Saturday, May 29, 1999
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N E W S Saturday, May 29, 1999 |
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Misbehaviour at
Syndicate meeting CHANDIGARH, May 29 — The Panjab University Vice-Chancellor, Dr M.M. Puri is writing to the Chancellor about the threatening and insulting behaviour of certain members of the Syndicate which has resulted in the adjournment of the meeting on May 25. The Vice-President, Mr Krishan Kant is the Chancellor of the university. It is rare that the Vice-Chancellor draws his attention to such matters. At the same time those syndics who feel aggrieved by the adjournment of an important Syndicate meeting plan not only to write their story, but also to meet the Chancellor in person and present their case. In a week's time, the ball would roll into the court of the Chancellor, who could intervene to sort out the issue. Dr Puri today defended the adjournment of the Syndicate meeting that had an important agenda, including hiking of the student fee and the volatile issue of appointment of 19 superannuated persons in the university. Today both sides struck to their known positions. While Dr Puri gave a detailed account and his assessment of the case of appointment of superannuated persons, the Syndics including Mr Rajinder Deepa and Mr Randhip Surjewala asserted that the Vice-Chancellor ran away from the meeting as his case was weak. "It had never happened in that all powerful elected managing committee of the university", Mr Deepa said. In fact, the Syndicate is deeply divided with some of the 19 members supporting the Vice-Chancellor and others opposing his action and alleging favouritism and high handedness. While there were certain obvious signs of reconciliation, yet the public posture remained the same. Dr Puri told TNS today that he had been always keen on running the university in an excellent manner and showed respect to the members of the Senate and the Syndicate. "But somehow some people wish to run it as their freedom and indulge in group politics and worst kind of behaviour. Some of those who publicly run me down, come running for favours all the time". Dr Puri said the issue of appointment of 19 superannuated persons had been blown out of proportion. "I do not understand my crime. I have tried to take the help of experts in management, engineering and architecture and academics and at much less cost than the university normally pays to staffers. Look at each case and except in one or two cases where I find the job assigned has not been done well, others have returned more than they have taken", he said. In fact one management consultant who was to provide much needed industry university linkage had not done well and he himself has offered to quit. He said he could not have established the Muktsar centre without the help of those whom some Syndics want to throw out. "The centre has done well in just one year. I do not know why we do not learn to appreciate good work. We are only creating despondency", he added. "But the real issue," Dr Puri said , "is not the performance of those persons. It is the behaviour some of the honourable members of the Syndicate." Giving details and background, Dr Puri said in February this issue was raised, although it was not on the agenda. The university calendar clearly provides that each item has to be brought on the agenda after due consideration. "It can be just wished that any member can stand up and raise an issue and that becomes an agenda item. I understand the status of the Syndicate, but then decorum and norms have to be maintained". After February meeting on May 25 this issue again came up in the April meeting. Here it was referred to a select committee's report as part of the action taken report. The meeting began with a discussion on an item picked up from the action taken report concerning superannuated appointment and went on for over an hour. The Vice-Chancellor concluded the discussion with his reply and moved to take up the agenda. Before that could be done, a member protested loudly and threatened not to allow the meeting to proceed. The Vice-Chancellor resented this "utter disregard of decorum of the house." Noting the insult to the Chair and the threatening behaviour of the member, he adjourned the meeting and retired to the Registrar's chamber. After over an hour he left. The matter now rests
there. Asked as to how the university would function in
such circumstances and what happens to the vital issues
like the affiliation of certain colleges and hike in fee
and finally the admission calendar, Dr Puri asserted that
he had the powers to run the university and the academic
work would not be allowed to suffer. "I can take
decisions in anticipation of the approval of the
university Syndicate and the Senate. Also, I would call
the meeting once those who misbehaved have realised their
mistake and myself present the superannuated appointment
case. Each case with details, the legal and fiscal issues
involved would be presented and discussed. it would for
the syndicate to decide. There is no vacuum here",
he said. |
11 cross
