Ludhiana, September 6
Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh today unfolded a Rs 22-crore project involving bio-remediation technology for cleaning the Budha Nullah, passing through the city.

The project would commence this November and its effects would be visible in six to eight months. It was for the first time that bio-remediation technique was being used in the region for cleaning an open drain.

The minister, accompanied by Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari, chairmen of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Punjab Pollution Control Board and senior administration and police officials, inspected the Budha Nullah, one of the most-polluted open drains, to assess the situation and find modalities for its cleaning.

Talking to mediapersons on the conclusion of his inspection, Ramesh observed that the pollution caused by the drain was a big public health hazard.

“Seventy per cent of the waste water and toxic effluents being discharged into this drain, which flows into the Sutlej, comes from industry while 30 per cent is municipal sewage discharge. Industrial waste has been wreaking havoc on the pollution front and endangering human lives,” he said.

Coming down heavily on the industry for its callous attitude towards curbing pollution through the installation of effluent treatment plants, the minister virtually censured the civic body for its failure to take remedial measures against pollution caused by the Budha Nullah and clean the drain.

“The approach of the municipal corporation is disappointing. Cleaning the drain passing through the city is the responsibility of the civic body, which is not being discharged properly. The embankments are in a state of neglect, there is no plantation and garbage is being disposed of openly, which chokes the entire nullah,” he said.

When told that the Punjab government was in the process of having a detailed project report from a Pune-based company for cleaning the nullah with the use of green bridge technology, Ramesh said the CPCB had been asked to work in unison with the state government. “There will be no politics on environment and development,” he asserted.

Jagraon/Ludhiana, September 6
Days after two students lost their lives to speeding government vehicles in separate incidents, another young life was snuffed out this morning in Jagraon allegedly due to the negligence of Punjab Roadways staff.

Nancy, a BA III student of Guru Nanak Girls College, Jagraon, fell from a Punjab Roadways bus while boarding it. She was run over by another speeding roadways bus.

An eyewitness said barely had the girl boarded the bus, the conductor signalled the driver to start. She fell with a jerk and another speeding bus ran over her.

“The victim was bleeding profusely. A student of Government College alighted from the bus and rushed her to the nearby Civil Hospital. However, she died on the way,” the eyewitness said.

The incident occurred at around 8.30 am. No case was registered till the filing of this report in the evening.

The driver and the conductor of the bus that Nancy had boarded fled, leaving behind the bus. The driver of the other bus also sped away, but the bus was impounded by the police.

On August 21, Pawan Kumar of SCD Government College died after being run over by a speeding Punjab Roadways bus in Jagraon. He was waiting to board the bus to Ludhiana.

The incident had caused an uproar after the Punjab Students Organisation (PSU) accused the police of inaction. Following protests, the driver of the bus was arrested. The PSU had also demanded compensation for the victim’s family and was assured the same within 15 days.

However, failure of the authorities in the announcement of the compensation prompted the PSU members to meet the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner today. They presented a memorandum to him, seeking Rs 15 lakh as compensation for Pawan Kumar’s family.

“If the DC does not announce the compensation within a week, we will be forced to resort to an intensified protest,” Arun Kumar, Ludhiana district president of the PSU, said, adding that the union would also seek compensation for Nancy’s family. “In the last few days, three lives have been lost which has spread fear among those using public transport. If the offenders are not punished, they will continue to drive carelessly,” he said.

Ludhiana, September 6
Three men, said to be armed, fled with Rs 70,000 in cash and two gold rings after forcibly entering a house in Guru Nanak colony in Bhamian village and reportedly assaulting a woman residing there. The incident took place at around 8:30 am when she was alone at home.

According to the victim, Harjinder Kaur, 42, her husband, Jaswinder Singh, 45, a businessman, left for work early in the morning and subsequently her three children including two boys and a daughter went to school.

She said three middle-aged men with their faces muffled, two of them wearing a turban, barged into her home and caught hold of her. "They were looking for cash. I told them to leave the house but they tried to kill me. In the meantime I got hold of a baseball bat with which I struck one of the intruders," she added.

“Meanwhile the other two men overpowered me and began beating me up. I grabbed a cellphone that I noticed lying on the bed and called up my husband”, said Harjinder.

When Jaswinder picked up his phone he heard his wife screaming and immediately informed neighbours. “Before the latter could arrive at the house to help me the assailants fled with Rs 70,000 in cash and two gold rings that I was wearing”, Harjinder claimed.

