EDUCATION

PTU tie-up with companies draws flak
From Deepkamal Kaur

LUDHIANA, Dec 21 — Tie-up between the Punjab Technical University and private computer institutes for introducing one year post-graduate IT courses, has come as damper to the lecturers of technical colleges affiliated to the university.

The university authorities have taken private firms into confidence, and overlooked equally good infrastructure of the colleges. They said the university also did not rely on the faculty which has been selected by its own nominees. They also said that the university has given away all the advance courses to the private colleges, leaving the colleges behind with the traditional courses with an obsolete syllabus.

The lecturers said the university had flouted its norms in the tie-up. ‘‘The college teachers are required to have an eligibility criteria and pass through an interview. Now they have been told to clear the UGC examination within three years which will not be a condition for the faculty of the private institutes,’’ they said.

Further the lecturers said private companies had not been told to follow any guidelines of the All India Council for Technical Education which were mandatory for all affiliated colleges. They said there were fixed land norms for colleges in rural as well as urban areas. A rural college is told to have a 2.5 acre land and a college within the corporation limits is allowed to have a 1.25 acre. They said the university has given just two rooms, one for theory and another for practical to the companies.

They further said that the colleges have been told to build up a specific infrastructure, including facilities for sports and library with a fixed amount of books. However, no such rules have been made mandatory for the private companies.

Regarding the financial part, the college lecturers alleged that there was no transparency in case of collaborations made between the companies and the university. Citing an example of the tie-up made by the university with the Asset International, the college lecturers said, ‘‘the university would get 30 per cent share of the profits, out of which it has to set up all computer hardware infrastructure. The university is not even able to set up the computers and maintain them properly in that amount.’’

The college lecturers also said had the courses been started in the colleges, the university authorities would not have to bother about the monitoring aspect. They said that by collaborating with the colleges, the university was losing its identity.

Meanwhile, the university has decided to begin the courses from the first week of January. Mr Rajiv Kohli, centre manager, King Infotech Software Solutions, informed, ‘‘the fee for the higher-end e-commerce and software engineering courses has been fixed at Rs 36,000 and its duration will be nine months. The instalments scheme will also be available. Total number of seats will be 200. Classes will be taken for six days a week and two and a half hours a day.’’

Mr Paramjit S. Juneja, Director, Offshore Informatique Limited, said the fee for the medical transcription course will be Rs 30,000. The admission will be held twice a year and there will be three batches of 60 students each, he said.

CFC school students celebrate X-mas
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Dec 21 — In view of the approaching holidays, the students of CFC Public School organised a function to celebrate Christmas at their BRS Nagar campus here today.

The school was tastefully decorated with Christmas trees, candles, flower baskets, bells and colourful ribbons. The function began with an action song, Jingle bells, performed by the tiny tots of Gurdev Nagar campus. This was followed by a prayer song, Teri aradhana karun, presented by senior section girls clad in sarees and holding candles in both hands.

The tiny tots of BRS Nagar campus jumped and twisted as they presented an action song, Joy to the world for the Lord has come. Class V students presented a group song, Tu jeevan mera badal gaya. Aman and Aditi, both Class IX students sang a duet. A Christmas play, depicting the birth of Jesus, staged by the students of Classes VI to IX which was the main attraction of the function was well-received by the audience. The programme was concluded by a group song, We wish you merry Christmas, presented by the students of Class V and VI. Finally, a student in the guise of Santa Claus distributed sweets among the students.

The Principal, Ms Mary Koruth, and Director, Mr Daniel Abraham, told the students about the importance of the day. 

COURTS

Bar chief to work for chambers
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Dec 21 — After becoming the President of the District Bar Association for the fourth time, Mr Harish Rai Dhanda said building chambers for lawyers in the new courts complex was his top priority now.

He said the construction of the chambers would begin in the next few days. “The work has been allotted to two agencies and the state government has already given Rs 10 lakh to the PWD for this purpose.”

The need for lawyers’ chambers was the main issue in the district Bar elections. Lawyers said, once the courts were shifted to the new complex, the absence of the lawyers’ chambers would pose a problem for them.

Mr Dhanda said lawyers would raise Rs 4 crore and the state government would give Rs 8 crore for the project. “The Bar body has already received Rs 2.5 crore from its members so far.”

He said the draft of formal agreement on the issue had already been approved by the Home Department. The Finance Department, however, is yet to give its approval.

About his programmes for the next year, Mr Dhanda said, “We want to set up a cooperative housing society for lawyers and expect to get land for at least 500 dwelling units. The proposal has been accepted by the state government in principle,” he said.

He said there had been an alarming rise in the number of cases that were pending in the subordinate and sessions courts here. He said the number of judges was inadequate for a quick disposal of these cases. He said the government should appoint more subordinate and sessions judges in the city to clear this backlog.

CULTURE

Kadar Khan plays his cards well
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Dec 21 — As the organisers had invited more persons than Guru Nanak Bhavan here could accommodate, the play Taash Ke Patte began half-an-hour after the given time. However, the chaos could not rob the play of its brilliance. The play was written and produced by film actor Kadar Khan.

The play is a satire — a bitter pill wrapped in sugar coating. Kadar Khan’s powerful dialogues and direction, besides a good performance by all artistes made this bitter pill effective. The costumes were appropriate and sets were well-designed.

The play is a story of three generations divided by a communication gap. The opening scene is of a living room of a house. The grandson and his mother are shouting at the old man. The story has many twists. The daughter-in-law, her henpecked husband and their brattish son gang up against the head of the family who is shown to be a witty and sweet person. His wit makes him the most loveable character of the play.

The comic situation in the play arises due to a mix-up. Himmat and his wife mistake their prospective samdhi to be an income tax officer and vice-versa. The grandfather tackles the situation using his wise ways to save his son Himmat and daughter-in-law Asha. The play mocks the materialistic attitude of the people.

Himmat and his wife, in order to settle the Rs 2 crore debt, decide to force their daughter to marry a nut. The demented character has been played by Sarfaraz who is the son of Kadar Khan. He looks to be an excellent actor. At the end of the play, the old man dies after settling the affairs of his grandchildren.

The dialogues were good because these were written by Kadar Khan. The play is a sweet mockery of the modern-day situation where old members of the family are considered worthless.

The audience gave the actors a standing ovation. Kadar Khan said, “I would urge all of you to encourage theatre because it is our tradition.” He came, he spoke and he conquered.

Youngsters in the audience said they had been moved by the play. There were a lot of persons who had not been allowed to enter the auditorium. The reached the venue late because they could not find a space to park their vehicles as the others has parked their vehicles in a haphazard manner.

The audience was noisy and there was constant ringing of mobile telephones. Once, it forced Kadar Khan had to stop the play midway. The play was brought to Ludhiana by the Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam.