The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

3.59 lakh MT of wheat arrives in mandis
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 12
Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, today visited various purchase centres in the district to check wheat procurement by various government agencies. Mr Verma claimed that the farmers were satisfied with procurement operations.

At purchase centres of Payal and Khanna, some of the arhtiyas complained of slow lifting of the purchased stock by the procurement agencies leading to piling up of stocks in mandis. Mr Verma directed the district heads of the procurement agencies to lift the stock purchased till today in both these mandis within 48 hours.

Mr Verma said in the district, arrangements for procurement of about 8.6 lakh MT of wheat had been made. But this year the yield was slightly lesser and wheat arrivals were expected to be on lower side. Moreover private buyers were also showing interest in purchasing the wheat from mandis.

The DC said about 3.59 lakh MT of wheat had arrived in the mandis till date. Out of this, 3.50 lakh MT had been purchased. If this trend continued, then almost 90 per cent of the purchase would be over within a week, he added.

He is holding meetings with all the sub-divisional Magistrates, District Food Supplies Controller and district heads of all procurement agencies daily to review the procurement operations. He appealed to the farmers and arhtiyas to immediately bring their problems to his notice.

Mr Verma was accompanied by Mr Jaspal Mittal, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Khanna, Mr Tejinder Singh Dhaliwal, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Payal, Ms Simrjot Kaur, District Food Supplies Controller, and heads of the various procurement agencies.

Baisakhi celebrated in schools
Our Correspondent

Tiny tots of Swiss International Public School, Ludhiana, celebrate Baisakhi on Monday. — Photo by Inderjeet Verma

Ludhiana, April 12
Students of Swiss International Public School, Sanatan Vidya Mandir, Atam Devi Niketan and Love Dale Montessori celebrated Baisakhi here today.

Clad in beautiful ethnic dresses, kids of Swiss International Public School danced to the beats of dhol and songs of Baisakhi. Girls wearing salwar suits, heavy dupattas and jewellery two performed lively folk dances.

Flower decoration was done all around the school with colourful draperes depicting the vibrance of the festival. Prizes for well-dressed boys were distributed among Vansh, Gobind, Gautam and Sehaj. Prizes for well-dressed girls went to Deep Nayan, Ishpreet and Yamini. Ms Daisy Pruthi, Principal, told the students about the importance of the festival.

The primary wing of Sanatan Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines, celebrated the festival. Little boys and girls came dressed as Jat, Jattis farmers. The kids presented cultural programme in which the students of KG performed giddha and bhangra. Students of Class I presented a dance item on Punjabi song ‘Kuriye ni saggi phul waliye’. Mr P.C. Gupta, president, Mr C.L. Sachdeva, manager, and Ms Sadhna Sharma, Principal, were present on the occasion.

A fancy dress show and prize distribution function marked Baisakhi celebrations at Atam Devi Niketan. This was followed by bhangra and giddha presented by school students. Mr Hira Lal Jain was the chief guest. Mr Narinder Jain, president, and Ms Disha Dang, headmistress, were also present on the occasion.

At Love Dale Montessori, little kids wore traditional Punjabi dresses and danced to Punjabi song ‘Tere lak da hulara’. Girls performed giddha and boliyan sung by their teachers and boys presented bhangra.

Kids were served refreshment at the end of the programme. Ms Pritima Behl, Principal, told the kids that the festival was celebrated to mark the onset of the harvesting period of wheat crop.

Free IT training course from April 21
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 12
To impart practical training to students studying courses in the Information Technology, the Punjab Institute of Management and Technology (PIMT), Mandi Gobindgarh, will conduct a week-long summer project development programme on its campus from April 21. No fee will be charged.

This was stated by Dr O.P. Sahni, Director of the institute. Dr Sahni said the programme would be open for students of the BCA, MCA and BTech of various colleges on a first-come-first-served basis. The students would be provided one week training in networking, website development and software development, he said.

He said the students would be imparted practical training in applications of Visual Basic, MS Access, Windows installation and computer assembling. The students would also learn applications of the Internet, he added. They would also be asked to develop projects like accounting software, computerised attendance and websites.