Chandigarh, March 17
If UT lecturers (school cadre) are to be believed, the Chandigarh education department is allegedly flouting education code and recruitment rules while promoting teachers.

Their argument is that under the policy of the department, vacant posts are filled according to the seniority list of those in the UT cadre under the “promotion category”, followed by those on deputation from Haryana or Punjab under “direct/deputation category”.

“But the administration is bypassing its rules by preferring those on deputation from the parent state for the post. So far, five principals are working on deputation from Haryana in the UT as principal, which is in excess of their approved quota”, claimed a lecturer.

“Two more cases of Haryana lecturers working as headmaster in two local Government High Schools are in the process of getting promotion as principal. We resent the inflow of lecturers from the outside, in a situation when the competent UT cadre lecturers are in line and the posts are vacant,” said Dr Vinod Sharma, general secretary, Government Teachers’ Union.

The UT cadre is governed under the Punjab Education Service (School and Inspection, Class II) Rules, 1976.

The total cadre strength of Class II posts (lecturer) in the Chandigarh education department is 34.

“The administration is flouting its own rules as those on deputation will have to go back to their parent cadre on being promoted,” rued Dr Sharma.

DPI (S) Ashwani Kumar clarified that the posts are filled according to the norms. “We have received the CAT verdict in this regard, wherein it has been clearly mentioned that one stream cannot have any claim on post meant to be filled from another stream. UT-cadre lecturers will get their due whenever there is any vacancy in their promotional category.”

He added: “We had given relieving letters to headmasters on deputation but we relented when they insisted to work as headmaster only in Chandigarh without taking promotion in their parent cadre”, said DPI (S).

On those from outside joining their parent state on promotion, he said they would ask their parent cadre to send eligible candidates to fill the posts of principal under deputation quota.

If they did not send anybody, the headmasters on deputation would be considered, but certainly not at the cost of promotional avenues of UT cadre lecturers, the DPI (S) said.

“There are vacant posts of principal in some schools and there are some technical hurdles, which would be rectified within one month. The UT cadre lecturers will be recruited according to their seniority,” he assured.

The court has issued directions to the administration to fill vacant posts of principal whether falling in promotion quota or direct recruitment/deputation quota within three months.

Mohali, March 17
A two-day job festival-cum-carnival at the Rayat and Bahra College of Engineering and Bio-technology attracted thousands of students from engineering, IT, pharmaceutical and finance services streams, to the college campus in Saharuan village, near here, today.

The job carnival is being organised jointly by the Rayat and Bahra group and world's leading recruitment agency TMI.

Today, students were treated to pre-interviewing and preparatory sessions by experts ahead of their much sought after interaction with the HR managers of leading firms tomorrow and day after.

Gurvinder Singh Bahra, vice-chairman of the Rayat and Bahra group, informed the students that special control rooms and separate compartments for group discussion had been set up. “The interviews have been designed specially to facilitate a smooth conduct of placement exercise which is likely to be one of the biggest in the region so far,” said Bahra.

The carnival also saw lectures and lessons on soft skills, abstract reasoning and personality tests through group discussions aimed at determining communication and leadership abilities as well as a written test.

In the introductory sessions, the students were given tips on career selection, preparation for interviews, preparation of CVs, companies' perspective information and overall prevailing scenario on the job and skill set requirement.

Chandigarh, March 17
To keep its students abreast of the latest developments in the field of law, the Army Institute of Law, Mohali, organised a workshop on cyber law on its campus in Mohali today.

The workshop dealt with various issues related to computer fraud and cyber crime, protection of copyright, trademark and other forms of intellectual property rights in the cyber space.

The role, importance and manner in which digital signatures could be used, digital evidence collection and aspects of the Information Technology Act were also discussed. The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Asian School of Cyber Laws, Pune, which provides consultancy to government departments, private sector and law enforcement agencies on matters related to cyber crime investigations, computer evidence analysis and cyber law.

Chandigarh, March 17
Shifa Mahajan of SD College-32, won the first place in the ‘marriage of colours’ event while Anirban Ghosh of Ambala College of Engineering and Applied Research emerged winner in the ‘technical group discussion’ on the second day of ‘Goonj’, a cultural programme held on the grounds of University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Sector 25, here, today.

The main highlights of the day were “MAGathon” for all vocational readers, “Magic Spell” to see how well participants know words and “Face Painting.” A management event that turned out to be a crowd puller was the “Video GD” conducted by Madan from Bulls Eye.

The preliminary round “Envision yourself” was also conducted to screen out 30 participants from the 170 entries. It was an IQ, EQ and GK test. The second round “Coordination to Dominate” required the participants show their comradeship and coordination abilities.

