10 colleges participate in youth fest
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 10
Contests for literary and fine arts events marked the first day of the three-day inter-college youth festival at Gujranwala Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, Civil Lines, here today.

As many as 10 colleges participated in 12 contests held on the first day which included Indian classical singing, western group song, classical dance, choreography, rangoli-making, flower arrangement, sketching, dumb charades, case presentation, system analysis and design, sell it and declamation contests. In rangoli-making contest seven students from different colleges participated. Students used coloured saw dust, pulses, diyas, mirrors and glitters to adorn their rangoli patterns and gave different themes to rangoli designs.

In flower arrangement contest there were five participants. Puneet from the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, Model Town, in her entry titled 'completes journey' showed rose flowers in different stages. Anvita from the Punjab College of Technical Education prepared her arrangement with white gladioli and carnations in red jelly depicting the plight of women widowed in the recent communal violence in Gujarat.

In classical solo dance contest titled ‘Mudra’ there were six participants. Shivani from the Khalsa Institute of Management and Technology enthralled the audience with her performance ‘Sur ke ghungroo’. In case presentation, the students were given topics based on outsourcing and business potential.

Ravneet Bhullar and Sameera from the Punjab College of Technical Education won the first prize in duet singing contest, followed by the team from SCD Government College and Institute of Management Studies, Model Town. In rangoli-making, Richa and Seema from the Punjab College of Technical Education were declared winners, followed by the team from the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, Model Town, and Institute of Management Studies, Model Town.

In case presentation, Alisha and Harshpreet (Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology) won the first prize. Teams from the Punjab College of Technical Education and Institute of Management Studies won the second and third prizes, respectively. In dumb charades, Gautam Sikri and Deepak Gupta (Punjab College of Technical Education) won the first prize. The team from the Institute of Management Studies got second position and that from Doraha Institute of Management and Technology was declared third.

Mr R.L. Kalsia, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, inaugurated the festival. Prof G.S. Dua, co-ordinator of the institute, said contests for skit, mehndi, case discussion, western dance, quiz, fashion show, cartooning and just-a-minute would be held tomorrow.

Sudha wins contest
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 10
Contests for poster-making, collage-making, motto-writing, composition, landscape and black-board writing were held at the Malwa Central College for Women here yesterday.

Over 50 students from the college participated in the contests. The topic for poster making and collage making was ‘Women empowerment’. In poster-making competition, Sudha Rani was declared first, followed by Gursharan Kaur and Ramandeep Kaur.

In collage-making, Pooja Gupta, Poonam Mahajan and Mandeep Kaur were declared first, second and third, respectively. Amandeep Kaur stood first in motto-writing competition while Manpreet Kaur won second prize. Sandeep Kaur and Ram Murti were together declared third.

In composition, Satinderdeep Kaur secured first position, followed by Sukhjinder Kaur and Anuradha Gupta. In landscape painting contest, Harjinder Kaur, Jyoti Goliani and Paramdeep Kaur were declared first, second and third, respectively.

In blackboard writing in Hindi, Sudha Rani stood first, followed by Badal Kumari and Neena. For Punjabi, first, second and third positions were bagged by Navjot Bala, Gurmeet Kaur and Taranjit Kaur, respectively. Poonam was adjudged first, Poonam Mahajan and Sandeep Kaur were declared second, and Rohini Bhanot and Jasmeet Kaur won third prize in the same contest for English.

Ms Kusum Malhotra, member, Lion’s Club, gave away prizes to students. Dr Ravinder Kaur, Principal, appreciated the efforts of the students.

On the occasion, a workshop on personal grooming was organised in association with the Department of Adult, Continuing Education and Extension of the Panjab University. Workshop was conducted in six parts including make-up, manicure and pedicure, mehndi, facial, saree wrapping and hair style. Resource persons for the workshop were Ms Mahua Khosla, Ms Tripti Arora and Ms Rachna Khurana.

School function
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 10
Students of Harsh Vidya Mandir received prizes for their performance in academics, sports and cultural activities at a function held here today. Among the 50 students who received prizes were Riya Sharma and Sarvjot Kaur from Nursery and Ravneet Gulati from LKG. Ramneet Sandhu and Komal Bhagat from UKG, Rajput Saurabh and Amandeep Singh from Class I, Pooja Arora and Arun Nayyar from Class II, Mohit Mahajan and Pooja Rana from Class III, Kamalpreet from Class IV and Poornima Sharma from Class V also received prizes for securing first position in their classes .

Trust directed to allot alternative plot
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 10
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Improvement Trust, Ludhiana, to allot an alternative plot to Mr Sushil Malik, a resident of Field Ganj, in lieu of the one which he had applied for in 1982. The Forum has also directed the Trust to pay Rs 4,000 as compensation on account of deficiency in services and Rs 500 as cost of litigation to the consumer.

According to the complaint, the consumer had applied for a plot and deposited Rs 950 on November 16, 1982, with the Trust. The representative of the complainant, Mr S.S. Sarna, stated before the Forum that the consumer received a memo on August 24, 1999, asking him to attend the function of draw of lots on September 10, 1999, here at Nehru Sidhant Kendra. He further stated that the consumer attended the said function, the consumer was allotted plot no. 641-G and his name appeared at serial No. 168 in the list fixed at the notice board.

Mr Sarna disclosed that it was mentioned in the notice that the allotment letters will be issued to the winners of the draw but he had not received any such letter from the respondent. He further disclosed that the consumer had even written regarding the matter to the Trust on November 26, 1999, but no reply was received. It was demanded that proper action should be taken against the respondent for not allotting the plot after the required formalities had been completed.

The Trust maintained that since no approval had been received from the department, there was no question of giving any alternate plots by it. However, it was admitted that the consumer had applied for the allotment of a plot and deposited the required amount. The respondent clarified, “The plot allotted to consumer fell under ‘city centre scheme’ and there are other allottees to whom the plots has to be allotted.” But without approval of the government, they could not allot any plot, it added. The respondent stated that there was no deficiency in services as such the complaint was liable to be dismissed.

The Forum observed that it was an admitted fact that the consumer had applied for a plot under the said scheme, he deposited the required amount and at last he was allotted a plot by the Trust. The Forum further observed that the contention of the respondent was that the said plot fell in the city centre scheme and the lay out of scheme was not received by it from the said department of the state government which was the main reason for not allotting any alternative plot.

The Forum also observed that in the affidavit produced by the Trust, it had even stated that the stay had been issued by the civil court and the allotment could not be made till the stay was vacated. The Forum stated that, however, no evidence had been produced regarding the stay, but the fact remained that the complainant was successful in the draw.

The Forum said, “If the plot falls in the city centre scheme, then the Trust should have not held the draw regarding the plot falling in the said scheme. The Forum held, “Holding of the draw of lots when the Trust was not to allot the plot was a deficiency in services itself. Had the draw not be held, the complainant would not have been compelled to approach this forum.”