However, the police did not appear convinced with her statement and is investigating the matter.

Surprisingly, neither the neighbours nor the owner of the house, who lives on the first floor, saw the three intruders. The victim did not sustain any injury despite her claim that the robbers were armed.

Ludhiana, September 6
The police arrested two young men for displaying the vehicle registration number allotted to a former SAD state legislator on their car. They were reportedly caught at a security checkpost near the city bus station late last night. Beside fake documents the police also found red a beacon for the vehicle.

The youths have been identified as Vikram Singla, a resident of Gurdev Nagar, and Manpreet Singh, a resident of Model Gram. Vikram told the cops the vehicle belonged to a relative, whom he named as Rajat Garg, a resident of Mandi Ahmedgarh.

The police has also booked Garg in the case. However, the youths claimed they did not know anything about the vehicle number plate.

According to Surjit Singh, in charge of the bus stand police post, the cops received a tipoff that the youths were using the vehicle registration number (PUG 1) allotted to former MLA Bikramjit Singh Majithia. 

Ludhiana, September 6
The late last evening decision of the Punjab State Education Board (PSEB) to postpone the first two semester examinations of Classes X and XII slated for today and tomorrow caused inconvenience to hundreds of students here today.

Unaware of yesterday’s development, hundreds of students reached their respective examination centres, only to be told that the exam had been postponed.

School staff and heads had to face a difficult time turning back students and their parents.

“I had been studying hard for my maths exam scheduled for today. If I knew that the exam had been postponed, I would have studied for the September 8 test. The board should have announced it in advance,” a Class X student, Harsimrat Kaur, said.

The worst affected were private candidates, many of whom had to come from far-off areas to the city to appear for the paper.

“I have come from Samrala. Had I known earlier that the paper has been postponed, it would have saved us a lot of inconvenience,” said Rashpal Singh, a private
candidate.

Another student said though she heard about the postponement of the exams, she did not believe it as such rumours kept doing the rounds during exam time, another student, Sandeep Kaur, said.

During a meeting of the PSEB late last evening in Mohali, it was decided that the first two semester exams of Classes X and XII would be postponed.

The board had taken the decision in the wake of complaints from numerous quarters that a large number of candidates had not received their roll numbers due to floods in many areas of the state. Also, reports of non-availability of adequate number of question papers at many centres was cited as one of the reasons for the postponement.

“Though the news report appeared in major publications today, it went unnoticed by a large number of students, resulting in chaos,” Rajinder Sharma, an educationist, stated.

Ludhiana, September 6
Court of Additional Sessions Judge Mohammad Gulzar has awarded 10-year imprisonment to Assa Ram, alias Ashu, of New Prem Nagar, Civil Lines, Ludhiana, on the charges of abducting and raping a minor girl.

Pronouncing the verdict, the court held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charges levelled against the accused beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt. A fine of Rs 3,000 was also imposed on the accused.

A case under Sections 363, 366-A and 376 of the IPC was registered against the accused at Division 5 police station in May, 2008, following a complaint of Ram Dulari (name changed), mother of the victim.

She had stated before the police that her 13-year-old daughter had gone missing. Earlier, she had expressed apprehensions that her daughter was kidnapped by the accused.

As per the location told by the complainant, the police reached Hardoi in UP and found the girl. After medical examination, the accused was booked on the charges of rape.

However, the accused pleaded innocence. It was claimed that the victim and accused were having a love affair and the girl had eloped with him.

The defence lawyer also produced their photographs.

Additional Public Prosecutor Ravinder Abrol had strongly refuted the claims of the accused. He had submitted before the court that as per ossification test conducted by doctors at the Civil Hospital, age of the girl was between 14 and 17 years. This clearly established that she was a minor at the time of incident. After appreciating the evidence on record, the court found the accused guilty.

Ludhiana, September 6
To mark the completion of 54 years of its existence on September 1, the LIC (Ludhiana branch) chalked out a programme to reach out to its policy holders.

The celebrations commenced with the hoisting of the corporate flag by the senior divisional manager, SK Aggarwal, at the divisional office here today.

During the week-long celebrations, special service counters have been installed in all the offices of the division.

Drawing, painting, quiz and essay-writing competitions were held in schools and cycle rallies are being held at Khanna and Mansa.

Despite the presence of 22 private companies in the life insurance field in India, the performance of the LIC has been lauded, Aggarwal said. “The LIC has won many awards during the year, including Readers Digest Trusted Brand Award (Platinum)-2009, Super Brand India 2009-10, Business Leadership Award-2009 from NDTV profit, and Best Life Insurer Award- 2009, etc,” he stated.

