Bathinda, January 17
The first survey of basic education skills among government primary schoolchildren in Punjab shows that more than 50 per cent of the Class V children cannot read a story in Punjabi, over 25 per cent cannot write Punjabi letters, almost 40 per cent cannot subtract and almost 70 per cent do not know how to divide.

The survey, part of a "Parho Punjab" (Read Punjab) project under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan, is an effort to quantify poor standards of primary education in the state.

The data gathered from over 11,000 primary schools shows that more than six per cent of the children in Class V could not even recognise numbers correctly.

Students of Class I to V were tested for reading of letters, words, paragraphs and stories. In Class I, 76 per cent students could not read the letters.

In Class III, nearly 45 per cent did not know how to read words. In Class V, 53 per cent of the students could not read a basic story in Punjabi.

"The survey results will help us in further implementing the 'Parho Punjab' project because we have complete information about each and every child. Survey results will be baseline from where we have to begin," said Krishan Kumar, Director-General, School Education-cum-State Project Director of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan.

To ensure that the weaker students do not get left behind, they would be grouped together. "Students with reading and mathematics data are grouped together for attention. The teachers involved in the project also know the level of the students they are handling," he added.

Bathinda, January 17
Government Girls' Secondary School on the Mall Road in the city has been crying for the administration's attention. It is one of the oldest buildings in the city.

The outer wall of the school, being in close proximity to Labour Chowk, is being used as a urinal by hundreds of labourers everyday.

The labourers start lining up before 8 in the morning and girls start coming to the school by 8:30. It is a sheer case of neglect on the part of the government authorities, say students of the school.

Sukhjinder Kaur, a student of the school, said, "It is an everyday scene outside the school. Labourers line up outside the wall facing the school and a foul smell emanates throughout the day. It is an embarrassing situation for us because we have to face them while coming to the school."

The complete stretch of the school wall has been left this way. An interesting fact is that a display board having Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's photo, along with other ministers' photos, is placed near the wall. The space under the board is used by the labourers daily.

School principal Gurdeep Singh said, "We have written many letters to the administration. One dated August 13, 2008 was written to the Deputy commissioner and another was sent to the Mayor the same day, but the response is still being awaited. The worst is that there is a washroom for girls near the rear gate of the school and a bunch of boys keep hanging there all the time. Girls keep complaining but what do we do? We have only one watchman, if he says something to them, the boys say that they are standing outside the gate."

Sources said a public toilet is situated near the water tank near the school but no one wants to go there. Rickshaw pullers keep plying on this road throughout the day and keep using the school wall for the purpose but no one is there to stop them.

Vinod Kumar, a labourer who was sitting outside the school, said, "We sit here because this is Labour Chowk and we get hired from this place. The public toilet is bit far off and why should one go there when we have access to the school wall."

The school has 1600 girl students and around 88 teachers and they have been suffering for a long time due to this problem but they allege that the administration fails to listen despite repeated complaints. The DC, however, could not be contacted for his comments.

Bathinda, January 17
On Saturday, the mercury sprung a surprise. After hovering around 3 degree Celsius for the last seven days, it shot up and touched 11 degree, altogether 8 degree higher than yesterday.

Moreover, it recorded highest minimum temperature in the last three weeks. The maximum temperature rose and recorded 20.5 degree Celsius, 2.8 degree higher than on Friday, as per the Agro-MeT advisory services, PAU Regional Station, Bathinda.

Sources in the regional station attributed the sudden rise in the minimum temperature to overcast conditions. When the weather would be clear, the mercury might witness a fall, the sources added.

More importantly, farmers in the region appeared pleased with change as the zone experienced about 18.3 mm precipitation between Friday evening and Saturday.

Sources in the PAU regional station, Bathinda, said that rain in this time was beneficial for Rabi crops. It would save time and energy of farmers from irrigating crops, sources added.

Bathinda, January 17
A one-day international workshop on 'Instructional Design: Context Based Learning' was organised at the Dasmesh Girls College of Education, Badal, in Muktsar district.

It was inaugurated by Dr Shivinder Singh Gill, vice-chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot.

The resource persons for this workshop were Professor Roberta Altman from Bank Street College of Education and American Museum of Natural History, New York, and Dr J. Kiran Ghera, principal, Doraha College of Education, Ludhiana.

Almost 50 delegates from different states, schools and colleges and 30 students from Dasmesh Girls Senior Secondary School, Badal, attended the workshop.

The keynote address was given by Prof Roberta Altman and then the VC addressed the audience. The students were taken to a field trip.

In the afternoon, the technical session began with the teachers and delegates giving their suggessions and views about their observation of student learning.

In the second session, Dr Kiran Gera and Prof. Robert Altman interacted with delegates about national curriculum framework. Principal Dr S.S. Sangha thanked the guests and the delegates.

Bathinda, January 17
Farmers in Punjab have taken to growing fruit crops like pomegranates instead of conventional crops like wheat and cotton.

Climatic conditions in Punjab are suitable for growing fruits, especially in the southwest region where kinnow is grown extensively.

Gurvinder Singh, a farmer of Kallerkhera village in Abohar, is happy with his new fruit crop — pomegranates.

