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Delay paddy sowing to save water: PAU
Ludhiana, April 14 This social awareness campaign has been joined by progressive farmer Mohinder Singh Grewal, a member of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, Punjab Kisan, Club; the Bhartiya Kisan Union national president, Mr Bhupinder Singh Mann; and winners of the Chief Minister’s Award for excellence in diversified fields, to impress upon the farmers that early sowing of paddy would deplete the sub-soil water to very low depths and also that diseases and pests of early sown paddy would find late sown paddy an easy prey. The PAU Vice-Chancellor, Dr K.S. Aulakh, the Punjab Planning Board Vice-Chairman, Dr S S. Johl, and the Punjab Farmers’ Commission Chairman, Dr G.S Kalkat, have already issued a joint ‘‘appeal’’ to the farmers not to sow paddy before June 15. Their cogent message explicitly states that the water level goes down speedily due to early sowing. Giving scientific data, the appeal says that water depletion is up to 70 cm, if paddy is sown on May 1, 60 cm if sown on May 10 and is less than 10 cm if the sowing is delayed beyond June 15. Therefore, it is in the interest of all farmers to delay sowing of paddy to ‘Save Water and Save Punjab’. The scarcity of water is blunting the future of agriculture in the state. Unless it is preserved, recharged and replenished, Punjab is likely to face a desert-like situation, sooner than later. World food prize winner farmer Mohinder Singh Dosanjh, of Nawanshahr; Punjab Kisan Club President Pavittar Singh Pangli; Bhartiya Kisan Union’s National President Bhupinder Singh Mann; former M.P, Chief Minister’s award winners: Nishan Singh Pannu (Sangrur), Amar Singh Dhillon (Ludhiana), Kamail Singh (Ropar) and Inderjeet Singh Kang (Ludhiana), have also, in a joint statement, called upon the farmers to remember that to produce one kg paddy they use 4,000 litres of water. On ‘Save Water, Save Punjab’ the PAU Director of Extension Education, Dr S. S. Gill, has held meetings with all District Scientific Advisory Committees in the state. He has also forwarded a resolution of the MOUs of Farmer’s Committee to the State Farmers Commission Chairman, Dr Kalkat, saying that the farmers from all corners of Punjab have unanimously agreed to delay paddy sowing beyond June 15. In fact, the Director Agriculture, Punjab, Mr Balwinder Singh Sidhu, is also engaged in the campaign launched by the farmers and the PAU to delay the sowing of paddy. Dr Aulakh, who has received feedback from different parts of the state, said a ‘‘social revolution seems to be gathering momentum to delay sowing of paddy till June 15. It will save water as well as electricity’’. PAU has got printed over 12,000 wall posters on ‘Save Water, Save Punjab’ and pasted these in all villages. Besides it has also brought out a 24-page bulletin in Punjabi to give impetus to the campaign as also to extend the imperatives to make judicious use of water. Delay in sowing paddy will also help restore the health of soil in the state, he added.
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Farmers to stall wheat procurement on April 17
Ludhiana, April 14 The Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, Balbir Singh Rajewal and Pishora Singh Sidhupur factions of the Bharti Kisan Union have joined hands to stage a protest to highlight the wrong decision of the government which will not only cause a huge loss to the exchequer but also harm the interests of the farmers. Mr Lakhowal said it was beyond his comprehension why the decision had been taken when wheat was being procured by the government in the region. The farmers are feeling cheated on account of being paid less while the imported stocks would cost more. The government should have waited for a few weeks as it knew that wheat would be harvested in the region, he added. Everyone knows that there are ample stocks of wheat in the country which could have been utilised for the time being. Therefore, the plea of the government that there was no wheat to be supplied to the public distribution system, does not hold water. It is just a ploy of the government to benefit certain vested interests, he alleged. Instead of opting for the import route and paying over Rs 1,000 for the wheat landing on our shores, the government should hike the procurement rate correspondingly. In addition to this, the government should lower the interest rate of farmers to four per cent and waive off the loans of the farmers who are not in a position to repay their debts, he added. Giving details of the protest, he said farmers would set up pickets at all mandis in the state and would not allow any official or private trader to buy the existing stocks. He also appealed to the farmers to bear with them and not to harvest their produce on the protest days. The entire strike would be observed peacefully, he asserted.
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Farmers told to follow
scientific techniques
Ludhiana, April 14 The course was attended by 64 farmers, including 35 who had recently retired from the Army and were taking up agriculture as a vocation. Dr. Gill advised them to work with their own hands and perform key-farm operations and not develop a complacent attitude just because usual wheat and rice crop cycle was in practice."This training should act as a catalyst of change as much to put agricultural development on a fast track as to enable you to adopt subsidiary occupations like food processing, growing nursery of fruit plants and even marketing produce, where possible", he added. Scientific knowledge and formal education alone will make rural economy develop on a strong foundation. The farmers of the state were also being helped by PAU's Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Farm Advisory Service Centres, Young Farmers' Associations and Kisan Club. "You all must enroll as members of these organisations and subscribe to rich, easy to comprehend farm literature published by the University. It will enable you reap better harvests and improve your economy". Additional Director of Extension Education, Dr. S. P. Mehra, and course in charge, Dr. Jaswinder Singh Blialla, who spoke on the occasion, referred to the serious problem of impending water scarcity.
