NEIGHBOURHOOD

Trends in teaching discussed
Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 5
Accepting the request of the Centre for Advanced Media Studies (CAMS), Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, has increased the number of seats from 25 to 30 for BTech course in television, film production and media technology, started by the Centre from the current academic session.

Dr Gurmeet Singh Maan, director, CAMS, said the decision has been taken in the wake of profound and persistent demand from the admission seekers for the course. The admission would be open to all fresh students as well as for those who could not qualify in the aptitude test conducted for the course on July 15 last. Eligibility for admission to the course is plus-two with a minimum of 50 per cent marks in any stream. The aptitude test for admission to the course would be held in the department of journalism and mass communication on August 11 at 10 am.

The sample question paper for the aptitude test is available on the university website www.punjabiuniversity.ac.in. For more information contact the department.

Patiala, August 5
On a call given by the United Forum of Bank Unions, a massive demonstration was held in front of State Bank of Patiala head office, here today.

The rally was held against the ‘provocative, insulting and humiliating’ attitude of the Indian Banks Association (IBA). The association has recently reduced its own offer for the third time from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent and now at 13 per cent and also withdrew their earlier offer of one more option of pension and compassionate appointments.

The union leaders added that over 10 lakh employees and officers would go ahead with their proposed nationwide two days strike on August 6 and 7 due to which banking activities will be paralysed throughout the country.

Addressing the rally, NK Gaur, vice-president of the AIBEA, said adamant attitude of the IBA had forced the bank employees to go on agitation.

SK Gautam, secretary, local federation, said no branch of the bank would function on August 6 and 7 and the members would hold protest rallies on both days in front of the head office of State Bank of Patiala.

Kalka, August 5
The Haryana government has sanctioned crores of rupees to counter the problem of scarcity of water in Kalka and Pinjore.

Official sources said Rs 4.8 crore had been sanctioned under a special urban scheme to meet the water requirement in Pinjore. A sum of Rs 1.5 crore had already been granted.

The department of Haryana water supply and sanitation (public health) would start work on the project of installing four tubewells, boosting stations and laying water pipelines in the town. Tenders in this regard had already been invited.

The sources added that in 2006, the department of public health, Pinjore, had sent a proposal of Rs 5.89 crore to the higher officials for approval.

The government had also sanctioned a scheme of Rs 11.38 crore for lying sewerage system in the town. A sum of Rs 1 crore had already been granted under the scheme.

Under the Indira Gandhi drinking water scheme, Rs 26 lakh had been sanctioned for free drinking water connections (SC category).

Also, Rs 22.3 lakh and 18.52 lakh had been sanctioned for the installation of tubewells at Khol Molla and Charnia villages of Pinjore block.

Another Rs 71.8 lakh had been sanctioned for installing four tubewells at Kalka. Out of this, Rs 50 lakh had already been granted.

Similarly, Rs 31 lakh had been sanctioned under the Indira Gandhi drinking water scheme for free drinking water connections for SC category.

The government has sanctioned Rs 38 lakh for the construction of a sewerage treatment plant at Kalka.

A delegation of inhabitants of Pinjore, headed by Vijay Bansal, former state secretary of the Congress, had met Randeep Singh Surjewala, public health minister, in February and submitted a memorandum seeking approval to outstanding projects at Pinjore and Kalka.

In the first quarter of 2009, the delegation had also met Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in this context and had submitted a memorandum.

Dera Bassi, August 5
It was for the first time in many years that Ramesh was not there to extend his arm to his sisters for receiving the knot of love. No wonder, the sisters of the 27-year-old, whose body was found under mysterious circumstances at Milan in Italy, were inconsolable. Throughout the day they refused to come inside the house, as if they were standing outside waiting for some miracle to bring him back.

The family members of Ramesh are moving from pillar to post since the past one week to get the body of their son, but in vain. They were appealing to the local administration and the Government of India to help them bring the body from Italy.

The family had alleged that their son was murdered and were appealing to the Government of India to probe the matter.

