College development fund rate cut
CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — The recommendations of the examination reforms committee were discussed at length at a meeting of the principals of the affiliated colleges of Panjab University here today.

Orange is costlier
CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — While beans became cheaper, the price of orange became costlier in the past one week.

4 held for obstructing demolition CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — The Kharar police yesterday arrested four persons on the charge of obstructing public servants from performing their duty during the demolition drive at Behlolpur village, near Kharar.

A nostalgic get-together Punjab cop held for fraud

Gen Malik leaves for Northern Command
CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — Ending his three-day visit to the headquarters of the Western Command, Chandimandir, the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen V.P. Malik, left for the Northern Command this evening.

Cong plea on symbol rejected
CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — The Election commission for UT has rejected the Congress plea for the allotment of a party symbol to its candidates for the coming panchayat elections.

500 given blankets
CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — As many as 500 blankets were distributed among handicapped, rickshaw pullers and labourers by the local unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad on the New Year's night.

College development fund rate cut
From our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — The recommendations of the examination reforms committee were discussed at length at a meeting of the principals of the affiliated colleges of Panjab University here today.

Full implementation of the UGC guidelines with regard to examinations, transparency in the evaluation of answersheets and ways to remove discrepancies in the evaluation process were among the prominent issues raised by various principals at the meeting.

Mr P.S.Sangha suggested that one roll number for all three years, like the registration numbers, should be given to the students when they take their first exam to save time and money.

Mrs Harmeet Kaur was of the view that the detailed marks card should be laminated to avoid any tampering with the marks. Random re-checking of papers and punishment for teachers committing irregularities were the other measures suggested by her.

A proposal to open centres for the sale of examination forms in far-flung areas where Rs 50 were being charged for a form costing Rs 15 was also put forward. Mr Jaswant Gill advocated relief to compartment candidates who chose not to take exams for all subjects.

Reacting to various suggestions, the Vice Chancellor, Prof M.M. Puri, said that these suggestions would be given due consideration and incorporated in a formal document which would be presented at the Syndicate meeting for approval.

A majority of the principals said the initial excitement generated by the introduction of the BBA and the BCA courses had died down with a letter for the payment of the endowment fund by the university. The colleges have ended up losers in the process.

A suggestion to raise the fees of the courses and an increase in the number of seats from 30 to at least 40 was made by Mr Sangha, who was supported by Mrs Bimla Bhargawa as these courses had not proved to be self-financing.

Several principals wanted the endowment funds to be waived off but Professor M.M. Puri did not agree to the suggestion. He, however, approved the constitution of a committee which would decide the instalments of the endowment fund and look into the problems the principals were facing in the implementation of these courses.

The meeting approved the revised rates of honorarium, TA and DA for the VC's nominees for the selection of Principal. The new rate would be Rs 500 as against Rs 200 a day. For the selection of lecturers, subject experts to be deputed would be paid Rs 300 a day.

Strengthening of the vocational courses in colleges with the assistance of the UGC, a reduction in the rate of college development fund from Rs 20 to Rs 5 per student from the next session and constitution of a committee to decide the use of this fund judiciously, activation of the extension lectures programme in the colleges with the support of the university faculty and faculty improvement programme through workshops were the other major decisions taken at the meeting.

The revision of the building fund from Rs 20 to Rs 120 and a hike in the amalgamated fund from Rs 200 to Rs 480 were passed without discussion.

Earlier Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh, Dean, College Development Council, apprised the principals of the grants the council had secured in collaboration with the UGC. He asked the principals for timely initiative to avail of more grants.

Orange is costlier
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — While beans became cheaper, the price of orange became costlier in the past one week.

A survey of the market by the TNS revealed that beans, available between Rs 35 and Rs 45 a kg during the past week, became cheaper as a kg of beans was priced at Rs 24 in the local market today. The price of beans had even soared to Rs 60 a kg last month.

Traders attributed the fall to the arrival of the commodity from Calcutta, which helped in supplementing the shrinking arrivals from Himachal in the local market to some extent.

On the other hand, green peas have become costly. A kg of peas which was available for Rs 12 to Rs 14 last week was available today in different city markets between Rs 20 and Rs 22.

According to dealers, the hike was due to poor arrivals of the commodity from the Doaba area of Punjab, known as a major peas-producing belt. Most arrivals of the commodity in the market were from Amritsar and Panipat areas, which were not adequate to meet the requirements, they added.

Similarly, the price of orange has gone up in the last three days. A dozen of good quality fruit, which was available between Rs 24 and Rs 30 in the past week, was priced at Rs 40 in the market today. The rise is attributed to meagre arrivals in the market from Maharashtra due to the foggy weather.

Though the prices of vegetables vary from market to market, there was, however, no major price fluctuation in most vegetables.

