Ludhiana, October 25
The Punjab Agricultural University has started laying emphasis on eco-friendly technologies not only in agriculture but in home science as well. Dr Neelam Grewal, head of department of clothing and textiles, PAU, said the clothes dyed with natural colours are better accepted in the international market over the traditional chemical dyes.

She said the recently developed samples of naturally dyed clothes were exhibited by the Fashion Technology Park, Mohali, in the trade fairs held in China, Korea and India.

The main reasons for the decline in the use of natural dyes was the ease of availability of synthetic dyes in standard form and a shorter, simplified and easier process of dyeing, she added.

The use of synthetic dyes led to environmental pollution as well as health hazards to consumers. Most of the synthetic dyes are derivatives of coal tar and are made from chemical compounds. Moreover, the effluent released from the dyeing of the synthetic dyes are toxic and cause environmental pollution and harmful to health. Therefore, an attempt is now being made to revive the process of dyeing with natural dyes.

Another home scientist, Dr Sandeep Bains said by the early part of this century, only a small percentage of textile dyes were extracted from plants. Lately, the interest in natural dyes has increased as the consumers have become aware of ecological and environmental problems related to the use of synthetic dyes. Use of natural dyes cuts down significantly on the amount of toxic effluent resulting from the synthetic dye process, she added.

These dyes are mainly being used by hobby groups, designers, traditional dyers and printers, non-government organisations, museums, academic institutes, research associations, laboratories and industry. Dr Grewal further said the handicraft industry in many countries has evolved around local talent in the art and craft of dyeing with natural dyes to produce special fabrics that have a rich market.

Ludhiana, October 25
The PAU department of farm power and machinery in collaboration with advanced training institute under the directorate general of employment and training for the northern region organised a workshop on “Course Curriculum on Modular Employment Skills in the Agricultural Sector” here, today.

Ashok Kumar, deputy director general (DGET), directorate general employment and training,was the chief guest.The workshop was attended by representatives from tractor industry, testing and training institute, Hisar, farm machinery manufacturers of the region and directorate of employment generation, Government of Punjab, apart from PAU and ministry of labour and employment, Government of India.

The workshop was attended by J.P. Srivastava, HMT representative, Dinesh Nijhawan, joint director, PGET, D.P. Sabharwal, directorate of apprenticeship training and Kamlesh Bhardwaj, additional director, employment generation, Government of India.

Khanna

WORKSHOP: A one-day workshop on developing entrepreneurial skills among the budding hospitality professionals was held on the campus of Desh Bhagat Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology,at Mandi Gobindgarh, here today.

Ludhiana, October 25
Department of farm power and machinery, PAU, organised a field day on “Resource conservation and diversification machinery technology and farm safety” here, today, at the departmental farm.

More than 350 farmers, farm machinery manufacturers and extension engineers, field staff, bankers and officers from department of agriculture, Punjab, soil conservators and others participated in this event.

The department displayed various machines during this programme.

Dr M.S.Kang, vice-chancellor, PAU, was the chief-guest. He stressed the need for conservation of environment and natural resources in today’s world particularly, in relation to Punjab. He said due to intensive cultivation in the state, there had not been only fast depletion of natural resources but there was a lot of pollution of these resources.

Diversification of agriculture was another important mean to save ecology apart from aiding in resource conservation, improvement in soil health and restraining the falling water table in the state.

Dr N.S.Malhi, director of extension education, in his presidential remarks stressed the need of promoting eco-friendly technology like Happy Seeder, Laser Leveller etc. which will give thrust to sustain agriculture in the state of Punjab. He exhorted the engineers to develop eco-friendly and efficient machinery technologies. This will help in reducing wastage thus avoiding pollution. This will also make agriculture cost-effective and sustain future of agriculture in the state.

Dr V.K.Sehgal, dean, College of Agricultural Engineering, welcomed the guests. He further referred to give added thrust in creating agro-industrial and value-addition infrastructure in the villages to improve rural economy and to reduce migration of population to cities.

Dr J.S.Dhiman, additional director, communication centre, said media should provide information to masses related to the theme “safe environment to save mankind”.

Ludhiana, October 25
Wylie Memorial High School and Aylesbury High School jointly celebrated the Annual Cultural festival, Fusion-2007, in the premises of Aylesbury school, near CMC, last evening.

The schools are part of the transcontinental group through which they are further linked with the Chagaik School in Kenya.

The programme included traditional and modern dances from India in fusion with ballet, a history of dance in Britain and musical scores from Andrew Lloyed Webber’s Joseph.

Sunil Pillay, manager of the school, said the interaction between the two schools has been mutually beneficial. Wylie and Aylesbury have shared many students, teachers and cultural exchange programmes in the past.

Alan Rosen, head teacher of the Aylesbury High School, was also present on this occasion.

Ludhiana, October 25
GGN Institute of Management and Technology (GGNIMT) organised a seminar on “Impact of organised retail on the economy of Punjab” here, today. Many speakers were invited to deliberate on this topic.

Prof Joginder Singh from department of economics, PAU, initiated the discussion by sharing the statistics of the Punjab economy with respect to the retail sector. He presented a gloomy picture of Punjab, which was once the richest state in terms of per capita.

He said the only solution was to shift the population out of agriculture, as the growth rate in other sectors were fast and enormous.

Padam Shri Jagjeet Singh Hara spoke on this issue on behalf of farmers. He advised people to welcome the big giants, who were actually bringing in with them technology and globalisation. Hara said Punjab was only good at production, while the other two very critical activities of processing and marketing were completely ignored.

Principal Jaswant Singh Gill, GNN College, Doraha, also expressed his views on the topic. As a consumer, he said we must accept the big organised retails with open arms and at the same time, we must be aware of their motives.

Harish Dhanda, parliamentary secretary, Government of Punjab, presided over the event. He highlighted the fact that such a situation could lead to monopoly and we must be guarded against it, if required. Senior lecturer Prof Parvinder Singh, department of management, GGNIMT, concluded the discussion by making a presentation on vision of the big corporate and challenges faced by them. He also highlighted the benefits that accrued to the farmers and the consumes with the growth of these big retail shops.