AGRICULTURE

Farmers told to delay sowing of paddy
Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 16
Agricultural scientists have said by resorting to early sowing, the farmers will waste precious underground water for about six weeks. If the trend continues, the subterranean water in the upper layer of soil will get depleted. As a result the present centrifugal pumps, already under strain from pumping water from ever-increasing depths, will have to be replaced by submersible pumps. This will involve a huge expenditure which the farmers, already under heavy debt, will be unable to afford.

Warning the farmers, the experts have said the procurement of paddy will start from the first week of October and the Punjab Government is of the view that the procurement will not be advanced in any case. Therefore, there will be no buyers for the early sown paddy which will ripe in September and the farmers will have to face difficulties in selling their produce. Moreover, this crop is more likely to be damaged by rains and high moisture content because there are chances of rain during September.

The message comes at a very appropriate time as the farmers not only in the district but also in the region have started cultivating nurseries of paddy. In many villages, preparations are on to re-dig tubewells as the underground water level has dipped. In some villages, it is reportedly as low as 350 feet.

The experts reiterate that the farmers need to listen to the experts' advice on cultivating paddy nursery after May 15. Urging the farmers to follow the suggestion of cultivating recommended varieties, they said time was still there to save the underground water otherwise the state's agriculture was doomed. Warning the farmers of stiff competition ahead due to the international market, the experts said they would have to think about precision farming with high profits. They also emphasised on improving the quality of produce stating that they would have to produce high quality yield with a minimum cost of production.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister has stated that adequate arrangements to procure the produce coming to mandis have been made and the officials have been told to make payments within 24 hours.

960 students get degrees
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 16
The annual convocation of SDP College for Women was held here yesterday. Mr Harnam Dass Johar, Minister for Higher Education Punjab was the chief guest at the function. As many as 960 students were awarded degrees, including 99 in MA, 191 in BCom, 13 in BCA, eight in BBA, 634 in BA, five in PGDCA and 10 in BA (Hons).

Mr Johar, while referring to the pending financial problems of private colleges in the state, said the government had decided to restore the 95 per cent grant-in-aid to the colleges. He regretted that higher education had been totally neglected during the past five years.

Mr Johar added that students’ access to information through the Internet and other means of communication had enhanced magnificently. He said: “Now our students would have to face tough competition for jobs and without equipping themselves with relevant information they would not be able to stand on their feet.”

Mr Johar appreciated the achievements of the college in the field of women education and said the college was the only one in the country to have achieved ISO 9001-2000 Certification in the field of education. Referring to the importance of women education, he said to put the country on the fast track of development and bring about qualitative social transformation, women education was of utmost importance.

The minister announced a grant of Rs 50,000 to the college for providing financial help to outstanding girls belonging to the weaker sections.

Mr Balraj Bhasin, president of the management committee, while welcoming the minister said the college had been providing a number of professional courses to girls for better employment opportunities. Ms S. Verma, Principal of the college, read out the annual report of the college and highlighted the various achievements during the last years in different fields of academic, social welfare, co-curricular activities.

Others present on the occasion included Ms Susheel Gupta, Deputy Mayor MC, Mr Varinder Gupta, Mr Amarjit Singh Matharoo, Mr Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Mr Satinder Singh Jawaddi, Mr Parkash Singh, Ms Amrit Varsha Rampal (all councillors) and principals of various colleges.

PTU students to boycott re-exam
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 16
Agitated by decision of Punjab Technical University(PTU) to reconduct the examination of MSc (IT) second and third semester following a case of leakage of question papers at Bathinda, hundreds of local students, taking this course through distance education programme, have decided to boycott the re-test.

The students will hold a rally tomorrow in this regard which will be followed by a meeting at Chatar Singh Park. The students said since the examination was conducted smoothly here, they should be exempted from re-test. They also expressed resentment over the decision to re-conduct the examination only in Punjab, even though the same examination was also conducted in Haryana, Rajasthan and other states.

The students said they had taken a decision to boycott re-appear examination of "C-sharp" scheduled for April 20. Since a majority of such students were engaged in business or employed in private or government jobs, they said it was difficult for them to prepare for the test again.

Mr Harpal, working with a private telecom company, said he had taken leave for a fortnight earlier to take the examination. He was apprehensive that he might not get any leave again for re-scheduled tests.

Besides, many of these students are doing postgraduate courses regularly from other universities, they said it would be difficult for them to simultaneously prepare for both examinations. They said there could be a clash of examinations being conducted by Panjab University and Punjab Technical University, making circumstances totally unmanageable for them.

Kulbir, an affected student, said he was doing MA from Panjab University and his examinations were going on. He said the decision to re-conduct examination was affecting his preparation of MA examination. He said he, along with other local students, were being affected for no fault of theirs. He asked what guarantee the university could take now to hold the re-scheduled examination in a foolproof manner.

World Health Day observed
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 16
The Department of Extension Education (Home Science wing) of Punjab Agricultural University, in collaboration with IFFCO, organised a function to mark the World Health Day at Issewal village, near here.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Amrik Singh Sandhu, Additional Director, Extension Education, emphasised on the need for a balanced diet for the development of a healthy society.

The function was organised under the guidance of Dr Ranbir Kaur Randhawa, Head, Department of Extension Education, Dr Ravinderjit Kaur Mahindra and Dr Anita Kochhar as coordinators of the programme. About 500 farm women and school children participated in the three-day training programme.

Experts from the Department of Food and Nutrition delivered a series of lectures on creating awareness about the World Health Day, healthy environment for children, women empowerment and food adulteration.

Demonstrations were also given on the preparation of low-cost nutritious recipes, sprouted pulses and preservation of different fruits and vegetables.

Various competitions for women and students were also organised. A quiz competition on nutrition education was appreciated by all.

Founder’s day celebrations begin at KVM
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 16
The founder’s day celebrations of Kundan Vidya Mandir began today. Today’s function, a part of three-day celebrations, was for the junior students only. As many as 13 items prepared by the students of various classes were presented in the school auditorium.

The programme began with a classical dance show ‘Krishn leela’. An item based on different seasons of the year was presented by tiny tots of the school. ‘Eklavya ka Baan’, a play in Hindi, stole the show. ‘Badalte aayam, tootte mapdand’, a choreography, won much applause.

After the function, more than 500 students received prizes for their performance in academics and cultural activities. 

SPORTS

Ravinder excels at PTU athletics meet

Ludhiana, April 16
Ravinderjit Kaur, student of BCA (fourth semester) of the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, Gujarkhan Campus, Model Town, was declared the fastest girl during the sixth annual athletics meet of the Punjab Technical University held at Fatehgarh Sahib recently. Ravinderjit also bagged the best women athlete in the meet. Baldeep Kaur, Navneet, Ravinderjit Kaur and Harpreet Kaur of this institute created new meet records and enabled their team to clinch the overall championship. OSR