Chandigarh, November 10
Ten-year-old Gagandeep Singh received a Divali gift from the most unexpected quarters. Today, he was handed over a brand new bicycle to spare him the trouble of commuting in an overcrowded bus from his village in Punjab to his school in Sarangpur.

He would instead pedal down to the school like his 14 other schoolmates coming from far-off villages, courtesy Manav Mangal High School, Sector 21. Students of the school decided to cut down on Divali expenditure to collect money for buying 15 bicycles which were gifted to students of Government High School and Government Model High School, Sarangpur at a function in the school grounds, here.

The principals of the two government schools identified nine boys and six girls, all under-privileged and meritorious children of their institutions, for receiving the cycles. Children of landless peasants, coming from a distance of 3km to 4 km daily, they either walked or came to school in local buses.

“The cycles have been gifted to them in recognition of their spirit to study against all odds and excel in academics and co-curricular activities. This is our gesture to help them pursue education in a more comfortable manner,” the Principal of Manav Mangal High School, the spirit behind the move, Mr Sanjay Sardana, said.

While students of Manav Mangal handed over the cycle keys to their counterparts from Sarangpur, the DPI (Schools), Mr D.S. Mangal, flagged them off.

Panchkula, November 10
Tiny-tots of DAV Senior Secondary Public School, Surajpur, and DAV Preparatory School, Pinjore, jointly celebrated the festival of lights with enthusiasm here today.

The Divali celebrations started with lighting candles and earthen lamps. This was followed by a cultural programme in which students recited poems, sang songs besides staging a skit depicting child labour.

The students also participated in items like dance, rangoli and poster-making competitions.

Ms Sarita Kaushik, school Principal, advised the students to light up the World with their deeds as the candles do.

The winners of the competitions were also given prizes on the occasion.

Chandigarh, November 10
Panjab University and University College of the Fraser Valley (UCFV), Canada, signed an agreement for establishing an Indo-Canadian studies and research centre in their respective universities here today.

The MoU was signed between Prof Lorne Mackenzie and Mr D.J. Sandhu, Acting Dean, Community Access, Business and Information Technology from British Columbia, and representatives of the university as well as Prof K.N. Pathak, Vice-Chancellor, Prof J.K. Gupta, Dean, University Instruction, Dr B.S. Ghuman, Professor of Public Administration and Registrar, Panjab University.

Later, addressing mediapersons, Prof Lorne Mackenzie said the move was prompted by the growing interest of Indian-Canadian students to study in an Indian university.

“As much as 20 per cent of our students are Indian and they expressed their desire to study in India. We thought of establishing a student-teacher exchange programme between the two universities. Now, that an agreement has been made, we will give final shape to the terms and conditions,” he added.

Mohali, November 10
Scintillating dances of different states of India presented by students of Saffron City School, Fatehgarh Sahib, were the highlight of the school's fifth annual day celebrations held this week.

The first day saw tiny-tots showcase various skills. Students of Classes II and III staged a play with elan and confidence. The day ended with a Punjabi dance by the students.

The DC, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, was the chief guest on the occasion and Ms Amrit Kaur was the guest of honour.

Mankirat Singh was chosen as the best student and Ms Ranjana Chopra, the best teacher from the primary wing.

On the second day senior students of the school staged two plays. The evening started with dances and ended with a boisterous foot-tapping bhangra performance by senior boys.

The chief guest on the occasion was Dr Harbans Lal, Parliamentary Secretary, Punjab, along with Mr Avtar Singh, Education Officer, Patiala, was the guest of honour.

Ravneet Kaur Chakkal was adjudged the best student and Ms Taruna, the best teacher in the senior section.

Mohali, November 10
A function was organised by students of DAV Public School, Mohali, here today to mark Divali. Various competitions, including an inter-house competition of decoration of the school premises were held on the occasion. The school campus bore a festive look as students bedecked it with flowers, electric lights and made rangoli patterns on the floor.

Students gave a warm welcome to the school Principal, Ms Jaya Bhardwaj. A cultural programme was also organised by the students on the occasion. Students also sang hymns in praise of Lord Rama.

Chandigarh, November 10
Property owners today welcomed the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to uphold the notification of the Chandigarh Administration amending the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949.

The Chandigarh Administration had notified on November 7, 2002, that tenants paying more than Rs 1,500 per month as rent were out of the purview of the Act.

The Property Owners Welfare Association termed the decision of the High Court as a landmark judgement and said that justice had prevailed at last. A special note of thanks was extended to Former UT Administrator Lieut- General J.F.R. Jacob (retd) and the then Finance Secretary, Mr Karan Avtar Singh, for drafting the notification.

Upholding the rent notification, the high court had put a stamp of justice on the right of the investors to regulate the returns on their real estate assets through the forces of demand and supply and not by the obsolete controlling laws, the president of the association, Mr R.P. Malhotra, opined. Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal at a meeting held today said that its members were disturbed over the court decision. This had created unrest and panic among the traders. The mandal president, Mr Jagdish Arora, said that they would approach the local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, who had promised to get the decision of the Administration reversed.

Meanwhile, the Commercial Tenants Association at a meeting today decided to move the Supreme Court. Mr Arvind Jain, president of the association, expressed surprise over the judgement.

Chandigarh, November 10
Hema Aziz, a noted exponent of the Rampur-Sadarang tradition, presented her vocal recital at Pracheen Kala Kendra in Sector 35, Chandigarh this evening. The programme was organised to mark the 93rd monthly baithak of the kendra.

Although trained in the Hindustani classical music by Sulochana Brahaspati, Hema is also at home with Carnatic music. Devotional recital is her forte.

During her recital in the city today, Hema brought out the finest nuances of the Rampur-Sadarang tradition. She commenced her recital with Raga Bhupali in which she rendered the bandish, “Aali jhalke muskan tori”. After a rendition in slow tempo, the vocalist went on to present a composition in “drut” (fast) tempo.

After this delicately composed presentation came a tarana, which brought with it the romance of Hindustani classical music. The next composition in Raga Bihaag was enthralling, as was a thumri in Raga Desh.

The concluding presentation of the evening was a Tulsidas bhajan in Raga Mishra Bhairav.

Hema was accompanied by Ustad Asif Ali Khan on the sarangi and Fateh Singh Gangani on the tabla.

Chandigarh, November 10
The music of the Punjabi feature film ‘Des Hoya Pardes’ was released by a former DGP, Punjab and President, Indian Hockey Federation ( IHF), Mr K P S Gill, today at Sector 22 here today.

Actor Gurdas Maan, actress Divya Dutta, producer Manjeet Maan were present on the occasion.

Talking about the film script Gurdas Maan said,” It is an effort to portray the suffering of the common man. This film is set in Punjab during the period of terrorism. It is a movie for the family . It depicts how members of a family get separated due to violence. The movie will be released in December.

“I think I have a very important role in the movie”, quipped Divya Dutta. She is not playing a romantic role in the movie which she says is very emotional movie. Her forthcoming movies are ‘Veer-Zara’, ‘Neta ji Subhash Chander’, ‘Gudiya’, ‘Shobha yatra’ and ‘Dubai Returned’.

The movie ‘Des Hoya Pardes’ is produced by Manjeet Maan and Kashmir Gill and directed by Manoj Punj.

Later, Punjabi singers, including Harbhajan Maan, Gursewak Maan, Jasbir and Babbu Maan, lyricist Shamsher Sandhu, Sardool Sikander, comedy artistes Bhagwant Maan and Rana Ranbir, joined them.