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Government college students protest BBA-I results
Chandigarh, June 7 Agitated students of the college (formerly known as Government College for Men) today met PU vice chancellor Ranbir Chander Sobti with a representation alleging “wrong marking” and sought reevaluation of marks. “We’re sure our answer sheets have been checked by some PhD students rather than by the teaching faculty”, said a first-year student on condition of anonymity. “Our future has been tampered with and an inquiry must be held. Several students have failed the exam by only one mark. The entire BBA-I batch is upset because of such marking,” he added. “Last year the cutoff marks in the class XII exam for entrance to the BBA course in this college were 68.4 percent and no student who had scored less than this was admitted. We also all passed our college inhouse exams this year. How then can we fail in the final exam conducted by the university?” asked an agitated student who recalled that last year only four BSc-I (biotechnology) students in the college had passed in their exams. The angry students, who were protesting outside the computer centre on the PU campus, said there was a dearth of teaching staff in the college as there was only one permanent teacher for the first-year BBA course. “The others are just guest or contractual teachers. The college authorities told us they were helpless in the matter, that only the PU administration could do something,” said Sourabh, a BBA-I student. Repeated attempts to contact the college principal, JS
Raghu, were unsuccessful as his cellphone was not reachable. University officials, meanwhile, have advised students to do the obvious: Apply for reevaluation of marks. “The students must go through the proper channel that has been set up. If the evaluation is flawed the cost of revaluation will be reimbursed,” said Sobti. PU dean of students welfare Naval Kishore, who visited the computer centre where the students were
Even so students are finding it inconvenient to shell out money for revaluation of marks. “The cost of evaluation for each exam is Rs 300. Considering we are on an average seeking reevaluation of three to four subjects, it’s a lot of money for us”, said
Gursimran, a BBA-I student. The students also made a representation to PU controller of examinations AK
Bhandari.
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Shop till you drop, but not on a Sunday!
Chandigarh, June 7 With no representation from the traders’ bodies to extend the order governing the seven-day shopping, which expired in mid-May this year, the Administration has decided to revert to the old system of Sunday off for all commercial establishments, UT Home-cum-Labour Secretary Ram Niwas said. The exemption for opening shops on all seven days is sought by the traders’ bodies on a year-to-year basis, an official said. Under the Shops and Commerial Establishments
Act, the UT Administrator is competent to exempt shops from closing on Sunday. The labour department seems to be adopting a tough posture against violators. “A trader opening a shop on Sunday can now be challaned,” warned a department official. “Sunday shopping” started in the city on a regular basis in 2004. With the emerging shopping mall culture and entry of multi-national companies in the retail sector, the concept of seven-day shopping picked up momentum in recent years. The changing socio-economic environment and the requirements of residents were cited as another reason for the introduction of Sunday shopping. However, certain sections of society termed it as “socially not acceptable”, claiming that businessmen like other people also needed a day off. Though the entry of MNCs in the retail sector has made business competitive, Sunday off was essential for traders to fulfill their social obligations, said Jagdish Pal Singh Kalra, spokesman of the Chandigarh Business Council, adding that a consensus was needed on
the issue. Since Chandigarh has a five-day week, a majority of people prefer to shop on Saturday, a trader said. Since markets in Panchkula, besides shopping malls, were open on Sunday, there was nothing wrong in having an off day for traders and their workers, he added.
Reasons for Sunday shopping Entry of MNCs has made business more competitive *
All-days-open shopping is convenient for residents * Fetches additional revenue to the UT Administration *
Been a huge success in recent years What goes against Sunday shopping *
‘Violates’ labour laws which specify a weekly off * Traders and workers also have social lives *
Panchkula, Mohali and shopping malls are open on Sunday * A strong traders’ lobby is opposed to Sunday shopping
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Man run over by train; road traffic held up
Chandigarh, June 7 The victim identified as Ganga Prasad was run over by a train around 4.30 pm. The haphazard parking of vehicles on the road by some curious onlookers caused a major traffic jam for almost an hour. Lashing out at the local police, Ludhiana resident Amit Trehan, who had come to pick up his family from Panchkula, said: “What was the police doing when people started assembling here? Why can’t it take action in time?” A local resident, Ashok Bhalla, said the police beat box was just a stone’s throw away. “In spite of that, the police did not turn up at the right time to take control of the situation,” he claimed.
