EDUCATION

Jodhpur palace staff visit college
Tribune News Service

Mohali, December 9
Executives from Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, a franchisee of the Taj Group of Hotels, visited the Chandigarh College of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Landran, here yesterday.

Umaid Bhawan Palace, set up in 1943 on 26 acres of lush gardens, has 347 executive rooms and has since inception remained the principal residence of the Jodhpur royal family.

It was designed by renowned architect Henry Lanchester, said a hotel official.

The executives included Mr Rajesh Bisht, HR Manager, and Mr Amit Suman, Assistant Manager, Learning and Development.

They interviewed second and third semester students of hotel management. After the interviews, they assured the department greater co-operation in the future looking at the standards being maintained.

They said the shortlisted students would be given a chance to work in the best environment being offered in the industry worldwide.

Dayanand college students get degrees
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 9
As many as 175 students of the Dayanand College of Communication and Management were conferred degrees at the convocation function held at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, (BVB) here today.

Aarti Verma topped in travel and tourism management while Amarjeet excelled in journalism. The other toppers included Guneet and Palak (public relations), Anjum (mass communication), Fenny (marketing and sales management) and Harpreet (business management).

The Minister of State for Finance, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, handed over the degrees to the students.

The Chairman of Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Mr R. K. Saboo, said the BVB had been honoured with ‘Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award’.

Women teachers with fracture refuse to seek bail
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 9
Two women teachers, Ms Babita Arora and Ms Neena Rehan, who suffered fracture in Burail Jail, have refused to seek bail. They are from government-aided N.M. Jain Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, and were sent to the jail in connection with the Jail Bharo agitation launched recently by the Punjab Government Recognised Aided School Teachers and Other Employees Union.

Sources said today that both had suffered fracture after they slipped in Burail Jail. Their relatives had approached them today to get them released on bail, but they refused to accept their request, saying they would stay in the jail till all their demands are accepted by the Punjab Government.

Mr A.K. Joshi, acting president of the union, also met them in the jail.

As many as 895 teachers and other employees are in Burail, Patiala and Nabha jails in connection with the agitation that was launched last week. Mr Manohar Lal Chopra, adviser of the union, said that the agitation would continue till the old pension scheme was resumed and given to all teachers and other employees retired after May 31,2003. Other demands of the Union are payment of medical allowance at par with the government employees, payment of interim relief on the pattern of government employees and benefit of step-up scale under the assured career progression scheme as implemented in the case of government employees.

Meanwhile, sources said that a senior official of the Punjab Education Department had prepared a note on the direction of the Chief Minister, to resume the old pension scheme in case of employees who were already in service. However, in case of employees to be recruited henceforth, the new pension scheme has been proposed.

2 Bhavan Vidyalaya teams qualify for science congress
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 9
Two teams of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 15, have qualified for the state-level science congress. According to a press note issued here yesterday, the team, comprising Mayank, Anchit, Naval and Karan, qualified for the congress in the junior category.

Their entry on the novel idea of “vermicomposting” caught the fancy of the judges, who judged the entry at the district-level science congress held at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 15.

At the senior level, the topic, “Neem — a wonder tree,” impressed the judges.

The 'Magic of Love' fascinates all

Chandigarh, December 9
St Soldier International Convent School organised its 12th annual day celebration-the Magic of Love-in Phase VII of Mohali, today. The entire campus was alight with a blend of colour and creativity. S Balbir Singh Sidhu, President Dist. Congress Committee, and S Rajinder Singh Rana, President, Municipal Committee, were the guests of honour.

The entire programme was a marvel with the students putting up a fabulous performance. From the Tangy Tongue Twisters by Class I to a musical show by the tiny tots; all were well rehearsed and brilliant. TNS

Singing God’s praise
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 9
For students of Carmel Convent School, it was time to display their flair before the floodlights. As the school organised the annual function of the pre-primary wing, the little ones celebrated God’s presence through dance and other items.

Director Public Instructions (Colleges) Raji P. Shrivastava was the chief guest.

The principal’s address was followed by “loving greeting in song”.

COURTS

CJ’s visit gets maintenance going
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 9
Things seem to be moving fast at the district court complex as far as the maintenance work is concerned. An unpaved walkway, adjoining the temporary sheds of advocates in the District Court Complex, Chandigarh, is finally being covered with concrete tiles.

Cemented portions of the structures, housing the old and the new court complex, which have peeled off over the years are being finally repaired.

This all is not being done as part of the annual repair routine but due to the scheduled visit of the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Justice V.K Jain, who is scheduled to inaugurate the website of the district courts on December 11.

At least nine other judges of the High Court are expected to accompany the Chief Justice. ‘‘I hope that the visit of the dignitaries also proves to be a blessing in disguise for the litigants visiting the courts’’, observed Mr Amardeep Sharma, who has been visiting the court to contest a cheque-bounce case.

