Ludhiana, April 13
Pig farming in the state appears to be emerging as a potential option for the farmers to diversify, besides the dairy and the poultry.

This was revealed during a five day training course from April 9 to April 13, held at the Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) today.

The course was attended by 49 trainees from 10 districts of Punjab. The trainees comprised of unemployed youth, graduates and postgraduates, engineers, advocates and beekeepers.

“People want to diversify and pig farming is an excellent option,” said one of the trainees.

O.S. Parmar, director Extension Education, GADVASU, awarded certificates to the trainees and revealed that the training course would bring employment to the unemployed.

He emphasized that pig rearing could be adopted as it gave a good scope for earning and was also a viable alternative for diversification in agriculture.

He said due to the increasing response from people, the meat processing plants would come up soon, giving pig farming the much needed thrust in the state.

The veterinary university would soon start a pig breeding farm which would meet the piglet demand of the farmers.

R.S. Sahota, head, Department of Veterinary and Husbandry Extension said, the trainees were given training in breeding, feeding, management, care of piglets, vaccination, de-worming, zoonotic diseases, first aid and the economics of pig farming.

Doraha , April 13
A seminar on industrial automation was organised yesterday at the Bhutta College of Engineering and Technology (BCET), Ludhiana.

The resource persons were Ranjit Kaur, technical coordinator, and Poonam Pandi, expert in instrumentation and engineering, quick logic controls, Panchkula.

Pandit explained the upcoming trends of automation and applications in industry and homes. Every industry is switching to automation for its routine operations. Automation not only leads to increased production but also to improved quality automation. It is being adapted in almost every field such as schools, hostels, hotels etc. Home automation is also widely being adapted these days. Automatic functioning of fans, lights, taps etc are all examples of the use of automation technology.

She also discussed the importance of automation in pharamaceuticals, bottling plants and manufacturing companies.

Students were made aware of programmable logic controller (PLC) and supervisory control and data acquisition systems. They were explained how SKADA enables to monitor and control the geographically diversified business concerns via one control centre.

Students were also made aware about the scope of automation professionals in industrial world. There is a great scope for automation in industries related to electrical, mechanical and electronics fields. Ranjit Basra discussed the vast scope of career opportunities in industrial automation.

The students took keen interest and participated in the seminar with a great zeal. They tried to have deep understanding of the subject by asking questions during the question answer session.

The seminar was organised by the training and placement cell of the college. BCET director Dr A.S.Bansal welcomed the guest speakers and emphasised that exposure of the young engineers to such topics is essential in today's context.

Prof M.S. Seekree proposed a vote of thanks. 

Ludhiana April 13
Jang Bahadur Singh Sangha, an alumnus of the College of Agriculture and Member, Board of Management, PAU, delivered a lecture on his motivation and rise as "Potato King" which he is popularly called.

The lecture was organised by G.S.Chahal, Dean, College of Agriculture, for all undergraduate students during the advisory meet to motivate them for self-employment.

Sangha advised the students to be innovative, follow a career of interests, be enthusiastic and farsighted, positive in approach and remain focused. He exhorted the students to acquire global vision by making use of the Internet. He cited his own example of how he went to Cornell University after doing B.Sc. Agriculture (Hons) in 1990 to learn about the latest technology for seed potato cultivation.

After coming to India, he developed a world class tissue culture laboratory for producing virus-free potato seeds. At present, he is producing seeds on 5,500 acres of land with a production of 55,000 metric tonnes for national demand and export.

The lecture was followed by a brief presentation by M.S. Malhi, project manager, Syngenta (India) Limited and an alumnus of College of Agriculture.

Malhi motivated the students for the prospects in the private sector, especially, in the value chain and retail boom.

He was instrumental in introducing the internship training for B.Sc. final year students last year during vacations which the students appreciated as they had gained a lot in the skills.

This year also there shall be more opportunities for internship and summer training.

Ludhiana, April 13
The decision of constructing two public urinals adjoining the Khalsa College for Women has added to the woes of the students here, who are already suffering due to the nuisance of eve-teasing.

The students as well as the staff of the college feel that the construction must be stopped immediately in their interest.

Rajita, a student of the college, said many of their classes were held on the second floor from where the urinals were easily visible as they were adjacent to the college wall.

“It will be an embarrassing situation for the girl students. Public urinals must not be constructed outside colleges for girls,” she stressed.

Already, the students are suffering because of the traffic congestion at the closing time of the college. Groups of boys park their vehicles outside the college in a haphazard manner, making it difficult for the girls to move around easily. Public urinals would add to their problem.

Earlier, a garbage dump was located here, which had been shifted after the Shopkeepers' Association and the college authorities raised objections.

A faculty member said they had requested the authorities for stopping the construction of the toilets. “We are waiting for their decision but they must understand our problem,” she added.

Vikas Pratap, commissioner, Municipal Corporation, said he was aware of the problem and had directed the zonal commissioner to visit the spot and report to him. “We will take care of everything,” he assured.

Ludhiana, April 13
Students of the Khalsa Institute of Management and Technology (KIMT) have shown good results in the MCA and BCA examinations, held by the PTU in December 2006.

In the MCA (third semester), Kiranjit Kaur Grewal secured the second position, Shilpy Jairath bagged the sixth position and Deepti Jam obtained the ninth position in the university.

In BCA third semester, Dimple Arora secured the second position and Kirandeep Kaur bagged the ninth position in the university.