the 91 pc mark in ICSE exam CHANDIGARH, May 28 — Scores of city students who appeared for the Class X examinations conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (ICSE), Delhi, this year have done their schools proud by scoring an overall aggregate of 90 per cent and above. Even though the results are yet to officially reach the schools, a majority of the students have accessed their results on the Internet and Intranet, thanks to the facility provided by the council for the first time. As many as 637 students from seven different schools affiliated to the council appeared for the examination from this region. The schools are St Kabir Public School; St Stephen's School; St Xavier's Senior Secondary School; Yadavindra Public School; St Joseph's Convent; Tender Heart and Minerva Academy. The students of St Kabir Public School, Sector 26, have taken the lead by securing the first two positions of the top ten. Roopak Suri of St Kabir Public School, the topper of this region with 95.3 per cent marks, is elated and just wants to thank God for giving him the strength to go through the examinations and excel in them. "Constant encouragement and moral support from parents and teachers coupled with the study atmosphere in school helped me achieve this success, he says. Aspiring to be an engineer, he believes in "Plan your work and work your plan.'' According to him, consistent hard work, proper planning and sticking to the schedule are essential in achieving success in any examination. His advice to the future aspirants is to be confident and have a positive outlook in life. Aalok Gupta, another student of the same school with 95.1 per cent owes his success to the emphasis on revisions in school and his father's proper planning for him. He believes that dedicated efforts with a focus on course books will see you through the examination with ease. One should go through the test papers of the past few years and model specimen papers to know the pattern of examination, which will help perform better, he maintains. He insists that to score well one must revise the entire syllabus, at least thrice before the examination. Jasmine Kaur Reehal, the topper of St Xavier's School, Sector 44, who was expecting around 90 per cent just could not believe her luck when she learnt that she had scored 93.3 per cent. The efforts of her teachers, particularly Mrs Deepti Chhabra, her family's support and her own hard work worked wonders for her. Aiming to be a good human being, she believes that a good student should always strike a balance between studies and human relationships. One should not simply loose on relationships in the quest for more marks. She suggests that students preparing for this exam should strive to be confident and not overdo anything. They should study only as much as required and not too much which will only add to the confusion. Rahul Gaur of the same school with 93 per cent marks is of the view that if you pay considerable attention in class, then you do not need to study more than three hours at home. However, one should plan one's studies properly and devote adequate time for revision just before the examination. Aspiring to be a civil servant so as to serve the people at the grass root levels, he says that thorough reading of topics alone can ensure clarity of concepts. According to him, a good performance in the board examinations is a very satisfying experience as it helps you evaluate your standing in the competitive world. Subodh Sangwan, a topper of St Stephen's School, Sector 45, with 92.8 per cent emphasises on the need to be regular with studies both at school and at home. He attributes his success to the guidance and motivation of his parents, teachers, particularly his principal."One should not fear boards as it is like any other examination." However, one should not study continuously for hours and take short breaks to refresh memory. Subodh who wants to be an aeronautical engineer feels that one should not be a bookworm but should try to keep all his other interests alive. Nitin Sharma of St Xavier's is satisfied with a score of 92.6 per cent and feels that he could not have done it without the inspiration of his friends, family and teachers. "I am so thrilled that I could come up to their expectations, '' he says. He does not advocate selective study as it amounts to taking a lot of risk, but a careful and systematic approach to examinations is bound to yield good results. Having opted for the non-medical stream, he plans to be more regular and consistent with his studies in future. Karun Singla of St Kabir's has also secured 92.6 per cent marks. Shruti Goyal of St Stephen's who has secured 92.2 per cent marks also expresses her gratitude to God for giving her the courage to do well in these examinations. She advocates study in the morning hours as concentration is better then. According to her, the performance in any of the board examinations does not depend so much on the quantity of time but the quality of time spend studying. However, one should be regular right from the start and not keep anything pending for the last minute. Ami Wig, another student of the same school with 91.8 per cent marks, says that an indepth knowledge of the prescribed course books will help you answer any question in the paper. She says that one should clear the doubts, if any, to have a better understanding of the subject. Ami, who kept tuitions in mathematics, is of the view that one should not depend too much on tutors as the board authorities set papers in accordance