Chandigarh, January 7
Around 200 members of the Punjab Engineering College Old Students Association met at the college, here today. Addressing the alumni, Dr Vijay Gupta, Director, PEC assured the old students that having been declared a deemed university, it was now the endeavour of the college to produce world-class engineers whose academic skills and talents will be second to none.

Giving them an insight into the recently charted out vision statement of the PEC, the director called upon the alumni to come forward and the support the college management in achieving those goals.

On being asked about placements, Dr Gupta replied that most of the students have two job offers in hand before they finish their course. He emphasised that a redeeming feature of the placement pattern this year was that nearly half of these jobs were in the engineering sector, which was indeed the objective of the college.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Vikram Hans, President, PECOSA, assured Dr Gupta that the alumni would contribute their best in ensuring that the PEC attains its vision. A particular area where the Director sought the help of the alumni was in setting up an endowment fund to finance the visits of internationally and nationally renowned academicians, who could guide the students in thinking beyond the boundaries of their regular curriculum.

Mr Hans lauded the efforts being put in by Dr Gupta in ushering in changes in the college that, he stressed, were bound to have a far-reaching impact. Mr Anurag Aggarwal, General Secretary PECOSA, gave the vote of thanks.

Earlier in the day, PECOSA organised a 20 over cricket match between the President's Eleven and the Director's Eleven which resulted in a nail-biting finish with both teams tied at 113 runs.

Chandigarh, January 7
The Chandigarh Education Department is gearing itself to provide better hygiene in all government and aided schools.

It would be made mandatory for children seeking admission to a government school to possess immunisation certificate. The step has been taken by the local Health Department with a focus on those children who come from slum areas and migrant colonies, in particular.

Mr Ashwani Kumar, DPI (S), said, “Yes, a proposal of the sort has been made by the health authorities. We have not yet received any official intimation in this regard, but the proposal is definitely in the pipeline.”

“Otherwise, we are already into carrying out immunisation drive in the schools. We will also arrange special immunisation camps on school premises where more number of children are prone to diseases like diarrhoea, pneumonia, tetanus etc. We will take the help of the Health Department in this regard.”

A special team headed by DEO Kamla Bains has been constituted which would make surprise visits to the schools to check their sanitary conditions. Ms Bains has also been asked to supervise the conditions in all Government Model Senior Secondary Schools and Government Model High Schools of the city.

Chandigarh, January 7
Bitter cold was no deterrent to thousands of library enthusiasts, who queued up in front of the British Library, Sector 9, which opened its much-awaited membership here today.

An annual event, opening of the membership has attracted large crowds, but today’s rush was unprecedented. By the end of the day, the management had enrolled 1164 members, although about 2000 persons had been waiting in line to get membership cards. Those who lost the chance today might stand to gain as the registration will continue tomorrow as well.

As for the profile of membership seekers, it was diverse as ever. Among those who braved the chill to become members were young professionals, bureaucrats, students, businessmen and housewives. More than 2,000 residents had assembled for enrolment. There were people, who had come as early as three in the morning. 

Chandigarh, January 7
A debate on biotechnology was organized yesterday by Hindustan Scouts and Guides, Chandigarh unit at Deep Public School, Mauli Jagran, Chandigarh in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology, Chandigarh Administration.

In the junior category, Puneet, Balbir and Neha Kukreti bagged the first, second and third positions, respectively while in the senior category Vijay Kumar, Surraiya and Sheetal stood first, second and third respectively.

Before this debate, Mrs Prabha Bhainsora also delivered a lecture. Biotechnology has given a boost to crop production, she added.

Sarpanch Jagdeep Singh Jaggi was the chief guest on the occasion. Mr R.K. Munjal, Mr Pardeep Kumar Shukla, Principal Kuldeep Shukla, Principal Balkar Singh, Principal Vimla Joshi and Principal Avtar Singh were also present.

Chandigarh, January 7
After introducing hit singers by the dozens, Punjabi music director Sukhpal Sukh is on unique mission to gift the Punjabi music industry another star.

In fact, Sukhpal Sukh, who along with Punjabi folk singer, Sarabjit Cheema, launched the mega talent search "Fankaar 2007" here today, gave a peep into the contest intended to provide a platform to a deserving singer with the "Punjabi background".

"Fankaar 2007" has to be a complete singer with a classical base, who could stand out in the crowd of new singers, said the music director, whose "hit-list" includes Amrinder Gill, Sarbjit Cheema, Debi Makhsoospuri, Amar Arshi, Surjit Khan and Raj Brar.

You can experiment with new singers as their voices are not stereotyped. In fact, I make it a point to closely watch the personality of the new singers to make music to suit them,” says the maestro, who recently honed the skills of Rupinder Handa, winner of the “Awaz Punjab De” contest on the MH1.

The NRI, who "settled" in Chandigarh in 1998, has the twin objectives of giving the Punjabi music a contemporary “international feel” and provide a platform to the budding young singers. And the "Fankaar 2007" would be the first step towards catapulting the budding singer to the stardom.

With a formal training in the Indian and western classical music, a rarity among the Punjab music directors, Sukhpal moved to Canada at the impressionable age of 11 years. However, the call of roots back home proved stronger than the lure of lucre.

“In 1991, I shifted base to Mumbai to train under legendary Naushad as a music director was incomplete without the knowledge of the Indian film music”, said Sukhpal. The release of Sarbjit Cheema’s “Mela vekh diye mutiare”(1996), which had the chart-buster “Rangla Punjab”, catapulted Sukhpal to the top rung of the Punjabi music.

And since 2002, Sukhpal continues to be the “uncrowned king” of the Punjabi music. In fact, his success seems to be all the more creditable with his “hit list” having a fair share of the new singers.

“Music arrangement continues to be my forte as it has to conform to the ‘international standards’ to make it commercially viable. With that end in mind, I keep shuttling between India and foreign countries, including the UK, Canada and Spain, to keep myself updated on the latest in the western music scene," he added.

And undoubtly the stamp of western music indeed visible on his compositions.