For the past two days, the workers of various wings of the UT Engineering Department can be seen carrying out repair work all over the complex. Though the passage leading to the stairs in the old court complex is being repaired, no arrangement has been made to provide lights in the stairs. Due to broken stairs, a number of visitors have fallen in the stairs due to darkness.

Mr Rajiv Duggal, an advocate, said regular maintenance of the building should be carried out. He drew attention to a dug up portion of floor behind the Bar room. The area dug to lay a cable sometime back has not been repaired till date. The communication cables can be seen hanging in a haphazard manner.

A number of visitors to the court premises pointed out the poor upkeep of public toilets and toilets meant for the advocates. Dirt has settled over the newly laid tiles in the toilets and the sanitary fittings are missing, they said. There is need to remove thick layers of soot ‘‘adorning’’ the walls, said Mr Jasminder Singh, another advocate. The control panel of the lift working in the old court complex is missing.

There seems to be a lack of coordination between different departments involved in the maintenance of the court premises. As officials in the engineering department claim that whenever there is some demand for repairs, the work is carried out promptly. ‘‘If repairs can be carried out now these can done on an annual basis as hundreds of people daily visit the court premises’’, said Mr Gagandeep Singh, who has been visiting the court in connection with a civil suit.

SPORTS

298 sportspersons, officials honoured
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 9
Around 298 outstanding sportspersons and officials were honoured during the celebration function of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy, at Panjab University Gymnasium Hall here today.

Besides sportspersons of affiliated colleges, Principals, physical education teachers, managers, coaches and members of the executive committee were present. Students were awarded for their performance in various fields of sports.

Punjab Cabinet minister J.S. Kang was the chief guest. The prizes were conferred by Mr Kang and the VC of Panjab University.

Those honoured included Commonwealth Games player Puneet Rana (swimming), international karate player Puneeta, international judo players Divya and Aarti, international rhythmic gymnast Mala, international softball players Monika and Sunita, and international baseball players Gurpreet, Gaganpreet and Shaminder.

The PU had accumulated overall 7,900 points while Guru Nanak Dev University gathered approximately 6,900 points, said Mr D.S. Toor, former Director, of PU Sports.

St John’s cricketers beat Alberton Club
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 9
A fine knock of 64 runs by A. Ayush and a good performance by Punjab U-13 player Veer Karan Goyal enabled St. John’s Cricket Academy to beat visiting Alberton Cricket and Hockey Club, South Africa, by 76 runs. The match was played at St. John’s High School here today

The St John’s team made 175 runs in 38.2 overs. Ayush was well supported by A. Ratinder who scored 25 runs. Mathew Lee and Reyneke Wihan picked up 4 scalps each for their team giving away 23 and 44 runs, respectively, whereas Nocolas Botha and Michael Straker took one wicket each.

The South African side got off to a good start with their openers Reyneke Wihan and Justine Houston. The duo scored 30 and 29 runs, respectively.

Karan was the most successful bowler of St John’s team who claimed 4 wickets in 6 overs. Sahib Singh picked up 3 wickets for 23 runs. Bhupinder Singh picked up 2 wickets in 8 overs. Reyneke Wihan again gave an allround performance for the South African side scoring 31 runs off 30 balls.

Doon school b’ball champ
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 9
Sonali, Vishal and Vineet of the host Holy Child School, Panchkula, secured the first three positions in category 1 of an inter-school art competition held here today.

The results: Category 1: Sonali (Holy Child) 1, Vishal Thapa (Holy Child) 2, Vineet Sharma (Holy Child) 3; category 2 : Hitika (Holy Child) 1, Sahil (Holy Child) 2, Shivangi Sharma (D.C Model School, Pkl) 3; category 3: Arzoo (Holy Child) 1, Akshita (Hansraj Public School) 2, K. Meghana (Hansraj School) 3; category 4: Depaul (Alpine Public School, Pinjore) 1, Aishwarya Kamat (Hansraj School) 2, Apurva Kadian (Hansraj Public School), 3; category 5: Baljeet (Holy Child School) 1, Khumaan Kaushik (Hansraj Public School) 2, Sahil Goyal (D.C. Model School) 3.

Meanwhile, the hosts emerged winner in the Kho-Kho Inter-School Tournament (u-14). The runners-up were Doon Public School, Panchkula, and The Gurukul, Panchkula.

Doon Public School secured the first place in the Inter-School Basketball Tournament. The runners-up was Alpine Public School, Panchkula, while the host team stood third.

Chandigarh beat Maharashtra in cricket
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 9
Host Chandigarh defeated Maharashtra by 8 wickets in the final match of the All India Cricket Tournament for Mentally Challenged Children, played at Sector 16 cricket stadium, here, today.

Chandigarh won the toss and elected to field first and chased a target of 63 runs in just 8 overs. Prabhjot of Chandigarh, who secured 70 runs won the man of the series title for his all-round performance. Sikander, from Punjab, was declared the best bowler of the tournament.

UT Secretary, Home and Social Welfare, Mr Krishan Mohan, who was the chief guest, gave away the prizes.