Ludhiana, January 13
Dozens of posts of lecturer in private aided colleges in the district are lying vacant. Thanks to the callous attitude of the state government that has suddenly stopped sending experts for recruitment of college teachers. The college authorities said for the past one month or so, the government had stopped sending their experts and they were not even told as to why the new appointments were being withheld. The authorities said because of this, the students were deprived of getting quality teachers in the colleges.

Mr Tarsem Bahia, former Principal of A.S. College Khanna, and convener of the Punjab Educationists Forum, said the government aided private colleges were suffering at the hands of state government. “This year, rate of retirement is highest. Recruitments are to be made if one gets retired. Posts of hundreds of lecturers are lying vacant throughout Punjab and dozens in the district, which needed to be filled immediately.

“But governments’ attitude to withhold fresh recruitments has created panic in these colleges. The academic session has been blocked and students are suffering due of lack of teachers”, said Mr Bahia. Mr Bahia further alleged that the government was taking the plea that the new appointments were being withheld to rationalise the staff strength in colleges. “The colleges did not receive any orders regarding rationalisation of staff by the government.

“If there was such a move, the concerned colleges should have been intimated”, said Mr Bahia. He also alleged that the government had taken this step to save money. Meanwhile, Mr Gagandeep Brar, Joint Secretary, Education, Chandigarh, when contacted, said the government had not imposed any ban on the recruitment of college teachers. We just wanted to rationalise the staff strength, he added. “We are also in a hurry to appoint new teachers to fill the vacancies and very soon new appointments will be made”, he said.

Ludhiana, January 13
The Punjab College of Technical University (PCTE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with American International University of Bangladesh (AIUB), Dhaka, recently for collaborating in research projects, academic development projects, faculty and students exchange, resource-sharing and industrial development programmes.

Dr K.N.S. Kang, director, PCTE said the MoU would be effective for five years.Dr Anwar Hosain, Dean School of Business, AIUB signed the MoU on behalf of the university with Mr Sandhir Sharma, Head, Department of Business Management PCTE, representative of PCTE in Dhaka in the presence of Dr Carmen. Z. Lamgna, vice-chancellor, AIUB.”The primary purpose of signing this MoU is to expose the students to both countries’ academic, cultural and industrial environments”, said Dr Kang.

Giving details about the AIUB, Dr Kang said the School of Business, AIUB, Dhaka has been rated best B-school of Bangladesh by Business School Survey 2004, done by leading research agency of Bangladesh. The PCTE had already signed MoUs with City College Birmingham, UK, NCBA&E Lahore, Pakistan and State of Limpopo and Province of South Africa.

Ludhiana, January 13
Punjab Nectar, a semi-soft pear, a new variety developed under the guidance of Dr Amrik Singh Sandhu, Director of Extension Education, has been approved for cultivation. The decision was taken at a meeting of the State Variety Approval Committee held here recently under the chairmanship of Dr Kulbir Singh, Director Horticulture, Punjab. While giving the qualitative details of the fruit, Dr Sandhu and Dr Visakha Singh said Punjab Nector is much better than the older variety, Punjab Beauty, in taste.

The size of the fruit is bigger and erect. It matures early and its weight is about 138 grams. Its preservation and processing is also praiseworthy. Punjab Nector is for cultivation in Punjab. It should not be cultivated in polluted cities.

Nanda nominated to research body
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 13
Dr Govinder Singh Nanda, Director of Research, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has been nominated as member of the Advisory Committee of the Directorate of Research (wheat), Kamal (Haryana). Dr A.K. Bakhshi, a senior Professor of Food Science and Technology Department of the PAU, has been nominated member of the Directorate Paddy Research, Hyderabad, for three years and Dr P.K. Gupta has also been nominated as a member of the Central Agricultural Engineering Institute, Bhopal (MP). The nominations have been made by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.

Ludhiana, January 13
A free dental camp was organised at Government Senior Secondary School in Basti Jodhewal here in which a team of doctors from Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College conducted check up of more than 350 students against dental disorders and oral hygiene .Dr V.K. Khosla, Reader, and Dr Prerna, demonstrator at BJS Dental College , apprised the students of common dental diseases and prevention against such disorders.

The students were also asked to strictly follow the rules of oral hygiene to have healthy teeth and ward off dental and gum diseases. The Principal of the school, Mr Daljit Singh Halwara, and the president of the Parent- Teacher Association of the school, Mr Lachman Singh, expressed gratitude to the doctors from BJS Dental College for the gesture of goodwill. Meanwhile, a special diabetic awareness seminar followed by an eye and general health check camp would be organised jointly by Lions Club, Ludhiana Skipper and Punarjot Eye Bank at Bazigar Basti at Sehzad village on January 16.

Dr Parminder Singh, DM, Head of Endocrinology in Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, would deliver a special guest lecture and tips to avoid diabetes and its complications.Dr Ramesh, director of Punarjot Eye Bank, would examine eye patients while a team of other doctors, comprising general physicians, surgeons, peadiatricians and gynaecologists will provide free professional advice to patients.According to Dr Ramesh, free medicines and facilities of free ECG and blood sugar test would be available to the patients and a telefilm on diabetes will also be shown..

Mandi Gobindgarh, January 13
Around 1372 doctors will be recruited in the state’s hospitals within two months and for this purpose, Chief Minister Amrinder Singh has constituted three committees, asserted Mr Ramesh Chander Dogra, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, at a function at the Civil Hospital here today.

Keeping in view the vacant posts for doctors, nurses and para-medical staff, the government would delegate the power of recruitments to the Zila Parishads, he said.Mr Dogra was addressing a state-level function organised by Swami Vivekanand Sewa Samiti, Mandi Gobindgarh, to provide free gynecological check-up and operation facilities at the local Civil Hospital.