With the addition of 3.88 crore new customers during the year ending March 31, 2010, the LIC enjoyed the confidence of more than 27.83 crore of its policy holders.

“For the convenience of our customers to pay their premiums anywhere and at anytime, the facility of online premium payments has been introduced with the help of the Net banking facility of 33 major banks. Premium can also be paid through electronic bill presentation and payment,” he added.

Ludhiana, September 6
As retired soldiers marked the 45th anniversary of the Indian army’s success in foiling Operation Gibraltar, the code name for Pakistan’s master plan to infiltrate Kashmir in 1965, Col (retd) RS Sohi remembered the crucial role that water played in the faceoff between the two rivals.

"That was the time I realised water is the most destructive weapon - it silenced the Patton tanks that were marching into Indian territory. I was posted at Pikhiwind, close to the Khem Karan sector - the most sensitive area - during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war," said Sohi, who was posted in the 2nd arm brigade headed by commander Tyagraj.

The Indian army saw the huge row of Patton tanks that was proceeding towards the international border through the Icchhogal canal.

"However, the Indian tanks under the 3rd Cavalry was also positioned to give an apt reply to the Pakistani tanks, and commander Tyagraj's presence of mind saved both manpower and fire power. He ordered to break the dam constructed to accumulate the water of the Icchhowal canal. Due to the sudden spillage of water the dry bed of the rivulet was flooded with water and the Patton tanks got stuck in slush, eventually being reduced to mere junk. This spread panic following which the Indian army launched a major offensive, with the place becoming a graveyard of Patton tanks," said Sohi.

Brig (retd) PS Toor, who was then a second lieutenant with the 2nd Sikh Battalion posted in the Pooch sector, was nostalgic. While sharing his war experience with fellow soldiers he regretted the Indian government’s move to return captured territory following the Tashkent Declaration.

"It was on 4 pm IST on September 6, 1965 that Pakistan launched an offensive against India. Being a second lieutenant I had to face the enemy head on. We were given the task of capturing the Raja post and the Dogra regiment was instructed with the task of unfurling the Indian flag on Rani post. Both posts were very significant for the Pakistani army. The 2nd Sikh Battalion was led by commanding officer NN Khanna, who fought with valour and sacrificed his life along with 41 men of his battalion. As many 142 personnel sustained injuries in the war. Finally we captured the post. We fought so bravely that the enemy panicked and vacated the Rani post as well. But, sadly, we had to vacate the post following the Tashkent agreement," said Toor.

Maj Gen (retd) SS Jawanda, Col Harbax Singh, Col BS Sandhu, SS Rana and Maj KS Sidhu also shared their war experiences during a tea party organised to celebrate the Indian army’s victory in the 1965 conflict.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 6
Residents of the town and surrounding villages said they wanted top political leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and former chief minister Capt Amrinder Singh, to pay a visit to MGMN Senior Secondary School during the Chhapar Mela.

“Foundation stones of government degree college and Lal Bahadur Shastari vidya mandir which were laid by Chief Ministers Parkash Singh Badal and late Beant Singh in 1979 and 1992, respectively, will remind the SAD and Congress leaders of their unkept promises,” said one of the residents.

Irate residents said the Congress and SAD leaders would be taken to task.

“With most of the foundation stones laid by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, we will ask him to either remove the foundation stones or initiate work,” said residents.

Completion of these institutes seemed to be a distant dream, with the authorities having forgotten the same,” said residents.

“Leaders of almost all political parties come to the town and deliver lengthy speeches, but none of them has ever bothered to enquire about the progress of the projects,” said another resident.

Bimal Kumar Sharma, councillor, and CB Welfare Association president Tarsem Garg said Badal had issued verbal orders for constructing a degree college in the town, but the work never started. Janta College for Women and Rashtriya Adarash Mahila College are the only women colleges in this region.

“Though the population has considerably increased, not a single recognised institute has come up for educating girls and boys after Class XII. As parents cannot afford to send their daughters to other cities for further studies, girls have no option but to do a bachelor course as private candidates,” residents added.

The foundation stone of LBS Vidya Mandir was laid by Beant Singh, when he had come to announce the establishment of a sub-division here on December 30, 1992. Despite Beant Singh’s promise to release a grant for erecting a new building of Adarsh School, no funds were received.

