Chandigarh, November 5
Punjab Public School, Nabha, will celebrate its 47th Founders Day on November 7. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will be the chief guest on the occasion.

Several events are being organised to commemorate the occasion. Among the highlights will be a spectacular horse riding show and a band display by the students at the school campus.

A variety entertainment programme is scheduled for November 6, where the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen T.K. Sapru, an ex-Nabhaite, will be the chief guest.

The school is also referred to as the nation’s sword arm. According to the headmaster, Commodore I.L. Syal (retd), the institute has the single largest contribution by any school to the country’s armed forces. Out of the seven serving Army Commanders, two — General Sapru and GOC-in-C, Central Command, Lt Gen O.P. Nandrajog — are from this school.

Vice Admiral J.S. Bedi, Flag-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command, the Navy’s largest command, is also from this school, as are Lt Gen J.S. Lidder and Maj Gen Bikram Singh, presently heading United Nations forces in Sudan and Congo respectively.

The school has also produced a large number of eminent civil servants, industrialists, doctors, entrepreneurs, educationalists and political leaders. It is rated among the seven best residential schools of the country.

Chandigarh, November 5
Shivalik Public School, Sector 41-B, organised annual prize distribution and cultural programme in the school auditorium today. Students of the senior wing (Classes IX-XII) put up a colourful show. Folk dances of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan were presented. The girls in resplendent outfits, dancing to the captivating rhythmic beats, mesmerised the audience with their Gujarati dance Dandiya. Panchtatav, a theme dance depicting the harmony of fine elements leading to peaceful co-existence, was the highlight of the day. CBSE toppers of the year 2007 were also honoured. Director of the school D.S.Bedi proposed a vote of thanks.

POSTER-MAKING: Charanjit, Parul and Shelja got the first, second and third positions, respectively, in the junior category of the poster making competition held at Maharishi Dayanand Public School, Daria, near here, today. Shubham, Gitanjali and Dharminder bagged the first three positions, respectively, in the senior category of the competition.

Students also took pledge not to burst crackers.

WORKSHOP: An art and craft workshop, organised by Pidilite, was held at Kundan International School, Sector 46-B, here, today.

The workshop was attended by art and craft teachers from more than 40 schools. An on-the-spot arts and craft competition, using material provided by Pidilite, was also organised. The first prize and trophy were bagged by arts and craft teacher of Kundan International School Gaurav Arora. The second and third prizes were bagged by Lata Nair and Jagjeet Kaur, respectively. Chairman of the Shri Kundan Lal Trust M.P. Gupta and headmistress of Kundan International School Kavita Wadhwa stressed on the inclusion of arts and craft in the educational curriculum of schools. They said such activities fostered and encouraged creativity in children. Arts and craft, they said, should be an integral part of the curriculum. Abrahim, area sales manager of Pidilite, conducted the workshop. Pankaj Saroj from the College of Fine Arts was another resource person.

Chandigarh, November 5
A local court has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on BSNL as compensation and costs for wrongfully disconnecting a landline phone of a senior citizen.

A resident of Sector 27 here, Gobinder Singh, filed a complaint before the Lok Adalat that his telephone number 2650995 was disconnected on March 17 this year without any notice.

Pankaj Chandgothia, counsel for the complainant, contended that the complainant was a senior citizen and lived along with his aged wife. Due to the sudden disconnection of his only landline number he was unable to contact his near and dear ones in the event of emergency.

Chandgothia pointed out that since the complainant had lost faith in BSNL due to their oppressive conduct, he had to take another connection from a private telecom company.

The commercial officer (south) of BSNL in reply stated that the telephone was supplied in the category of Swantrata Senani which entitled him to 50 per cent rental rebate and other concessions.

The department had issued a circular in 2000, which required the subscriber to submit a "life certificate" every year by September 30. Further, the advance rental for ISD facility had been enhanced to Rs 3,000 which had also not been paid.

R.P. Bajaj, chairman of the court, observed that the audit objection of the department said "in case a subscriber failed to submit that certificate, a notice would be issued to him calling for the life certificateand after three months, the telephone would be disconnected".

However, no such notice was ever served upon the subscriber.

Moreover, the department without adopting the alternative of withdrawing the concessions, straightaway disconnected the telephone.

The court awarded a consolidated amount of Rs 10,000 as compensation and costs to the applicant, "having regard to the age, status and harassment, inconvenience and hardship, both mental and physical undergone by the applicant." The security amount has also been directed to be refunded after deduction of the pending bill amount.