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MC panel wants sites allotted fast
Chandigarh, June 7 The issue was taken up during a meeting of the water supply and sewerage disposal committee held here today under the chairmanship of Jatinder Bhatia. The committee decided that a reminder be sent to the UT chief architect’s department to impress upon it the need to speed up the work of allotment of sites so that the work of tubewells was taken up at the earliest. Report P3
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Driver’s licence delays plague city drivers
Chandigarh, June 7 The process is said to have come to a halt for the past one month as the RLA has been not getting supplies of the plastic cards from the company, SPIC, with which the UT administration had tied up for the purpose. In the absence of availability of the required material thousands of applicants are reportedly being made to wait unnecessarily for no fault of theirs. Every applicant is being given June 27 as the delivery date of his smart card. However, officials admitted this deadline was unrealistic and it appeared impossible for applicants to receive their vehicle registration smart cards even three weeks from now keeping with applications piling up. “Even as over 3,000 applications are pending we’ve yet to received supplies of the plastic cards. It’ll be virtually impossible to issue new license and registration cards even in 20 days’ time. And that too when resumption of work is nowhere in sight,” said an official on condition of anonymity. Registration license officer Sanjeev Kohli said the consignments of the plastic material used for making the cards were was still stuck in Singapore. “The matter needs to be cleared there (Singapore) which is expected to take another three or four days”,
he added. Arpan Kumar, who had come to the RLA office to get his driver’s license on Tuesday, wondered how the authorities could be so “casual” in their approach. “Both obtaining a new driver’s license and getting an expired one renewed is very important for every one. How can officials continue to harass the public?” he asked. Another applicant, Anil Kumar, averred the RLA should make arrangements to deliver the cards at the applicants’ homes.
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Anti-encroachment drive in Sec 38
Chandigarh, June 7 Officials said the MC
had been receiving a number of complaints from the market president regularly regarding vehicles being dumped in themotor market, following which MC
Commissi-oner Prerna Puri had ordered the removal of the encroachments from the motor market. The drive, which was carried out under the supervision of MC Additional
Commissioner-II Lalit Siwach, was assisted by enforcement inspector Kashmira Singh and
support staff of the enforcement wing of the MC. Seven cranes were also used for this anti-encroachment drive. The MC
Commissi-oner warned encroachers that such drives would be carried out regularly in all motor markets and other areas where govern-ment land had been encroached upon
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Panel wants sites allotted fast
Chandigarh, June 7 The issue was taken
up during a meeting of the water supply and sewerage disposal committee held here today
under the chairmanship of Jatinder Bhatia. The committee decided that a reminder be sent to the UT chief architect’s department to impress upon it the need to speed up the work of allotment of sites so that the work of tubewells was taken up at the earliest. Members raised a hue and cry, asking why the tubewells, which were approved by the House, had not been installed before the onset of summer, knowing that there was acute shortage of water in that area. Officials replied that the matter was pending with the chief architect’s department and they had take up this issue in a number of meetings, but in vain. The committee also decided that generator sets be provided at the tubewells in southern sectors as electricity cuts were very frequent in the area, causing disruption in water supply. It was also decided that if any housing society required additional water supply, new add-on connection would be provided
to them by the MC from now on. The committee also instructed the officials concerned to get cleaning up of road gullies done properly, keeping in view the ensuing monsoon season. Estimates for providing and laying a pipeline in Sectors 39-B, 40-B and 40-C and constructing a toilet block in the market of Sector 33-C and 33-D were also sanctioned by the committee.