According to Ramesh’s father Madan Lal, his son went to Milan in 2007 on work permit. He was working there in a timber factory. Madan said last Tuesday he received the information over the phone by one of their relatives living in Italy that Ramesh had died and his body was found near a river.

The relatives also informed the family that the police said the body would be handed over to them after the completion of their inquiry.

Ramesh’s friend said he was an intelligent and a hardworking boy. His father runs a cycle repair shop here.

Ramesh is survived by his father, mother, younger brother Rajneesh and two younger sisters.

Ambala, August 5
Former Union Minister and MLA, Ambala City, Venod Sharma said the state government had granted Rs 15.30 crore for development works for 85 villages of Naggal constituency, which are recently included in Ambala City constituency after the new delimitation.

While addressing meetings in Sullar village, Ismailpur, Bhanokheri and Lakhnour Sahib today, he asked the villagers to cast their vote in favour of the Congress in the forthcoming assembly elections. He said the people had discarded the BJP-INLD alliance in Lok Sabha elections and now BSP-HJC alliance would also be discarded in assembly elections, he added.

He said the Congress had maintained its secular impact in Haryana and it was the reason that a large number of leaders of opposition parties were joining the Congress. He said the Chief Minister had made remarkable progress during the last four and a half years and granted a number of relieves and incentives to various sections of society.

He claimed that the Congress would gain thumping majority in the coming assembly elections. He said the leaders and workers of the opposition parties were very much disappointed following their defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. He asked the gathering to vote for the progress of the state.

Media coordinator Dilip Chawla Bittu, DCC chief Arun Garg, chairman of Municipal Council Harish Sashan, president of district Youth Congress Ajay Saini and senior leaders of the party Parminder Babla, Madan Lal Aggarwal, Sudhir Goldy, Mukesh Joshi and Bharat Rattan Sharma were also present.

Kharar, August 5
The police today arrested a thief from the box of a bed in his house in the Ram Bagh area.

Acting on a tip off, the police conducted a raid at the house of Paramjit Kumar alias Pamma, who is wanted in around 22 theft cases. Some neighbours informed the police that Pamma had been living at his home disguised as a turbaned Sikh.

The police reached his home and found it locked from outside. His mother and sister had gone to a nearby market. The cops broke the lock and entered the house. They searched for Pamma, but found the house empty. The police team then observed some activity in the box of a double bed and opened it and found Pamma hiding inside it.

Police officials said on July 14, two persons, Bunty and a woman, Bobby, were arrested for committing around 22 thefts. They had revealed to the police that Pamma was their accomplice.

Earlier, around 20 days ago, Pamma’s mother had complained to the SSP, Mohali, that the police had picked up his son in some framed case from Kharar bus stand.

She had alleged that the police had hid her son at some undisclosed location and demanded registration of the case. The cops have now decided to take legal opinion against Pamma’s mother.

Patiala, August 5
A seminar on ‘Use of Internet and its challenges - Ethical Hacking’ was organised at MM Modi College here today.

The seminar was organised in collaboration with ‘Reliance World - Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’. Ankit Fadia, computer security expert of World fame, Mumbai, was the main speaker.

He spoke about various techniques used by cyber criminals to hack computers and know the identity of the user.

He emphasised that the Internet users must adopt precautionary measures for safe usage and for hiding their identity. The speaker is working as an expert and consultant in cyber crime cases.

He asked the students to learn computer security techniques and tools of ethical hacking.

Fadia also spoke about the nefarious activities of cyber criminals and advised some techniques to the Internet uses to keep themselves secure from such dangers.

Principal of the college Dr Satish Bhardwaj welcomed Ankit Fadia and said though usage of computer and Internet had brought revolutionary changes in our lives, it had created various challenges as well. He further said the college had endevoured to acqaint the students with latest information and techniques in various fields of knowledge.

Suparna Tarfdar, senior marketing manager, Rohit Puri, BDM, Punjab, and Ashwinder Puri, ASM of Reliance World, also participated. Prof Harmohan Sharma conducted the proceedings and Prof Vinay Garg extended a vote of thanks to the students.

