The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

BBA students denied admission to MBA
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 10
Lackadaisical attitude of the authorities of Punjab Technical University has put the future of its BBA final year students at stake. Irrespective of their higher ranks in entrance test to MBA conducted by the university, the students have been denied admission because of non-declaration of their result during two-day counselling held at Jalandhar.

While the PTU had not declared the result of BBA students from majority of its colleges, today was the second day of counselling and admission to MBA course. Hundreds of such students who had gone to Jalandhar said they were refused admission because they were without their final year results. Several others with lower ranks were instead given admission in colleges of their choice.

As a result, all seats to more sought after colleges were filled up by graduates in commerce, computer applications and other fields. The students said there was much confusion as several BBA students started arguing with university authorities for they were left with seats in less preferred colleges in far off areas. The students argued as to why they were being harassed for the fault of the university itself.

The students said they should be given admission on provisional basis or else they had no advantage of achieving better ranks in the test. Informed sources said a girl from the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, Model Town, here, was all tears when she was first given a call for counselling but later refused admission as she did not have her results. The girl along with her classmates created much hue and cry but to no vail, it is learnt.

The result of BBA final year for the Punjab College of Technical Education, Baddowal, was declared yesterday evening after much persuasion but the results of students from the Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology (GGNIMT), Civil Lines, and the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology (GNIMT), Model Town, is still awaited.

Besides, the students of BBA and BCA final year, who appeared for supplementary examination in the fifth semester, were also not given admission to MBA due to non-declaration of their results. They were much agitated as such cases were given admission to MCA during counselling held on Monday. They said they were neither being assured of any next chance of counselling nor given any date of declaration of their result.

It is also learnt that all seats including reserved and paid ones were filled at the Punjab College of Technical Education yesterday with a cut off rank of 419. All general pool seats of GGNIMT were also filled while a few paid ones were left till this afternoon.

Mr S.K. Bhatia, Registrar of the university, agreed that it was unfortunate that several BBA students with relatively higher ranks could not get admission in colleges of their preference. He said he wanted that admission to all such students be given on provisional basis or counselling to MBA be delayed but he said the suggestion was not approved by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr H.S. Gurm.

College teachers hold dharnas
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 10
On a call given by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU), all college units of Ludhiana organised dharna in front of their principal’s offices here this morning.

Stating this in a press note, Mr Parminder Singh, district president of the PCCTU, said that the teachers were protesting against the indifferent attitude of the Punjab Government towards their long-pending demands. The demands of the teachers include implementation of the pension cum-gratuity scheme, restoration of 95 per cent grant to the aided colleges, parity to librarians and DPEs with other college lecturers in respect of pay scales, rural area allowance to college lecturers working in rural areas and lecturer’s grade to demonstrators.

Mr Parminder Singh said that the college teachers had a grievance that the government was not implementing demands on which it had already agreed. He said that the members had to resort to the agitational path only when the repeated memoranda a had failed to evoke any positive response from the government.

Prof Prem Walia, president of the Arya College unit, said that the entire staff of the college shunned admission work and staged a dharna in front of the office of the principal for about one and a half hours.

Doraha: Teachers of Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, sat in dharna in front of the principal’s office from 10.30 am to 12 noon today.

They protested against the wrong attitude of the Punjab Government regarding the implementation of their long-pending demands. The lecturers collectively demanded implementation of the pension-cum-gratuity scheme, restoration of grants, release of UGC arrears of Rs 21.35 crore and the government share, release of Rs 18-crore grant of last year; implementation of the UGC package, lecturer designation for DPEs and librarians, RAA and HRA for rural colleges and revised UGC grade for D-tutors, etc.

Among those who ensured their participation in the dharna were Prof Kuldip Singh, Prof M.S. Bhandari, Prof P.S. Sekhon, Prof R.S. Pali, Prof Mohinder Kaur, Prof Gursharan Kaur, Prof Ranjit Kaur and Prof Amarjit Kaur.

NIFD to hold contest
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 10
To mark the passing out of another batch of successful students, the National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD) here will organise the Annual Designers Contest and a mega fashion show in the last week of July.

Mr Arvind Gupta, the director of the centre, at a press conference here said that the final presentation would consist of 10 thematic sequences and each sequence, would consist of 10 designer garments. The institute would be awarding the ‘best designer award’ for one garment in each sequence.

“We have invited the jury members today to judge the designers awards. This is the pre-show judgement, the result of which will be declared on the day of presentation. The jury members include renowned model and choreographer Priyanka Singh, Designer Ritu Kochhar and Mr Sonu Nilibar”, revealed Mr Arvind Gupta.

He said that earlier the jury found it difficult to judge at the time of ramp as the models walked on the stage for just a few seconds. “So we have decided to go for a pre-show judgement this time”, said Mr Gupta.

Murder accused acquitted
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 10
The fast track court has acquitted a labourer, Shambu (28), a resident of Rahon Road, Meharban village, of charges of raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl on November 5, 1997. Delivering the verdict, presiding officer of the court, Mr B.C. Gupta, Additional Sessions Judge, said “The prosecution has failed to prove charges against the accused, and therefore, giving the benefit of the doubt to the accused, I acquit the accused of the offences charged.”

The judge held that the medico-legal report and the post-mortem report of the deceased, Reena, nowhere suggested that she was raped. An FIR was registered against an unidentified person following the recovery of a girl’s dead body in the fields, at the Sahnewal police station, on November 5, 1997, under Sections 302 and 376 of the IPC.

On December 5, 1997, accused was arrested. He disclosed that he had kept one knife in his house in Vardhman colony. Thereafter, the knife, a blood stained paint and a shirt were recovered from his house, according to the prosecution. There was no eyewitnesses to the murder. Despite examining 24 witnesses, prosecution failed to prove the charges.