Ludhiana: A one-day international seminar on “International Business Strategies” was organised by the PG department of management and commerce at Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town, today. Gurbir Singh, president, and principal Dr Charanjit Mahal welcomed esteemed resource persons. She stressed upon the importance of management in balancing one’s professional and personal life. Speakers included Dr BB Goyal, associate professor, UBS, Panjab University, Chandigarh. Dr Norouz Izadpanah, faculty, Islamic Azad University, Astara Branch, Iran, and Ramesh Sindhar, advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Ludhiana: Sacred Heart, BRS Nagar, celebrated Teachers’ Day today. The function kicked off with poem recitation. A prayer dance was also held. A small skit was performed. A choreography presented by students of Class IX showcased the imprint left on one’s mind by teachers. Western dance and fusion dance added flavour to the whole function. Sister Christo, principal of the school, applauded teachers for their commendable work. Finally, bhangra was performed which was a scintillating amalgamation of vibrant music and rhythmic steps.

MGM Public School: Teachers’ Day was celebrated at MGM Public School where teachers and 500 students participated in various events. Ashok Kumar Setia, director, academics, welcomed guests.

The function commenced with lightening of the traditional lamp followed by a shabad "De, shiva var mohe". Cultural items were held. The main attraction of the function was the group song which was presented by teachers.

Managing director Gajjan Singh Thind appreciated the efforts of faculty members. School principal Poonam Sharma proposed the vote of thanks. Three teachers Shelly Gandhi, Upinder Prasad and Sahib Kaur were honoured. — TNS

Ludhiana, September 6
Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan (DJJS) today organised an interactive workshop on gender equality at CCIT Institute here under its ongoing "Santulan" campaign against sex-selective abortions. The campaign was launched by the religious outfit, headed by Ashutosh Maharaj, on July 11 this year, in a bid to create mass awareness and sensitisation against the social menace.

The workshop primarily focused on cracking the discriminative behaviour against women, which in turn bred a diseased society, where boys were preferred over girls and female foeticide remained rampant.

Deepika Sehgal, a disciple of Ashutosh Maharaj, and the focal point of "Santulan" programme moderated the two-hour workshop, attended by teachers, other staff members of the institute, students and their parents. She undertook the "ice breaking" interactive quiz on gender sensitisation and a picture game on gender/sex difference to drive home her points.

A lecture on "Value-based grooming" by sadhvi Harimitra Bharti, another disciple of Ashutosh Maharaj, followed the interactive session at the workshop.

She said, “Identifying individual psychology and resultant mind sets as the primary driving forces for human actions and their repercussions on the state of women in our society, our campaign aims at instigating a positive social change on the issue of gender equality through the instrumentation of the eternal science of self realisation.”

Deepika said, the campaign, since its launch, had laid several benchmarks in creating awareness against the menace of sex-selective abortions. This included an interactive conference with experts of medicine and health, gender equality workshop with volunteers of the programme on the International Youth Day.

Come rains and the outbreak of water-borne diseases like cholera, jaundice and gastroenteritis become a regular feature here. The diseases, mostly afflicting the migrant population at slums, claim a number of lives every year, but the administration (read municipal corporation and health department) fail to learn any lesson from the tragic happenings.

Without exception, some lip service is paid to the victims, a couple of water samples are taken, a few teams visit the affected areas, and then, the situation is back to square one. Adding insult to injury for the suffering residents, the municipal corporation and the health department blame each other for the outbreak of diseases.

Ludhiana, September 6
The eye department at the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) has introduced state-of-the-art paediatric ophthalmology services.

The paediatric eye clinic has been set up according to international guidelines and emphasis will be on a child friendly atmosphere.

Dr Satish Thomas, a fellowship trained paediatric ophthalmologist and strabismologist, would head the new facility. He said it was important to spread the awareness of paediatric ophthalmology as a specialised field within the speciality of ophthalmology so that children received the best when it came to the care of their eyes.

He said ophthalmology had undergone a paradigm shift from being a geriatric speciality to a more comprehensive speciality offering much more to children with visual disability, with the addition of paediatric ophthalmology as a sub-speciality.

“The number of blind years due to childhood blindness is more compared to adult and old age blindness and is a major drain on the families of the affected kids. The WHO is currently stressing on addressing the issue of childhood blindness,” he added.

Ludhiana, September 6
India’s only trend forecast analyst, Harilien Sabharwal, was in the city to interact with budding designers of the National Institute of Fashion Design here today.