4 held for obstructing demolition
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — The Kharar police yesterday arrested four persons on the charge of obstructing public servants from performing their duty during the demolition drive at Behlolpur village, near Kharar.

According to Mr Hardev Singh, general manager of Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA), four persons — Des Raj, Chand Rani, Harjit Singh and Bhagwan Singh — had been taken in custody.

Gen Malik leaves for Northern Command
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — Ending his three-day visit to the headquarters of the Western Command, Chandimandir, the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen V.P. Malik, left for the Northern Command this evening.

General Malik was seen off at the Air Force station by the General Officer Commanding in Chief of the Western Command, Lieut-Gen H.B. Kala.

General Malik, during his visit, held discussions with the Army Commander and other senior officers of the command on various issues of operational and administrative importance.

Cong plea on symbol rejected
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — The Election commission for UT has rejected the Congress plea for the allotment of a party symbol to its candidates for the coming panchayat elections.

According to sources, the local unit of the Congress was informed by the commission that a particular symbol could not be allotted to it as it would be a violation of the spirit of Rule 12 of the Panchayati Raj Act, which prescribes that the allotment of symbols should be done on basis of a draw of lots.

500 given blankets
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — As many as 500 blankets were distributed among handicapped, rickshaw pullers and labourers by the local unit of the Bharat Vikas Parishad on the New Year's night.

Mr Madan Gupta Spatu, spokesman of the organisation, said in a press note here today that as many as 100 members of the organisation fanned out in the city and distributed blankets among the poor and the needy. He added that the parishad had decided to distribute 500 more blankets.

Punjab cop held for fraud
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 3 — The police has registered a cheating case against a Punjab Police constable Varinder Kumar, for allegedly getting the job on forged documents.

The case follows a complaint by Mr Umesh Chander, SP (Telecom).

Held: The police on Saturday night arrested a resident of Sector 37 for creating nuisance at a public place allegedly in an inebriated state.

He has been released on bail.

Theft case: Mr Amandeep Singh in a complaint with the police alleged that computer stationery and certain important documents had been stolen from his office in Sector 9 here.

A case has been registered.

Car stereo stolen: Mr Ashok Kumar in a complaint with the police alleged that stereo of his car (CH01-R-776) had been stolen.

A case has been registered.

Motor cycle stolen: Mr Kaushal, a resident of Sector 43, in a complaint with the police alleged that his motor cycle (MP-09-JV-1689) had been stolen.

A case has been registered.

Admitted: Two women were admitted to the PGI here on Sunday. In the first case, Sneh, a resident of Sector 42, fell from her moped when her vehicle skidded near her house. In the second case, Anju, a resident of Hallo Majra, fell from the roof of her house.

Knocked down: In a hit-and-run case, an unidentified cyclist was knocked down by a speeding bus near the roundabout near The Indian Express office.

FOR more than six hours on Saturday, the local Punjab Bhavan presented a look of the erstwhile Sikh National College, Lahore. More than 70 alumni of the institution known for its high standards of education and its contribution towards the Indian freedom struggle of India, converged on the place.

Engulfed in an air of nostalgia, the place offered a perfect setting for the old students to meet and resurrect their feelings of togetherness.

Braving the chilly weather, the 70 old boys and girls came and shared their feelings about the institute set up in 1938. The old students, most of whom are distinguished personalities such as the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, former Punjab Minister Umrao Singh, Prof Sham Singh, Prof Gurnam Singh, Prof Pritam Singh and Dr Shamsher Singh Babra, a former advisor to the World Bank, reminisced about their stay at the college, their rounds at the world famous Anarkali Bazaar, savouring "Bhagwan Singh Di Lassi" and "Kahan Chand daa Sharbat". What added a traditional colour to the event was that to suit the occasion the organisers specially arranged "sarson kaa saag" and "makki ki roti" for the visiting alumni of the college.

Getting emotional, Mr Badal even went on to repeat the famous line "Jisne Lahore nahin vekhiya oh jammia he nahin."

According to Mr Gurnam Singh, a former Deputy Commissioner and one of the organisers, the event reinforced the sense of universal well being which was also the motto of the college.

According to him, the most difficult part of the event was to collect the addresses of the former students as they had dispersed in different parts of the world after partition of the country in 1947. The whole process took more than three months to complete as they did not know the whereabouts of more than a dozen former students. According to him, though the membership fee for males was fixed at Rs 400, no such fee would be charged from women.

The book written by Dr Babra, "Unblossomed Bud", about his days in the college, was lapped up by his collegemates and others.

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Novel calendar

A Tribune reader, Gurdev Kaushal of Mohali, has come out with a novel calendar for 1999 which can tell any day of the year within seconds. All one has to do is to add the date to the code of the relevant month and divide it by 7. The remainder will determine the day, with one denoting Monday and so on.

