Ludhiana April 21
Intensive agriculture, particularly large-scale adoption of the rice-wheat cropping system in Punjab has impaired the ecology in terms of the adverse effect on soil health and water, in quantity as well as quality, raising concerns about the sustainability of agricultural production at the current levels.

These thoughts were expressed by Dr B.S.Dhillon, director of Research, PAU, during his inaugural address at a workshop on soil and water conservation held on the campus here yesterday.

Dr Dhillon said the deficiency of several micronutrient elements had appeared in soils and a rapid decline in the watertable in recent years had been noticed. The tubewells had been deepened that had enhanced the cost of drawal of groundwater. Tubewell water quality had already started deteriorating due to the reverse flow, he added.

He feared that soils of many areas would become difficult to reclaim.

Highlighting the research endeavours of PAU scientists towards development of technologies relevant to maintaining soil health and efficient use of water, Dr Dhillon cited some recommendations on soil nutrient management. Keeping in view the large variation in soil fertility in the state, he suggested soil test-based fertiliser recommendations for important crops.

Similarly, application of nitrogen (150 kg) and phosphorus (30 kg) per hectare of Bt cotton hybrid, application of 25 per cent less N fertiliser in rabi crops (wheat and raya) sown after legumes (guar, soybean, mungbean) as well as application of 24 kg K2O instead of 12 kg K2O/acre to sunflower on soils testing low in available K, for the district of Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr, Ropar and Gurdaspur were recommended.

He also advocated green manuring (sunhemp) before sowing of maize and soybean for higher productivity and better soil health.

In water management, Dr Dhillon recommended division of one acre field into eight equal parts on medium to fine-textured soils and into 16 parts on coarse-textured soils.

Planting of rice on the middle of slope of beds in heavy-textured soils was recommended to save about 25 per cent of irrigation water. He advised greenhouse cultivation of tomato as it increased yield up to 662 q/ha as compared to 439 q/ha outside the greenhouse.

Using fertigation i.e. supplying nutrients through irrigation water by drip irrigation system, the yield could further be enhanced to 958 q/ha, he clarified.

To check the decline in watertable in Punjab, Dr Dhillon said rainwater from the rooftops of buildings could be usefully harnessed for groundwater recharge. This was especially useful for urban areas where there was shortage of space and heavy showers caused flooding of roads and streets besides choking the sewage system. There was an added advantage of this method of rainwater harvesting since it was free from chemical and biological contamination.

Earlier, S.S.Saini, chief conservator of soils, Punjab, also discussed the problems and prospects of soil and water conservation in the state.

Enumerating some activities pursued by his department, Saini said water harvesting was introduced in Punjab, especially the Kandi area. It was further made broad-based by converting abut 100 chappars into water harvesting bodies.

Regarding drip irrigation or micro-irrigation technology, Saini opined that though it was costly, farmers should be motivated to adopt it in favour of the state's water resources.

He said sugarcane yield was very high in other states due to this system and PAU should evolve a model on the same lines for Punjab.

Also, the university should maintain updated data and reform models on a continuous basis. Models for watershed development were also required that were cost-effective and easy to replicate, he added.

On rain water, Saini exhorted the scientists to devise methods to restrict run-off of rain water.

He pointed out that the staff in the departments were usually not aware of the entire information and data available, hence, a foolproof system of feedback from the grassroot level should be made.

Prior to this, Dr G.S.Chahal, dean, College of Agriculture, delivered the welcome address. The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr N.S. Malhi, director of Extension Education.

Ludhiana, April 21
Swati Goel, a BCA final student of the Punjab College of Technical Education (PCTE), topped in the BCA fifth semester university exams conducted by Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, in December 2006. The PCTE also bagged second, fourth, eighth and 10th positions in the BCA university examinations.

Swati topped the university with 89 per cent marks and scored 624 out of 700 marks. Rajpreet Kaur Gill, another BCA final year student of the PCTE, bagged the second position scoring 623 out of 700 marks while Mohit Sharma got the fourth position scoring 87 per cent marks. Ruchika Bahri of the LIM, Phagwara, also got the fourth position scoring 608 marks out of 700 marks. Mannal Singh and Shikha Jain of the PCTE bagged the eighth and tenth positions with 86 per cent and 85 per cent marks, respectively. Manpreet Kaur of the GTBIMT, Dakha, also got the 10th position with 85 per cent marks.

While congratulating the students, director Dr K.N.S. Kang said, “PCTE students have continuously been bagging the first position in the university since its inception in 1999”.