with the syllabus taught in classrooms. They can at best acquaint you with the style of questions and increase your speed in answering the questions in time, she adds. Antar Puneet of St Kabir is all thanks to her parents and sister who constantly guided her to achieve this score of 91.8 per cent. One should not cram but should try and understand the topics carefully to score well, she says. "Be confident, do no be nervous'' as it is a wrong notion that boards are very tough. If one studies regularly with consistent efforts, one is bound to succeed. Tuitions, according to her, only help you revise better. Vasudha Jain of St Stephen's owes her score of 91.7 per cent marks to her all-round development. She feels that her being the school captain was an exercise in confidence building, which even helped her do well in the board examinations. "The determination to do well and the pressure from parents and teachers is also responsible for this high score even as I remained involved in various activities all through the year, she asserts. She put in her best efforts only a month before the commencement of the examinations and the rest of the time she only revised what was taught in class. Nipun of the same school with the same score feels that his own hard work and the cooperation of parents and teachers helped him score well. He did take some tuitions towards the end to clear his doubts in a few subjects. "It is essential to do well in the boards as it helps build your confidence to do well in the competitive examinations later,'' he says. Aspiring to be a computer engineer, he also believed in consistent hard work and regular studies. Bhuvan Sharma of St
Stephen's with 91.7 per cent says he benefited a lot from
his Principal's advice that "If you think you can,
you can do it.'' Though he could not study much in the
initial months of Class X, but his desire to do well made
him increase his pace of studies gradually. And close to
the examinations he started almost 14-15 hours a day.
Based on his own experience he says that one should
strike a balance between studies and sports to excel.
"Do not neglect studies as they are important in
today's competitive world, but one must devote time for
other extra-curricular activities,'' he says.
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Class XI
admissions centralised CHANDIGARH, May 28 — Complete centralisation will be introduced in the admission process for Class XI in the streams of science, commerce, humanities and vocational subjects from this session onwards and admissions will be conducted at three government schools in the city, Mr D.S. Mangat, DPI Schools and Colleges, informed here today. The students will be required to apply on one form only for one stream along with the choice of schools where they prefer to be admitted. However, if they want to apply for admission in the other streams as well, they will be required to fill a separate form for every additional stream they opt. The process of admission is most likely to begin on June 10 and the students will be required to submit their forms in the centres assigned for the purpose. Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, has been made the centre for submission and admission of the students choosing to pursue science while Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, has been marked for those taking up the commerce stream. The students who choose to opt for the vocational education courses and arts subjects will have to submit their forms at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 18. Mr Chanchal Singh, Deputy District Education Officer, also informed that the interviews for the said streams would be conducted in the respective schools. Stream-wise committees comprising principals and lecturers would be constituted to conduct interviews and the students will be supposed to deposit the fee on the same day. The last date of submission of forms has been fixed for June 30. The dates for interviews in the science stream are July 6 onwards, commerce from July 8 and arts from July 14. The students will be divided in batches on the basis of their percentage. Those getting 80 per cent and above will be interviewed on the first day , followed by those with 70 per cent and above on the second day. Students securing above 60 per cent will be interviewed on day three while students with 50 per cent and above will be interviewed the following day. After this, students with clear pass percentage will be considered and the admissions will conclude with interviews of the remaining candidates. The process of admission will be completed by July 14 and the new session is most likely to commence on July 16, Mr Brahmjit Kalia, District Education Officer, said. Earlier, the partially centralised system of admission was followed while taking in students in the 28 schools having plus one classes. The students used to apply in different schools on different forms while interviews were conducted at one venue. "This led to lots of inconvenience and public harassment. This is another experiment undertaken by the Education Department to make things simpler for the students and their parents. “Also, most
students applied for admission only to a couple of
schools and had to run from pillar to post in case they
failed to get admission in either of the two schools. We
