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| Tuesday, May 1, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Confusion marks exam
paper Chandigarh, April 30 While the Panjab University and college authorities were busy blaming each other for the confusion and centre in charges running helter-skelter for pencils to be provided to candidates. Anger and resentment among the students led to clashes and heated exchanges in some centres, while other centres allowed these ‘extra’ students to appear in the exam after collecting money from them. Students, most of them correspondence and private candidates, were made to return from the centres when their names failed to figure in the list of roll numbers with these colleges. While the college authorities say that without prior permission of the university they cannot allow candidates whose roll number are not in the final list to appear in an examination. Students say that they had paid the extra fee for the examination and filled in the subject in their original application forms. The PU authorities have stated that a ‘communication gap’ between the examination centres and the university’s examination conducting authority has resulted in the confusion. While in most of the city colleges, the students returned, but in MCM DAV College, Sector 36, some of the third year candidates were allowed to appear in the examination after charging Rs 35 from them and in Government College, Sector 46, the students were charged Rs 70 to appear in the examination. In DAV College, Sector 10, students tore the question papers and answersheets. Ultimately the police was deputed outside the college. In some centres in the university the number of candidates in the final list was more than the number of question papers sent to the centres leading to added confusion. Nearly 200 students staged a dharna in front of the VC’s office in the evening and submitted a memorandum. The private candidates and correspondence students are in a worse condition than the regular students. Correspondence students have complained to the Registrar stating that they had filled in the subject in their forms and still their names did not figure in the final list sent to the centres. These students were made to get up almost half way into the examination and asked to leave. The private candidates, who were to appear for the examination, have nowhere to go
except wait for the university to take some decisions regarding how they are going to clear this condition. The second and third year students (regular) ,too, decided to appear in the examination today fearing that they might lose the opportunity which may lead to a delay in the declaration of their results. The paper was introduced in the city colleges four years back as compulsory for all undergraduate (pass and honours course) classes. But dismal results in the first examination held in 1997 had led the university to decide that all those students who attended seven lectures in their colleges would be exempted from any examinations and considered to have cleared the condition. This situation continued till the current session when an examination for the undergraduate classes in the subject was made compulsory. The colleges as a result sent the forms of their first year students with this subject included. For the second year and third year students, the university had asked the colleges for a list of the students who had attended the seven lectures and would be as a result exempted from the examination. The last date for the lists to reach the university was March 31, 2000. Some colleges failed to send the lists in time. Meanwhile, the Board of Studies, to review the syllabus of environment studies, met at PU today, and awaiting a nod from the Vice-Chancellor, has decided that all II and III year students who have attended the seven lectures in colleges will be exempted from this examination. The colleges will be given May 31, 2001, to send a list of such students to the university. The Joint Controller of Examinations, Mr A.R. Bhandari, has proposed to the Vice-Chancellor in a note that all those students who have failed to appear in the examination should be given another chance to appear in the examination but only after the examinations are over after May 31. Correspondence students, however, feel that they would prefer to attend seven lectures if organised by the university than go through the mental harassment of preparing all over again for the examinations.