He pointed out that in view of the increasing population, the role voluntary organizations were significant in the society, as government alone could not reach out to all when it came to providing of medical and educational facilities.Besides polio, the government was determined to eradicate TB disease from the state and would provide free medicines to the patients in the villages, he asserted.

On the issue of drug addiction, the minister said the Chief Medical Officers of the districts had been empowered to take legal action against such chemists who provide intoxicants to youth, and the names of the informers would be kept secret. The minister also assured free medicines for such camps in future and contributed Rs 31,000 to the samiti for medicines. He advised doctors to keep away from private practice.Mr Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Parliamentary Secretary (Home, Justice and PWD) praised the services rendered by the samiti and gave Rs 31,000 for medicines. 

The Council chief Joginder Pal Singla demanded to fill the vacant posts of doctors and nurses in the hospital as 70 per cent of migrant labrours needed medical aid locally as they could not afford to go to big cities for treatment and often died on way to big hospitals. He gave a cheque of Rs 10,000 to the samiti for the treatment of the patients.Dr Hakirtan Pal Singh Sandhu, CMO, Fatehgarh Sahib, assured all helps from the department for free medical camps.

As many as 68 patients were enrolled for conducting operations. Four operations will be performed daily by Dr Neerja Goel and Dr Navjot Kaur. Mr Sanjay Singla, secretary of the samiti, read the 7-year report of the organisation. Mr Jagmain Singh Mathardu, president of the samiti, said the society regularly organises medical camps and has its own ambulance service for the patients. Among others Mr Joginder Singh Maini, state secretary PPCC, Mr Jagmit Singh Sahota, vice-president, Municipal Council, Mr Satish Kumar Babli, councilor, Mr Rattan Pal Bhatia, industrialist, Mr Raj Bansal and Mr Mahender Pal Gupta, president of the Furnace Association, also addressed the function.

Ludhiana, January 13
Despite earlier hurdles, superstitions and misconceptions, associated with donation of eyes, there is more awareness and the eye donation movement is picking up, albeit slowly, in Punjab. The Punarjot Eye Bank of Punjab, virtually a pioneer in eye banking in the region since 1992, had successfully restored eye sight to 66 corneal blind persons in 2001 and the number of corneal transplants continued to go up steadily in the following year with 126 in 2002, 156 in 2003 and 161 in 2004.

The moving force behind the eye bank and the drive to promote eye donations, Dr Ramesh observed that of a total 1.5 crore blind in the country, around 30 lakh were corneal blind, majority of them being children under the age of 10. The corneal blind persons stood a chance for restoration of sight only if more and more people came forward to donate their eyes after death. “One must keep in mind that eye donation by one persons can restore sight of two corneal blind persons as each gets one good eye.” OC

Ludhiana, January 13
A number of rural sports festivals will be held during the month of January. These festivals are being organised by different sports associations in collaboration with NRIs of the respective areas, sports promoters, Gram Panchyats and prominent citizens. Some of the major sports festivals, which commence from Friday, include the annual Gujjarwal Sports Festival to be held at Gujjarwal village, near here.

This festival is being organised by Amarjit Singh Grewal Sports Club at Guru Hargobind Sahib Stadium. Mr Harlaljit Singh and Mr Jaswinder Singh, representatives of the club, said during this festival, the main attraction would be the bullock cart races, basketball, tug-of- war, kabaddi, football and dog races. Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, will inaugurate this two-day festival on January 14.

The 52nd edition of the Budhewal Sports Festival will be held from January 14 to 16 during which competition like kabaddi, football, bullock cart races and dog races will be held. Mr Atma Singh Budhewal, chief organiser of the festival, informed that during this three-day festival to be organised in association with Gram Panchayat, the Punjabi folk artistes would entertain the audience.

The annual sports festival to be organised by the Panchayat Raj Sports Club at Baba Ishar Singh Stadium, Rara Sahib, Ghaloti village, will be conducted from January 20 to 22. Mr Bhupinder Singh, spokesperson of the club, said kabaddi (open), volleyball, dog races would be the main features of the festival.

On the concluding day, kabaddi tournament among eight kabaddi academies would be held. The winners would get the cash prize of Rs 51,000, while the runners up would get the cash prize of Rs 41,000.Meanwhile, the annual sports festivals at Samrala and Dudike will be held from January 21 to 23 and from January 26 to 28 respectively. The annual Bahadurgarh Gold Cup Hockey Tournament, scheduled to be held from January 21 to 23, has been postponed. The tournament will now be held from January 28 to 30.

Ludhiana, January 13
Thakur Uday Singh Namdhari and former national hockey coach Baldev Singh have been unanimously elected chief patron and patron respectively of the Ludhiana Sportsmen Welfare Association. A meeting of the association was held here today during which the team of office-bearers for a two-year term was announced. The former chief coach of the Indian hockey team, Rajinder Singh, and Amrik Singh Minhas were re-elected chairman and president, respectively, while Tara Singh Sandhu was named general secretary. Mr Parveen Thakur was elected treasurer of the association.

Besides six senior vice-presidents were elected which included Gurdeep Singh Mangu, Olympian Hardeep Singh Grewal, Harinderjit Singh Dhaliwal, former international hockey star Paramjit Singh, Kulwant Singh Boparai, Sukhwinder Singh, Jarnail Singh Malhi and Jagpal Singh Gill Patwari.

Prof Kanwaljit Singh was named the press secretary. Mr Amrik Singh Minhas said the annual All-India Guru Gobind Singh Inter-varsity Hockey Tournament would be organised at the Prithipal Singh Memorial Astroturf hockey stadium of Punjab Agricultural University here in March.