Patiala, August 5
The information literacy should be a fundamental tool for promoting the use of knowledge and information to facilitate life-long learning. This was stated by Prof Caroline M. Stern, teacher, Ferris State University, Michigan (USA), while participating in a lecture on “Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning”, organised by university's library and information science department.

She said information literacy helped the information seekers in understanding information and then making its use to become lifelong learners.

Dr Jaspal Singh, Vice-Chancellor said the library should be the second home and a gateway to world's knowledge and information. It was the duty of the library and information professionals to convert their libraries into learning resource centres to help the information seekers realise their educational, personal and professional goals.

The Vice-Chancellor said the value of information was in its use. Hence no stone should be left unturned to promote the use of libraries, knowledge, information, and the internet-based resources and services.

Prof MS Saini, Dean, academic affairs said there was an immediate need for knowledge networking and sharing for progress.

Earlier, Dr Jagtar Singh, professor and head of the department of library and information science said there should be a shift from rote learning to resource-based learning. Information literacy is the lifeline of resource-based learning. Institutions, authorities, teachers, and librarians must collaborate with each other to promote information literacy.

Bassi Pathana, August 5
Burglars made an unsuccessful attempt to loot cash from an ATM of Punjab National Bank branch here last night.

The burglars succeeded in breaking open the ATM but could not open the cash box. Instead, they took away two batteries, UPS and stabiliser installed in the ATM.

Last month, burglars had attempted to commit theft at the same branch but were unable to break the safe of the lockers.

The bank authorities did not make any attempt to strengthen the security measures.

DSP Rajwinder Singh Sohal said though CCTV cameras had been installed, these were not working.

The main gate of the ATM remained open and there was no security guard.

He said, earlier too, they had recommended the bank authorities to take precautions but they had done nothing in this regard.

He said night patrol was being intensified and more police force would be deployed.

The bank manager said they had no provisions for employing a security guard.

The police has registered a case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC.

Incidents of crime had been on the rise in the sub-division for some time. Yesterday, burglars had taken away 200 gm gold and cash from a house after spraying an intoxicant on the housewife in broad daylight. Burglars had also struck at the residence of a grocery merchant.

In another incident, two motor cycle-borne youths had snatched earrings from a woman in the bazaar.

Patiala, August 5
The Chief Manager (Public Relations) Jatinder Krishan Khosla, State Bank of Patiala (SBoP), Patiala,after putting in more than 37 years of service was retired from the bank recently.

Jatinder Krishan Khosla was given a warm send off. A function was organised at the head office by the public relations department, State Bank of Patiala, which was attended by managing director Ashok Nayar, CGMT Lokeshaiah, General Manager (P&D) Anil Bhatnagar, General Manager (Technology and Inspection) S Sridhar, GMO RC Baldua, General Manager Jasbir Singh and General Manager (Treasury) Salil Mishra with senior officers of the State Bank of Patiala and office-bearers of the officers’ association, including other staff members.

Ashok Nayar in his address praised the honesty, dedication and sincerity of Khosla towards his duty and wished him a happy retired life.

Khosla also thanked all his colleagues, senior officials for their cooperation and support.

Patiala, August 5
Satinder Sharma, international Grade I hockey umpire, who is working as an officer with State Bank of India, Panjab University branch, gets another prestigious assignment from the FIH Appointments Committee.

He has been assigned this project to officiate at the Men’s Oceanic Cup, which will be held at Invereargill in New Zealand from August 24.

Satinder, the only Indian on the elite panel of International Hockey umpires, has an enviable record of supervising matches in almost all international hockey tournaments organised under the aegis of the FIH.

The tournaments include Junior World Cup at Hobart, 2001, and Rotterdam, 2005, Senior World Cup at Kualalampur, Malaysia, 2002, and Germany, 2006, Champions Trophy.

Besides these tournaments, he also officiated at the Olympic Qualifier at Madrid, 2004, Olympic Games at Athens, 2004, Beijing Olympics, 2008, and Asian Games.