Suppose one wants to know the day on September 10,1999. Add 9 (code for Sept) to 10 (date) and divide it by 7. Now that leaves 5 as remainder, which is a Friday.

The calendar is quite handy and can be even kept in one's purse. Try it!

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New Year gift

When the schools reopen after winter vacations, all middle and higher secondary schools in Chandigarh, and Panchkula and Roopnagar districts will receive unique New Year gifts from Children's Alliance for Protection of the Environment (CAPE). These are a set of five posters on common birds, water birds, pheasants of India and the pheasants of the world etc. Besides, there are two books — Environment Lessons (English) and Paryavaran Shiksha (Hindi). The school principals have been requested to laminate the posters and display these at some prominent place on the school premises so that these are seen and read by the students.

All primary schools will get a set of 16 stickers, "Environment lessons for kids". This campaign, "Conservation is our future", is aimed at creating environmental awareness among the school children who will become responsible citizens of this country.

Greatly touched by the New Year gifts to schools the Department of Environment, Haryana, Punjab State Council for Science and Technology and Environment and the Department of Environment and Forests, Chandigarh, have decided to sponsor this campaign.

As part of tercentenary celebrations of the birth of Khalsa, two voluntary organisations in the city will hold a number of functions.

The Environment Society of India (ESI) will release a packet of two audio cassettes "devotional songs by immortal singer K.L. Saigal" on January 18. Devotional songs contest among the children and adults will be organised at this function.

The Federation of Migrant Groups from North Western India, now Pakistan, and DAV Higher Secondary School (Lahore), Sector 8, Chandigarh, will jointly organise Lahore Day (Basant Panchmi) on Jan 22 at the Leisure Valley. Kite flying, fancy dress and songs contests would be held.

In addition, the Federation in collaboration with Multan Welfare Association will celebrate Multan Day (Shivratri) at DAV College (Multan) on February 14. On this day an All India Multani/Seraiki Mushaira will be held at the auditorium of DAV College (Multan), Sector 10, Chandigarh in which 25 eminent Multani poets will participate.

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Parking blues

Absence of manned parking facility at the main bus stand of Panchkula is causing a lot of harassment to hundreds of daily commuters who have to park their vehicles at the bus stand before leaving for different destinations.

The commuters complain that in the absence of a manned parking for the last over one year unscrupulous elements have been tempering with their vehicles parked at the bus stand. In some cases scooters have also been stolen. A police constable was posted at the entry to the parking lot but the arrangement did not last long.

The officials at the bus stand say that tenders are invited from private contractors for leasing the parking facility but for the last several months no contractor had come forward to accept the job at the rates quoted by the government.

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Bhavan

The Amritsar Khalsa College Old Students Association is all set to have its own Bhavan at SAS Nagar. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the proposed Khalsa College Amritsar Centenary Bhavan in Phase III of SAS Nagar, on Guru Gobind Singh's birth anniversary.

The association has already been allotted a piece of land measuring 2.25 acres for the building, which will cost Rs 10 crore. The association hopes to raise this money through voluntary donations. The bhavan will have a community-cum-prayer hall, Punjab History Research Centre, Centre for Higher Studies, a library, a charitable dispensary, a senior citizens' home, a guest house, an indoor sports stadium and a health club.

The Old Boys Association formed on December 22, 1991, is being served among others by Mr Swaran Singh Boparai, Brig N.S. Sandhu, Mr Swarn Singh of Wimco, Mr Gurcharan Singh Boparai, Mr Kulwant Singh Dhillon and Giani Bachittar Singh.

The association had been deliberating upon various events to commemorate the first centenary celebrations of its alma mater till it decided to go in for Centenary Bhavan.

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Support WWF

For your own sake and for the sake of your children, support World Wildlife Fund. That is the message being spread by a 24-year-old Praveen Ohal, a resident of Maharashtra who was in the city during the course of his nationwide walkathon.

Coming from a middle-class family, he has always been in the forefront of all activities connected with the conservation of nature since his school days. During the course of his "mission", he also interacts with school children besides enrolling members for the WWF. So far, he has collected Rs 6,000 for the fund out of his target of Rs 10 lakh.

He will be going around the country for the next two years. While all his finances are being arranged by members of the various Rotaract Clubs all over the country, he stays at places arranged by the club members or at dharamshalas.

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Hailing spree

Certain organisations' only job seems to be to welcome or hail the appointment of a top functionary. This was evident from the number of felicitations this newspaper received after the assumption of office by the new Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Adiwal, on December 23.

The organisations, however, only congratulated Mr Adiwal on being elected "Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC)". He is the Mayor of Chandigarh and not of MCC alone.

Hope the organisations agree with us!