Swati said on her success: “Practice makes a man perfect. This is the principle that I have adopted in my life and that is why from the first semester I kept on working hard to achieve the intended results. The persistent support of my parents and teachers made me achieve my goal”.

Pooja Nanda of BCA (fifth semester) of GGN Institute of Management and Technology (GGNIMT), Civil Lines, Ludhiana, secured the third position scoring 88.8 per cent marks, Anu Verma and Kulpreet Kaur of MCA (third semester) bagged the sixth and seventh positions scoring 89.2 and 81.7 per cent marks, respectively, in the examinations conducted by Punjab Technical University in December 2006. Ramandeep Kaur of MCA (fifth semester) secured 89.7 per cent marks and got the fifth position and Vinay Jain of BCA (third semester) secured the ninth position with 85.1 per cent marks.

Doraha, April 21
A seminar on technical education was organised today, at the Bhutta College of Engineering and Technology (BCET), Ludhiana.

It was conducted by Angela Cam, international officer, University of Manitoba (UOM) and Ajay K. Mitra, academic representative of UOM, Winnipeg, Canada.

It was organised as the first-ever activity of the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) Chapter (Faculty).

Angela Cam said the university gave emphasis on courses like Technical Communications, Representative Literary Works and English composition which help in enhancing communication skills.

The university offers courses on design in engineering, electrical and computer engineering, thermal sciences, health sciences, creative arts, architecture, business, languages, basic sciences and humanities.

The students work collaboratively in teams and develop strong project management skills.

She also presented the reasons for choosing an institution like UOM in Canada. She claimed that there were eminent professors and research work, wide choice of high quality programmes, safe, beautiful, suburban campuses, affordable tuition fee, residence and extensive student support. Besides these facilities, the UOM had International Centre meant for students from different countries.

She said focus was on the connectivity between engineering and communication design, the importance of audience analysis, well-designed graphic aids, which support the text and clear writing and speaking. The objective of the faculty of engineering was to prepare students for world leadership positions where engineering science and management are of major importance.

The University of Manitoba has programmes in science, agriculture, food science, environment, education, engineering, management, pharmacy, medicine and human ecology. The university has post-graduate programmes at Masters and Doctoral level in various faculties, including engineering, Angela added.

Ludhiana, April 21
Earth Day was celebrated in Peace Public School here on Saturday. The endeavour was not only to develop environmental awareness, but also environmental consciousness. Children were briefed about several reasons for the unprecedented impact of our species on our environment. The first being the population that now occupy the planet. The pressure on the natural system and the solutions to these urgent problems by understanding their full context would be a part of the week-long awarenes programme in the school.

Various competitions were held in the school. Students of Class I and II recited poems on health. They vowed to keep away from candies and junk food. In the declamation contest for Class III and IV children spoke about the juicy and tempting fruits and their values. Students of Class VI to VIII freely expressed their fears and concerns about the safety of the future generation. They made posters and wrote slogans against social evils like drug addiction and female foeticide.

Ludhiana, April 21
International education through off shore campuses of renowned Canadian universities in India will no more be the exclusive privilege of students belonging to the elite class. As CIIS unveils its ambitious scheme to enlarge the scope of international education to the talented and needy students, an amount of Rs 6 crore is on offer in the form of scholarships to be offered to the intelligent and academically brilliant students who wish to enroll in these universities but are usually discouraged by the huge monetary component involved.

Detailed information regarding the CIIS' latest 'Student Monetary Award Scheme for the year 2007' was given here today by CIIS officials, including Brenda Thompson, senior faculty member, Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia Canada and Gurdeepak Singh, assistant director and vice-president, International Partnership, CIIS.

Announcing the scheme for the current session 2007-08, Gurdeepak Singh informed that the scholarships, christened as monetary award scheme, have been specifically designed keeping in mind the requirements of needy, poor but talented students from rural background or from the families of farmers or defence personnel.

“Our international studies off-shore campus at CIIS is already receiving tremendous response from the students of the region, many of whom have done exceptionally well in Canada for the past several years. But off late we felt that still we had been missing out on the vital talent pool because of financial constraints", he added.

The CIIS scholarships will fund hundreds of students for getting the coveted enrolment to international study courses. A sum of Rs 6 crore has been earmarked for this purpose. A student will be able to get a scholarship worth a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per annum. CIIS Student Monetary Award Scheme for the year 2007 will provide scholarships depending upon the percentage of marks scored in last examination and an entrance scholarship test to assess the merit apart from the academic score of the student.

