 |
|
|
Reaping rich harvest
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Stray cattle menace in Kapurthala
Scotland universities wooing local students
From Schools and Colleges
Monsoon rains prosperity for umbrella sellers
|
|
Reaping rich harvest
Farmers of Doaba region are known for their enterprise. After making a mark in potato cultivation, the farmers here are now venturing into non-traditional crops, devising new techniques for marketing as well as processing and adopting novel practices for growing chemical-free vegetables by way of organic cultivation.
In a lesser-known Sanaura village of Bhogpur sub-division, Brig Kuldip Singh Dhillon has started cultivation of jatropa trees for production of bio-diesel. An ex-serviceman, Brig Dhillon started his venture just two years back in his two-acre farm. The trees are now into their third year. Brig Dhillon has installed a mini-diesel plant for extraction of oil and chemical processing. Explaining the statistics, he said, “I am growing almost a thousand jatropa trees (that give fruit twice a year ) per acre. Each tree can give almost 6 kg of fruit a year. This on being crushed can yield diesel almost equal to two litre. Thus, on an average one can hope to get almost 2000 litre of oil from one acre farm in a year, which is quite a lucrative proposition as the cost of the seed is quite low and the life of the tree is almost 40 to 50 years. The cost of production of this pollution-free, non-petro oil comes to be Rs 15 per litre and it can be sold for Rs 20 a litre, keeping Rs 5 per litre as margin”. Adding further, the farmer explained, “No part of the tree goes waste as its oil cake can be used as bio-fertiliser, its sediments of extraction waste can be used for soap-making, its green twig can be used to cure toothache and its leaves act as dressing to heal wounds. Moreover, the farmers can plant the trees for fencing as animals do not eat its leaves and they do not pass close to them.” Mr Mandip of the much-popular Mandip farms is into the production of “diet potato” that contains low sugar content, ideal for diabetic patients. The new-age farmer was recently on an exploratory trip to Holland to learn more about potato cultivation, processing and marketing techniques. Cultivating potato in 1500 acres of land in his farms in Partabpura and Khera villages, and even some parts of Kapurthala, Adampur and Hoshiarpur from the seed produced by the Central Potato Research Institute, Kufri, he is storing them using special storage technologies. “It is only when we store the potatoes at freezing temperatures that the sugar content in them rises. But in our storage units, we have been storing them at a temperature 12 to 13 degree centigrade and their sprouting is checked by puffing in gas that is being bought from a Mumbai-based company. We also ensure that water content of the potato is low and fibre content goes higher so that they are more saleable,” he added. The enterprising potato grower is now coming up with a potato processing plant for the production of frozen potatoes for use in French fries. The plant would also help in production of dehydrated potato flakes for use in manufacturing of wafers, bhujia, tikkis and paranthas, he added. Yet another farmer in Gillan Gakhal village here has started the cultivation of aloe vera for use in the production of gels used in cosmetics. The farmer is growing the crop in six acres of land and has tied up with a multi-national company for the production of the gel. But Mr Kulwant Singh Sandhu of Sandhu farms in Sammipur village has been one of the major instinctive risk takers of this region. The farmer is into production of vegetables and pulses, all by organic means. He has even opened his outlet near the Cool Road here for his health-conscious buyers where he is getting a good response. Producing brinjals, mint, cucumber, gourds, ladyfinger, rice, wheat, grams and various pulses organically has been quite tough for him to begin with. He suffered substantial losses initially. But now into the third year of his venture, he has gathered the know-how of organic farming from various places. His fields are full of distinctive tiny balls of soil made by earthworms. The earthworms keep ploughing the soil naturally. He has devised various organic ways of keeping the insects away by setting pheromone traps that have a funnel on the top fitted with a capsule that smells of female insects. The male insects fall in the trap and get sunk into a huge plastic from where they are not able to come out. Mr Sandhu has even installed some lamps, below which he has put containers having water mixed with oil. The insects hover around the light and fall over the slippery water surface and die. Besides, he has even planted chrysanthemums, as he says these act as insect repellents. The gen-next farmer has bought some herbal, bacterial and fungal sprays that attack the pests biologically. He said that the products from his field sell at a little higher price, as the technique was labour intensive and crops needed much care. “But there have been many buyers. The number is increasing and I expect a better response this year,” he added, smiling his way through his success.