“We are constantly in search of new balances in life and accordingly, we are abandoning lifestyle for freestyle in design. This leads to ‘re-newel’ rather than ‘re-development’ of a product,” she stated. She said her forte was research and development of trends. Being passionate about sensing the shape of future trends, she said fashion was 99 per cent research and 1 per cent creativity.

She told budding designers to understand that research was vital in designing clothes. She focused on developing skills based on a research-oriented approach, which would help the designers to lead the Indian fashion industry in sync with international fashions. She added that creating awareness with regard to forecasting as an inspirational tool was not just for the industry, but also for the roots (students) who built the industry. She has contributed trend articles to leading magazines and is a member of the Fashion Design Council of India.

The focus of the interaction was on building new ideas and developing a better understanding of the future consumer and design trends.

The students were told about various aspects of creative intelligence which included inspirations, comprehensive lifestyle reports with specific consumer categories and fashion specific wear.

They were also told how to track consumers’ thoughts and to pick up the right elements of the global trends and weave them with the Indian traditional flavours.

Ludhiana, September 6
Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Technical University Dr Rajneesh Arora today met foreign students studying in various institutes of Punjab College of Technical Education (PCTE).

Dr Arora interacted with foreign students.

The purpose behind his visit was to ensure them a comfortable stay.

Dr Keya Dharamvir, Dean, International Affairs, Punjab University, Chandigarh, also joined the VC in the afternoon.

Dr KNS Kang, director-general, PCTE Group of Institutes, said foreign students were from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Afghanistan. He added that these students had joined various courses like MBA, MBA-IB, MSc IT, BBA, BCA, and B Pharmacy.

PCTE Group of Institutes have signed an MOU (agreement of cooperation) with Universidade Pedagogica, Mozambique. The PCTE has signed nine MOUs with England, South Africa, and Pakistan. Dr Kang said seven faculty members from the university had joined the PCTE for the current academic session. Five faculty members had joined the MSc-IT course and the other two had joined MBA, he added.

Ludhiana, September 6
Employees of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPC) today held a gate rally at the City West division to mobilise support for the proposed one-day nationwide strike called by the central trade unions tomorrow.

Addressing the rally, trade union leaders asked employees to make the strike successful in support of their demands.

They asked the state government and the Centre to fill vacant posts in various departments, scrap contractual system and outsourcing of government work, commence regular recruitment, provide guarantee of employment and bring prices under control.

Similar gate rallies in support of the strike were also organised at Janta Nagar, Aggar Nagar and Model Town divisions of Powercom.

“To me music is the manifestation of the mind in the highest level, a fine art – essentially contemplative and sophisticated art form. Living thousands of miles away in the UK, we find solace in our music which keeps us connected to our roots in Punjab,” maintains Prabhjyot Kaur, young vocalist and practicing lawyer from Birmingham where she was born and raised.

The versatile vocalist pair of Prabhjyot and her younger sister Jaskiran Kaur, a medico, is familiar at functions and music fests in Birmingham, India and European countries. Their performance at the Birmingham Symphony Hall before Tony Blair and other dignitaries encouraged them to scale new horizons. In the city with her celebrated mentor Ustad Tari Khan for a performance, she shares her quest for music.

“Music is an integral part of my family and means the world to us. We inherited from my father, Amar Singh, a musicologist and a former lecturer at RR Bawa DAV College-Batala. He migrated to Birmingham in the eighties carrying with him the rich musical heritage of Hindustani classical, devotional and folk music. As a performer and teacher he promoted our music to a spectacular level. It was with his effort that Indian music was recognised and accredited up to degree level at Sandwell College Birmingham before he established a teaching institute, the Amar Sangeet Kala Kender. More and more non-Indian students are learning and savouring the bliss of our music. My sister Jaskiran, who learns sitar from Guru Narinder Narula, and I teamed up for two devotional albums which were well received and our latest album of ghazals and songs is in the offing,” she says.

She considers herself lucky to be in the blessed tutelage of the most indomitable percussion wizard and composer in the sub continent Ustad Tari Khan, a torchbearer of Punjab Gharana.

Khamano, September 6
Farmers in the state should neither pay their electricity dues, nor deposit payment for their tubewell connections.

This call was given by BKU Rajewal president Balbir Singh Rajewal while addressing a district-level conference at the grain market here today.

The conference was organised to mobilise farmers of the district to reach Chandigarh on September 20 in large numbers.

Rajewal said the Punjab government was betraying farmers by reimposing power bills though it had promised to waive those.

