The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

Favouritism charges at PAU function
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, March 5 — In what may be termed as a case of prize piracy at anjuman, a cultural extravaganza, organised by the Department of Business Management, Punjab Agricultural University here yesterday, the director of a participating institute alleged that they were denied two prizes which the judges had awarded them and the prizes were presented to someone else.

Dr K.N.S. Kang, Director, Punjab College of Technical Education, said he was surprised to learn that some prizes which were won by students of his institute were presented to students of some other institutes.

Quoting some judges, he alleged that the judgement had been tampered with. Quoting one of the judges, he disclosed that in the creative dance category tal se chal mila, a student of his institute, Sunny Jain, was awarded the second prize. However, the organisers after allegedly tampering with the judgement awarded the prize to some one else.

Similarly in the face painting and masquerade, another student of his institute was again awarded the second prize but it was not given to him, as the final judgement went in favour of someone else. He alleged that in another event dumb charade, the students of PCTE were given wrong information about the timing of presentation. Although it was brought to the notice of the organisers, they refused to entertain their pleas.

Dr Kang alleged that it was deliberately done at the behest of the co-ordinator of Anjuman, Mrs Pratibha Goyal, to favour her brother’s team — Apeejay, Jalandhar, which eventually took home the trophy. The issue, he said, was being brought to the notice of the PAU authorities and also the Directorate of Technical Education.

However, Mrs Goyal denied all these charges and alleged that these were being levelled with malafide intentions. She said none of her brothers was in anyway associated with Apeejay Jalandhar and “only one of my remote cousins is there”. She asserted that accurate judgements made by the judges were announced from the stage and not a single judgement was tampered with.

Versatility is their hallmark
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, March 5 — One would associate medical students with studies and not with composing verses or performing dances or being versatile in spite of being toppers. But some students of Christian Medical College and Christian Dental College, besides being good in academics, have shown proficiency in other fields too.

Wooden Pillows

And there I lay,

Like a leaf, tossed on the ground,

Tossed away by the wind of life

Having nowhere to go,

Except the vast, open wasteland,

Where, I, along with my mates, rest my head

On pillows of dead trees.

This is part of a poem by Gingu Koshy George, a second prof student of BDS at Christian Dental College. The poem won him the Poet of the Year 2000 award by an American Society of poets. His poem was published by the society in an anthology. It was declared as editor’s best choice. This entitled him to a prize of $ 5,000 which he had to collect from Washington D.C. but unfortunately he could not make the journey. Gingu loves composing poems and has a fascination for dead people. He wants to echo what dead people would have wanted to say. He thinks they are trying to talk to us and convey their thoughts to us. He is active in the campus and participates in many co-curricular activities like quizzes. Gingu comes from a small town in Kerala and has settled very comfortably in the new environs. He loves Punjabi food, especially Tandoori chicken. After completing his studies, he wants to start a dental clinic in Thiruval, his native town.

Ruby and Rinni Babu, are sisters, who have become famous on the campus of Christian Dental College. They perform amazing Bharat Natyam, Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi dances on all important occasions. Both hail from Kerala and are second and third year BDS students at Christian Dental College. They started training at the age of eight at Kalamandlam. They won many prizes at state-level competitions. Their execution of steps, synchronisation of movements, facial expressions, and agility leaves the audience spellbound. They participated twice in Pulse, a cultural festival organised by AIIMS. Their performance won them the ‘Best Dancers’ Award both the times at the recently held Fusion 2001 at CDC. Their only regret is that they do not find time for practicing. It goes to their credit that both the sisters are proficient in three types of dances. Their performances have been highly acclaimed both by the staff and students of the college.

Suhasini Gazula, presently an intern at Christian Medical College and Hospital, has made a habit of standing first in the examinations. Suhasini looks like a carefree, happy-go-lucky type of a girl and one cannot associate her with great seriousness towards studies, which one would expect from a university topper.

Besides being good in studies, she has participated in quizzes, musicals and even performs in the theatre. She reached the National Level of IAP paediatric quiz. In the five years of her stay, she has participated in four musicals. She not only acted in plays like Oliver, but also provided the sound stream in the play ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and was in charge of costumes for Grease. She has been the Managing Editor for the college magazine, Christinos Medicos. A deeply religious girl, she feels it was providence that led her to CMC, where she has found a great deal of friendship and joy. Her favourite quote is ‘Do your best and leave the rest in the hands of God’.

Bittu to revive SSF
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, March 5 — A former activist of the then All-India Sikh Students Federation, Daljit Singh ‘Bittu’, who remained underground for several years during the militancy in Punjab, has expressed his intention to revive the Sikh Students Federation (SSF) in order “to make a determined intervention and to give a positive and new turn to Sikh politics.”

Daljit Bittu, accused of various crimes, including the infamous Rs.5.87 crore bank robbery in Ludhiana and lodged in Nabha jail for past more than five years, has set up a four-member review committee, comprising Mr Jaspal Singh Dhillon, Mr. Surinderpal Singh, Mr. Mithben Singh and Mr Jagjit Singh, which would interact with the former SSF leaders, activists and advisors.

Addressing a news conference here today the members of the review committee informed that the briefing given to the members of the review committee was to assess the working of the SSF in the past and identify the new challenges and the future course of action. The committee would also prepare a report and take necessary steps to identify and appoint the members of the adhoc committee.

They further said that the adhoc committee would be entrusted with the responsibility of launching a membership drive and holding proper elections. Before the organisational base was set up, the review committee would hold discussions with the academicians and educational experts to make an assessment of the relevance of the present educational curriculum and its shortcomings.

A message of Daljit Bittu read out at the news conference focussed on the sorry state of affairs of the Sikh community. “Our community leaders and institutions have fallen victim to self promotion and deception. Moral values and ethics have been completely eroded. Whereas, on one hand, forces inimical to the Sikh faith are striking at the very roots and foundations, on the other hand, the Sikhs themselves suffer because of their internal bickering and factionalism.”

The members of the review committee made it clear that no former student leader, who was ineligible on any grounds, would be allowed to run for SSF elections. However, such persons would be welcomed to render help and advice on the organisational matters.