|
|
Stray cattle menace in Kapurthala
Markets, roads and gardens of the princely town of Kapurthala have an unenviable distinction. Stray cattle roam about there without any restriction. All main localities and gardens, including Jallowkhana Chowk, Sadar Bazaar, Bania Bazaar, Amritsar Road, Shalimar Garden and even the Mall Road of the city, are affected by the stray cattle menace. These animals keep occupying corners of the mohallas throughout the day, leaving heaps of dung. What is particularly worrisome is that there is always a risk of collision of vehicles with these animals. The Gaushala Committee, Kapurthala, says it is ready to take care of all stray animals in the city, but financial constraints make it difficult. “The committee has requested the administration to help them in tackling the problem of stray cattle. As we have to spend 40 rupees per animal per day, it would amount to Rs 12000 per day to accommodate all stray cattle,” said Mr Kamal Malhotra, vice-president of the Gaushala Committee, Kapurthala. “We are already taking care of 312 animals for whom we have constructed a shed measuring 210’ x 30’. To accommodate more animals, we have to construct another shed for which the deputy commissioner, Kapurthala, has assured us of a grant of Rs 5 lakh,” informed Mr Rakesh Chopra, general secretary of the committee.
|
|
Scotland universities wooing local students
There is good news for city students, who want to study abroad. After Canada, which has already relaxed immigration rules for students and their parents, now it is the turn of Scotland to follow the suit by relaxing visa rules for non-European Union students. Scotland has recently allowed the international students to stay and work in their country for up to two years after graduation.
“Scotland has launched a fresh talent hunt scheme, which will give greater opportunities to Indian students to live and work in Scotland. Earlier, the students were required to return to their country of origin in case they were not able to obtain the necessary work permit,” says Mr Jane Oliver, International Officer, Napier University, who was here to attract Punjabi students for the current academic session. According to Mr Oliver, the university offers a variety of courses, including business management, accounting and finance, MBA, drug design and bio-medical sciences, communication engineering, software engineering, journalism, tourism, advance networking and nursing. Elaborating further about visa rules relaxations, he maintained that during the two years covered under this scheme, a student did not need to obtain a work permit and there were no restrictions on the kind of job they could undertake. “Besides, the job need not be directly related to the studies and fresh graduates can also choose to be self-employed during the period of their stay,” he said. The rules further state that students, who have graduated with a higher national diploma from a Scottish Further Education College or a first degree, master’s degree or Ph. D from a Scottish Higher Education Institution, will be eligible to apply under the new scheme. The British Counselling and Education Services (BCES) is presently representing the Napier University, which has set up eight offices in northern India, including Gurgaon, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Ambala, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Delhi. Earlier, following liberalisation in immigration rules for overseas students by Canadian Government, the University of Windsor had started three free helpdesks at Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Chandigarh to attract students from the state.
|
|
Brush with art
Painting comes to these brothers as naturally as fragrance comes to flowers! Gurvinder Singh and Sukhdip Singh are in their twenties, and they have already won kudos for their fine art from no less a VVIP than President APJ Abdul Kalam.
Praising the duo for “very good paintings”, President gave his signed greetings to them when they presented his portrait to him during his visit to Amritsar on August 31, last year. Gurvinder, the older brother is a born painter! Brush and colours for him are life and soul. He is reserved by nature, but his paintings are eloquent. This multi-faceted artist also sings and plays various musical instruments. He made a portrait of Guru Nanak Dev when he was just a student of Class VIII. He won several inter-school and inter-college painting competitions. He did his graduation from JV Jain Degree College, Saharanpur, UP, where his parents lived before shifting to Phagwara. The brothers have held exhibitions at various places, including Ludhiana and Jalandhar. The Environment Association, an umbrella NGO of two dozen voluntary bodies, has honoured the duo. On the suggestion of a friend, Gurvinder made the portrait of Big B of Bollywood, Jaya Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. Its size was 5.5’x7.5’! After packing, it came to eight feet in size and one quintal in weight. “We had to struggle hard for transporting it to Mumbai,” said the brothers. “Since it was oversized, we were fined more than once during our train journey,” they remarked. “Seeing its huge size, Amitabh Bachchan mistook it for a poster and then, after touching it with his hand, he exclaimed that he had got many gifts in life but such a wonderful gift had never been given to him before,” explained the brothers. Then Gurvinder made 3x4 feet portrait of Dharaminder and his star sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol. However, the most memorable and satisfying moments for the duo were their meeting with President APJ Abdul Kalam. “Mr Kalam spent over half an hour with us in a room at Rajasansi Airport, Amritsar. He enquired about our aesthetic interests and family,” said Gurvinder. “Then a piquant situation arose. When we presented the portrait to President, he asked its price. We told him politely that we had made the portrait out of our love and regards for him. But he did not relent. Reluctantly, we had to tell him a token price of our token of love,” said Sukhdip. Any regret? “Yes. Inability to present the portrait of Jesus Christ to Pope John Paul II,” they replied.
|
|
‘Snapshots’ of Sweden
It was a new experience for the students of Police DAV Public School. Their 12-day tour to Sweden, where they were the guests of Sollentuna International School, gave them exposure to a radically different culture. “An enriching experience”, “a nice opportunity to make comparisons between two very different cultures”, “culture shock” — this is how all nine of the students who visited Sweden describe their trip.
“I was surprised to see that my host and hostess were on good terms despite their divorce. Here we have been conditioned to squabbling and bitter divorced couples,” says Somali, a Class V student, with maturity much beyond her years. The students, during their visit, studied the cultural practices and lifestyle of the people there. “Swedish people are acutely health-conscious. Their favourite sports are soccer and ice hockey,” sallies Saumaya, a Class IX student. Traffic is managed wonderfully. There’s no blaring of horns, no bumper-to-bumper traffic, comes an observation from Babandeep. He adds, “Education is activity-based there. Special orienteering sessions are held for students.” Navjot, Priyanka and Jasleen — all Class IX students — found a mini-India, rather a mini-Punjab, in “Little India” there. “Indian clothes and Punjabi jutties were arrayed attractively in the market,” they tell us. “Not surprisingly, Aishwarya Rai is hot favourite among people there,” says Vineeta, another student who was a part of the trip. “Swedish youngsters have a fascination for pets. My hostess had mouse as her pet,” chips in Babandeep, who was surprised to find women bus drivers in Sweden. “We had to attune our body to the rhythm of the place. The sun sets there at 11 pm and rises at 4 am,” say Saurabh and Prabhleen. On the flip side, misconceptions about India are still common there, feels Dr Rashmi Vij, Principal, who along with another teacher, Ms Anju, had accompanied the students to Sweden. “But it’s a country that is way ahead of us in infrastructural advances, thanks to their proactive approach to each little thing,” she adds.
|
|
From Schools and Colleges
After a month-long summer vacation, most government, aided and private schools of the city re-opened last Friday. Eklavya School re-opened this Monday, while other schools, including Police DAV Public School and Mama’s Pride are yet to re-open on July 14 and 18, respectively.
Meanwhile, the campuses of schools which reopened were bustling with activity. Students from different schools were seen carrying their charts and projects to the schools. Teachers’ protest Protesting against privatisation of government schools, teachers from different schools of the district held a massive protest rally outside the office of the District Education Officer on Wednesday. Addressing the gathering, Mr Karnail Singh Sandhu, union president, said that the government must regularise its teachers working on different contractual posts for proper functioning of the schools. He said that by increasing the fees of the schools manifold, the government was trying to keep poor students away from government schools. Interactive session The Apeejay College of Fine Arts organised a havan yajna on its campus at the commencement of the new session to seek the blessings of the almighty. The college also organised an interactive session on “Role of teacher in building a healthy nation”. The session was conducted by Swami Adhyatmananda, president, Divya Jivan Sanskritik Sangh, Sivananda Ashram, Ahmedabad, on last Friday. Counselling Students and staff from different colleges affiliated with Guru Nanak Dev University and Punjab Technical University are busy these days in holding counselling sessions for various courses. Counselling for various graduate, postgraduate and diploma courses is on in almost all colleges in the city. The Government Polytechnic for Women is currently hosting counselling for engineering, pharmacy and architecture colleges under PTU.
|
|
Monsoon rains prosperity for umbrella sellers
As you enter the city via the Grand Trunk Road, colourful umbrellas fluttering on either side of the road greet you.
These umbrellas that come in different shapes and sizes have been specially designed for little ones. They have various cartoon characters (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Power Puff Girls, Barbie Doll, Pokemon, Spiderman) made on them. Pankaj, an umbrella seller, said he was getting the umbrellas from Ludhiana. He said he bought nearly 50 umbrellas here daily and was able to sell almost half of them on a rainy day. He said a good monsoon could rain prosperity for him. Though priced in the range of Rs 50 to Rs 80, depending on the size, most of these umbrellas can be bought for even less.
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