have left nothing to chance because those applying under
this experiment will be adjusted in one of the schools,''
Mr Mangat said. |
DSP,
inspector booked CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The Chandigarh police authorities ordered the registration of a criminal case against a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and an inspector in the case of missing files of murder cases, here today. A case of forgery under Sections 467 and 468 of the IPC has been registered against Mr Devinder Singh Thakur, DSP, and Mr P.K. Dhawan, Inspector, after senior police officers asked the SHO of Sector 26 police station to register a case. Besides this,
discussions were on between police authorities till late
at night about whether Sections 420 and 218 of the IPC or
some section of the Prevention of Corruption Act could
also be enforced to book the two. Police sources said
more sections of the IPC could be added as the
investigations progressed. |
Major
power shutdown from today CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The Grid Corporation of India will take power shutdown from tomorrow to May 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day for undertaking the work of crossing on the 400 KV line on 132 KV Ropar-Pinjore line. According to a press note issued by the Executive Engineer, Operation Division, HVPNL, Panchkula, the shutdown has been approved by the northern region electricity boards. During the shutdown period, no supply on the 132 KV sub-station at Pinjore will be available from Ropar end. Efforts are being made to get supply from Kunihar (Himachal) and during the shutdown period restricted supply shall be made to Panchkula town and its adjoining area. To keep the load within
the allotted limits, load shedding by switching of 11 KV
feeders in rotation shall be done. |
Tewari says rebels weakening
Congress CHANDIGARH, May 28 — Mr Munish Tewari, President of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), has accused the expelled Congress leaders, Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr P.A. Sangma and Mr Tariq Anwar, of being in league with "fascist forces", in and outside the country. Addressing a press conference here this afternoon, Mr Tewari said raising the issue of the foreign origin of Ms Sonia Gandhi was a premeditated strategy to weaken the Congress especially when the party was poised to form the next government at the Centre. He alleged that there was a nexus between the expelled trio and fascist forces represented by the BJP, the VHP and the RSS. Accusing the trio of being "agents" of the fascist forces, he said he was making the allegations with full sense of responsibility. He, however, did not name the foreign forces at whose behest the expelled leaders were working. He said he would go to the Press with material in support of his allegations in due course of time. With a view to exposing the alleged non-performance of the BJP-led government, the IYC would organise 545 rallies all over the country in a run-up to the general election. The IYC would also press the party to give at least 200 tickets to youth. Elaborating on the alleged non-performance of the BJP, he said the Lahore Declaration had collapsed in wake of the air strikes in Kargil and Dras areas of the Jammu and Kashmir. "Even when the Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee, had undertaken the bus ride to Lahore, we had cautioned that substantive issues could not be resolved through mere gimmickry," he said. The BJP, he alleged, had adopted short-term approach to various issues. Empowerment of youth, total employment by the year 2020 and unemployment allowance to persons enrolled in the employment exchanges for five years, were the main issues which the IYC would urge the Congress to include in the manifesto. Blaming the BJP and the RSS for unleashing a calumny campaign against the leadership of the Congress, the IYC chief said the general election should be fought on the issues which had direct bearing on the future of the nation. "If they continue the campaign against the Congress leadership, the party will be forced to reply in the same manner and language which these outfits understand," he said. On the reconstitution of the the city unit, Mr Tewari said he and a former MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, had met Ms Gandhi in this regard and the unit would be recast soon. Answering a question on whether he would contest the next election, he said it all depended on the party high command since he would not volunteer to contest the election. He parried question on his contesting the poll from Chandigarh. Meanwhile, certain
mediapersons boycotted the press conference as Mr Tewari
came late. |
Students