“In One Rhythm” the third round, the six selected candidates were given a celebrity to play and were asked incisive questions by the judges which tested their confidence, wit and nerves. Abhishek Sharma from UIET (MTech student) was announced the winner and Arastu Chopra from the law department ended up the runner up.

Meanwhile, the Rotaract UIET Club organised a free dental checkup. Dr Rajni and Dr Pradeep from BDS, Panjab University, examined around 120 to 150 students.

The night ended with a fashion show which enthralled the audience. This was followed by a performance by Khiali from “The Great Indian Laughter Challenge” who had the whole crowd buckling up with laughter.

The dazzling show ‘Razmatas,’ a western dance competition followed. The winner was given prize money of Rs 10,000.

The winners: Mayank Garg and Piyush Agrawal (UIET) 1, Himanshu Sharma and Varun Garg (PEC) 2, Ekansh Anand (UIET) and Himanshu Gupta (Apeejay College of Engineering) 3.

Technical Group Discussion: Anirban Ghosh (Ambala College of Engg & applied Research) 1, Aman Sehgal 2, Karanvir Singh 3.

Cultural Events (Hindi solo):Nishant (MMEC CSE 2nd yr) 1, Sugandha Arora (S D College, B Com) 2.

Marriage of Colours: Shifa Mahajan (SD College, B Com 1st yr)

Liquid face: Sneh and Parizad (CCET) 1, Avikal and Navneet (UIET) 2.

Chandigarh , March 17
Slum children of Pustak School in Sector 25 were treated to fun today. In action at the school were the members of “We Volunteer”, a group of local college students, who have taken upon themselves to change the priorities of youth.

They say, “We want to bring about consciousness about the way things are. On the one end are people who are reaching for the sky and reveling in the glory of 9 per cent annual growth. On the other there are those who are yet to step beyond margins. We are here to help strike a balance,” say members of the group.

So today, they were at Pustak-25 to make a small difference by engaging children in fun activities that followed a plantation camp. It was no normal camp, where a chief guest plants a sapling and that’s it. It was a camp with a difference.

The volunteers first instructed the children in the art of planting and then went ahead with the programme. Part of the programme was to talk about the virtues of plantation and plants.

And then came lessons in how to recite the National Anthem and how to say prayers. Some physical training exercises were also held. The aim was to help slum children come out of their shells and feel comfortable talking to the “empowered” lot. Confidence is all about interaction and that’s what “We Volunteers” helps children to do.

By the end of it, the children were smiling and laughing and actually talking about their joy: Rani, one of them, had this to say; “Humne kafi enjoy kiya, humne podhe lagaye. Kabhi podho ko todna nahi chahiye aur naye podhe lagane chahiye.”

Children also got a chance to learn something which is not strictly defined in their courses, but things that can add value to their lives. As Aakash, another child, said: “Ab mai pura jan gan man achhe se ga sakta hun. Jai Hind."

Among those who made a success of the event were the children of Pustak-25 and members of We Volunteer, including Varun Adlakha, Preet Arjun Singh and Shikha.

Chandigarh, March 17
The department of fine arts of Government College, Sector 46, organised ‘Art Fest 07’ and the annual art exhibition. DPI (colleges) deputy director P.R. Aggarwal inaugurated the exhibition and gave away the prizes. Dinesh, a student of BA (III), got the first prize, Lovneesh of BA (II) got the second and Savita of BA (I) got the third prize, respectively.

The exhibition had a variety of works by students, including oil paintings, canvas paintings, water-colours, oil pastels, pencil sketching etc.

A creativity corner was organised by students in which some of them made portraits of others. Fun tattoos, t-shirt painting, mehndi application and fabric painting activities were also organised on the spot.

Special invitees to visit the exhibition were 12 students from Sikhya School, a school of learning for the underprivileged children in Sector 46.

Mohali, March 17
Multimedia and information technology is all set to bring about a sea change in the way education is being imparted, more so for instruction to young kindergarten students, who are the latest niche in the tech-savvy world. This was the implied theme at a seminar on “Education through multimedia” which was held at the Small Wonders School campus, here, yesterday. Vice-president of Educomp Rajesh Bhardwaj introduced the faculty to the latest techniques. Teachers were updated of the newly installed LCD televisions apart from academic instructions on the latest developments in the field of IT for kindergarten education. Multimedia instruction for play class, nursery, LKG, UKG and Class I was the highlight of the seminar.

