Chandigarh, December 27
Old students of the Punjab engineering college today demanded that the college lay more emphasis on practical aspect of engineering.

At least 30 students of the 1981 batch of the college, now a deemed university, met today as part of the silver jubilee celebrations.

The former students added that the basics taught by the college had stood them in good stead, but they found themselves at a loss when it came to hands-on working experience.

The duration of industrial training was too little for students to get a real feel of what it was to work, said Mr Rakesh Mahajan, settled in Detroit, the USA.

Mr Anupam Mahindroo from Gurgaon said the college should realise the importance of practical training and increase the training to at least three months, if not an entire semester.

Mr Rajeev Bajaj from Qadian suggested that industrial training should also have some weightage in examinations.

The old students of the college felt that the college should also update its curriculum more often.

Admitting that old students could contribute a lot to the college, especially in offering scholarships and funding the installation of new machines, Mr Mahajan pointed out that the old students’ body needed to be more proactive.

Mr Rakesh Sehgal from Michigan, the USA, stated that a lot could be improved if the teachers had more competition among themselves.

Teachers should have the maximum benefit of the research they carried out and the college should allow them to pick up private projects, he said.

Mr Sanjeev Raghuvanshi said the old students were also planning to propose the representation of an old student on the board of governors of the college.

Chandigarh, December 27
The enlarged committee constituted by the Panjab University vice-chancellor to consider payment to the question paper printer responsible for the CET faux pas has recommended that the printer not be paid more than Rs 5 lakh.

Earlier the PU syndicate had decided to release Rs 11 lakh as part of the pending dues of the printer.

The recommendations of the committee will be tabled in the forthcoming meeting of the senate on December 31.

Despite the decision of the syndicate, the senate had decided not to pay any money to the question paper printer till his role in the CET faux pas and the PMET leak was ascertained and subsequent penalty charged.

The printer had been mainly held responsible for the CET faux pas, that occurred this year and led to the cancellation of the test.

Senators had objected to the fact that the syndicate had decided to dole out more than half the pending amount even when a committee constituted by the vice-chancellor on the issue had recommended that Rs 5 lakh be given to the printer, who had claimed Rs 22 lakh for various printing works undertaken.

On December 31, the senate will also take a final decision regarding the charges being faced by Mr Manoj Sharma, a faculty member of the University Business School, that he failed to show absolute integrity in the discharge of his duties and serious misconduct in having written a question paper for the question paper setter chosen by the university.

He had been charge-sheeted, following which he had replied that he had merely copied in fair the rough question papers prepared by question paper setter Bhushan Goyal.

Chandigarh, December 27
Yet another spell of musical bonanza of western and Indi-pop music by local bands rocked the Sector 17 Plaza here today. The event was part of the ongoing New Year festival being organised under the aegis of the Department of Tourism, Chandigarh administration.

Bhumi, one of the leading rock bands comprising student artists of DAV College, set the pace for the rocking evening doling out their hit favourite numbers like “Rubaru”, “Yaaro yehi hai dosti”, before enrapturing the crowd with compositions of Pakistani bands, including “Sayyio nee” and “Jinda hoon”. Sandeep Harkanwal, Sidharth, Aditya and Gaurav formed the troupe.

Rock band “Zero Kelvin” attempted to bring alive the magnificence of rock music by reciting the numbers immortalised by famous Rock Mettalica Band of the USA. They charmed the youngsters with “Fade to black”, “Master of Puppets”, “Fuel” and also their own compositions “Genocide” and “Cold Metal”. Ankur, Arun Tarandeep and Gagandeep from Punjab Engineering College formed the team. The programme was aimed at creating awareness about AIDS control besides entertaining the crowd.

Chandigarh, December 27
Sanjay has always wielded the paint brush in style. No wonder despite humble beginnings, he has managed to excel in the chosen field of specialisation. But the latest feather in his cap is one even he had not expected.

On December 7, he got a message from the National Lalit Kala Akademi that his work--- a drawing-centric graphic---had been chosen for the prestigious Akademi award for 2007. For someone who has treated art as passion and has never reduced it to mere means of making money, the award meant a lot.

The best part of the whole affair is that it is after a gap of 26 years that any alumnus of Government College of Art, Sector 10, has got this award. The last Art College alumnus to be rewarded for excellence in art by Lalit Kala Akademi was Sukhwinder Singh in 1980. Besides, Sanjay is the only art teacher in the city to have ever won an award of that order.

But the artist, who comes from Bhiwani, is humble in his accomplishment. For him, it is plain recognition of his unique style of expression, one that he has imbibed and perfected over the years. Among his many hallmarks are the use of self-made colours for painting and the use of drawings. Besides, he always dares to venture into areas that are not essentially his forte.

This time also he sent a graphic for the national-level contest which celebrates excellence in art. The work is special in many ways. To begin with, it is a portrayal of Sanjay's power as an artist. Loaded with lines, the work brings forth the strength of the artist's drawings, which he uses to perfection in different art mediums.

He says, "My strength is the force, the freedom and the flourish of my lines. Although I specialised in paintings, I always concentrated on drawings to gain an edge. And because I draw well, I feel comfortable in all the disciplines of art. The work which has won the award is also about lines and about how they can be moulded to tell personal tales. It is a wood-cut and the printing has been done manually."

Titled "Concert of Lines- II", Sanjay's award winning graphic is strikingly beautiful and communicative. Huge in size - six feet by six feet - the wood-cut has been made specially made through manual printing which takes eight to ten hours.