put up exhibition CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The hall in Lajpat Rai Bhavan, Sector 15, wore a festive look, here today, on the occasion of an exhibition-cum-sale organised by students attending vocational classes in seven government schools of the city. There are 22 vocational courses being run in 17 government schools all over the city. The exhibition was inaugurated by Mr D.S. Mangat, DPI Schools and Colleges by releasing balloons in air. The exhibition included 14 stalls, six of which were put up by former students of government schools. Stalls were put up by students of fashion and textile designing. The items on display ranged from greeting cards to bedcovers to nighties. Children could take their pick from t-shirts and frocks to soft toys of all shapes and sizes at varying prices. Women could choose from suit lengths to ready-to-wear collection prepared by students for all age groups. There were separate counters dealing with table linen and interested persons could choose from hand-embroidered to painted stuff. "The exhibition is selling goods on a 'no profit, no loss basis' while additional costs are being borne by the Education Department of the UT," Ms Pritpal Kaur, Assistant Director of Vocational Education, said. She added that students had prepared these items during the 45-days on-job training which was mandatory for students of the two courses. Besides, the exhibition provides an impetus to popularising the vocationalisation of education. All possible information regarding avenues of further employment and training is disseminated, making career-guidance an in-built feature of the exhibition. Also present on the occasion were the District Education Officer, Mr Brahmjit Kalia, Deputy DEO, Mr Chanchal Singh, Deputy Directors of Adult Education, Mrs Sudesh Kalra and Mrs Joginder Moti, along with a number of principals from various government schools. The schools
participating in the exhibition are Government Girls
Senior Secondary School, Sector 8; GGSSS-20; GMSSS-32;
GMSSS-40; GSSS-47; and GSSS, Mani Majra. |
Villagers
voice grievances PANCHKULA, May 28 — Officials of the District Administration today listened to the grievances of residents of Majidwala and several other surrounding villages in the Pinjore block near here today. In response to a demand made by the residents of Dewanwala village for construction of a road from Narainwala to Nandpur village, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Mr Anurag Agarwal, disclosed that the PWD had sent an estimate of Rs 60 lakh for the project to the government. Regarding another demand made by the Gram Panchayat of Dewanwala to construct houses for ten families in the village, living below the poverty line, he instructed the Block Development Officer of Pinjore to send an estimate for the work. A demand was made by residents of Kutabwala to establish a polling booth in their village. Mr Agarwal assured them that he would forward their demand to the Election Commission. The residents of Johrdiwala sought a solution to the shortage of drinking water in the primary school in their village. Grievances were voiced by residents of Solan Tapad, Podawala and Majidwala villages. Regarding a general
demand made by residents of different villages for better
health services, Mr Agarwal disclosed that soon a mobile
van would be made available in the Raitan area. |
Seminar on
water resources DERA BASSI, May 28 — A seminar and exhibition on the topic "Keep Our Water Resources Clean" was held at Ram Mandir, near railway crossing, here today. Chetna, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), organised the programme under the National Environment Awareness Campaign. More than 150 residents of the town, including about 35 girls of sewing centres at Dapper and Mukandpur, started by Chetna, participated. Most of the participants were government employees, who left their office work for the day to join the event. Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, Deputy Commissioner, Patiala, the chief guest, could not attend the programme. Mr Gagandeep Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, reached the venue more than an hour and a quarter behind the scheduled time. He said we should be determined to keep our water resources clean to make the future pollution free. He stressed to make the present generation aware about water and air pollution and tell them to keep the resources pollution free. Mr Sher Singh Sidhu, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, said there was need to make the illiterate public aware of the importance of cleanliness. The school children must be made aware about cleanliness of water resources. Only then could the aim be achieved, he said. Mr Gagandeep Singh released the organisation's brochure, "Women's Role in Keeping Water Resources Clean". Ms Surya Pandit,
Secretary-General, Chetna, Mr A.K. Gaur, Joint Secretary,
Chetna, Mr Gurnam Singh, Mr Preet Inder Singh and Mr
Paramjit Singh were also present on the occasion. |
NTPC
submits interim report CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The NTPC has submitted its pre-feasibility report to the Chandigarh Administration suggesting Kishengarh as the most probable site for the captive power generation. The report will be considered by the Administration before taking any further steps. The NTPC engineers had visited Chandigarh and studied all probable sites for one or two captive power generation units The Chandigarh Administration proposes to set up 100 MW power generation units here to meet the growing demand of electricity in the Union Territory. During peak summer months, the daily consumption crosses even 30 lakh units a day. The NTPC, according to sources, has said that the captive power generation was feasible subject to environment impact study. Recommending Kishengarh as the most appropriate place for the power generation, the