duo made their presence felt and gave many anxious moments to their rivals. Prabhjot won four gold and three silver medals while Bhavneet bagged three gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

The upcoming swimmers also figured in the quartet which established two records at the meet. Prabhjot annexed a gold in the 200-m backstroke clocking 3.00.28. She enabled her district to win a gold in the 4x100-m freestyle relay.

Their team took 5.03.07 to create a new meet record. The previous record of 5.16.40 was set by Ludhiana in 1999. She was also the member of the 4x200-m freestyle team which clocked 11.19.37 to eclipse the earlier record of 11.37.63 set by Ludhiana in 1999. Prabhjot steered her team to win a gold in 4x100-m medley relay.

Similarly, Bhavneet gave a stupendous performance to help her team win a gold in 4x200-m freestyle. In the 400- m freestyle, Bhavneet clocked 6.00.28 to win a gold. Gurbinder Kaur of Hoshiarpur and Komal Avtar of Amritsar finished second and third, respectively.

She won two silver medals in 800 m-freestyle and 50-m backstroke and her two bronze medals came from 200-m freestyle and 50-m freestyle events.