Chandigarh, March 8
Close your eyes and imagine yourself sitting in front of a computer. Try and type your name using the keyboard. Chances are you will not be able to even find the letters.

No amount of familiarity with the computer can help a visually impaired to learn how to use it. The fact that they cannot see the computer screen is enough to close all doors of progress that involve the use of computer but the Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology yesterday brought light into the world of eight visually impaired students who enrolled for the first-ever computer course designed for them.

Started by the college under the aegis of the Government of India’s scheme of integrating persons with disabilities in the mainstream of technical and vocational education, the six-month course would entail learning of basic computers by these students.

The computers used by these students work on an interactive software developed by Jaws. Every action using the keyboard is read out by the computer. All that the students need to know to start the course is English and a little familiarity with the keyboard. Some keys are marked for the convenience of the user.

“A student who cannot see would be able to learn the entire operations of the computer using only the keyboard. They can type with ease since every word written is spoken back by the computer. One of the most popular screen reader worldwide, Jaws for windows, works on PCs and provides access to all software applications and the Internet,” pointed out Mr Bipin Sher Singh, a faculty member at the college.

The enthusiastic team of trainers led by Mr S.D. Dogra, is set to take up the challenge of making the students adept at computers. “We are constantly working with persons with disabilities and we realise that even while they might be lacking in one aspect of normal life they are highly skilled in other aspects. These are the aspects we work on,” said Mr S.S. Rao, adding that the college is also running courses for the physically challenged, teaching them computers and data entry operations.

Chandigarh, March 8
Confusion prevailed among the city students after the news of Class XII CBSE Business Studies paper leak at Panipat.

The panicked students, who had otherwise found the paper easy, were in state of tizzy. Frantic calls were made by both harried parents and the students at the Regional CBSE Office in Panchkula. Until evening, the students and the family members remained unsure about the paper leak.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Sunil Kumaria, a parent said that the news did lead to a lot of commotion but he was relieved to know that the paper had not been cancelled all over India but only at Panipat. Ram Kumar Sharma, Principal GMSSS, Sector 16, termed it as an unfortunate incident despite such tight security arrangements made by the CBSE. Madhu Bahl, Principal KB DAV and CBSE counsellor here, too admitted that it was a shocking incident.

If the students had to take the entire exercise again then they were sure to lose interest, she added.

Interestingly, most of the school heads in the city were not aware of the paper leak until late in the evening.

Some of them were informed by the students and teachers. Anita, a commerce student, said that because of the paper leak she had not been able to concentrate and was worried about the cancellation of the paper.

Her friend, Meenakshi too, echoed similar views and said that it was a disgraceful incident despite tall claims by CBSE.

Meanwhile, the Government Teachers Union, too, has condemned the CBSE paper leak at Panipat.

The GTU secretary, Dr Vinod Sharma, said that the incident had put the credibility of the institution at stake and the confidence of the hard-working and regular students had also been challenged.

He said that a thorough enquiry should be made into the incident. Meanwhile, the GTU also expressed resentment towards the verbal orders of the Education Department regarding the cancellation of holidays on every second Saturday and Sunday for conducting the survey for the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan Society, Chandigarh, during the peak exam days.

Chandigarh, March 8
With the Australian Government pumping in $ 25 million to facilitate India-specific research and scholarships, IDP Education Australia is ready to meet the surge in the demand from Indian students for opting for studying in Australia.

IDP personnel were in city to conduct an interview programme for students wanting to go to Australia for higher studies with representatives from 35 universities to assist the students to make the right choice and pick the best option.

Addressing a press gathering, Mr Henry A S Ledlie, director, IDP Education, said that there had been over 100 per cent increase in the number of people opting to go to Australia to pursue higher studies.

He added that Australian universities offered ample job opportunities to overseas students with easy immigration norms and the costs, including tuition fees and living cost comes around $15,000 (US). Talking about the new popular courses being offered, he said that courses in cookery, hairdressing and IT were in great demand among the Indian students.

Offering e-visas to those interested, IDP was also looking at the possibility of applying for the visa at much earlier stage. Mr Henry, however, stressed that India needed to have a clear-cut policy on education to enable prestigious institutes to set shop in the country and to enable more and more foreign students to come and study in India. He added that in Australia, people accepted the fact that that education was a business like any other but whatever profits were reaped out of it were ploughed back into improving the educational standards and infrastructure.

With four new scholarships for Indian students on the cards, IDP certainly expects the number of Indian students in Australia to hit the 80,000 mark by 2025.

Chandigarh, March 8
University Business School (UBS), Panjab University, is bustling with activity as preparation is on for the annual reunion of the Alumni Association to be held on March 11.

Chandigarh, March 8
Panic triggered in the District Courts and the Sector 19 market this afternoon following bomb hoax calls. The police said a woman from Sector 38-West called the police control room and informed that she had received an anonymous call informing about bombs in both the places.

A senior officer of the Chandigarh Police said in the wake of the Tuesday’s multiple blasts in Varanasi claiming lives of several peoples, the police immediately swung into action and sealed the areas. The police beefed up security in the city following the Varanasi blasts.

Sources said that the police received the call around 2:30 pm and soon the senior police officers, along with police force, equipped with bomb disposal squads and dog squads, reached the spot. The police evacuated the districts courts complex as many people were inside the courts. The search operation lasted for over two hours and the police thoroughly checked the premises before allowing the people to move in.

At the same time, the Sector 19 police station also carried out a similar search operation in the market areas of Sector 19. Seeing the cops coming in a large number panic triggered among shopkeepers and visitors.