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Punjab Wakf Board tops in
revenue generation Ambala, April 30 Talking to mediapersons here today during the annual general meeting of the board, Dr M.R. Haque, administrator of the Punjab Wakf Board, said the board had not only touched new heights in revenue generation, but was also poised to launch a fresh drive for the enrolment of poor students in the schools of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The meeting was attended by estate officers and rent collectors posted in 35 circles, staff members and officers of the board, imams and a number of people from different fields. Mr Haque said: “Out of the 23 wakf boards with the state governments, it is comparable only with the Tamil Nadu Wakf Board, where the total revenue comes to about Rs 14 crore”. He said while Uttar Pradesh, with 1.5 lakh registered wakfs, was not in a position to maintain its staff without the state government’s grants, the Punjab Wakf Board, with only 35,000 wakfs, half of them under adverse encroachment, had been able to generate Rs 15 crore during 2000-2001. The board had spent Rs 4.18 crore on various social and welfare schemes for weaker sections of society. Giving details of future plans, Dr Haque said they were in the process of setting up pre-primary schools, which would help the students in preparing for Class I. “With proper pre-schooling, the chances of dropping out will be reduced. Initially 20 such schools will be started, which will be increased in the coming years,” he said. “Each pre-primary school will have about 25 students, one teacher and necessary facilities,” he added. He said the Punjab Wakf Board was also going to open a 40-bed hospital for women in Malerkotla. “The foundation stone for the hospital will be laid next month and the project is going to cost about Rs 1.90 crore,” he said. He said they were also going to open an ITI in Panipat. The Chief Executive Officer of Punjab Wakf Board, Sahibzada Akhlaq Ahmed Khan, said the total revenue of the board during 1998-99 was Rs 13.10 crore, which increased to Rs 13.82 crore during 1999-2000. This year’s revenue of more than Rs 15 crore is the highest receipt, he said. Mr Khan said the board was running various social and welfare schemes, including schools, vocational training centres, computer centres and grants to madarsa and maktabs. “During the year, it provided merit-cum-means scholarship to 186 student and pension to 2000 widows. The board has also incurred Rs 1.12 crore on the salaries of imams, urs and festivals,” he said. |
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STATE OF EDUCATION-V
— A TRIBUNE SURVEY Chandigarh All the 180-odd coaching centres are making profit, ten of which are now big business for their owners and the fee they demand is grudgingly paid by parents of students preparing for CET, PMT, MBA, IIT, UGC etc. But in the end if parents complain that education and competitions have become expensive, nay almost unaffordable, then they have none but themselves to blame. The maximum being patronised are the academies being run by professionals or teachers on a full-time basis. They charge anything between Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 for a complete course lasting three to six months while for a crash course of a month’s duration or less the charge is Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. The “owners” take a class or two but most of the work is done by low-paid jobless college and university graduates. The teacher-pupil ratio is at best 1:60 and at worst 1:90. Second is the category of subject- specific teachers. These teachers, perceived to be the best in the subject they teach, operate from their homes and later branch out on their own to run their academies. These specialists charge anything between Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 per month. Depending on the popularity of the teacher or the difficulty of the subject, the teacher-pupil ratio in such a case is known to have gone as high as 1:130 where the students are packed together in a hall and loudspeakers used so that those in the back can also follow the lessons. Another category is of the university and college teachers who take tuitions on the sly and as they are not allowed to teach privately, they keep the set-up subdued, finding it easier to earn a quick buck by simply taking a class or two at the city’s bigger academies. Not preferred by those who can afford are a large number of students and ex-students of university and colleges who make home visits to conduct tuitions. These students and teachers charge Rs 500 to 1,000 per month. “The reason that these teachers and academies are being patronised heavily is due to the gap between the pattern of examinations of the education boards and the requirements of the competitive examinations. Most of what is being taught in colleges and at the 10+2 level is little help when it comes to competitions,” says Mr R.C. Jeevan, Principal of DAV College in Sector 10. But all would have been well had the academies delivered the goods. These are running on a hit-and-trial basis and are unabashedly out to earn money. “There are some centres who only enroll the cream of the students. As a result, their chances of getting a large number of successful candidates are high. Most simply give out pre prepared material working on large question banks. These teach them questions not the subject,” says Mr Grover, a resident of Sector 44, whose two sons study in engineering colleges. “This is a big bubble of lies and farces which is going to burst any time. We were shocked to find that the same photograph of a PMT topper was printed by three different academies of the city claiming him to be their student,” says Mr Balwinder Singh Dhindsa, whose son is now pursuing an arts course in the university and was unsuccessful in the PMT twice. “Why should the academy take the responsibility for anything? We are not guaranteeing anything, nor are we approaching parents to send their children to us. All we do is project our results and if parents find them good enough they send their wards to us,” says an academy owner. But is there really no alternative available to residents? Government schools had come up with a scheme where special classes for coaching for competitive examinations were held with tests at the weekends. “The scheme did not pick up as most of the parents failed to show any interest beyond the first few months. Then they started saying that they could not send their children as its timings clashed with the tuition hours,” says a government school teacher. Something similar happened to the E26 programme which DAV College started for its 10+2 students. Parents did not show enough faith in the programme. “Private academies are able to project themselves in a manner which give the impression that the child would be missing something if he or she did not attend the course as in colleges students are barely able to complete their lectures. But hopefully things will change. All we need to do is to persevere with the parents and give them enough reasons to change their mindset,” says a lecturer of a local college. |
