Chandigarh, July 6
In 1996 Anshu Kataria waited in the corridors of the University Business School (UBS) of Panjab University for almost three weeks to get admission as financial difficulties weighed heavily on his mind.

However, 11 years down the line the 31-year-old UBS alumnus is himself all set to establish two business schools at Nepra village on the Banur-Rajpura road offering management degrees to the aspirants of the region.

In fact Kataria would be rubbing shoulders with some of biggest players in the education field in the region like Chitkara, Gian Sagar and Swami Vivekananda Institute of Engineering and Technology, which have set up educational institutes on the Banur-Rajpura road, an emerging institutional hub.

“The letters of intent for the colleges from the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is a dream come true for me and result of our family’s joint efforts, including my father, Prof DC Kataria and my wife, Dr Parveen Kataria,” Anshu said.

“While studying at the UBS I had the burning desire to start my own business school as liberalisation and globalisation of the Indian economy had thrown immense opportunities for the management students,” Kataria added.

The colleges - Aryan Business School and Aryan School of Advanced Management - will have an intake capacity of 480 students by 2010.

In the booming economy, the demand for management graduates have increased manifold but supply position remains static, Anshu said, underlining the importance of new business schools.

Mohali, July 6
The All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has issued two letters of intent (LoI) to the Swami Vivekanand Group for starting two postgraduate programmes. Ashwani Garg, chairman, Swami Vivekanand of Institute of Engineering and Technology (SVIET), said the two new institutes - Swami Vivekanand Institute of Information and Technology (SV-IIT) for master of computer applications (MCA) and Swami Vivekanand Business School (SVBS) for master in business administration (MBA) - will be started this session.

SVIET CEO Manmohan Garg said these two institutions would be equipped with the state-of-the-art infrastructure. Both MBA and MCA courses will have 60 seats each. The institutes will be affiliated to the Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar. 

Chandigarh, July 6
As many as 1,370 students were admitted to Class XI on the 3rd day of counselling under the general category at the centralised admission centre of the Sector 23 Government Model Senior Secondary School, here, today.

In the science stream, all seats in model schools of sectors 21, 37, 40 and 10 were filled today. The cut-off percentage here was 67.8 per cent, 72.8 per cent, 67.5 per cent and 67.6 per cent, respectively. The seats in the science stream in model schools of sectors 35, 16, 19 and 33 were already filled yesterday.

In the commerce stream, all seats (general category) in model schools of sectors 40, 35, 19 and 46 have been filled. The cut-off percentage in these schools was 69.2 per cent, 75 per cent, 69.4 per cent and 66.2 per cent, respectively. The seats for the arts stream in all the schools are still lying vacant.

The trend shows more demand for science subjects as compared to commerce, whereas there are lesser takers for the arts stream.

According to J.S. Basota, the spokesperson of the department, the merit-wise interview list will be available from tomorrow onwards on the following website: www.xtechp.com. The results can be seen after 6.30 pm.

In the vocational stream, students are found opting more for IT. All the seats for this course have been filled in model schools of sectors 18, 23, 33 and 37. The cut-off percentage here was 67.4 per cent, 66.8 per cent, 70.6 per cent and 66.6 per cent, respectively. 

Protest: SOPU activists staged a protest outside the law department on Friday against a student not being allowed to submit his papers through his guardian during counselling. SOPU members gave a written complaint against the chairman, Shashi K. Sharma, to the vice-chancellor’s office, alleging that Brinder Singh had applied for admission to the first semester through his guardians but the application was rejected. He had taken the plea that he was medically unfit to attend the counselling. SOPU rival group, PUSU, alleged that Brinder Singh was an offender under Section 307 of the IPC and was absconding and not medically unfit as his certificate stated.

Meeting: The syndicate meeting to be held on Saturday is likely to discuss several issues, including teaching appointments to the departments of Hindi and Punjabi, resignations of two teachers, and action against Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, for not seeking affiliation for a course.

Condolence: The faculty of the Hindi department held a condolence meeting in connection with the death of Rakesh Vats, an author of Ambala known for his contribution to Hindi literature.

Chandigarh
PROJECT: Four Class XI students of Vivek High School, Sector 38, escorted by their teacher Rakesh Kumar, participated in the ‘Round Square Asia Region Service Project’ held at village Jaidwar in Uttarakhand from May 23 to June 7. The students — Avirat Sundra, Rahul Jain, Akshay Vashistha and Saransh Mehtani — constructed a community centre for the village folk.

SEMINAR: A seminar on differently-abled got underway at Asha School, Chandi Mandir, here on Friday. The three-day event will deliberate upon one of the most important aspects in this field, that is, the specific and correct categorisation of these children. Mohni Daljeet Singh, president, Western Command Army Wives Welfare Association, delivered the inaugural address. Principals of Asha schools within the Western Command are attending the seminar. TNS 

Chandigarh, July 6
She does not mean to be rude but could the newspersons leave the room and let her meet with the aspiring actors alone? She does not mean to be rude but no interviews or photographs without permission, even on location or anywhere.

Actor Preity Zinta, dimpled smile intact, was not willing to broker any moments with the invited press contingent at Anupam Kher’s ‘Actor Prepares’ acting institute at Sector 11, saying “I am not an acting guru but an actor and what I want to share is personal.”

Even just listening in, without speaking, on the event was not allowed and everyone went back the way they came after waiting for over an hour.

No request contrary to her decision helped. She perhaps did not want to share her acting tips. The smile was intact, the refusal firm.

As everyone re-gathered at Taj Chandigarh, Sector 17, to click fellow-actor Salman Khan who came into town this evening, Zinta walked in, ready to talk.

Here for the Godfrey Phillips Bravery Awards to be held tonight, Preity said she felt “humbled and honoured” about giving the awards away. She said she knew how it felt because she has had to face difficult moments too. “We as humans feel we are invincible, but we are not,” she said.

Zinta completes nine years in the Hindi film industry this October and today she is probably in the best phase of her career, getting the cream of the projects. Apart from Mera Bharat Mahaan for which the shooting is going on in the region, Preity is also acting in an English film, The Last Lear, and another Hindi project, Har Pal.

However, debacles do not faze her. “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom was challenging for me especially as it was a new format that was being tried. But the audience did not like it and I have no regrets,” she insists.

As for Preity, she is a regular girl behind the star image who has fun and whose favourite place continues to be her hometown Shimla for the “simple place” it is.

Having said this, her years in moviedom have not alienated her from her roots, for her parents continue to be her idols.

The final word, though, must belong to the ‘ubiquitous’ press. There is a difference between responsible journalism and paparazzi, she says. “Just leave a note and someone will get back; why chase anyone,” she says.

Perhaps, invitations from a coordinating body for a particular event are not enough?