EDUCATION

Panjab University to organise eligibility mela from March 22
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 13
With a view to ironing out a host of problems faced by private candidates appearing for various undergraduate examinations, Panjab University will be organising a two-day eligibility mela from March 22.

The PU vice-chancellor, Prof RC Sobti, said at a press conference here today that the university had dispatched roll numbers to private candidates who would be appearing in the forthcoming examinations of the university.

However, the eligibility of many candidates could not be confirmed by the university as the examination forms of the students were found to be incomplete, not supported by the requisite documents or were otherwise ineligible.

“The university has sent separate discrepancy letters to such candidates to remove the discrepancies within 15 days from the date of dispatch failing which their admission forms will be cancelled and roll numbers will not be issued to them.

These students will also not be able to claim for refund of fee for non-compliance of the requirements specified in the letters,” said the VC.

He added that till now the university had not received any response from these candidates.

The list of these candidates would also be put up on the PU website from March 17.

The students who have received the discrepancy letters are being advised to contact the dealing officials in the student information centre at the administration block along with the discrepancy letters, all the original detailed marks cards certificates of previous examinations, two attested photographs proof of submission of examination forms and a fee of Rs 50 (in case the candidate wants a duplicate roll number) in March 22 and 23.

The VC added that the candidates who had been allotted PUPIN cards by the university earlier would not be issued any other fresh PUPIN cards/roll numbers separately.

Only intimation slips have been sent to those candidates who have changed from being regular students to private candidates and have already been issued PUPIN cards. “If such candidates have not received the intimation letters they have been advised to contact the examination branches along with all their documents and photos during the eligibility mela,” said Prof Sobti, adding that the candidates should come personally to the mela and not send relatives or friends to get their work done.

The university has also dispatched the roll numbers to the candidates who are appearing in the April, 2007 examination for the special chance during the diamond jubilee celebrations of the university.

“In case these candidates do not receive their roll numbers by March 24 they should contact the university on March 26 along with their original documents and attested photos.

SMS case: Cop talk makes NIIFT students uneasy
Tribune News Service

Mohali, March 13
If allegations of as many as 20 students of the Northern Institute of Information and Fashion Technology (NIIFT), Phase VII, Mohali, are to be believed the local police is harassing them on the pretext of investigations, calling them to police station time and again.

The girls, most of them staying in the hostel, are made to go to the police station in a group of five following summons received by the institute. The girls say they feel threatened and under stress as they have to visit the police station with no representative of the institute accompanying them.

“Our parents cannot accompany us each time the police officers call us to the police station to record our statements.The management should be more helpful in this, ” said another girl.

The Director of the institute, Ms Vijay Sharma, expressed ignorance about their grievances.

“Till date, none of the students has approached me with such a complaint. If any student approaches us for help in this regard, we will do the needful”.

The students, a majority of them girls, talked of their harassment at the hands of “burly cops”. They said they were rarely asked questions pertaining to the case. They alleged that officials more often than not asked them “irrelevant” questions, which had nothing to do with the proceedings of the case.

“Some of the cops offered to drop cases of traffic violations against a few of us handed over their visiting cards, ” said one of the students.

The students were made to stand hours at the police station.The superintendent of police (Traffic), Mohali, under whose supervision the inquiry is being conducted, said there must have been some misunderstanding.

“The word “challan”, has been misinterpreted by the students, perhaps. It is in the context of what we submit in court after an inquiry is made, and not a reference to the traffic violations.”

“We have called them in batches as per their convenience. If this doesn’t suit them, then we can further simplify the procedure. They should come to me.”

Regarding the long wait, the SP said: “ It’s a time-consuming exercise to investigate every aspect of the case as we have received another complaint from the concerned teacher. To counter-check the statements, sometimes we have to ask them questions, which might appear awkward to them. I have given my official phone number to the students and have specifically told them to call me whenever they feel any kind of trouble.”

The same institute was in news in December last, when its head of department K Krishnamurthy was reportedly accused of sending vulgar SMSs to students and making obscene phone calls. Following this, a group of students, had gone on strike and the teacher was suspended.

However, one of the girl students had moved the court (March 2) against “misuse of powers” by the managing authorities. The court had directed the secretary, industries and commerce, Punjab, to initiate an inquiry into the complaint of the student and take measures to redress the grievances of the student within three weeks of receiving the orders.

The Director of the institute denied receiving any such orders .

PU Library
Book issuance to get smarter
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 13
Panjab University library members will soon return and issue books using a computer-based recognition system. The university’s board of finance has approved an expenditure of Rs 3 crore on the installation of a system in the library that will automate the process of issuing and return of books.

PU vice-chancellor Prof R.C. Sobti said in a press conference today the system would be in place soon and complement the current system of manual return and issue of books. The university has contacted a private agency that installs such systems in universities.

Once the system is in place, members who wish to issue books will have to locate the book and use their library card to log on to a computer-based terminal machine.

The machine will scan the book and make an entry against the name of the member.

Weather no impediment for them
Archo 2007

Sinm 2007

Chandigarh, March 13
The second day of the ongoing Punjab University youth festival “Sinm 2007” saw the attendance of a large number of students for academic and cultural events lined up for the day in spite of inclement weather. It was law auditorium, venue for all cultural items for the day, that witnessed heavy rush of students throughout the day in spite of rain.