Doraha, April 21
The recent orders from the NCC battalion directing all government-aided and unaided schools and colleges to bear their own expenses and establish self-financing NCC associate units in their institutes have come as a bolt from the blue for these institutes that are in no position to bear all finances independently.

The 3 Punjab Girls Battalion NCC in a letter No. 18/ TRg/4/1749 dated April 12, 2007, had ordered all government aided and unaided schools and colleges to bear the whole expenses of their NCC units, and give an undertaking in this regard on a Rs 15 judicial paper latest by April 30, failing which no NCC unit would be allowed to work in that particular institution.

Talking in this regard, principal of Ramgarhia Girls College Harmit Kaur said it was no less than a shock for us as making these units self-financing was being understood as shifting the entire burden on already overburdened students. “The students, who are paying huge amounts in the form of fees, may not be in a position to pay extra NCC charges. The result would be that less and less students would opt for NCC and one fine day NCC in schools and college might vanish into oblivion. Moreover, the students may fail to avail those credits and benefits that the NCC brings with its trail. Also the inculcation of leadership qualities and all-round personality development, enabled through the NCC, will suffer a serious set back,” Harmit added.

Similarly, principal of MTS College, Ludhiana, Madanjit Sahota too said, “In today’s testing times, when the younger generation is going astray due to lack of proper discipline and a solid check, such a move of the government is no less than a blunder. In the present scenario, rather than encouraging the NCC and adding more incentives, the government is trying to disown its responsibility. Moreover, with already reduced grants, the financial position of colleges is already topsy-turvy. Still extra burden shall prove to be a liability in every way”.

Principal of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, Dr Narinder Singh Sidhu said, “Rural colleges where a majority of the students are usually studying with financial aid from the college in the form of scholarships, stipends or fee concessions, how will they pay for the NCC? It is all the more difficult for the colleges to bear the entire burden alone”.

Several ANOs, including Prof S.S. Virk of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, Prof Kamal Sharma of A.S. College, Khanna, and Prof Baljit Singh of Malwa College, Bondli, Samrala, said it would result in discontinuation in the NCC at the majority of the institutes as each unit would have to bear expenses of around Rs 1 lakh.

Director of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, Jaswant Singh Gill said, “In today’s time when the Army is already facing an acute shortage of trained personnel, this move will further complicate the matter. The entire defence of the country is at stake. Moreover, with disruptive forces rising their ugly heads every now and then and lawlessness spreading fast among the modern youth, this move of the government can prove to be a disaster. Moreover, the fervour of patriotism and inspiration to fight for the cause of the nation can be instilled among students only through the NCC, which if stopped in the educational institutions can lead to an adverse situation”.

Area secretary of the Panjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union, Panjab University, Dr Kuldip Singh said the government should in no way hesitate in fulfilling such important responsibilities. “We, at the union level, shall be discussing this issue with the finance minister and fighting it in every way,” he added.

Earlier, a similar letter was issued to the unaided colleges and most of these colleges had discontinued their NCC units due to the paucity of funds. Dr Yog Raj, who was posted as an ANO at Kamla Lohtia College, Ludhiana, informed that they had to forcibly wind up NCC as the college was in no position to provide financial assistance and extracting money from poor students was in no way justifiable. He said they were putting pressure on the DPI to revive aid for the NCC unit so that students were adequately trained and made self defensive.

Col S.S. Deol, Commanding Officer, said, “It is purely the decision of the state government, which we are supposed to implement in letter and spirit. If some of the schools and colleges are not in a position to continue with NCC, they should send their refusal of the same as we have many others in the waiting who are all equipped to establish a self financing NCC unit in this institution”. 

Ludhiana, April 21
The Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam (LSS), which has been providing cultural items of varied nature, is bringing something novel connected with films this time. General secretary of the samagam S.K. Rai, while addressing a press conference in a city hotel here today, said an entertaining and informative music programme ‘Film Music Through Ages (A journey from K.L. Sehgal to KK)’ would be held at the Guru Nanak Bhavan on April 25.

Music has always occupied a central place in the imagination of Indians and Indian music and films have a close bondage in the journey from K.L. Sehgal to KK, songs of playback singers like Suriaya, Noor Jahahn, Zohra bai, Shamshad Begum, Talat Mehmood, Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh, Geeta Dutt, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar to new singers like KK will be sung by four singers, including two female.

The main attraction of the programme will be Prajakta Shukre - Indian Idol contestant. The programme will be conducted by two brothers Satish and Jaswant Popli of DO-RE-Mi-Company.