PAU wants pvt seed producers to come together

Ludhiana, October 9
Maize has a good future only if good hybrid seeds are made available. For this, PAU Director Research B.S. Dhillon said the university would organise private seed producers to form an association.

“We will guide the seed producers’ association and encourage them to multiply seed for mass consumption. It will be certified seed. In Nawanshahr, potato growers sowing maize are being banded together for seed production. The Hoshiarpur-Nawanshahr-Jalandhar belt is most suited to maize,” he said.

The Project Director of the all-India coordinated maize improvement project, Dr Sain Das, said under the Rs 4-crore project, research was being done on the improvement of maize at 30 centres across the country. “The agenda is to focus on single hybrid maize and seed production,” he said. ICAR proposes to set up niche area in the North to make available insect-pest and disease-free seed to farmers of Punjab, Haryana, Western UP and Uttaranchal. — TNS

EDUCATION

From Colleges
10-day NSS camp ends
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 9
As part of various activities undertaken during a 10- day NSS camp at Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, a number of lectures were delivered by prominent doctors like Dr Ashu Bhutia, Dr Neelam Sodhi, Dr H.S. Grewal, Dr Seema Kaushal, Dr Surbhi Saggar, etc on subjects like Healing Powers of Homoeopath, Awareness on AIDS and Awareness against black magic and superstitions.

During the camp, programme officers Praveen Arora and Gagandeep Kaur organised various competitions like poster making, slogan writing, extempore, debate, etc. NSS cadets also visited slum areas of Ambedkar Nagar and Vivekananda Vridh Ashram during the camp. Yoga classes were also conducted for the participants.

On the concluding day today, a valedictory function was organised which was presided over by the Principal Dr (Ms) Manju Chawla.

NSS camp ends

A ten-day NSS camp concluded today at Arya College Women Section under the guidance of Ms Narinder Kaur, Programme Officer, here today. Keeping in view the objective of “healthy youth in healthy India”, several activities like meditation, yoga, talk on traffic rules, visit to slum areas, etc were held. Mr M.S. Bains, Director, NSS, Panjab University, addressed the volunteers and highlighted the aims and objectives of the NSS.

The valedictory function was held in which a number of cultural items were presented. Ms Priya Sharma, in charge of the women section motivated the students to participate in such activities which were essential for personality development and social upliftment.

Students visit BSNL

The Ludhiana College of Engineering and Technology, Katani Kalan, organised a visit for the electronics and communication engineers to BSNL, Bharat Nagar Exchange, here today. The students visited the main exchange and were explained about the overall working of the exchange.

From Schools
Special kids celebrate World Service Day
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 9
The Lions Club Greater celebrated Gandhi Jayanti and World Service Day at Ashirwad-North India Cerebral Palsy Association here today. The club donated Rs 10,000 for the benefit of the disabled children of the institution.

A cultural programme was put up by the students of Ashirwad. Ashirwad is a rehabilitation centre-cum-school for cerebral palsy-affected children. The efforts put up by the students were wonderful.

Mehndi contest

Mehndi competition was organised in New Senior Secondary School here today on the eve of Karva Chauth. The function was inaugurated by the Director and Principal, Mr H.C Gupta. More than 200 students from all the classes participated in the competition. The competition was divided into primary, middle and senior sections.

The results are as follows:

Group A: Sarita, IIIA, first; Anjali, IIA, second; Harsimran, VA, third.

Group B: Kirti VIIIA, first; Aarti, VIIIB, second; Damini, VIII B, third.

Group C: Ramandeep, +2Commerce, first; Preeti, +I Arts, second; Shashi, IXB, third.

Seminar on CA

A two day seminar on the subject of ‘Career in Chartered Accountancy’ was organised by SAN Jain Senior Secondary School in association with Makkar Institute for the students of plus and plus two. The seminar concluded yesterday.

Mr Pradeep Makkar, director of the institute, delivered a lecture regarding career opportunities available in the CA field and procedure for doing CA

Mr Makkar apprised the students of procedure how to do CA after the latest amendment in the course in which a student can join CA even after clearing class X and while studying for plus and plus two. To be eligible, the students will have to appear in CPT i.e Common Proficiency Test a month after completing after plus two and the duration of CA course would be of three and a half years. He said the demand for CAs was increasing by the day.

Girl cadets told about armed services
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 9
A lecture on ‘Women short service entry in defence’ was delivered by Col S Azimmudin, Branch Recruiting Officer, Ludhiana, along with Major (Dr) Kurian for the NCC Girl Cadets of 3 Punjab Girls Bn NCC, Ludhiana, during their annual training camp being conducted in Khalsa College for Women, here yesterday.

As many as 600 cadets attended the lecture and cleared their doubts related to women’s entry in the armed forces.’

Col S Azimmudin, with help of a video film, laid special emphasis on the branches of Army, service conditions, how to join Army, role of Army, pay scales, allowances, service benefits, perks and privileges, post-retirement benefits and adventure sports in the Army.