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Police to auction unclaimed vehicles Chandigarh, April 30 The traffic police has compiled data on the large number of vehicles, mainly two-wheelers, impounded over the past six years, which have been crowding up in the Traffic Lines . The vehicles challaned and subsequently impounded since 1994 have been lying unclaimed in the Sector 29 Traffic Police Lines. Most of these are private vehicles. A majority of these vehicles are scooters and mopeds. No trucks or buses are lying with the traffic police. Senior police officers reveal that people generally prefer not to take possession of these vehicles as these are too old and often their value is less than the amount of challan imposed. For example, a large number of underage drivers are challaned and their mopeds are impounded. “According to the Motor Vehicle Act, the fine imposed on an underage driver is Rs 500 and the fine to be imposed on the owner of the vehicle is Rs 1000. At times, the value of the moped is less than the fine and people forget about the vehicle,” explains DSP Traffic, Mr V.P. Singh. The decision to auction these vehicles was taken after the police conducted an exercise of issuing notices to all those people whose vehicles were unclaimed with the Traffic Police Lines. Of the more than 260 notices issued, only 18 owners of these vehicles had replied and they had expressed their unwillingness to claim these vehicles. Many had maintained that they did not need these vehicles back as these were inauspicious for them. The police had also sent a list of the registration numbers and the chassis numbers of all these vehicles to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) and the MOB branch of the city police to check if these vehicles had been stolen. Some of the vehicles had also been sent to the various police stations in the city after it was discovered that cases of theft of some of these vehicles had been registered. In spite of this, a large number of vehicles are still lying unclaimed in the Traffic Lines. In July 2000, the police carried out a similar exercise and data about all such vehicles was compiled. The permission for the auction of these vehicles had not been granted. It was during the monthly crime meeting earlier this month that the UT Inspector-General of Police, Mr B.S. Bassi, had asked the traffic police as well as the Station House Officers of all the 11 police stations to consolidate data of all case property lying under their jurisdiction so that these could be disposed of through an auction. Most of the police stations consolidated their data and the actual figures with various police stations would be made available in a couple of days. A large number of vehicles impounded by the police as stolen property or during accidents lie in most of the police stations. Sources in the police reveal that for most of the vehicles recovered after being reported as stolen, the owners have taken claims from the insurance companies and the latter have not taken the possession of these vehicles.
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N.K. Jain reinstated Chandigarh, April 30 Sources in the Chandigarh Administration said they could not lodge a protest as Jain had been repatriated to Haryana following his arrest on corruption charge. Sources in Haryana confirmed that he had been reinstated on the plea that no official could be kept under suspension for an indefinite period. Sources also explained that Jain had been served with no charge-sheet till date since his arrest in April, 2000. Haryana cannot serve him a charge-sheet as he was suspended and arrested while being on deputation at Chandigarh on a Central Government posting. The charge-sheet in his case has to come from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). What is stalling the charge-sheet is not known. He had joined the Chandigarh Administration on May 19, 1999, following the repatriation of Mrs Anuradha Gupta. In March, 2000, K.B. Goel, a superintendent with the Chandigarh Administration, alleged that Jain had been taking money from employees for transfers and other matters. It was alleged in the first information report that he was operating in tandem with Goel to receive money from parties interested in the settlement of their cases pending before the Administration.
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City gets mobile beauty clinic Chandigarh, April 30 “This project, which is four-months-old now, was conceived out of a desperation to do something more meaningful than sitting at home”, said Ms Dharni, who had to resign from a managerial position at Hotel Park Royale in Delhi to accompany her husband, who recently got transferred to the city. “When I came back to this city after a long
gap, I found the city saturated with beauty parlours,” said Ms Dharni, who started her career as a beautician with prestigious names like Hotel Taj Mansingh and Taj Palace in Delhi.” So I thought of the mobile clinic, targeting the upper class of the city who are either too busy or simply reluctant to visit beauty parlours,” she added. Rewa’s, which is the name of the parlour, specialises in pressure-point body massages and head massages, besides regular beauty treatments like facials and hair
treatment. Rewa says she kept her prices on the higher side to maintain hygiene and quality of the products she uses. “The clientele Rewa’s caters to are the elite of Chandigarh between the age group of 30 years to 50 years, who usually suffer from ailments like spondlytis or arthritis,” said Ms Dharni. “A weekly body massage on the lines of acupressure proves quite relaxing for them,” she added. Rewa, a product of the Government College for Girls here, said initially she wanted to become a teacher, but an encouraging comment from the famous Bollywood actress, Vidya Sinha, way back in 1965 motivated her to take up her current profession. After leaving her teaching job, she trained herself to be a beautician by Tina of Tina’s Wig,
a pioneer beauty institute of that era and later, a course in body massage from Hotel Taj Palace itself. “Teaching was quite a lowly-paid profession at that time. Besides, the glamour of this profession appealed to me at that time.” she added. However, dealing with beauty is not all that glamorous, said the entrepreneur.”