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Northern Railway to introduce super AC coaches
Chandigarh, June 7 “The new coaches will be an upgraded version of the existing first and second AC coaches and will be retrofitted with a large number of added amenities,” a senior official working on the project has said. The Railways is yet to finalise the fare structure for the special coaches. The layout will have optimal utilisation of space for seats and berths in transverse directions, the official has said. “If space and costs permit, there are plans to provide state-of-the-art drop-down screens with pre-recorded audio-visual movies and clips,” a senior railway manager has said. The coaches are being manufactured by the Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala for the Northern Railway and should be ready for regular service by October. The 25 specially designed coaches will seat 44 passengers, with interior aesthetics and comfort levels comparable to world standards. He has further said the
second footbridge, linking all five platforms, will be constructed at the other end of the Chandigarh railway station, towards the Ambala side. Sources have revealed that the railway authorities want to provide a tubular-shaped concrete foot overbridge at the railway station, but the design of the bridge will be the Railways’ own. “The fabrication of the bridge has already started in the workshop and it will take around six months for complete fabrication of the bridge,” he has added.
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Submitting building plans to be
made easy
Mohali, June 7 SS Sandhu, Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, yesterday said a panel of architects registered with the Indian Council of Architecture and having an experience of 10 years or more would be selected for this purpose. “The architects on our panel would be authorised to sanction the building plans of residential plots measuring up to 500 yards,” said Sandhu. However, respective Estate Officers would continue to exercise grant approval of building plans and this is an option/facility offered to the allottees for their convenience. Allottees obtaining approval of their building plans form private architects (on panel) would be required to submit a copy of the approved plan to the Estate Office concerned at least one week before undertaking construction work at site. Estate Office (enforcement wing) would carry out periodical checks during the course of construction to ensure that building bylaws were being adhered to. An architect found approving a building plan in contravention to the building bylaws would be liable to lose his empanelment.
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PSEB comes to the aid of students
Mohali, June 7
Using the provisions under the general regulations of the examination, the PSEB chairman, on the recommendation of a senior board officials’ committee, has given 12 marks each to hundreds of students who had got poor result in the Class XII result declared yesterday. The step will result in the improvement of the pass percentage of the students and also the overall pass percentage of the board. The additional marks, including one per cent allowed under the board rules, were given mostly to the students who failed or had got compartment. Sources in the board said, “Under a moderation formula, the PSEB chairman has powers to give additional marks in borderline cases. Before giving the marks, detailed analysis of the subject was done by a committee of the officials. It was found that the result in the humanities stream was poor.” “The issue of giving grace marks has landed the board in legal complications in the past. Even previous Education Minister Upinderjit Kaur had denied giving grace marks to students,” said a board official. If the board had not given the additional marks, the pass percentage could not have an improvement of 8 pc compared to the previous exams. The pass percentage of the students, both regular and private, has been 72.71 pc. The pass percentage was 66.67 pc in 2009 and 64.69 pc in 2010.
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ESIC selections invalid: CAT
Chandigarh, June 7 Acting on an application by Dr Jaswant Singh, the Bench comprising Justice SD Anand and Khushi Ram, directed the ESIC to consider the applicant for the relevant appointment within a month. Terming the selection as a “pure and simple case of indefensible exercise of power,” the Bench asserted that the power to relax the eligibility criteria seemed to have been exercised to prefer private respondents to the applicant, who fully met the eligibility criteria. “In spite of the glittering packages offered by the MNCs and dispensaries in the private sector, there are candidates dreaming to enter public service,” the Bench observed while imposing a cost of Rs 10,000 on the authorities concerned. In 2009, three candidates were selected by the ESIC on the specialist’s post. Dr Janwant Singh, who met the eligibility criteria, was ignored in the selection process.
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Biometric system for teachers likely in govt schools
Panchkula, June 7 Sources said frequent raids conducted by the department in various government schools during the past couple of months had not yielded any results. After failing to achieve the expected attendance outcome, the department was left with no other option, but to install devices in all schools in the district, the sources added. On receiving complaints that teachers after marking their attendance in registers often left the school, the department had to take the step. The officials said the education department had installed the system in a school at Raipur Rani block. They said the biometric device would be installed at all schools in the district. Meanwhile, the move of the education department has not gone down well with teachers in the district, who have decided to oppose the same. Kulbhushan Sharma, president, Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh, said they would meet director of the education department to discuss the issue. However, parents of students have welcomed the move. Pushpinder Kumar, a resident of Sector 15, said the system would keep a check on teachers and students, as in the absence of teachers, students bunked classes resulting in poor results in exams.