International grade I hockey umpire Satinder Sharma has supervised 96 international hockey matches across the world.

Chandigarh, August 5
A cancellation report filed in a case against the police went missing from the office of an Amritsar magistrate; and, in an obvious attempt to prevent re-occurrence of such incidents, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked all judicial officers in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to make entries of such reports in a special register.

The matter pertains to the disappearance of an 18-year-old from his workplace on December 30, 1998. His father moved the high court for a CBI probe. The matter was disposed of in December last year with a direction to the state to inquire into the incident.

Subsequently, the cops of police station “A” division of Amritsar were found innocent, and the cancellation report was “duly accepted”, leading to their discharge. But the cancellation report went missing, following which Justice Anand asserted: “The non-availability of a cancellation report of that category can have fairly serious implications on a controversy of the indicated category”.

Justice SD Anand directed: “All judicial officers in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh shall be duty bound to ensure that the cancellation reports received from the police are entered in a register. The date to which the matter stands adjourned for notification of the plea to the complainant shall be recorded against that entry. On the adjourned date, the fixture of the cancellation shall be noted in the cause list.”

“All judicial officers concerned shall furnish a report, on monthly basis, to their respective sessions judges, indicating particulars of the cancellation reports received during that month, the proceedings undertaken and the orders passed thereupon. In so far as the state is concerned, it may also consider the feasibility of issuing instructions requiring the SHO of each police station to furnish a similar statement to the police chief of the district on monthly basis.”

“The compliance of the instructions, issued by this court on the judicial side and also the administrative instructions, which may be issued by the state in accord with the sentiments of this court would ensure that no cancellation report shall get misplaced. If any such report gets misplaced, it would not at all be difficult to fix the accountability,” the court said.

Mohali, August 5
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal appeared in the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge here today in connection with the corruption and disproportionate assets case against them and others. The next date of hearing fixed in this regard is August 27.

All accused in connection with the case were present in the court except the wife of the Punjab Chief Minister, Surinder Kaur Badal, who had been exempted from personal appearance.

It is learnt the Additional District and Sessions Judge JS Kular wanted more time to go through the voluminous file before questions could be put to those accused in the case.

Defence lawyer Satnam Singh Kler said 57 witnesses had been presented in connection with the case from time to time.

While talking to mediapersons after appearing in the court, Badal said demanding a separate SGPC for Haryana was a wrong step which would hurt the religious sentiments of the people. He said he had met the Prime Minister in this regard and his party MPs would also raise the issue in the Parliament.

He said the SGPC was set up after a great number of sacrifices were made and claimed that even Jawaharlal Nehru had courted arrest in this regard.

When asked whether Sukhbir would be made the next Chief Minister or the Deputy Chief Minister, Badal said he would not say anything in this regard till the results were declared.

Panchkula, August 5
While the body of Satish, a Delhi resident, who died in the custody of the police, was handed over to his family members, Chief Judicial Magistrate Ramesh Singh recorded the statements of police officials and family members of the deceased.

Satish had died under mysterious circumstances when a team of the Jhajjar police was taking him and two others, Vijay and Dinesh, all residents of Delhi, to Jhajjar after picking them from Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh.

Satish suffered a heart attack in Barwala, leading to his death. All three were suspects of a truck theft.

Vijay and Dinesh alleged that Satish suffered a heart attack as the policemen were threatening them of fake encounter.

Today, Vijay and Dinesh were produced before the court and sent in one-day transit remand. Meanwhile, the viscera and other samples of Satish were sent to Madhuban following the postmortem.

Panchkula, August 5
Additional District and Sessions Judge Sanjeev Jindal acquitted six accused arrested by the police while planning to loot a petrol pump last year. The prosecution failed to produce anything substantial against the accused.

The evidences produced by police did not conform to the statement recorded in the FIR, observed the court while acquitting the accused, who were allegedly members of a gang involved in dacoities and thefts.

