Chandigarh, January 11
Over 250 engineering students attended a special HR summit held at the Chitkara Institute of Engineering and Technology (CIET) at which industry professionals guided them on “what the industry expected from fresh engineering graduates”.

Mr Ajay Lavkare, CEO, RMSI, Mr Amit Chilka, Head — Executive Recruitment, Syntel and Mr Sanjeev Kumar, HR Manager, Virsa Systems addressed the students.

Mr Ajay Lavkare said: “What students need to understand is that today the focus of most companies is on the knowledge a team member has, his ethical values, innovation and creativity and his passion and commitment to the job.

The ability to pick up specialised domain knowledge in a particular field, leadership qualities and communication skills are also factors that play an important role,” he said.

On the recruitment process of a company like Syntel, Mr Chilka said: “Students have to undergo an aptitude test followed by a personal interview. The aptitude test has three sections mathematics, English and logical reasoning. The cut off percentage is 50 per cent of the three sections. The company basically looks at communications skills, awareness, technical know-how and personality traits, including aptitude, presentation of ideas, confidence and body language.”

Mr Sanjeet Kumar talked of the important steps that should be taken by students before they appeared for the placement test/interview. “The students must access the website of the organisation and understand the working of the organisation, career opportunities, customers profile etc. A well-prepared students has a much better chance of being selected by a company,” he added.

Dr (Mrs) Madhu Chitkara, Director, CIET, said: “The HR summit was an important stepping stone for students who will be graduating next year. The summit provided an insight on how they should go about planning their careers”.

Mohali, January 11
On the eighth day of the AICTE-sponsored Staff Development programme at Gian Jyoti Institute of Management and Technology, Dr R.S. Khandpur, Director-General, Pushpa Gujral Science City, Jalandhar, and distinguished alumnus of the Indian Institute of Science, (Bangalore) Dr Khandpur addressed the faculty members on the importance and relevance of technology management.

Dr Khandpur underlined the need for efficient technology management and its importance in the development of an organisation and the nation. He impressed upon the faculty to constantly upgrade their teaching content and methodology.

Mr Raj Singh, Head, HR, Kamla Dials, Dera Bassi, also interacted with the faculty members. He said the faculty members were engineers of the future as they were responsible for designing future citizens.

He underlined the need for training and development of professionals. Mr Singh said it was imperative for the industry to view human resources as partners in development than as mere operational resources. He also spoke at length on what the industry expected from business schools and the faculty.

The post-lunch session was taken up by Prof (Dr) A. K. Vashisht who spoke on the Indian banking Industry - past, present and the future. Prof Vashisht enlightened the faculty on the history of banking in India and how it had changed over the decades. He lauded the GJIMT for its contribution to the banking industry in the region in the form of highly knowledgeable manpower.

Mohali, January 11
The third batch of 30 students of the Canadian Institute of International Studies (CIIS) live-in-caregiver programme were awarded certificates at a graduation ceremony held here today.

Col B.S. Sandhu, President, CIIS Society, awarded them the certificates of the course. Amarjit Singh Samra, Minister, Revenue, Rehabilitation and NRI Affairs, was the chief guest on the occasion. 
Col Sandhu said students always had an option to move abroad for further studies or professional placement in these countries, as the credits and education earned at CIIS were readily acceptable worldwide.

Talking about the course ‘live-in-caregiver’, he said the course was popular in Canada and elsewhere and this course had also gained popularity as personal support worker.

Col Sandhu further said the aging population in North America had seen growth in the preventive healthcare and higher life expectancy rate. This had however triggered a rapid pace of growth in the healthcare services.

It had initiated various opportunities and had generated more employment opportunities there, he said.

He further added that the demand was likely to grow futher as PSW would provide care to people at home as per the demand of the consumer.

While talking about the immigration policy of Canada and other western nations Lieut Gen K.S. Mann, Director, CIIS, said these countries granted work permits to the eligible and trained people to work as a live-in-caregiver personal support worker. He said after serving for two years the caregiver were eligible for permanent immigration to Canada.

A live-in-caregiver works as a baby sitter or might be asked to look after an old couple or individual in a homely environment. He further added that it was actually a combination of social work and nursing skills.

The course ran for 24-week training with individual instruction and the experience of working with children and families.

Chandigarh, January 11
A Mohali resident, Inderpreet Singh, who was yesterday arrested by the Crime Branch of the UT Police in connection with manufacturing of duplicate artefacts, was today remanded to one-day police remand. The three duplicate pieces of artefacts had been recovered from two leading stores in Sector 9 and Sector 26. The suspect had been arrested under the Copy Rights Act in this connection.

The sources in the Crime Branch said Mr Jagpreet Singh, proprietor of Ravi Kirti, Phase II, Industrial Area, lodged a complaint alleging that Ebony in Sector 9 and Buyer’s Den in Sector 26 had been selling the duplicates artefacts, designer glasses, pottery items, wall murals, master pieces and other such articles, which were originally designed by him. The complaint was filed in this regard recently.

The sources further added that a case under Sections 63 and 65 of the Copy Rights Act had been registered today on the basis of finding during investigations. The police carried out raids at the shops and recovered three duplicate pieces from each shop. It was found by the police that the shopkeepers had purchased the goods from Inderpreet Singh.