Col S.S. Deol, Camp Commandant thanked them for the educative lecture delivered to cadets participating in the camp from 18 schools and colleges.

KVM enter semifinal
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, October 9
Kundan Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Civil Lines, Ludhiana, beat GGN Senior Secondary School, Rose Garden branch, by eight wickets to enter the semifinal of the Ludhiana Sahodaya Schools Complex Cricket Tournament being held on the Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School ground, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar here today.

Batting first, GGN School were restricted to 75 runs all out in 15 overs. Harmohan scored with 32 runs and Jagmohan contributed 10 runs. For the KVM school, Shivam scalped four victims for 10 runs.

KVM school surpassed the total after losing just two wickets. They consumed 11.1 overs and made 77 runs to achieve the target. Lalit Malhotra made 28 runs while Arjun Puri remained unbeaten on 22 and Tarun Bawa scored 10 runs. For GGN School, Parminder and Jagmohan captured one wicket each for 25 and 20 runs, respectively.

Youth attend writers’ workshop
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 9
Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle organised a young writers’ workshop to groom and encourage young writers here yesterday.

Mr Charan Kamal Singh, chief secretary, GGSSC, said about 30 young writers from various schools and colleges attended the workshop. Master Satnam Singh said good writing has to come from the heart. He advised the participants to pick up subjects dear to one’s heart.

HEALTH

Organ donors to get pledge cards
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 9
A pledge card will be specially designed for willing organ donors and released after the inauguration of the IXth All-India Transplant Games and SAARC Transplant Olympics, to be hosted by the mega city October 27 and 28.

Giving this information here today, Dr B.S Aulakh, Urologist and Head, Transplant Unit at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, said the donor card would be of the size of a credit card and the prospective donors would put their signatures on the card and keep the same with them. Through such a card, the person concerned would express the desire and give consent to donate his or her organs after death.

According to Dr Aulakh, donor cards were known to promote organ donation the world over while also facilitating the process of removal of needed organs and transplantation after the death of the donors.

“In order to motivate the general public to sign these organ donor cards, the organising committee of the sports meet intends to prepare a large-sized replica of the cards and display them at the venue of the games. Dignitaries and prominent persons from different walks of life will be invited to sign the replica of donor card,” said Dr Jagjeev Sharma, Chief Coordinator of the donor card project.

The organisers said after the formal release of donor cards at the inaugural function of transplant games, these cards will be available to all those interested in organ donation. In a fervent appeal to the people, they urged them to spare a few minutes and talk to their family members about their decision to donate their organs. The family members of the prospective donors must know about the decision and should also agree with the same.

“We earnestly hope that the games will provide a platform to encourage open dialogue about this sensitive issue and promote the idea of organ donation which can give a new lease of life to critically ill persons,” he said.

SPORTS

Ropar, Ludhiana eves win gold in badminton
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, October 9
Ropar girls won gold in the u-14 and u-19 categories in badminton on the fourth day of the 52nd Punjab State School Games being left at different venues here today. In the u-17 section, host Ludhiana won the top honours.

In the final (u-14), Ropar got the better of Amritsar to win the title while Ludhiana beat Sangrur to content with the third spot. In the u-17 category, Ludhiana eves outclassed Sangrur to lift gold and Gurdaspur outplayed Amritsar to bag bronze. Ropar girls defeated Ludhiana to emerge champions in the u-19 category while Sangrur beat Fatehgarh Sahib to secure the third position.

Other results: Boys (u-14) lawns tennis: Amritsar 1, Ropar, 2, Mohali 3; (u-17)-Patiala 1, Ropar 2 and Amritsar 3; (u-19)-Patiala 1, Jalandhar 2 and Ropar 3.

Boys (u-19) softball: Ludhiana beat Kapurthala and Amritsar defeated Jalandhar to enter final and in the u-17 category, Ludhiana outnumbered Jalandhar and Patiala beat Amritsar to settle for the title clash. In the u-14 section, Ludhiana overpowered Patiala to enter the final.

Girls (u-14) softball: Ludhiana beat Patiala to storm into the final while Jalandhar edged out Moga and Ludhiana beat Amritsar to advance into the final (u-17). Ludhiana pipped Moga and Jalandhar drubbed Amritsar to enter the final in the u-19 category.

Boys (u-19) basketball: quarter final-Ludhiana Academy b Gurdaspur 84-30; Jalandhar wing to Bathinda 72-65; Patiala b Ferozepore 35-7 and Amritsar b Ludhiana 76-72; girls (u-19)-Amritsar b Muktsar 23-9; Amritsar wing to Moga 50-30; Ludhiana b Mohali 45-30 and Hoshiarpur b Gurdaspur 45-32.

Girls (u-17) kabaddi: Patiala b Sangrur 43-33; Bathinda b Ludhiana 44-31; Ropar b Amritsar 43-7; and Kapurthala b Mohali 39-17.