Army officers visit PAU
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 22
A team from National Defence College visited Punjab Agricultural University here today. Mr D.K. Diwan, Rear Admiral, along with Brigadiers, held a meeting with Dr K.S. Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor of the university.

Addressing the visiting team, Dr Aulakh said agriculture was the lifeline of Indian economy. It was also the backbone of agro-industry. He said there was a need to evolve easily adaptable, eco-friendly and cost-effective technologies.

He said during the past four decades PAU had made efforts to develop better crop varieties and animal breeds. Punjab farmers produced wheat, maze, vegetables and milk in a large quantity, but still there was deterioration in the economic condition of the farmers, he added.

He said the main problem was that Punjab did not have the infrastructure to store food grains. The middlemen cheated the farmers. He suggested that the farmers should take to the self-marketing of their produce.

He expressed concern over the declining water table in the state. He said farmers should diversify to other crops like pulses and oilseeds. Major crop cycle in Punjab was the wheat-paddy cycle and in order to face the problems of the declining water table, we should divert at least 10 lakh hectare from paddy to other suitable corps, he added.

He said the present crises in agriculture warranted not only actions to sustain productivity, but also to improve the economic condition of farmers. The PAU had undertaken many research programmes and fixed its research priorities to deal with the emerging problems.

Captain Rattan Singh, former Development Minister, Punjab, said farmers in Punjab did not have much technical knowledge. He suggested that they should adopt new scientific techniques. This would help in increasing their profits, he said.

Mr D.K. Diwan presented a memento to Dr K.S. Aulakh on behalf on National Defence College and appreciated PAU for its remarkable contribution in the field of agriculture. He thanked all deans, directors and other officials of PAU for attending the meeting.

Lieutenant-Commandant Tarlochan Singh and District Sainik Welfare Officer was the coordinator of the visit. The team also visited the crop museum, the Department of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology, the Museum of Social History of Punjab, the Herbal Garden and the Department of Agronomy.

Youth Fest gets under way
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 22
The Punjab State Inter-University Youth Festival sponsored by Higher Education Department, Government of Punjab, was inaugurated here this morning by Prof K.N. Pathak, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh. Students from the universities located in Punjab participated in various items such as one act play, histrionics, folk songs, geet/gazal, classical vocal singing, debate and painting competitions. The competition is being held in Government College for Women, Ludhiana. Competitions were held at three venues in the college campus simultaneously.

The festival started with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the chief guest. In his address to the audience, Prof K.N. Pathak said that cultural and fine arts activities are an integral part of life and play, an important role in the development of an individual’s personality. Earlier, Mrs Nisha Sarad, DPI (Colleges), Punjab, welcomed the chief guest.

The play staged by Punjabi University was ‘Chandan de Uhle’ written by Pali Bhupinder. The students had acted very well. ‘Sugandhi’ a Hindi play, was staged by the students of Panjab University. The play written by Anand Gandhi has a powerful theme and message reached across the audience.

The gidha presented by teams of three universities was the highlight of the second part of the youth festival. The chief guest for the prize distribution function was Dr A.A. Siddiqui, Director General of Police (Punjab), Other prominent dignitaries included Principal Mrs Indra Bhatia, GCB, College, Mrs Manjit Kaura Sodhia (former Principal , GCW), Principal Mandanjit Kaur Sahota, Principal Mrs Harmit Kaur, Principal Mr Dr Rajwant Kaur, Principal Mr B.D. Budhiraja and Mr Ashok Sharma, ADPI (Colleges) Punjab.

The results for various competitions are as

Group songs — Punjabi University Patiala 1 and PAU, Ludhiana 2

Classical vocal , PU Chandigarh 1, Punjabi University, Patiala 2.

Geet/Gazl: Punjabi University Patiala 1, PU Chandigarh 2, PAU Ludhiana 3.

Folk songs: PU Chandigarh 1, Punjabi University Patiala, 2, PAU Ludhiana 3.

Debate 1

One act play: PU Chandigarh 1, PAU , Ludhiana 2.

Histrionics: PAU, Ludhiana 1, Punjabi Univeristy, Patiala 2.

The results of other events are awaited. Guru Nanak Dev University did not participate.

New Ramgarhia council chief

Ludhiana, March 22
An urgent meeting of the Ramgarhia Educational Council was held today to pay tributes to the late Jagat Singh, who was the council president. The members observed two-minute silence. The members unanimously elected Mr Ranjodh Singh president of the council. This was stated by Mr Jagat Singh, general secretary. OC

Exhibition inaugurated
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 22
“Creativity is knowing what to do, skill is knowing how to do it and virtue is doing it well”. These are the thoughts of an eminent artist, Dr Surjit Kaur, who feels that for the past 40 years, the muses have been kind to her, for never once has the spring of her sprit run dry.

An exhibition of her paintings was inaugurated yesterday by Mrs Adarsh Sood, district chairman, International Inner Wheel, District 307, at the TAC Art Gallery in Rajguru Nagar. Many art lovers thronged the exhibition to witness the uniqueness of the works.

The paintings show a deep sense of feeling for art. The exhibition is on till April 1 from 11 am to 7.30 pm daily.