Ludhiana, February 22
Pavittar Pal Singh Pangli and Hardev Singh Ghanaur, president and general secretary, respectively, of PAU Kisan Club have requested the government to start a separate channel for farmers for agricultural development.

The aim of this channel should be to impart knowledge regarding scientific information, suitable weather for crops, rural development, education, health and social evils etc to the farmers, they said.

In a meeting with T.Haque, chairman, Agricultural Cost and Price Commission, Government of India and its farmer-member Mohinder Singh Grewal, both the members of PAU Kisan Club demanded profitable price and suitable marketing for basmati, maize and paddy. As suggested by the Punjab Kisan Commission, the farmers have started sowing soybean and 'sathi moongi' but they are indifferent as these crops are not fetching proper price. They demanded that the MSP of soybean should be fixed at Rs 1500 per quintal.

During the meeting, both the leaders also requested G.S Kalkat, chairman, Punjab Kisan Club, to make a law for contract farming to avoid any type of exploitation. They said the multi-national companies were exploiting the farmers by selling the seed of Bt. Cotton at higher rates and it should be stopped by adopting Gujarat pattern. Besides, they demanded implementation of nursery Act to control the sale of diseased plants by nurseries and they should be imparted with scientific knowledge.

Pangli told that the state level meeting of PAU Kisan Club will be held on March 1, 2007 at 10 am at Pal Auditorium on PAU campus and vice-chancellor, K.S Aulakh will preside over this meeting.

Ludhiana February 22
A commemoration function of 108 birth anniversary of late Justice Gurnam Singh, founder of Guru Nanak Girls College, was celebrated with zeal and enthusiasm in the premises here today.

Principal (Dr) Charanjit K.Mahal highlighted the contributions of Justice Gurnam Singh in transforming the rural economy of Punjab making the state the most prosperous in India and a model which other states emulated.

The function was attended by persons from various spheres of life. Rich tributes were paid to Justice Gurnam Singh, Former Chief Minister of Punjab. Mr Gurcharan Singh Galib, former M.P, was the chief guest. He said that Justice Gurnam Singh's broad vision and incisive mind made him a brilliant and formidable parliamentarian.

He added that the young generation, in particular should follow the footsteps of these great persons who had contributed to the development of nation and sound uplift of the people.

Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, president, Bhartiya Kisan Union, said that Justice Gurnarn Singh was a great son of Punjab who served the nation with distinction as a statesman, sportsperson, judge and an educationist. Justice Gurnam Singh could be credited for fixation of minimum support prize of food grains by the government of India which greatly contributed in making India self sufficient in food and making Punjab the richest state in the nation.

Mr Sukhmeet Singh Kadia, member, Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, said that Justice Gurnam Singh was the architect of the rural development of the state. He started the process of electrification and construction of village link roads in the state, which made Punjab the most progressive state.

As many as 50 meritorious students of the college were awarded tokens of appreciation. Students of Music Department of the college entertained the audience with their performance. 

Mandi Gobindgarh, February 22
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Ltd. conducted pool campus placement for MBA students passing out in 2007 at RIMT-Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET), here today.

S.K Goyal, principal of the institute, introduced Hreetesh Bhandari, HR manager and team members to the audience.

Another HR official Himanshu Pathak said the company had started operations in December 2000 after receiving approval from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) and today its nation-wide team comprised nearly 120,000 insurance advisers, 18 bank assurance partners and 200 corporate agent tie-ups. She added that ICICI Prudential was the first life insurer in India to receive a National Insurer Financial Strength rating of AAA and every member of the ICICI Prudential team was committed to the five core values: integrity, customer first, boundary less, ownership and passion. “These values shine forth in all we do and have become the keystones of our success”.

Harsh Sadawarti, vice-principal, RIMT-IET, said management students from more than eight colleges: Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar, Punjabi University Regional Centre Mohali, Institute of Engineering & Emerging Technologies Baddi, Mata Gujri College Fatehgarh Sahib, Y.S Parmar, Solan, Punjabi School of Management Studies, Punjabi University Patiala, St. Soldier Management and Technical Institute, Jalandhar, participated in the event.

Hukam Chand Bansal, chairman, RIMT-IET, said RIMT group was committed to enhancing the career prospects of students and would soon be achieving 100 per cent placements for students passing out in July 2007 as in Februaury itself more than 15 companies had visited RIMT campus. Some of these include Yes Bank, Kotak Group, Indiabulls, Standard Chartered Bank, Citi Financial, IndiaMart Intermesh Ltd, Mobera Systems Pvt. Ltd, Dell, Wipro, Hero Group etc.

Harmit Singh Taluja, head training and placement department, said more than 80 students from more than eight colleges had participated in the final recruitment drive of ICICI Prudential Life insurance Ltd., for the northern region. He said “ICICI Prudential is recruiting for the posts of Executive Trainee - Tied Agency, Executive Trainee - Banc assurance and Alliances, Executive Trainee- Customer Service and Operations with salary package ranging from 2.37 to 4.10 lakh per annum”.

Ludhiana, February 22
A lecture on cardiovascular diseases and right diet was delivered by dietician from Hero DMC Heart Institute (HDHI) at Government College for Women here today. The lecture, organised by the Department of Home Science of the college, was attended by the faculty and students who were led by the HOD Sushma Gupta.

