EDUCATION

PU team inspects city colleges
Deepkamal Kaur

Ludhiana, June 19
With Panjab University having sent its team for guiding three city colleges in setting up adequate infrastructure for MSc in Information Technology, the university seems to be gearing up for starting the course in this session.

The team comprises Dr C. M. Behl, Director, Computer Centre, Panjab University, Dr R.K. Singla, Chairman, Department of Computer Science and Applications, Panjab University, Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh, former Dean Colleges, Panjab University, and Mr Tarsem Bahia, Principal, A.S. College, Khanna. They visited Arya College, Khalsa College for Women and Kamla Lohtia Sanatan Dharam College today.

They said the university had designed the syllabi for the two-year degree course, which had been approved by the UGC. They said the last date for submission of application forms would be June 30 and an entrance test would be held on July 11 in Chandigarh as well as in Ludhiana. They also said six colleges had been selected for the course and university was in the process of selecting more colleges soon. There would be 30 seats in each college, in addition to five seats reserved for the NRIs, the team members informed.

The team inspected the colleges for BCA (honours) and gave them guidelines to further build up the set-up for commencement of MSc (IT), for which another inspection would be held within a month. The team members checked for the number of computer laboratories, computer terminals, printers and modems, licensed software, Internet connection, books, journals, magazines, furniture and teaching staff.

Mr Bahia said the university had set clear conditions for the colleges and marks would be given for fulfilment of each requirement. He said since the university had decided to improve the infrastructure of its colleges, the team had been directed to be strict with the conditions set up by the university. Assessment was being made with marks specified for each condition and colleges would have to score at least 65 per cent for getting approval of the university, he said. The three city colleges would be probably scoring between 65 to 70 per cent, disclosed a team member, while informing that most of the Chandigarh colleges had scored above 80 per cent.

The team members said they would inspect more colleges in Chandigarh tomorrow and submit the report to the Vice-Chancellor in three days. Speaking generally about the inspection, Dr Behl said the colleges had improved their infrastructure by providing latest computer systems, latest versions of computer programmes, proper networking and a conducive atmosphere. He, however, regretted that he was not satisfied with the faculty in any of the three colleges.

Dr Behl elaborated, ‘‘The staff in colleges is adequate and qualified, but they lag behind in experience. The university is aware of the situation and has decided to start a two-week course to improve the level of teaching methodology. The course will be conducted throughout the year and the Vice-Chancellor has constituted a committee for the purpose.’’ 

20 scientists attend workshop
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 19
The Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Punjab Agricultural University, which organised a four-week summer school on “Advances in seeding and harvesting machinery”, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, concluded today.

It was organised for teachers and scientists of agricultural universities and ICAR institutes in the country. As many as 20 scientists participated.

Dr I.K. Garg, Senior Research Engineer-cum-Head and Director of the course, highlighted the role played by farm mechanisation in Punjab during the Green Revolution.

CULTURE

YOUNG ACHIEVERS
Singing their way to the top
Asha Ahuja

Ludhiana, June 19
“After my song was over at the function, ‘Yeh Sham Mastani’, I was mobbed by the audience. Young boys and girls wanted my autographs. I felt very elated and thought to myself that this is the way that I want my life to be,” says, Mickey.

Mickey Sharma was born and brought up in Ludhiana but has trained his sights on Mumbai, where he wants to settle down and start his career as a playback singer. T-Series took out his first devotional cassette ‘Nathon ke naath’ which was a grand success. The bhajans were penned by his friend, Pradeep Sharma. An executive from T-series, Mr Sanjay Lagwal spotted his talent at the Kishore Award Nite organised by Nirmal Kala Manch and invited him to Noida and recorded his first cassette. Now Mickey has been asked to report again. He says, “I have had a passion for singing right from childhood. In 1993, I won an award at a competition held in Chandigarh and that whetted my appetite to win more prizes.

“After a break by T-Series, I hope to reach my goal of doing playback singing for famous actors. Kumar Sanu heard me sing, complimented me and gave me certain tips. I have great faith in God and hope that he will give me success, “says Mickey. He has taken part in shows with Bali Braham Dutt, Mica and Ayesha Julka.

Another shining pop star on the horizon is Pradeep Sharma. He has been singing from his college days. Inspite of his busy schedule, he finds time to take singing lessons from Mr Narang in Jalandhar on the weekends. He is a lyricist as well as a singer. He has been participating at various singing competitions and has won a number of awards. Pradeep was the chief force behind the organisation of a colourful evening, ‘Yeh Sham Mastani’ held recently in Ludhiana . His talent has been recognised by an executive of T-Series and he has been asked to report for audition at Noida.

In the meanwhile, H.M. Digital Recording Company has contacted him for producing an album. He wants to turn his hobby into a profession especially after he was encouraged by Udit Narayan.

Nimrita has been singing since she was in Class IV at Guru Nanak International School. She can never forget the day when she got a prize for singing in school. Motivated, Nimrita put her heart and soul into singing and went on to win a couple of prizes at the inter-zonal level. She says, “I participated in the ‘Sa, Re, Ga, Ma’ contest organised by Alpha TV. I was happy when I emerged the first runner-up. I was assured that when Alpha TV holds another show in Chandigarh, I would be invited.”

She has participated in “Mehak Punjab Di” a musical nite organised in Ludhiana and has been training under Prof. Bhupinder Singh and Prof, Kaushik. Determined to reach her goal, Nimrita has been practising daily for one to two hours. She said, “Though I have been singing on stage from childhood yet I was nervous when I was asked to sing in the programme, ‘Yeh Sham Mastani’. Somehow, I managed to carry on and nobody noticed my stage fright.”

An executive of T-Series, who was present on the occasion, found her voice appealing and has called her for audition.

Here is wishing the three of them a successful singing career.