EDUCATION

Memo to PM on education reforms
Our Correspondent

Amloh, June 17
Mr Narinder Singh Mann, senior vice-president, All-India Youth Akali Dal, in a memorandum sent to the Prime Minister on Sunday urged him to remove loopholes in the allotment of seats to various institutions to impart technical education to the students in the state. It was stated in the memorandum that wide powers had been given to the regional office of the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), Chandigarh, for allotment of seats of Master of Computer Applications (MCA) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) to the institutions.

According to information, 31 institutions had applied for MCA and MBA courses out of which 24 institutes were cleared and final approval from the regional office for the allotment of seats is to be cleared after verification of infrastructure and other facilities available in the institutions. In the absence of hard and fast rules, pick-and-choose policy is likely to be adopted.

Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir are covered by the regional office, Chandigarh, which nominate members of his choice to visit the institutions and allot seats. It is feared from its delay tactics that the list of allotment of seats to the university will be released at the nick of the time of admission, whereas the institutions are not aware of the allotted strength of students, which causes delay in the appointment of staff and create confusion among the students in the selection of institutions of their choice.

Mr Mann has demanded that institutions having any grievance against the allotment of seats should be accorded a change of hearing against the decision taken before the recommendations of the eligible students to the university.

CULTURE

Rasika to perform in city
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, June 17
Rasika, one of the foremost exponents of Bharatnatyam, will perform in the city in the last week of June. She will enthrall the audience at the local Guru Nanak Bhavan. This was stated in a communique issued by the Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam which has been responsible for bringing a number of artistes to the city.

Rasika, the danseuse has been giving stage performances in India and abroad since 1971. In India, she has performed at dance platforms of the Madras Music Academy, Krishna Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts Society, and Kartik Fine Arts Society. In 1976, she performed at the Tamil Isai Sangam in the annual All-India Dance Festival and won the award for the best young Bharatnatyam dancer, an award she cherishes greatly as true recognition of her efforts in the home of Bharatnatyam.

She has also performed in Belgium, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Edinburgh and Paris and donated the proceeds for cyclone victims of Andhra Pradesh. On her return to India in 1977, she performed for the Indian Music Society in Delhi, the National Centre for Performing Arts in Bombay and for Bombay Television. She was also selected to perform at the Second Annual Festival of Dance held at the Khajuraho temples and for the National Arts Festival of the Council of Creative Arts in Delhi.

She toured Europe in 1980 under the auspices of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and performed in Italy, Austria , Switzerland, England and France. Her introduction to North America took place in Toronto the same year where she performed for the dancers of the Canadian National Ballet.