NTPC experts have maintained that such liquid or gas-based generation units needed a lot of water. Kishengarh because of its proximity to Sukhna Cho as well as Sukhna Lake was an ideal location. Other factor that favours Kishengarh is its proximity to rail head. The power station would require a rail siding which is not possible in case the other site, which is in the southern part of the Union Territory, is considered. The project, which is initially estimated to cost Rs 375 crore, would meet the additional and growing demand of power in the Union Territory. The Administration has more than 100 acres of land available in Kishengarh area. A portion of it has already been allotted to the Forest Department to check soil erosion in the catchment area of Sukhna Lake. The proposed power plant would require a minimum of 40 to 50 acres of land. Sources in the Engineering Department confirm receipt of the report and say that it has not been studied so far. Since there is no pipeline to bring gas for the proposed power generation units, the NTPC has recommended use of naptha for the initial years of generation.. Once the gas pipeline is commissioned, the generation can be switched to gas. The demand for power
generation was conceded in principle by the Union Power
Minister, Mr Kumaramangalam, when he held a meeting with
the Administrator, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber (retd), in
July last year. |
Major
burglaries in city CHANDIGARH, May 28 — Three major burglaries have taken place in different sectors of the city since last night. In all cases the occupants of the houses had gone out of station and the houses were probably being “marked “ by the thieves, sources said. In the first case around 12 tolas of gold jewellery, a VCR, about Rs 20,000 in cash and some clothes have been stolen from the house of an advocate in Sector 11 as he was out of the city for two nights. The advocate, Mr Gurpreet Singh, returned from Patiala around 9 this morning and he discovered that the main door of his house would not open. It had been locked from inside by the thieves. Mr Gurpreet Singh had to enter from a side window. To his horror he found all locks on the inside doors of his house broken open. According to police sources, thieves had entered from a window on the side and broken open the grill of the window. Once inside, the gang broke locks on all inside doors, all locks on the boxes and even the locks on the steel almirah. The advocate lives on the ground floor of his double storey house in sector 11. Before going away on Wednesday he had locked the house while the tenant, who occupies the first floor, was in his portion of the house. In the second case, a sector 23 resident, Mr Narinder Singh returned home around 3: 30 pm after a visit to another city to find that thieves had broken the locks of his house and taken away a sum of Rs 5,000, a television and between 10 and 12 tolas of gold jewellery. In the third case the
house of a joint family in Sector 15 was burgled last
night. An old couple lives on the ground floor while
their married son lives on the first floor. The son and
his family were away and thieves broke into the first
floor of the house. Household articles, besides others
valuables, have been taken away. |
Recommended
for award CHANDIGARH, May 28 — Conman Mohammed Wahid, who was nabbed by the Chandigarh Police a couple of days ago, was arrested following a tip-off from a video cassette delivery man. The person, a resident of Sector 55, is being recommended by the Chandigarh Police for an award as Wahid was carrying a cash reward on his head, police sources said. The person, who tipped off the police, lives in Sector 55. He had gone to deliver a cassette to the house of Wahid in Sector 8 in the morning on Tuesday. The same night a
television channel telecast the misdeeds of Wahid. The
person recognised Wahid and called up the television
channel, police sources said. |
Minority
Front formed CHANDIGARH, May 28 — A National Minority Front with representatives from three minorities — Sikhism, Christianity and Islam — was announced here this morning. Having its office at the Catholic Church in Sector 19, the front will be an apolitical body. It will to protect and uphold the educational, religious , social and cultural freedom and political rights of the minorities. The President of the front, Mr Santwant Singh Anandpuri, said this would be a religious body just like the BJP’s religious wing, the RSS. “It is a stage to empower the minority community and foster contacts among different religious groups through social, cultural and other activities.” On the political situation, he said, the front would not support any majority community candidate put up by the BJP or the Congress. Even the minority community candidates of these two parties would not be supported as they had no political ideology of their own. In Punjab, Mr P.S. Badal is linked with the BJP. Thus he would also not be supported, Mr Anandpuri said. Branches of the front would be opened in Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai, among other places. Religious places would be used as offices of the front. The front has named the
following as the office-bearers. President —
Santwant Singh Anandpuri; Senior Vice President —
Shakeel Ahmed Siddiqi; Secretary General — Dr V.T.