Principal of the school Anu Mahajan reiterated that computer-based interaction had a direct impact on the academic results of the students as it helped in understanding and memorising concepts better.

Chandigarh, March 17
The victim of the rape case involving former SAD MLA from Dhuri, Gagangjit Singh Barnala, has been recalled by a local court to get her statement recorded.

Allowing the application of the prosecution to re-examine the victim in light of the evidence, Additional District and Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar today fixed May 1 as the next date of hearing.

The recalling of the victim is significant as on December 15, the victim had retracted from her previous statements made before the police and also feigned ignorance about the identity of the suspect.

Denying that she was raped by the former MLA, the maid during the proceedings in the court had stated that she had suffered an abdominal injury after falling from a bicycle, as a result of which she started bleeding.

She also did not corroborate her previous statements of being raped, as recorded by the police in the main challan and two supplementary statements.

Sources in the police said on the date of re-examination, she would be confronted with the video footage of the earlier statement she made at the General Hospital, Sector 16, where she was admitted on August 12. The prosecution is likely to record the statement of the three doctors - Dr Amandeep Kaur, Dr Satwant Bhalla and Dr Bidhu - who were present on the day when the victim was taken to the hospital. It may be mentioned that on December 15, the victim had retracted from her previous statements.

Chandigarh, March 17
An accused in the Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal, Anil Sethi, misbehaved with mediapersons when he was brought at the district courts here today. Commotion prevailed when the accused gestured the mediapersons to leave the court of the District and Sessions Judge.

The trial, which began in the morning, was resumed after the lunch break.

After the days argument ended in the evening, the accused said the media stories on the case had been factually wrong. This led to a commotion in the courtroom.

Meanwhile, the other accused in the case intervened and apologised on behalf of Sethi.

The court deferred the case till March 19. Besides the two former ministers, Mr G.A. Mir and Mr Raman Matto, cases of Jammu and Kashmir government principal secretary Mohmmad Iqbal Khanday, suspended BSF DIG K.C. Padhi, DSP Yousif Mir, former additional advocate-general Anil Sethi, alleged kingpin of the racket Sabeena, her husband Abdul Hamid Bullah, advocate Shabir Ahmed Laway have been transferred to the district courts.

Chandigarh, March 17
Sarabjeet Kaur, a former postmaster in the Department of Posts, was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment by the CBI Special Court here today for taking a loan of Rs 8.5 lakh on the basis of forged documents.

Apart from misusing her official position, she had been accused of using unsold kisan vikas patra (KVP) to secure loan from Punjab State Cooperative Bank.

Five other family members of the convict, including her mother, have been acquitted by the court.

Acting on a complaint, the CBI had registered a case against the postmaster, posted in Post Office, Sector 27, and her other family members - Santokh Kaur, Joginder Kaur, Jasbir, Jasmeer and Sukhjeet.

She was accused of removing 117 unsold kisan vikas patras and using the photocopies to secure the loan of Rs 8.5 lakh.

Chandigarh, March 17
Timeless melodies created by legendary film music director O.P. Nayyar, reverberated the Plaza Carnival here today as the acclaimed music composer and playback singer Brijesh Ahuja and group presented his hit film numbers. The largely attended programme was organised by the Centre for Carnival Arts, BSNL and Coca Cola with the Tribune group of Newspapers as the media sponsor.

Unlike earlier carnival programmes wherein folklore music and dances of the region were mainly presented, the musical soiree titled 'O.P. Nayyar Nite' had more takers today.

The noted playback singer, actor and music director of over forty regional films and all Jaspal Bhatti productions, Brijesh Ahuja took the centre stage to dole out magic with serene songs like 'Hai duniyan usi ki’ and ‘Pukarta chala hoon mein’ before the more ecstatic numbers ‘Lakhon hain nigah mein’, ‘Yoon to hamne lakh hasin dekhe hain, tum sa nahin dekha’ and many more immortalised by his idol Mohammad Rafi.

Young Isha teamed up with Brijesh for 'Deewana hua baadal' before she gave solos like ‘Ye hai reshmi zulfon ka andhera na ghabraaiye’. Brijesh was supported by Nidhi and veteran singer Vinay Sharma who excelled with a Mukesh song 'chal akela, chal akela'.

Besides, Tony and Vijay also presented songs but the audiences marvelled at the cute dances by Avni Nagpal and Anvi Mahajan. Zaki Hashmi compered the show with admirable professional skills while Carnival president Manki Deep honoured the artistes.

There was an unprecedented rush at the artistes’ corner where Prof Ravinder Sharma demonstrated drawings and paintings while students of the GCA sketched portraits.