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From Schools and Colleges Tribune Reporters
Ludhiana, April 14 College Principal, Dr Balwant Singh, gave away the prizes to the winners of various competitions on the occasion. Students were also awarded cash prizes by Mr H.S Maan and Mr B.S Mangat from the UK. Dr Rajoo Singh Chhina (Medical Superintendent, DMCH) was the guest of honour. While interacting with the students, Prof Balvinderpal Singh spoke about the educational, cultural and historical importance of the festival of Baisakhi. He also told the students about the creation of Khalsa. Mr Davinder Singh Chhinna also delivered a lecture on the ‘‘Birth of Khalsa’’, globalisation of Punjab culture and Sikh heritage with emphasis on educational and cultural relations. Dr Balwant Singh, Dr J.P Singh and Dr (Ms) Ramesh Inder Kaur Bal honoured Dr Rajoo Singh Chhina, Mr Davinder Singh Chhina and Prof Balwinder Pal Singh for their valuable contribution to the smooth conduct of the Punjab International Festival and in organising Danish troupe’s international gymnastics and dance events. Mr Mangat, Mr Maan and Dr J.P Singh also delivered lectures on the occasion. Giddha artiste Jaagatjot Kaur presented dance on a folk number while bhangra artistes Parminder Singh Nona, Amandeep Singh Sehmbi, Avaninder Singh Nindi and Mandeep Singh Punn also performed on the occasion. Mr B.S Mangat (UK) was nominated as the Overseas, Director-cum-Adviser, for the college. Talk at GNDEC: Under the ongoing Golden Jubilee Lecture series programme, an expert talk was delivered by Dr R.K Calay, a senior faculty of the School of Aerospace, Automotive and Design Engineering, University of Hertfordshire (UK), at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College here on Wednesday.Dr Calay explained the increasing scope and recent applications of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in the field of Engineering and Technology. ‘‘CFD is a subject that developed almost simultaneously with electronic digital computers. This powerful approach is able to solve tedious and complex problems of Fluid Dynamics with lesser approximate solutions. Also the computational time is significantly reduced with the application of CFD’’, he said. Dr S.B Singh, Principal of the college, introduced Dr Calay and told that for Dr Calay it was a homecoming of sorts as she graduated from GNDEC in 1979 in civil engineering. At present, she is one of the internationally renowned researchers in the field of Fluid Mechanics and Dynamics. Explaining about the lecture series programme, Dr Sehijpal Singh and Prof Chandandeep Singh Grewal told that eminent professors and researchers from all over the globe, who are alumnus of GNDHC were being contacted for delivering expert talks in the college during the golden jubilee year of the college. Two lectures have already been delivered in this series by Dr H.S Shan (Professor, IIT Rookee and Dr Yogeshwar Hari (Professor, University of North Carolina, USA) in the months of February and March. New branch opened: Green Land Senior Secondary Public School, G T Road, Ludhiana, inaugurated its new branch in Subhash Nagar, Basti Jodhewal. The Chairman of the trust, Mr Rajesh Rudhra, along with other members of the managing committee welcomed the chief guest, Mr Surinder Dawar (Parliamentary Secretary), on the occasion.Speaking on the occasion, Mr Rudhra said the building of this school would be completed within a year’s time at an estimated cost of Rs 7 crore, including land. He promised that chain of Green Land Schools would continue to impart quality education. Mr Dawar presented cash awards of Rs 25,000 each to teachers who had completed a tenure of 10 years in the institution and Rs 10,000 each to those staff members who had worked selflessly for the school. Another sister concern of Green Land was inaugurated on April 11 at the Civil city which will come up at the estimated cost of Rs 5 crore. Students of Green Land Public School added flavour to the joyous occasion by presenting various cultural items. Founder’s day: MGM Public School, Urban Estate, Phase-I , Dugri, Ludhiana, celebrated its Founder’s Day and the Baisakhi festival here yesterday with great fervour on its campus. The function perpetuated the spirit of patriotism.The programme started with warm reception and welcome of the chief guest Mr Gajjan Singh Thind, Director, MGM public school. After a brief introduction about the founder’s day and Baisakhi, the cultural programme started with the shabad gayan-’Adambar Banya Meri Sejaria.’ Yishu, a student of Class VI delivered a speech in English about the founder’s day and Kanwalpreet of class VI spoken on the importance of Baisakhi. To mark the occasion, there was an inter-house dance competition. Later, a speech in Hindi was given by Shipra of class VIII and in Punjabi by Gurpreet of class VIII. Mr Thind declared the results of the dance competition which were as follows: Hemkunt House Ist, Ajmer House 2nd, and Vatican House 3rd. The programme was a great success. Goenka school: The GD Goenka Public School started its primary section here on Wednesday. At present the school is housed in Sarabha Nagar, but will soon shift to its new building near Badhowal. The school will be providing its students air-conditioned classrooms, buses, a swimming pool, a sports arena and IT integerated learning system.The Chairman, Mr Vinod Bansal, said the student teacher ratio would be 1:25 and individual attention would be given to each student.