Speaking on the occasion Harsimrat, the dietician from HDHI, said for a person with heart disease, proper nutrition was essential to manage symptoms and prevent further complications. "Not only can proper diet help slow the artery-clogging process, but when combined with careful lifestyle modification, it may even stop or reverse the narrowing of arteries."

She pointed out that there were many controllable risk factors for cardiac diseases which included smoking, high LDL, or bad cholesterol and low HDL, or good cholesterol, uncontrolled hypertension, uncontrolled diabetes and physical inactivity. With some will power and self-discipline, one could lessen the harmful effects of these factors to a large extent. All one needed to do was to adopt the right lifestyle and the right food habits.

Explaining the dietary part, she said one ought to choose veggies, fruits, dried beans, legumes and limit the intake of processed or canned foods. "Deep-coloured fruits (green, yellow, red, orange) are high in antioxidants and therefore, good for overall health. It is good to select foods which are high in complex carbohydrates. These are starchy foods with fiber such as whole grain cereals, wheat, corn, root crops, and legumes."

Harsimrat cautioned that one should choose to always eat in moderation, and go for variety over volume. There's no single food that contains all nutrients that our body needs. "Further, limit the intake of salt, or choose low salt diet. The maximum allowable intake for salt or sodium in a day is less than 2,000 mg. Protein sources of patients with heart disease would be fresh fish (deep sea) and dried beans. Also, one should go for low fat," she concluded.

Ludhiana, February 22
Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) will organise the first book exhibition here on February 27 and 28.

The GADVASU vice-chancellor, Dr V.K. Taneja, will inaugurate the exhibition to be held on the lawns of the College of Veterinary Science.

Books on different disciplines of veterinary sciences, animal sciences, fisheries and other allied fields will be displayed for on-the-spot selection of books for the GADVASU library.

Book publishers and distributors of repute from the different parts of India will be participating in the exhibition.

The exhibition will provide an opportunity for students, staff and others interested in knowing the latest literature available in the market. The exhibition timings will be between 9 am and 5 pm.

Dr P.K. Trehan, librarian of the university, said more than a dozen publishers had confirmed their participation.

Ludhiana, February 22
The Political Science Society of Government College for Women organised an inter-class quiz contest on the college premises here today.

Principal Prabhjot Kaur and additional principal Narinder Sekhon presided over the function. Arita, president of the society, accorded a warm welcome to the guests.

The participants were divided into four teams comprising of three students each. The participants answered questions relating to general knowledge, current affairs and the political science syllabus. Team A, including Vandana of BA IIIrd, Pavneet of BA Ist and Hardeep of BA IInd year, were adjudged the winners.

Prabhjot Kaur congratulated the winners. — TNS

Mandi Ahmedgarh, February 22
Sukhjinder Singh, a student of BA-I of Shanti Tara College, Akbarpur, Chhanna, was felicitated for winning a gold medal in folk instrumental competition of Punjabi University, Patiala, held at Baba Farid College, Deon, recently. Prem Gupta and Mohinder Singh Dhillon, president and principal of the college, presented a memento to him at a brief function organised on the college premises yesterday.

According to Charan Preet Dua, in-charge, about 30 teams had participated in the contest. 

Ludhiana, February 22
NCC (Air Wing) A-certificate examination was conducted by No 04 Pb Air Sqn NCC, Ludhiana, at Nankana Sahib Public School, Gill Park, Ludhiana, recently.

It is a two-year course after which the cadets are given A-Certificate. Total of 25 cadets took part in it, out of which two cadets won the gold medal at the national-level competition in Rewari . NCC Officer of the school Ashok Singh also won the gold medal by obtaining first rank in the order of merit at Coimbatore during his commissioning course.

Principal Davinder Kaur Batra congratulated the winners and urged them to continue the good work.

Ludhiana, February 22
Be it lavish weddings or birthday parties, Ludhianvis are always known for looking for opportunities to show-off "their best". Not only the rich but middle class people also have started looking for something "unique and reasonable" to make parties more lively and attractive.

Marwari couples are much in demand at parties, birthdays, opening of showrooms or for advertising a product, these days. These characters dressed in traditional outfits are the latest craze in the city as they greet the guests. Kunal Gulati of Kidz and Cabz said the couple looked very attractive and kids enjoyed playing with them. He said the response was so good that he had to order for more such dresses. Besides the Marwaris, Micky Mouse, clowns and jokers are also in great demand.

Kunal said theme parties had become very popular with people here. Being expensive, not everyone can afford to arrange theme parties. "But things like trampolines, inflatable balloons, bouncy bouncers, jokers or other characters entertain the kids on every occasion", said Mr Kunal.

These clowns greet the invitees, present them flowers, give sweets to children and even dance on the tunes of DJ in parties. For three-four hour programme, one had to shell upto Rs 5,000 for these characters. "Their dresses are very costly. Each dress costs about Rs 7,000. These are specially made on order and are procured from Jaipur, Hyderabad and Delhi. We have to pay up to Rs 500 each (per programme) to the persons who become the characters", said Mr Kunal.

Mr Raman Kapoor, who works in a private bank here said he had seen these “lalas” in Sarabha Nagar market on Valentine’s Day. Children enjoyed playing and shaking hands with them. "My seven-year-old son wants to have them on his birthday party in March", he said.