EDUCATION

Elementary schools get Rs 4 crore
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 28
The District Education Development Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner, has released grants to the tune of Rs 4 crore to provide various facilities for the government elementary schools in the district.

The Deputy Commissioner said 34 primary schools in the district were being given a grant of Rs 1.20 lakh each to construct additional classrooms. A grant of Rs 90.65 lakh for 259 primary and upper primary schools was also released at the meeting.

Mr Verma further said 1,531 primary and elementary schools in the district would be given funds to the tune of Rs 30 lakh for the repair and maintenance of furniture. An amount of Rs 500 would be distributed to each of 7,839 teachers for the purchase of teachers’ learning material and teaching aids.

He said a grant of Rs 28.47 lakh would be released to provide artificial limbs and other aids to the 2,346 physical challenged students. He added that funds amounting to Rs 1.09 crore would be spent for providing executive training involving modern techniques by organising workshops in the district.

It was decided that 7,829 teachers in all elementary schools would be given 20 days’ training regarding the latest teaching practices. Resource persons from DIET, Jagraon, would be deputed for the purpose. The Deputy Commissioner directed Ms Harvinder Kaur, DEO (elementary), to prepare a detailed report about the requirements of all the schools and submit it to among the committee members so that they could verify and submit their priorities about their specific areas.

Mr Verma said five days’ workshops were being organised for 50 teachers each in DIET Jagraon and In-service Training Institute, Ludhiana, regarding the modern teaching techniques and material. He said so far, 575 teachers had been trained by DIET at 10 workshops and 848 teachers by In-service Training Institute by conducting 20 workshops.

The Chairman asked the members to visit the schools in their respective areas to monitor the proper utilisation of the grants and report the lapses, if any, at the next meeting. He also directed the DEO to ensure the nominations of the new members to the Village Development Committees, which were the executing agencies for the utilisation of the grant, in place of the panchayat members who had not been re-elected to the panchayat during the last elections.

On a point raised by some members regarding the proper utilisation of these funds, the Deputy Commissioner directed the DEO (E) to make undergo regular inspections of schools and said the SDM and ADC(D) concerned would also monitor the execution of the works using these grants in the schools during their visit to the area.

Mr Gurcharan Singh Galib, MP, while addressing the meeting, informed that of the total grant of Rs 12.50 crore distributed by him for various developmental works in rural and urban areas of the district, about 50 per cent had been released for the construction of additional rooms and providing other facilities in the schools.

Engineering students get tips on entrepreneurship
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 28
One-month training courses on ‘Entrepreneurship development’ and ‘Computer-aided designing’ organised at Science and Technology Entrepreneurs’ Park (STEP), Guru Nanak Engineering College, concluded here yesterday.

Mr U.S. Bhargava, General Manager, Punjab National Bank (Zonal Office, was the chief guest at the valedictory function. He explained various schemes, like the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana Margin Money Scheme for entrepreneurs. He informed that for a project up to Rs 25 lakh, no collateral security was required and the new entrepreneurs could take advantage of this scheme. He also informed that a change had been made in the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana, wherein 10 persons could now join hands and projects up to Rs 10 lakhs could be financed.

Dr H.K. Butter, the Officiating Principal of the college, exhorted the students to prepare for various competitions. She stressed that hard work was the real “mantra” for achieving success. Ms Butter assured the organisers that such training would also be provided to the students of degree classes.

Mr J.S. Kullar, the General Manager of STEP, informed that the training programmes had been stated for the students of Guru Nanak Dev Polytechnic. Mr Kullar said with the mushrooming of engineering colleges and polytechnics, it would be very difficult for the young engineers to find the employment opportunities and the only alternative for them would be to become self-employed instead of becoming job seekers. He informed that STEP would take up rural entrepreneurship development projects with the assistance of the National Bank of Agriculture of Rural Development, Chandigarh. Besides the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi, had also offered to collaborate with STEP to organise training programmes on topics pertaining to export procedures and documentation, international marketing, export finance and export risk management, he added.

Mr Joginder Kumar, president, Federation of Tiny and Small Scale Industries of India, appreciated the efforts of STEP in organising such programmes for the students.

Dr S.B. Singh, Professor and Head, mechanical engineering, exhorted the students to make full use of the opportunity provided to them to become entrepreneurs. He advised them make a judicious choice since the competition was tough.