More than often, I have to explain to my clients that these so called wrinkle-free facials or brightness formulas are not enough to maintain the youthfulness of the skin. For this, one requires balanced and oil-free diets,” said Ms Dharni. “Often skin-related problems have their roots in hormones, which require medical attention. In such cases I advise the clients to go in for homoeopathy treatment,” she added. Though Rewa herself uses branded cosmetics for skin and hair treatment , her faith lies in home remedies.” These days, having an elaborate arrangement of branded cosmetics in the dressing rooms is in vogue,” said Ms Dharni. “But when it comes to combating suntan or cleansing the skin, nothing can beat simple products like tomato juice, curds or the good old ‘besan’”, she added.
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FENG SHUI TIPS WITH
the ever-rising prices of land and mass exodus in urban cities, people tend to use every square inch of the space available to them. Sometimes to get more out of the given area or to balance the appearance of the house externally, people use slanting walls as roofs. Generally attic rooms have slanting walls. These are either turned into children’s bedrooms or home offices. Under a slope, the Chi depresses and these areas degenerate the process and the quality of the sleep of the occupants. Working under a slope also causes a lot of mental strain and the occupants may feel stressed out. Therefore, it is recommended to have smaller areas rather than the ones with slopes. The effect of the slopes can be nullified with the correct use of lighting and paints. Regular-shaped windows and the use of crystals can also help in uplifting the Chi and creating the balance. If the ceiling is high, the solution is to get an artificial ceiling installed.
Harshna Send your Feng Shui queries to:
E-mail: fengshui@tribuneindia.com
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NSS volunteers to assist
police SAS NAGAR, April 30 He said on the suggestion of the state police authorities, the district police was planning to use the services of NSS volunteers for door-to-door verification of tenants and servants, assisting traffic police in regulating traffic and checking cases of eve-teasing. Under the pilot project, modernisation of the Phase 1 and the Sohana Police Stations was also on the cards. Addressing the participants at the seminar, Mr A.A. Siddiqui, an ADGP in Punjab Police, said the main aim of the programme was to make the cops accessible to the public and to have free registration of cases. He acknowledged that the image of police was not good in the eyes of the public and there was a need to reverse it. He said community interface cells (CIC) would be set up to generate awareness among the community regarding its rights and responsibilities. Another role of the CICs would be to inform the community about the specific services initiated by the police in the respective areas. Involving people for social policing, building channels of interactions with NGO’s and assisting in creation of neighbourhood committees would also be part of the CICs. Mr Bhullar said the an important aspect of the programme was create to awareness about the laws, especially those regarding the traffic human rights , protection of child rights, rights of the arrested persons, levels of permissible pollution and methods to reduce it and Dowry Prevention Act. Training of policemen to behave in a friendly manner with the community was also being done. A neighbourhood watch programme of the CICs was to focus on crime prevention through area security, landlord-tenant dispute, security of senior citizens, check on drug addicts, public drinking and noise pollution. During the seminar, the participants, which included members of gram panchayats and representatives of social organisations were divided into three groups. The participants, after being given a questionnaire to fill were asked about their suggestions on community policing. Few representatives of the resident welfare associations had been invited at the seminar. Those present there had reportedly been screened . Chandigarh, April 30 In his inaugural address, the Chief Engineer, Western Command, Maj Gen Madhav Arren, emphasised upon the need to design and construct energy efficient buildings to conserve power and natural resources. He said that large government agencies like the Military Engineer Service, Central Public Works Department and the Railways could take a lead in this direction, besides contributing to research in this field. General Arren also called for the use of passive solar architecture, recycling of building materials, proper orientation and shading of buildings to reduce energy requirements. He added that provision of water bodies, air flow, natural light, and vegetation would result in energy-efficient buildings. Eminent speakers at the seminar included those from engineering and architecture institutes, as well as experts from various state development authorities. The workshop was attended by participants from the Engineer-in-Chief’s Branch at Army Headquarters as well as representatives of various zonal chief engineers, based at Delhi, Bathinda, Jalandhar and Chandigarh. A presentation on “Energy-Friendly Building Materials for Housing” was given by Lt Col J.S. Bakshi, Visiting Professor at the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, while Mr Jit Gupta, Senior Town Planner with Punjab Urban Development Authority delved on the concepts of planning and design of energy-efficient buildings. The use of solar power for achieving energy efficiency in buildings was highlighted by Mr Harinder Jain, managing director of a locally based firm, while experts from Punjab Energy Development Agency presented a case study on its passive solar complex. A site visit to the complex was also organised.
