AGRICULTURE

‘Grow herbs, grow prosperous’
Our Correspondent

Doraha, May 22
The ultimate refuge for the farming community now lies in crop diversification, says Capt Sukhjit Singh Hara, a progressive farmer who is trying his hand at various medicinal herbs and organic plantation for the past two years.

Setting aside the hackneyed trends in crop cultivation, he seems to be confident regarding his novel technique as he foresees rich dividends. He wishes to popularise organic herbal plantation in India as in America and other western countries. “It is ironic”, he says,” that India, which was once the base of herbal plantation, has to look towards other countries for its import.”

Captain Hara is engaged in the cultivation of various medicinal herbs like white musli, ashvgandha, aloevera, musk dana, gurmar, lemongrass, kanuch, anato etc in his fields at Sahnewal. Assisted by a team of experts, including Mr Kamaljit Hara and Dr V.K. Saini, Hara is all set to prove that his type of plantation is a ‘financial asset’ as well as a ‘life-saver.’

Going into the details of a much-sought after herb ‘white musli’, Hara says it is an ayurvedic plant that can replace viagra, a chemical-oriented medicine with side-effects. “It is a high-value crop and holds an intrinsic value, a thousand times better than ‘zinseng’, a medicinal plant grown in China, South Korea and Taiwan,” he added.

According to a census conducted by Nabard, the world demand for ‘white musli’ is 4,000 tonnes, whereas India is producing only 500 tonnes at present. “Crop of white musli in one acre can yield an income of Rs 2-3 lakh every year, he says.

“Similarly, ‘ashvgandha’ is good for heart, ‘kanuch’ is an energy-booster, ‘musk dana’ is a deodorant, ‘gurmar’ has been successfully tried upon diabetic patients, ‘anato’ acts as a colour-extract and ‘aloe vera’ is good for blood circulation and nervous systems” tells Mr Hara. “The commonly-used fertilizers for organic plants is vermi-composite. Neem cake, ark extract, cashew nut oil, etc. are used as pesticides, he says.

For the promotion of organic plantation and production of herbal plants, Herbal Agro-Marketing Federation of India has been set up with Mr Raja Ram Tripathi as its president. Capt Sukhjit Singh Hara is determined to promote organic plantation throughout Punjab as he feels that this is the manner in which we can revive the sick agriculture sector of Punjab. Towards this end, he organises seminars and extension lectures in which farmers are told about the cultivation of herbs and organic products.

He was one of the 13 delegates from all over India, who were invited by the President, Mr Abdul Kalam, to discuss herbal plantation recently. “Mr Kalam showed keen interest in cultivation of herbs and took the delegation around his herbal farms on the premises of the President’s House”, he said.

“We have set up Hara Organics, a unit in which we lay stress on vermi-culture. It can help small farmers and kitchen gardeners to produce organically produced vegetables and cereals at least for their own consumption,” he adds.

Schools & Colleges
NTT students given farewell
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 22
NTT students of Arya College, Women’s Wing, were given a farewell party here today. The college Principal, Dr S.M. Sharma, was the chief guest, while Ms Satisha Sharma, supervised the arrangements.

The programme started with Saraswati Vandana. A welcome dance cheered the hearts of outgoing students. Kanchan danced on ‘Morni Bagan Mein’ and Prerna read out a humorous poem. Group dance, medley and solo dance items were also presented. The function ended with the singing of National Anthem.

Computer lab: Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, has got a state-of-the-art computer lab. It is the third such lab on the school campus. It was inaugurated by Father Daniel Gill of Holy Christ Church here on Saturday morning. Sister Helima, Principal of the school, dedicated the lab to teachers and students.

Mr Sanjay Shroff of SS Hitech (India), whose team has designed and established the lab, said the systems installed there were based on Intel technology. It also had the provision for futuristic needs like VSAT linking.

Book exhibition: A book exhibition was organised at Daffodils Public School in association with Vishvas Traders and Exhibitors here on Saturday. Books of various categories were on display.

The Principal of the school, Ms K.K. Bajaj, said with the electronic media making its foray into every household , the interest in reading, especially among the younger generation, was declining. She said book exhibitions could revive students’ interest in reading.

Lawyers welcome Justice Jain
Legal Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 22
Mr Justice V. M. Jain of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was accorded a warm welcome by the judicial officers and the district administration on his arrival here today. He was recently appointed as Administrative Judge for Ludhiana district by the high court to supervise the functioning of the subordinate judiciary.

During an informal interaction with the judicial officers and the legal fraternity he shared views on certain aspects.

Earlier, he was presented bouquets by the District and Sessions Judge, Mr Baldev Singh, Chief Judicial Magistrate Arunvir Vashihst and Mr J.S.Chouhan, Civil Judge Senior Division, Ludhiana.

On his arrival a contingent of the Punjab Police presented a guard of honour to Mr Justice Jain, in the presence of Deputy Commissioner.

Kanika creates ‘Rainbow of Colours’
Our correspondent

Ludhiana, May 22
A collection of Kanika Dhanda’s more than 50 paintings, titled Rainbow of Colours, is on display at the Sutlej Club. The two-day exhibition began here today. The artist has used different mediums like oils, fevicryl, ceramics, etc. to give some of her works a three dimensional effect. She has very creatively made use of tissue paper, straw mats, bamboos, newspapers, moulding and cloth in some of her paintings.

‘New Horizons’ beautifully depicts a waterfall and a ship tossing on the waves. The painting of Tansen, the greatest classical singer from Akbar’s court, is excellent. The ‘tanpura’ that he is holding has been given a three dimensional effect by giving it a padding. Framing of paintings has also been done imaginatively using paper maiche.

The paintings vividly depict the cultural heritage of India. In ‘Gaiety’, sand has been used in the background.

Her works reveal her mastery over different mediums. She also runs an art school that helps aspiring artists learn different techniques of painting. Some of her students have also held exhibitions of their works.

A date with Kimi Verma
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 22
Kimi Verma, heroine of “Asa Nu Maan Watna Da”, yesterday came to watch her movie being filmed at a local theatre. Slim, attractive and willowy Kimi said she wanted to watch the movie with her fans to say them “Thank You” for making the movie a success.

She said it was the audience that made a film a success or flop and it was to gauge their reactions that she had come to watch the film. She had invited the Principal of her school in Gursar Sadhar to fulfil her promise that she would watch her movie with her Principal.

A number of Kimi’s fans also watched the movie with her. In an informal talk with mediapersons, she said she was in London when the movie was released there. She said in the adjoining cinema halls, “Lakeer” starring Sunny Deol, and “Run” were being showcased. She said, “My joy knew no bounds when I saw the audience making a beeline for the theatre where our movie “Asa Nu Maan Watna Da” was being filmed while in the other two halls, there was hardly any audience.”

She said if good Punjabi movies were made, established Punjabi actors of Bollywood would be tempted to act in them. She said, “Bollywood actors are willing to act in Bengali, Tamil, and Telugu movies. Sadly, Punjabi movies are lagging behind. However, things in the Punjabi cinema are changing with the coming of directors like Man Mohan Singh”.

“The movie has tried to portray the real Sikhs. Usually they are depicted as comic characters. The young men and women are shown dressed up in western clothes. They are not the real Punjabis as they do not project the real culture of Punjab. The movie depicts the culture of our land.”