Others who participated in the valedictory function included Mr Birinder Singh, Principal, Guru Nanak Dev Polytechnic, Dr S.K. Wadhera, General Manager, Central Tool Room, Mr R.C. Chopra, Director, Small Industry Service Institute, and Mr D.S. Dhiman, Chairman, Punjab Sewing Machine Industries Association.

Aspects of export finance highlighted
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 28
The Department of Foreign Trade Practices and Procedures, GGN Khalsa College, organised a lecture on the role of banking in export financing here today. The guest speaker of the day was Mr Praveen Dayal, Regional Manager, ICICI Bank. He spoke about various practical aspects of export finance, including pre-shipment and post-shipment finance methods, bank negotiations and interest rates.

He told students about the importance of export documents like invoice, packing list, inspection certificate, bills of exchange and insurance certificates. The students were also shown copies of letter of credit.

Meanwhile, a two-day seminar on self-employment opportunities was conducted by the Department of Commerce in the college. The lectures were held in the light of shrinking job opportunities and increase in business complexities.

Mr R.C. Chopra, Director, Small Industries Service Institute, also spoke.

The second session was conducted by Mr Vinod Kumar, Industry Promotion Officer (food and Agro Industries). He spoke on women entrepreneurs.

Students participate in contests
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 28
The Department of History of the Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, Gujjarkhan campus, organised a quiz and a paper-reading competition here today. Five teams participated in the quiz competition. The topics of the quiz competition were based on Sikh history and Gurbani. The students showed great interest and enthusiasm in this competition.

BA II bagged first prize; 10+1 and BA III bagged second prize, while 10+2 won the third prize. In the paper-reading contest, nine students participated from various classes. Students spoke on the importance of Sikh history and Adi Granth. In this competition, Manpreet of BA-II won first prize, Daljeet of BA-III got second prize and Taranjot and Namita of BA-III and BA-II, respectively, were awarded third prize.

The judges of the competitions were Adarsh, Inderjeet, Kuljinder and Uttamdeep. The Principal, Dr Anup Kaur Bansal, presided over the function. She congratulated the students and gave away prizes. She also shared her views on Adi Granth. The basic theme behind the competitions were to encourage the students and to make them aware of the history of Punjab.

‘Ectopia-04’ begins at DMCH today
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 28
Medical students at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital are all ready to celebrate a three-day-long cultural bonanza, “Ectopia-04”, from January 29 to 31, at Dumra Auditorium here.

“The festival will be a nice break from our heavy study routine and a lot of enthusiasm is found among the medical students regarding this much-awaited event. Despite our busy schedule we are sparing time to rehearse in the evenings to make this occasion a great success,” said Kiran, an undergraduate medical student.

“During the festival, various talent-hunt competitions will be organised everyday between 11.30 am to 1.30 pm and between 7 pm to 9.30 pm. On the first day ad fads, quiz, instrumental music and choreography competitions will be organised. Just a minute, debate, painting, group songs and solo dance competitions will take place on the second day. The last day will be devoted to solo song, rangoli, skit, group dance, duet song and mono-acting competitions,” informed Dr Sandeep Puri, Chairman, Cultural Committee, and Medical Superintendent, DMCH.

“The aim behind organising the event is to polish the talent of students and to encourage them to participate in the cultural activities for their overall personality development. The event will conclude on the evening of January 31 with a prize distribution ceremony,” informed Dr Navjot Bajwa, convener, and Dr Sunil Juneja, secretary, Cultural Committee.

National Youth Day celebrated
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 28
Students from nearly eight schools participated in the National Youth Day celebrations, organised by the Directorate of Youth Services, Punjab, at R.S. Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, here today.

On the occasion, students presented various cultural items. The boys of Ramgarhia Senior Secondary School, Millerganj, presented bhangra while the girls from the host school presented gidha. Students from other participating schools presented skits, choreography and poetry. Outstanding students were given prizes by the Youth Services Department.

Prof acquitted
Legal Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 28
The Special Judge, Mr Inderjit Kaushik has acquitted Professor Jagmohan Singh of Malwa College, Bondli, of the charge of taking private tuitions. The Vigilance Bureau had arrested him at his residence on the charge that he was taking tuitions, though he was not allowed to do so.