Students write to SGPC chief
Say quota seats converted into open category
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 5
Complaining of injustice being meted out to them, some Sikh students aspiring to seek admission to BTech course at Guru Nanak Engineering College have written to Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

Students and their parents have alleged that during the second counselling session held on July 31, they had been denied admission to those seats against which the candidates selected in the first counselling had not deposited their fee.

The students said it was a rude shock to them when they were told by the authorities of Punjab Technical University (PTU) that such seats had been converted into the general open category.

One of such complainants, who is a resident of Model Town here, said she had come to know that two students who had got admission to the electronics course in the college had not deposited the fee, and seats were left vacant. She said when she requested the university authorities to allot her one of those two seats, she was told that these were now being declared open.

She said since her merit fell low in the open category, she was being deprived of getting admission to the course of her wish.

The students said they were very demoralised when the PTU authorities expressed their helplessness to them. The students have now sought the intervention of Mr Tohra, who is the President of the SGPC run college committee. They said immediate action should be taken so that justice was done to them before August 8, the next date of second counselling.

When contacted, Col D.S. Grewal, Principal of the college, said students probably had some confusion. No seat reserved for the Sikh community was being converted into general open quota.

Similarly, Mr Sadhu Singh, Director, Colleges, PTU, said the Sikh quota would remain and no seats would be converted into the open category.

He said that earlier there was some confusion but now it had been made clear that seats left vacant by Sikh students in the first counselling would only go to the Sikh students in the second counselling session.

College girls celebrate Teej with fervour
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 5
To mark the advent of monsoon, students of SDP College for Women celebrated Teej on the college campus here today. A colourful Punjabi ambience was created by decorating the campus with phulkaris, dupattas, traditional hand-fans, chhaj and charkha. Swings decorated with petals and multicoloured umbrellas gave a gala look to the function.

More than 200 girls dressed in bright colourful costumes decked with traditional Punjabi jewellery participated in a variety of cultural events like giddha, kikli, modelling, folk dances, folk songs, tappe and bolian.

Miss Teej, mehndi and bangles contests were held on the occasion. Around 25 students participated in the Miss Teej contest while 12 took part in the mehndi and bangles competitions. Shelly was chosen as Miss Teej while Isha of BA II won first prize in the mehndi contest and Smariti of BA II was declared the winner of the bangles competition.

Ms Gurkanwal Kaur, MLA and president, Punjab Pradesh Mahila Congress, was the chief guest. Ms Sushil Gupta, Deputy Mayor, Municipal Corporation, was the guest of honour.

The chief guest inaugurated an exhibition of items related to the Punjabi culture.

The guests appreciated the performance and enthusiasm of the students. They asked them to remain in touch with the Punjabi culture. Mementoes comprising phulkaris, bindis, bangles and parandis were presented to the chief guest and the guest of honour.

Aulakh for increase in area under forest cover
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 5
Dr Kirpal Singh Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, has expressed concern over the decline in area under forest cover in the state. Only about six per cent of the total area of the state was under forest cover at present, he said. He was speaking on the occasion of Vanmahotsava being celebrated at Ladowal Farm by the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, PAU.

The forest cover in the state should be between 15 to 20 per cent, he said. Research in this area could help achieve the target, he added. He also opined that the forest cover could be increased if problems of marketing were tackled properly.

Dr Sinderjeet Singh Gill, Head of the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, said under a scheme of the university, more than 1,500 saplings were being planted with the help of the students. The department had already covered an area of 27 acre and the aim was to increase it up to 50 acre, he added.

Dr Ramesh Kumar, Head of the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, said about 1,500 trees, shrubs and climbers would be planted on the Ludhiana campus during the current planting season.