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‘Punjab govt ignoring development’
Mohali, June 7 Rajinder Singh Rana said the Akali government was fooling people in the name of development. The agendas passed during the term of the previous municipal council were now being implemented and areas of the Congress supported councillors were being left out. The five-month-old municipal corporation has hardly passed any resolution concerning development. Roads here are in a bad shape. Animals stray into parks which are dotted by wild growth. Since there is no elected representative in Sectors 66 to 69 and 76 to 80, residents of these areas have been running from pillar to post to get their work done. Among others present included Rishav Jain, Amrik Singh Somal, Kuljit Singh Aulakh, Suresh Kumar Lucky, Gurpreet Kaur, Usha Rani, Raj Rani, Gurnam Bindra Singh and Harvinder Kaur Lang.
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One quintal banned Thai magur fish destroyed
Fatehgarh Sahib, June 7 Since Thai magur may live in toxic water without much care, many farmers consider it a profitable venture and opt for its cultivation in village ponds despite the ban. Though farmers of Punjab opt for rohu, mirgal, catla, silver carp, common carp and few others, these varieties need constant monitoring for good earning. The checking of the pond was conducted on secret information and officials from the health department, police and the fisheries department also visited the pond. The man extracting fish from the pond slipped away as soon as the team arrived. The officials, however, got one-quintal fish from the village pond and got it buried under the earth. Officials said the contractor could be fined up to Rs 10,000 for opting fish farming using this banned variety. Village sarpanch has also been told to get the pond cleared of Thai magur. Sarpanch Kulwinder Singh said the panchayat had given the contract to Nirmal Singh of the village in lieu of Rs 16,500 per year.
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Midday meal workers raise voice for demands
Panchkula, June 7 The rally started from Yavanika Garden in Sector 5 and culminated in front of the Shiksha Sadan building. The protesters also blocked the building gate, raising slogans against the director, education department. Addressing the protesters, Jaibhagwan Rohilla, general secretary, Midday Meal Workers’ Union, said their main demand was to confirm contractual employees and depositing Rs 1,000 paid by the Central government directly in their accounts and without making any deductions. Rohilla said the department should stop the practice of removing old workers from job in the department, besides rolling back to old menu in the midday meal scheme. He said they would not serve chapatti or stuffed parantha to students, as they had been receiving complaints about the sub-standard material being supplied to them by the authorities concerned.
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tricity scan
The local unit of the Vishv Hindu Parishad (VHP) led by Vijay Singh Bhardwaj, working president, protested outside Neelam Theatre in Sector 17 against the use of words “character dheela” in the line of a song from Salman Khan starrer film “Ready”, witnessing a heavy rush. The protestors alleged that “the line is comparing the character of Salman Khan in the movie with Lord Krishna” saying “Voh kare tou Rasleela hum kare to character dheela”. Talking to the Tribune, Bhardwaj said, “I saw the 3 pm show in the theatre after the protest and the words had been deleted from the song. This happened at just one place, so we have also taken up the matter with distributors in Jalandhar and New Delhi. We have given them a warning and will commence an agitation in case our sentiments are not respected.” Foundation day
High Court timings
The Punjab and Haryana High Court will be observing summer vacations from June 6 to July 2, an official notification said. The court timings during these days will be 10 am to 2 pm and the office timings will be 10 am to 4 pm.
