EDUCATION

Preparing pole delicacy for Kalam
Kanchan Vasdev
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 30
When the President pays a visit, it is no child’s play selecting the delicacies that would tickle his taste buds. Officials of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have been on their toes for the past many weeks finding out dishes catering to the tastes of the First Citizen, who is scheduled to visit the city on September 4. Laced with Punjabi hospitality, delicacies from the South are going to dominate the grand luncheon being organised by the PAU at Sukhdev Singh Bhavan. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s favourite sweet pole and rasam have been especially included in the list of dishes to be served on the day. The menu was finally decided at a meeting headed by the Vice-Chancellor, who made it a point to tell the chef to include pole in the list. The President, during an interaction with the Vice-Chancellor, had recalled his childhood days when he used to run to his mother for the “pole”.

University authorities have chosen Majestic Park Plaza, a local five-star hotel, to serve the food to the President. Just after it was announced, the head chef rung up hotels in the South to get a know-how of the preparation of pole and other dishes. Not ready to take any chances, the hotel staff is making sure that the dishes taste exactly the way they should do. The South Indian cuisine, including rasam, phoran, kalan, ulli-theeyal, pachadi, appam, sambar, paripu and steamed rice, would be offered to the chief guest. “We are sticking to vegetarian dishes. Non-vegetarians will have to excuse us on the big day,” says Dr A.S. Grewal, Warden of PAU’s Faculty House, who is a member of the catering committee.

Not to be missed are the hot and spicy Punjabi dishes, which were decided after long discussions at the meeting. The buffet will offer paneer lababdar, karahi mushroom, teh vadian, masaledar bhindi, allu gobhi methi, pindi chhole, rajmah Punjabi, dal makhni, jira piyaaz ka pulao, steamed basmati, pudina paratha and dahi bhalla. And the dessert section will have kesri jalebi with rabri, exotic fresh fruit array, dal payasam, sewian payasam, stuffed gulab jamun and of course, pole. 

Student seeks compensation
Our Correspondent

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 30
The parents of a boy whose answer sheets were allegedly deleted by an invigilator during the Panjab School Education Board March 2003 examinations held here, have urged the Chief Minister of Punjab to take a action against the teacher and compensate the family.

Mr Surinder Singh, a science teacher, presently posted at Government Senior Secondary School, Khatra, alleged that answer-sheets of his son Amandeep, was cross marked by Lalit Kumar Verma, an invigilator on duty during the examinations held in March 2003 at Government Senior Secondary School, Khatra .

Showing a zerox copy of an apology, purportedly written by Mr Verma, Mr Singh said the accused was caught by supervising staff on March 12. The apology letter states that Mr Amandeep appeared in the said examination under roll number 502926. The accused admitted to having deleted answers written by the candidate on page Numbers 9 and 10 of answer sheet number 172221 . Submitting the apology he had requested the Superintendent of the Centre to relieve him of his duty .

Perturbed over the condition of their son the parents said,” The teacher’s act not only affected his health but also closed doors to the institute of his choice.

The parents, have also sent legal notices to DPI(S), Chairman, Panjab School Education Board, and Controller and Superintendent of the examination centre. Apprehending similar deletions in other papers, they have urged the authorities to show them the other answer-sheets as well.

Though Mr Lalit Verma was not available for comments, the Government Senior Secondary School authorities confirmed having received a legal notice.

50 take part in collage-making contest
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 30
Students of the Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, participated in a collage-making competition organised by the Department of Economics here today. Fifty students from humanities and commerce sections participated in the contest that was based on current social topics. The topics included “Poverty — The shameful face of humanity”, “I am an Indian Citizen. I am a graduate. I am unemployed!”, “Surging population — support or hindrance in the way of development” and “The digital divide in India”.

The contest was organised by Ms Ruminder Grewal, Head of the Department of Economics, Ms Seema Kapoor and Ms Kiran, both lecturers. The judges were Ms Kiran Kapoor, Ms Raj Rani and Ms Rashmi Gangmani. Ms Varinder Kaur Thind, Principal, presided over the function and gave prizes to the winners.

The first prize among the juniors was won by Divya and Jaskiran of B.Com. The second prize was shared between the team of Vani and Janishan from BCom I, and Ravdeep of BA I. The third prize was also shared between the teams of Yogita and Raman of B.Com I, and Sonal and Khushbu, also of B.Com I.

The first prize among seniors was won by Sakshi and Vijeta of BA III. The second prize went to Honey of BA III. Third prize was won by Deepinder from BA III. The consolation prize went to Paridhi and Samriti of BA III.

Seminar on media management
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 30
A day-long state-level seminar on “Media and management” was organised at Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology (GNIMT), Model Town, here today. Guest speakers from various media organisations were invited for extensive discussions on several topics. The seminar was organised under the aegis of the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) chapter of the institute.

Welcoming the guests, Dr A.S. Bansal said media had emerged as a powerful force in the past few years. He said the seminar was being organised to provide a platform for deliberation on issues of contemporary relevance. He said the seminar was also arranged to provide exposure to students of professional courses and supplement their learning process.

The seminar began with a lecture on “Role of media in industry”, delivered by G.S. Bedi from The Indian Express. He emphasised that the media had a wide reach and it effectively linked the company with consumers.

A session was held on the topic of media management in which Arvind Bhardwaj from The Tribune elaborated the four major factors of management effectiveness — forecasting, planning, implementation and research. He said management involved the handling of production house, advertisement space, publicity and various other aspects.

Sumedha Gaur of Cinescope, Chandigarh, gave a presentation on “Managers in media” in which she projected media as a product, though with social and moral responsibilities. She also outlined the opportunities for management students in print, journalism, radio, television, films and advertising.

Another session was held on “Role of media in creating consumer awareness” by Rajeev Sharma from The Times of India.He said the media industry had expanded a great deal and had witnessed several changes over the years. He discussed the need for balancing the role of media in a democratic manner.

Rajesh Sareen from The Hindustan Times spoke on “Print media — avenues and careers”. He discussed the multifarious opportunities offered by the media industry for management students. The seminar also included a question-answer session.

Aman crowned Ms Fresher
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 30
Aman, a student of the Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, Gujjar Khan Campus, Model Town, was declared Ms Fresher in a contest on the campus here today. Neha was adjudged first runner-up and Richa the second runner-up.

The venue of the Ms Fresher contest had to be shifted due to rain. Senior students organised a cultural programme to welcome the freshers. Twentyfive students took part in the competition.

The other results are as follows: Ms Graceful —Vaneet; Ms Confident — Avneet; Ms Best Smile — Mehak; and Best Model —Simran.