Sebastian; Secretary — Kartar Singh; General
Secretaries — Arvind Noel, Gurnam Singh Sidhu, Dr
Christopher Edwin, Noor Mohammed and Gordon M. Roy. |
SNIPPETS Inter-house quiz CHANDIGARH, May 28 — An inter-house homoeopathic quiz was held at the Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Sector 26, here today. The quiz was organised in the subject of Materia Medica and students of all classes participated in the quiz contest. Comprising three members in each team, the contest was among the four houses of the college and the first position was bagged by students of Farrington house. Hering House was declared second while Hahnemann House came third. The three judges for the quiz were Dr K.S. Katoch, Dr Sandeep Puri and Dr Nirmala Dua of the faculty of Materia Medica. India-England tie on big screen
today CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The last match which could pave the way for India to enter the super six will be played between India and England on Saturday. This mega event will be shown on the big screen at Nirman Theatre starting 3 p.m. While the first match shown at the theatre had a poor response, the second match attracted a large number of viewers. And according to the manager, Mr K.L. Sharma, tomorrow’s match should be a crowd-puller. Sabha demands committee KHARAR, May 28 — The Nagar Sudhar Sabha of Mundi village, which falls in the municipal limits of Kharar, in a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, today urged him to appoint a committee of villagers to spend the allotted grant of the Rs 50,000 for constructing rooms in the Government Middle School in the village. The school is to be named after the name of Major H.P. Singh, who sacrificed his life while fighting militants in Kashmir last month. Mr Harjit Singh, and Mr Bhag Singh, President and Secretary of the sabha, respectively, wrote that the Punjab Government shifted the Government Middle School, Kharar, to this village and this school was given two rooms in the Government Primary School temporarily. New rooms were needed for the school. A cheque of Rs 50,000 was given to the Municipal Committee, Kharar, by the the local MLA for this purpose. The work of the contractors was not up to the mark. They demanded that an additional sum of Rs 50,000 should be sanctioned and the money should be spent by a committee of the residents of the village. They assured that the construction work would be of good quality and the cost would be less. They wrote that steps should be taken to name the school after Major H.P. Singh. This had been declared by Mr Tota Singh, Education Minister, Punjab, when he visited the family of the Major last month. 550 children vaccinated CHANDIGARH, May 28 — In one of the biggest voluntary drives against hepatitis in the city, a team of the Rotary Club along with its President, Mrs Kawal Bedi, today administered the first dose of hepatitis `B' vaccine to 550 children at Scova Centre, Bapu Dham Colony, in Sector 26. The dates for the second and third doses of the vaccine are June 27 and November 14, respectively. The programme has been launched after the President, Mrs Kawal Bedi, took upon the pledge along with the others Rotarians to ensure vaccination against the deadly disease, hepatitis `B', for the under privileged children who otherwise cannot afford this expensive medicine. Under this project taken up by Rotary Club of Chandigarh, all the three mandatory doses will cost approximately Rs 1.25 lakh which will be exclusively borne by Rotary Club, Chandigarh. A press release of the club said in the dream for future project of the club, code named District 3080, around 140 children had been vaccinated under the "children opportunity grant" of the Rotary Foundation. The club had immunised 140 children from the low income group on Sunday, May 23. It was indeed frustrating to return hundreds of disappointed children as the vaccine available was only for 140 children. So to cover up for that the Rotary Club members returned to administer the vaccine to even more children. Pensioners protest DERA BASSI, May 28 — To press