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Teachers attend puppetry workshop
Mandi Gobindgarh, April 14 Ms Anupma Niyogi from Chandigarh was the resource person of the workshop. She trained the teachers to make finger puppets, stick puppets, soft puppets, glove puppets, socks puppets and taught them to use the puppetry as a teaching aid.Puppetry can enhance personality development in children and boost up their imagination, she said.
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Dental programme on April 16
Ludhiana, April 14 The key speaker on the occasion will be internationally acclaimed dental surgeon Ajay Kakkar, a graduate from Government Dental College, Mumbai, with MDS in periodontology. He is an accredited member, as well as editor of an official journal of the Indian Academy of Aesthetic and Cosmetic Dentistry. He has also authored a book on 'Management of mobile and migrating teeth.' Dr J. Bindra, Professor and Head, Department of Dentistry,DMCH, and president, IDA (Ludhiana branch), said the course would benefit dental professionals of the region as also enhance their technical skills and expertise. During the programme, stabilisation of grossly affected teeth will be discussed and modern splinting techniques highlighted, with a number of case reports. The utility of computers in the field of dentistry will also be discussed. Dr Bindra said the essence of this session was to increase and enhance the practice of dental professionals, improve the quality of dental treatment and incorporate newer dental techniques in the profession. Dr Bhagwant Singh, vice-president, Asia Pacific Dental Federation, will inaugurate the programme, while Dr Daljit Singh, Principal, DMCH, will also be present on the occasion.
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Manoj aims to be world’s strongest man
Ludhiana, April 14 Manoj was in the city yesterday to launch Spice Telecom’s ‘Spice Bumper Pack’. He showcased his feats at the local Sarabha Nagar market. Setting the pace for exhilarating acts, he started his first feat by ripping a phone directory to tatters, next he made a tawa into a roll, blew air into a hot air bag until it burst to smithereens, wrenched a crowbar and a horse shoe out of shape. Finally, he carried a bumper-heavy weight bike on his shoulders to unveil the new offering by the company. He also undertakes feats like bending a steel bar, motorcycle running over his body, lieing on a bed of nails, breaking an iron file, bending a horse shoe, tearing a car number plate, breaking a car spring blade etc. He also holds a Guinness record for blowing and bursting a hot water bottle. He was the first Indian to participate in the world's strongest man championship held in Canada. He was ranked 14th in the show. Manoj's future plans include the title of the 'World's Strongest Man', a feat that will be accomplished once he is able to lift a Maruti Car and walk twenty steps holding it.
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37 probables selected
Ludhiana, April 14 A four-member selection panel, comprising Chaman Lal Malhotra, Rajesh Puri, Pawan Kumar Pandey and Naresh Marwaha — watched the boys before shortlisting the trainees. The Ludhiana squad (u-17) will also be finalised from these boys, who will take part in the Punjab State Inter-District Cricket Tournament for the M.L. Markan Trophy which begins on May 3. The selected boys are: Arjun Puri, Lalit Malhotra, Atul Kohli, Vineet Sehgal, Vishwajeet, Amrinder Singh, Geetansh Khera, Akhil Aggarwal, Deepak Bansal, Salil Bansal, Akshit Goel, Vidul Kumar, Ashish Kumar, Sanchit Gosain, Navjot Khurana, Gurinder Singh, Kamaljot, Shivam Sharma, Jashan Sidhu, Rahul Singla, Nirmal Kumar, Prince, Jayant Batra, Sandeep, Navjot Singh, Yogesh Mahajan, Onkar Singh, Rattan Singh, Rahul Bhalla, Apinder Singh, Bhajnik Singh, Sumit Kapadia, Gurinderjit Singh, Damanpreet Singh, Ravi Pal Singh, Rishi Bansal and Sushobhit. According to Vinod Chitkara, honorary general secretary of the association, the selected boys have been asked to report to Manmohan Bedi, an NIS coach, on April 17 at Arya College at 5 pm.
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Sportspersons honoured
Ludhiana, April 14 A function was organised on the premises of gurdwara where the sportspersons were presented momentoes and siropas by Mr Bachhittar Singh and Mr Sukhwinder Singh, president and vice-president, respectively, of the management committee. Mr Kuldeep Singh was present, among others. Addressing the gathering, Mr Sukhwinder Singh said the committee had resolved to organise such functions every year. The players would be given cash prizes besides material assistance from the next year, he said. Kamajeet Kaur represented India in the 18th Commonwealth Games held last month in Australia. Guriqbal Singh won medals in 800m and 1500m races during the state-level meets and Bhaneet Singh bagged the gold in long jump in the All-India Sikh Games in Hyderabad last year.
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