Chandigarh, June 21
With just a month left for the Panjab University Vice-Chancellor’s term to end, the race for the post is hotting up. Other than the initial list of about half a dozen contenders, the number of persons considered to be in the fray has now gone up considerably. Sources pointed out that almost 60 bio-datas had been received at the Vice-President’s Secretariat in New Delhi.

These include the names of the PU Dean, Students Welfare, Prof Nirmal Singh, Dr IM Govil, Dr Satya Prakash both from the university’s Department of Physics, Dr VK Bansal and Dr JK Chauhan from the university’s Department of Laws, Dr RP Bajpai, the former CSIO chief and currently the Vice-Chancellor of Guru Jambeshwar University, Dr Bhuven Chandel former Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, Dr Amarjit Singh Dua and Prof Pritpal Singh Kapoor, both PU Senators, and PU Professors RC Sobti and Aruna Goel. Other than these Dr Rajesh Kochhar and Prof Namita Aggarwal from Delhi are also said to be now in the fray.

Other than these new names, the current V-C, Prof KN Pathak, the Dean, University Instructions, Prof Veer Singh, former PU professors Prof SK Sharma, Prof Anirudh Joshi and Prof RD Anand are the front-runners in the race.

Other than the customary visit to the Vice President’s Office in New Delhi, some of these “candidates” are also said to have been seen at the various political party offices in New Delhi seeking their blessings. Sources in Delhi pointed out that these visits were limited to not just the party offices but also outfits like the RSS.

The names, which are doing the rounds of the grapevine, have not just increased in number but also in absurdity. PU teachers with not even a single academic work to their credit are also busy calling up newspaper offices claiming to be in the fray. Most believe that by projecting themselves to be in the fray this time, they would be considered serious candidates for other high posts in the education circles.

Sources in Delhi said it was not just the candidates who had been paying regular visits to the “Up-Rasthrapati Bhavan”. The self-styled “king makers” of the university, too, had been seen visiting the office seeking appointments with the Vice-President trying to put in a word here and there for their own candidate and against the other contenders.

Regarding the age limit for the post of a Vice-Chancellor of the university the university calendar is silent. In the past, the university had VCs who had been appointed to the post even after the age of 65 years.

Chandigarh, June 21
For those who want to work towards the education of children with disabilities, the city offers some unique courses.

These courses are primarily job-oriented but also provide an opportunity for social work.

According to an estimate, the minimum number of special educators that are required in the country is over 2.45 lakh.

The present position is that there are only a handful of trained educators in this field.

The city houses one of the few centres of the Indian National Portage Association (INPA), which offers short-term courses in education with disabilities, management of early childhood and portage training.

The INPA, with its centre at Karuna Sadan in Sector 11, offers a post graduate six-month certificate course in management and training for early childhood and portage training. The eligibility is graduation.

A one-year certificate course in the CCA, toy making and joyful learning, secretarial practices and nursery teachers’ training is also offered by the INPA for which the minimum qualification is matriculation. This course is approved by the Government of India.

A three-month foundation course in education with disabilities for in service teachers is also run by the INPA. This course is recognised by the Government of India.

A one-year Diploma in Early Childhood and Special Education recognised by the Rehabilitation Council of India is also being offered by the INPA.

Chandigarh, June 21
The Punjab Engineering College (PEC) Senate members yesterday decided to give another chance to 10 students who had been shown the door by the college for consistently showing poor performance.

While sources in the Senate confirmed that these students would be given another chance, the PEC Director, Prof Vijay Gupta, said a very lenient view had been taken and it would not be appropriate to reveal the details of the decision.

PEC had struck off the rolls names of 10 students of first year who had been showing poor results. They had also given an undertaking that in case they did not improve their performance they would not be issued roll numbers.

Professor Gupta added that the PEC Senate primarily discussed individual cases of students of the college. Mainly the appeals filed by many of these students requesting the authorities to review the various actions taken by the college against them were taken up.

Professor Gupta said other than these cases, the Senate members also took some minor decisions finetuning the PEC administration.

Chandigarh, June 21
The spirit and enthusiasm of the World Music Day permeated the ambience of the Chandigarh Press Club today as it hosted various cultural activities, including the release of an album, interaction with promising singers and upcoming music director Santokh Singh.

However, the evening offered more of delectation with a majestic performance by noted Punjabi pop artistes, besides the prodigious children presenting a programme to mark the culmination of an art workshop.

The 26 years old Bollywood music director Santokh Singh released an album 'Blossoms' sung by Javed Ali, the golden voice which has immortalised the super hit song 'Kajraare kajraare tere kale kale naina'.

The album 'blossom' had eight songs rendered by Javed Ali ( 26) and set to music by Santokh Singh whose creations like albums 'channa ve' sung by Kunal Ganjawala, 'Sanvariya' by Jaspinder Narula and Bobby Singh, are making waves.

Sharing his aspirations with the Chandigarh Tribune, one of the youngest music directors Santokh Singh, had a strong admiration for the ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh who too belonged to Ganganagar.

Like him, being a classically trained and accomplished musician, Santokh attributes the instant recognition from music aficionados and film makers his intense training in music and command over folklore of many regions.

Since 'Channa Ve' became super hit and offers came for more albums and I trust similar offers after my films 'Palak' and 'Red Carpet' are released', he quips.

However, three projects with NRI singers are in the pipeline. After any song turns a hit, it is the singer who is the main beneficiary unlike the music director who is the real creator, he rues.

He is not in favour of the talent hunt through TV channels as the majority of voters had the lack of knowledge for due appreciation of intricate patterns of music.

Later, in the evening the child prodigies presented a colourful programme displaying what they learnt during a month-long art workshop organised by the club.

The noted folk and pop singer Teji Sandhu and Bawa Sushil doled out hit songs from their albums. The captivating cultural bonanza continued till late in the evening.