their demands, members of the Government Pensioners' Welfare Association, Dera Bassi, staged a dharna in front of the local State Bank of Patiala and started 24-hours token fast, here today. Members of the association are demanding the release of dearness allowance (DA) instalments due on January 1, merger of 97 per cent DA in basic pension since July 1993, grant of benefit of travel concession to family pensioners, grant of fixed medical allowance of Rs 500 per month and implementation of the fourth Punjab Pay Commission recommendations. Five members of the association who participated in the token fast included Mr D.R. Sehgal, Mr Puran Singh, Mr Yash Pal, Mr Kanti Lal and Mrs Kanta Jain. Blood donation camp CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The Art of Living Foundation is organising a blood donation camp at village Paploha in Kalka on May 30. The village is located on the Nalagarh road. On this occasion a large number of villagers, who have benefited from the schemes of the Art of Living Foundation as well as members of the public will donate blood. The camp will be held from 8 am to 2 p.m. A basic course for the villagers will also come to an end the same day. Day-long dharna by employees CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The employees union of the Federation of UT Employees of Indian Council for Child Welfare staged a day-long dharna in front of the office of the Secretary, Bal Bhavan, Sector 23, in support of their long-pending demands and against the indifferent attitude of the management of Bal Bhavan towards their demands. The rally, which was addressed by various trade leaders, including Mr Bhag Mal Rana, General Secretary, Federation of UT Employees and Workers, and Mr Balbir Singh, General Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Union, Chandigarh, demanded for payment of DA at par with the UT employees and regularisation of all helpers and part-time teachers, among other things. The rally also demanded that the employees be granted medical allowance and the Class IV employees issued uniforms. New scales not issued; teachers
sore CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The Punjab and College Teachers Union has criticised the UT Administration for not issuing the revised UGC pay-scales to the teachers working in the non-government aided colleges of the city. In a press note issued here today, the PCCTU said that the UT Administration had not issued the notification of revised UGC scales and the teachers were still getting the pre-revised scales. If the Administration did not issue the notification within a few days, the union would be compelled to launch an agitation against the government, Dr Abinder Nath Sharma, Member, State Executive, said in the note. Nagar Panchayats demanded KHARAR, May 28 — Dr Gurnam Singh Balaungi, General Secretary, SAD, Kharar (Rural), in a statement issued here today, demanded that the Punjab Government should immediately declare Balaungi and Nia Gram Nagar Panchayats on the pattern of Zirakpur, which was declared so, a few days back. He wrote that the sword of the Periphery Act was hanging on the heads of 336 villages in the periphery of Chandigarh. It was a discrimination to exempt some villages from this act. This would become an issue in the coming Lok Sabha elections, as about 2.5 lakh voters lived in these villages. Kiran to attend workshop today CHANDIGARH, May 28 — The Majlis Journalists and Artists Association is organising a workshop on “Domestic violence : Can our police handle it ?” at the Sector 18 Tagore Theatre here tomorrow at 6 p.m. The non-government
organisations (NGOs) dealing with women and children from
Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh
will present live case studies where lawyers and other
experts will also answer queries from the audience. The
police will be represented at the programme by Dr (Mrs)
Kiran Bedi, Mr Ajay Kashyap (SSP, Chandigarh
Headquarters) and Mr A.P. Bhatnagar (Additional DGP,
Punjab Human Rights Commission) and a few others. |
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