He once used to grow conventional crops like wheat and cotton. He now grows kinnow and pomegranates in his 45-acre farm.

Four years ago, Gurvinder planted 'Mridula' variety of pomegranates in seven acres. And, this year, his hard work has borne fruit.

Gurvinder's success in growing pomegranates has motivated other farmers also to diversify. The state horticulture department and agricultural scientists, had no role to play so far, but it is expected that they would step in to encourage the farmers.

Today, Gurvinder's pomegranates are known for their quality and can compete with the available fruits in market.

"Earlier, we used to grow cotton and wheat, and then we started producing kinnow in around 45 acres of land. Some two to three years back, the market for kinnow was not very good. So due to the fear of the downfall in its market, we diversified by growing pomegranates," said Gurvinder Singh.

The suggestion to start pomegranate farming was made to Gurvinder by Dr. M. Arora, who used to produce sweet orange in his fields earlier. He told Gurvinder about Mridula, a pomegranate variety grown in Maharashtra.

Pomegranates are grown mostly in western and southern India, but the successful attempt by Gurvinder can make Punjab a pomegranate growing state.

Officials of the horticulture department believe, pomegranate cultivation in the region could be a good development for all.

"We used to grow only kinnows in the region following monoculture. To avoid monoculture if we start producing pomegranates, it will be a great success for the farmers. Pomegranates from Maharashtra and other states have a good market in northern India. We can give them a good competition by producing quality pomegranates in Punjab," said Tek Chand, an official with horticulture department.

Pomegranates can be grown at comparatively less cost than routine citrus crops. Gurvinder says: "We are producing about 12-13 kg fruit from one plant. We have planted 210 plants in one acre. We have produced 25-30 quintals of fruit per acre, which is selling at an average price of Rs 20 (approx. half a dollar) per kg. We are earning between 1,100-1,200 dollars per acre. We planted pomegranates in seven acres. Quality of our pomegranate is as good as those produced in Maharashtra."

Despite being an agriculture-dominated state, only one per cent of total geographical area in Punjab is under horticulture. Punjab now accounts for 10 per cent of the total citrus fruit produced in India.

But by cultivating new fruits like pomegranates, Punjab can boost its percentage in the production of fruits.

Bathinda, January 17
The Bathinda Boxing Association organised the 22nd Men's and 2nd Women's Boxing Championship at the indoor hall of the Sports Stadium here today.

Around 154 men and 22 women from the district are participating in the three-day affair that began today.

Jaswinder Singh and Rachhpal Singh, proprietors, Royaldeep Construction Company, Bathinda, inaugurated the meet.

The following are the winners on the opening day: 32 to 34 kg category: Lakhwinder Singh, Jagdev Singh and Ashutosh; 42 to 45 kg: Aslam Khan, Ajay Kumar, Rahul, Naveen Goswami, Suresh Kumar, Ravinder Kumar, Aman Kumar, Gagandeep Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Aslam Khan and Ajay Kumar; 45 to 48 kg: Mohammad Raja, Manish Tiwari, Kulwinder Singh and Nand Lal, Anil Kumar, Sandeep Singh and Jalawar Singh; 48 to 51 kg: Ranjit Singh, Manish Ahuja, Suraj Kumar, Hussan Inder Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Prince Singh, Gurjit Singh, Gaurav Garg, Tarsem Kumar, Mandeep Singh and Gurjeet Singh.

Bathinda, January 17
The indefinite strike by members of the Unemployed Veterinary Pharmacists Union entered its third day today.

Around 400 members of the union burnt an effigy of the chief minister and demanded immediate employment as promised to them when they did course three years ago.

Talking to the TNS, Ravinder Pheruman, vice-president of the union, alleged that around 1,000 posts were lying vacant, however they were yet to get any jobs.

He further alleged that the silence of the government over the issue was intriguing and a confession of guilt of leaders, who were backtracking from the promises they had made with the vet pharmacists before the assembly polls in 2007.

Mansa, January 17
The Youth Congress has criticised Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for making his son and SAD chief Sukhibir Singh Badal, the deputy chief minister of the state.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had been putting in efforts to bring his son on a key position in the government, the district youth Congress president, Gurpreet Singh (Vicky) alleged.

He said that the chief minister was more worried about his family members instead of concentrating on the problems of the people such as unemployment, shortage of electricity, water canals and many others.

Youths of this region were against offering the high posts to the relatives of the Chief Minister, he added.

The youth Congress activists demanded a change in the policies and not a change in the persons, he added.

Fazilka, January 17
The Red Cross Society, Ferozepur, has set up a branch at the Government Middle School, Dhab Khushal Joian in nearby Jalalabad sub-division. This is the first school in the district to have been adopted as a Junior Red Cross Model School.

A function was organised on this occasion and it was presided over by the Red Cross Society, Punjab, general secretary Dr V.K. Puri.

DEO Harbans Singh Chahal, Red Cross district Ferozepur secretary Ashok Behl, district training officer Sunil Sharma, national award winner teacher Jaswant Singh, village Sarpanch Harbans Singh and others were also present at the function.