It was on September 14 last when the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) arrested Vishal, Jaswant and Ram Prakash near Ghaggar. A stolen car and two country made pistols, along with five cartridges were reportedly seized from the accused. Later, Dharambir, Balraj and Sandeep, three other accomplices of the accused, were also arrested.

Chandigarh, August 5
A 25-year-old man was found dead on a sewerage pipe in a Sector-56 ground here this morning.

On the basis of preliminary investigation, the police said the victim had died due to drug overdose. A morning walker spotted the body and called up the police.

The police took him to the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, where he was declared brought dead.

The police said the victim was found in a semi-nude state and his mobile phone was lying in his shoes.

The police ruled out the possibility of foul play as no suicide note or injury marks were found on his body.

The deceased has been identified as Gurmukh Singh, a private driver.

He had separated from his wife sometime ago and had been staying with his sister in Sector 56.

The police said he had been working as driver on contract with different employers. He sometimes used to stay away from home for days.

According to the police, he was a drug addict and was in the habit of taking capsules.

Meanwhile, the police has initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC.

Chandigarh, August 5
A woman was today duped of Rs 28,000, along with some gold and diamond ornaments here at Sector 22 parking.

In her complaint to the police, the victim, Devinder Kaur Kang, said an unknown person had scattered some currency notes near her car and asked her to collect them.

As she tried to pick the notes, the man took her purse from her car (CH-04-H-2526) and fled.

The police said she was staying in a house at Sector 2. The owner of the house, SS Kang, said Devinder was his sister-in-law and had come from Punjab for Rakhi. She had gone to the market with her sister when the incident happened.

Meanwhile, the police has registered a case at the Sector-17 police station.

Panchkula, August 5
Karan Dhir defeated Sumesh Jangra in the deciding frame to enter the semifinals of the junior snooker event during the ongoing 23rd Haryana State Junior and Senior Billiards and Snooker Championship.

Dhir also won his first round match in senior snooker category. In junior event, he lost the first frame from Sumesh, who hit two good breaks of 32 and 29 and did not give any chance to Karan Dhir, but in the second frame, Karan Dhir hit a break of 29 on his first visit and followed with a break of 34 in the next. In the deciding frame again, he continued his form and won the frame comprehensively.

In senior event, Gaurav Bharti, won the 1st round match from Deepak Chopra (Panipat) 3-1. Gaurav won the first two frames convincingly while in the 3rd frame, Deepak Chopra managed to win on the pink ball. In the fourth frame, Gaurav did not give any chance to Deepak and won the frame and the match as well.

Results:

Senior snooker: Karan Dhir bt Kashish (Panipat) 3-1; Arun Mittal bt Gurjit Kohli 3-0; Gaurav Bharti bt Deepak Chopra 3-1

Junior snooker:Sumesh Jangra bt Puneet 2-0; Himanshu bt Raghav Sharma 2-0;

Karan Dhir bt Sumesh Jangra 2-1.

Chandigarh, August 5
Fine batting by Karan Bhola (79*) and Suraj (46*) helped Chandigarh District Twenty-20 Cricket Association beat Jaiton Mandi by nine wickets in the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Inter-District Cricket Tournament held at Barnala organised by Punjab State Twenty 20 Cricket Association.

Batting First, Jaiton Mandi scored 136 runs in 20 overs for the loss of 8 wickets. Money 24 and Vicky 25 were the main scores for Jaiton Mandi while Pankaj 2/31, Aman 2/15 were the main wicket takers for Chandigarh.

Chandigarh District achieved the target in 18.5 overs for the loss of just 1 wicket. Karan Bhola and Suraj were associated in 130-run partnership for Chandigarh. Karan Bhola’s knock contained 7 fours and 4 huge sixes while Suraj hit 5 fours and 2 sixes.

Scores: Jaiton Distt: 136 for 8 in 20 overs. Money 24, Vicky 25, Aman 2/15, Pankaj 2/31. Chandigarh T-20 Cricket Association: 138 for 1 in Karan 79 N.O, Suraj 46 n.o. Chandigarh will play its next match tomorrow against Nawan Shahar.