Results: folk songs: Amit Bali and Ritu (1), Meenakshi (2), Amit Bhatia (3); folk dance (group): PGIMER (dandas) (1), PU (gidda) (2); folk dance (individual-girls): Inderpreet Kaur (1), Santokhpreet Brar, PU (2); rangoli: Kanmal Walia, PU (1), Meena Kaushal, PGIMER (2); collage making: Simerjeet and Jyoti (1), Shikhar Mishra (2), Asha and Poonam (3); quiz: Aditya and Anirudh (PEC) (1), Nikhil Dhar and Jagnoor (PEC) (2), Manu Jandal and Ketan Chaudhary (PEC) (3); debate (team): Harpreet Sudan and Anchal Chaudhary (1); debate (individual): Ritika (1), Anchal Chaudhary (2); declamation: Devanshi (SD college) (1), Shilpi Gupta (law) (2), Rajni (3); group discussion: Guneet (1), Jyoti (2), Arastu Chopra (3). — TNS

Judicial custody for Brij
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 13
The CBI Special Judge today remanded assistant engineer Brij Mohan in judicial custody till March 26. Though the CBI sought a five-day extension in police remand, the AE was sent to judicial custody.

In connection with the case of building violation at Fun Republic, Mani Majra, the CBI is going ahead with the next step of posing queries to senior officials in the Chandigarh Administration.

Sources in the CBI said during the three-day custody, the AE had cooperated and given vital clues that would enable the agency to unearth the wrongdoing in the case.

Most of the documents required by the agency had been procured to build the story.

The agency was also looking into the issuing of excise licence to the Athena lounge bar, which was opened in violation of the sanctioned building plans.

It will look into the manner in which the licence was issued by the excise commissioner and the way in which the clearance, if any, was sought from the estate office.

HEALTH

Jaundice strikes Zirakpur
Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, March 13
Panic has gripped the Lohgarh locality of Zirakpur following the outbreak of jaundice even as the Health Department got its act together today. A team of health officials under the supervision of the senior medical officer (SMO) of Dera Bassi civil hospital, Dr Ram Kumar, conducted a medical camp at Lohgarh with a view to screen suspected jaundice cases.

As many as 486 persons were examined at the camp. The apprehensions of health department officials proved correct with 11 patients testing positive for jaundice. Seven blood samples have been sent for further investigation, Dr Ram Kumar said.

He urged the people not to panic as the situation was not "alarming" and can be brought under control following a few precautions like boiling the drinking water. The team also distributed chlorine tablets.

Meanwhile, water samples were also collected from the colony.

Contaminated water is largely blamed for the outbreak of jaundice in the locality. Lohgarh is one of the several localities where contaminated water is alleged to be supplied by the civic authorities, sources added. Recently, water supply to the colony was reportedly disrupted with the result that several persons were drinking water from hand pumps.

SPORTS

Mani shines on  wet day
Donald Banerjee

Chandigarh, March 13
Mani Chander, a Class XII student of Sector 15 DAV School, made the most of a wet and windy day to gross the best card on the opening day of the 15th Chandigarh Ladies Amateur Golf Championship here today.

Braving strong winds and rain drops pattering on the tees of the Chandigarh Golf Club, 26 ladies got virtually drenched as they went through the 18 holes after the inaugural tee off by Taran Simran Singh, patron of the ladies section.

Mani Chander started with a double bogey and repeated the fault on the ninth hole during a day of ups and downs. The birdies were missing in her gross nine-over card of 81.

The going was tough in the first nine as she lost nine strokes. The return nine saw her perform better - a three-over score.

Her nearest rival was Sonali Chhibber who finished two strokes behind. Rabiya Gill, who probably was the only lady to sink a birdie on a wet day, finished with a gross card of 86. The elusive birdie came on the 11th hole. Pauline J.M. Singh followed two strokes  behind.

Thirteen-year-old  Jaipreet Ghuman, who plays with a handicap of 29, romped home with the best nett card of 64. A Class VIII student of YPS, Mohali, Jaipreet had a seven-stroke lead over Sonali Chhibber in the nett ratings for the Challenge Bowl.

The largest participation was among the seniors who were competing for the Lady Governor’s Cup. Leading in this category was S. Ratia with a gross card of 91.

In the Super Senior Category, Gurbrinder Johl logged 98 followed by Harinder Sandhu with 102.

Captain Pauline J.M. Singh said the tournament would continue over the next two days if weather permitted.

The scores:

Grewal Salver (gross): Mani Chander 81, Sonali Chhibber 83, Rabiya Gill 86, Pauline J.M. Singh 88, Dimple Minocha 91.

Challenge Bowl (nett): Jaipreet Ghuman 64, Sonali Chhibber 71, Mani Chander 73, Deepu Dhanoa 73, Hema Bedi 73.

Kamal blooms in pool
Tribune News Service

Mohali, March 13
Kamal Chawla won the Chaudhary Vishnu Pal Singh Memorial All-India Open 9-Ball Pool Tournament 2007 held at Mohali Club, Phase 11, here, today.

In the final tie, Kamal Chawla defeated Sandeep Gulati (13 - 10) in a well-contested match and become the proud owner of the Singapore import Wiraka International Pool Table, which costs around Rs 80,000. The runner-up Sandeep Gulati got richer by Rs 15000.

In the semifinals, Sandeep beat Sameer Bhall (11-8). In the other semifinal encounter, Amit Verma was no match for Kamal Chawla and lost the tie in a one-sided contest (11-2).

Other results: Quarter final: Sandeep Gulati b Sandeep Duggal (9 - 5); Sameer Bhalla b Sumit Talwar (9 - 8); Amit Verma b Anandit Joshi (9 - 5); Kamal Chawla b Rajat Khaneja (9 - 6).