He said Rs 800 crore provided by the Centre had not been distributed among farmers by the state government and threatened to proceed on an indefinite fast from September 20 to get this payment released.

He opposed direct payment to farmers, bypassing commission agents. District unit president Kashmira Singh and block unit president Karnail Singh also spoke.

Ludhiana, September 6
Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana, will hold the Pashu Palan Mela on September 14 and 15. This year the university is following the slogan- “Vigayanak Taknikan Apnao, Pashu Palan Ton Munafa Vadhao.”

Dr VK Taneja, Vice-Chancellor, GADVASU, said, “Efforts are on to explore new avenues in livestock profession.”

Dr Kulbir Singh Sandhu, director, extension education, GADVASU, said the university’s animals would be exhibited to motivate farmers to breed superior livestock by getting the improved germplasm from the university. Books on dairy farming, pig farming, goat farming and package of practices for animal husbandry would also be made available.

Mineral mixture and uromin lick prepared by the university would also be sold at nominal rates, he said.

Hoof trimming, teat-dip practice, acaricide drug applications, urea treatment of wheat straw and preparation of uromin lick would be demonstrated during the mela. Milk and meat processing technologies for value addition would also be discussed, said Dr Sandhu.

Livestock farmers would be provided free testing facilities for nitrate poisoning of fodders, mastitis testing and testing of faecal, food samples.

Different departments of College of Veterinary Science, College of Dairy Science and Technology and College of Fisheries would organise exhibitions to display new techniques and practices for the benefit of livestock farmers and would attend to their queries, said Dr sandhu.

All developmental organisations of the state, including the department of animal husbandry, dairy development and department of fishery, Milkfed and Markfed would put up stalls at the exhibition. During the fair other important private organisations dealing with production/ marketing of animal feed, medicine, vaccines, animal germplasm, animal farm machinery, milk and meat processing machinery, fodder seed and banking institutions would provide valuable information and know-how to livestock farmers.

Various associations like the Progressive Dairy Farmers' Association, Punjab Piggery Farmers' Association, Innovative Fish Farming Association and Punjab Goat Farmers' Association being run under the guidance of university would also put up stalls.

A large number of livestock farmers not only from Punjab but also from the adjoining states like Haryana, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan are expected to visit the mela.

Ludhiana, September 6
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) will hold Kisan Mela at Regional Station (RS), Ballowal Saunkhri, Balachaur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, on September 7.

The mela will be inaugurated by chief parliamentary secretary Nand Lal, while PAU Vice-Chancellor Dr Manjit Singh Kang will preside over.

Regional Station director Dr Subash Chander Sharma said the visit to fields for demonstrations at 10.30 am would be followed by a two-hour technical session focusing on new research recommendations, improved crop varieties for Kandi area, management of insect pest and diseases, production technologies for vegetable crops, scope of horticulture and agri-horticulture in Kandi area.

The mela will be held at Rauni (Patiala) on September 10, PAU, Ludhiana, on September 14 and 15, RS Gurdaspur on September 21 and RS Bathinda on September 24.

The theme for the mela will be “Conserve natural resources for the prosperity of all”.

Dr MS Gill, PAU director, Extension Education, said during the mela, technologies and new innovations would be showcased. He said there would be several attractions for farmers and farm women in the mela.

The mela would have agro-industrial exhibitions and crop produce competition,” he said.

Dr Gill said departments of the university would put up stalls on new technologies and arrangements would be made for the sale of ornamental saplings and seeds of crops during the mela. Home scientists would put up special stalls for farm women, he added.

Additional director of communication Dr Jagtar Singh Dhiman said new farm publications would be released during the mela. Arrangements would be made for the sale of these and to enrol new members for monthly farm magazines of the PAU. A package of practices for Rabi crop would also be released during the mela.

Ludhiana, September 6
Government College for Women (GCW), Ludhiana, won the Panjab University Inter-College Weightlifting Championship for the second consecutive year at Panjab University recently.

Participants from GCW amassed 16 points to retain the title, while Government College for Women, Sector 42, Chandigarh, secured nine points to finish as runners-up. Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College, Sector 26, Chandigarh, with seven points secured the third position.

For GCW, Rajni and Mamta bagged gold medals, while Mandeep Kaur and Sandeep Kaur won silver medals to enable their college to romp home as champions.

Principal Gurminder Kaur appreciated the girls’ performance and congratulated Sharanjit Kaur, head of the physical education department, Balbir Singh, weightlifting, in charge, and coach Gurinder Singh.