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Roadside workers protest Chandigarh, April 30 They were demanding for the issuing of identity cards and providing of Pucca booths as per the decision of the UT Administration and to restrain the enforcement staff of Municipal Corporation and police personnel from committing atrocities. The workers of various sectors joined the rally in morning and abstained from work. They even blocked the road for some time and raised slogans against the administration and the Municipal Corporation, on way to Raj
Bhavan.They also gheroed the Governor’s House for sometime. |
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Fire destroys 8 acres of wheat crop Kharar, April 30 Giving this information here today, Mr Karam Chand Sood, Sub Fire Officer, SAS Nagar, said that wheat crop of Mr Sher Singh of Dusarna village in four acre near Kurali was destroyed in the fire. He said a short circuit was allegedly the cause for the fire. Similarly wheat crop in 4 acre in Daon village on the Kharar, SAS Nagar Road, was destroyed in the fire. |
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Vegetables dearer Chandigarh, April 30 The prices of ladyfinger and capsicum have risen and their prices were in the range of Rs 25 to Rs 30 per kg. French beans were priced between Rs 20 and 25 a kg. The price of cauliflower went up to Rs 12 to 15 per kg and that of cucumber Rs 5 to 8, depending on quality. Tomato at Rs 5 to 7 per kg and gourd
(ghia) at Rs 5 to 8 were reasonably priced. The prices of potato varied from Rs 5 to 8 and that of onion from Rs 7 to 10 per kg.
Today’s prices
Vegetable
Price per kg (In Rs) Potato
5
Onion
7
Tomato
5
Capsicum
25
Ladyfinger
25
Cauliflower
12
Cucumber
5
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Tribune employee retires Chandigarh, April 30 |
Car thief attempts
suicide Chandigarh, April 30 According to the information available, Karamveer Singh tried to stab himself with an ice-pick yesterday. The electronics engineer took this extreme step in a state of depression. Though senior police officials in the city preferred to remain tight-lipped about the incident, the police had registered a case under Section 309 of the IPC. Both the Sector 17 police station staff and the crime branch staff were passing the buck to each other for the incident. One theory was that the accused attempted suicide at the Sector 17 police station, after he had reportedly taken the Crime Branch staff that he wanted to go to the Police Station in order to pick up his belongings. The Sector 17 police authorities, denied this and maintained that the incident took place in the crime branch. He was remanded in judicial custody after he was granted bail, but the bail bond would be furnished tomorrow. Karamveer Singh, a resident of Amritsar, was arrested a couple of days back while he was trying to steal a car from the Sector 17 parking. Subsequently 11 cars were recovered from his possession. The accused was in a habit of removing the accessories from stolen cars and leaving the cars in deserted places. |
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Theft in house Chandigarh, April 30 Mr Kamaljit Singh has reported that the thieves took away Rs 10,000 and some gold jewellery. A case under Sections 454 and 380 of the IPC has been registered. Five booked: The police has booked five members of a family of Daddu Majra colony on charges of criminal trespassing and assaulting a man and his sister. Vijay Kumar has reported that Swaraj Kumar, Sartaj Kumar, Satbir Kumar, Saroj and Somwati assaulted him and his sister, who has been admitted to the GMCH, Sector 32. A case under Sections 147, 148, 149, 323, 452 and 506 of the IPC has been registered. Stereo stolen:
The stereo was stolen from a car ( DL-4CD- 3481) on Saturday night from the residence of Dr Surinder Kumar in Sector 37. A case under Section 379 of the IPC has been registered. One arrested:
The police has arrested Maghar Singh, a resident of Sector 20- C, for drinking at a public place on Sunday. He has been booked under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act. |
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