Liquor vend opposed
Residents of Subhash Nagar, Mani Majra, are continuing to protest against the public nuisance being caused by opening a liquor vend on the main road adjoining their residential area. Ram Bhaj Shar, president, said, “The liquor vend, under question, is situated near the Mani Majra police station on the slip road on the main entrance to Subhash Nagar. Drunkards can be seen wandering near the vend, causing public inconvenience, especially to women and young children. Surinder Kaushik, general secretary, said as the residential area was located near the Rajiv Gandhi Information Technology Park, a large number of girls are staying as paying guests here. The drunkards who gather openly, particularly in the evenings are intolerable. The representation, seeking quick interference by the administration addressed to the office of the Deputy Commissioner, has been signed by 104 residents.
19-yr-old commits suicide
A 19-year-old girl, Geeta of Mauli Jagran, committed suicide by hanging herself with a ceiling at her residence on Tuesday afternoon. Police sources said Geeta seemed to have taken the extreme step under depression. She was said to have undergone treatment at the PGI, which caused her mental stress, said the police. No suicide note was found by the police. The deceased’s body has been kept at a mortuary in General Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16. The post-mortem would be conducted tomorrow.
Accident
Forty-year-old Ganga Prasad lost his life as he was run over by a train under the railway over bridge at Mani Majra here on Tuesday evening. Ganga, a resident of Kishangarh, was walking on the track when he was hit by the train, said the police. He was carrying two mobiles, which helped the police to ascertain his identity. According to police sources, they ruled out the possibility of committing suicide by the deceased.
Voter ID-cards
Mohali district election officer-cum-Mohali Deputy Commissioner Varun Roozam on Tuesday said the exercise of issuing voter ID-cards in SAS Nagar, Kharar and Dera Bassi constituencies would be completed by June 30. He said on the instructions of the Election Commission of India, all voters would be issued the voter I-cards by June 30. He further said in the forthcoming elections, only those who possesses voter I-cards would be allowed to cast their vote.
‘Follow time frame’
District Planning Board chairman has directed all officials to complete the ongoing works in a time-bound manner. While taking stock of the ongoing works in Phase IX here, Sharma directed all roads to be re-carpeted in the next 15 days.
Sur-Sangam
More than 120 amateur singers participated in the 13th annual Sur-Sangam music contest held at Panchkula under the aegis of the Sur-Sangam Society at Pallavi-16. Noted Punjabi music director Sukhpal Sukh led the panel of judges, including Dr Suamn Joshi and Dr Arun Kant, who awarded the winners. Senior male - Shivam (I) Nishant (II), Senior female - Paramjot (I) Aashi(II) Junior male- Navjot (I) Deepanshu (II) Junior female- Asawari Srivastav (I) Amarpali (II). Society president Dr Pardeep Bhardwaj disclosed that the winners will perform with senior artistes, mainly doctors of the region, in the annual Sur Sangam Treat to be held on June 18 at the Inderadhanush Auditorium, Panchkula.
Badminton training camp
“Sports play a pivotal role in the overall development of children and the parents should encourage their children to involve in the games to keep their mind and body healthy, besides bringing in them a competition mood,” said the Deputy Commissioner while inaugurating the badminton training camp at the Badminton Hall in Sports Complex, Sector 3, here on Tuesday. She said the aim of the training camp, which would continue till June 21, was to prepare players for the upcoming events so that they could excel at various national and international-level championships. She said Dronacharya Awardee Mohammad Aarif would train as many as 32 talented players of different age groups during the 15-day camp. Aarif also served as a coach of the star badminton players of the country like Saina Nehwal and Gopi Chand, she added. — TNS
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Website for online BCom admission launched
Chandigarh, June 7 Shashi K Sharma, dean research, Panjab University, and Dr Tankeshwar Kumar, director, computer centre, Panjab University, were also present on the occasion. The detailed information regarding application form, number of seats in different colleges, eligibility criteria and reservation policy are also available at the site. After filling up the online application form, candidates are required to take the printout of the same, attaching a demand draft of Rs 120 (Rs 60 for SC/ST candidates) in favour of coordinator, BCom Admissions, Panjab University, and send it through a registered/speed post to AK Vashisht, coordinator, BCom Admissions, or submit by hand at the University Business School, Arts Block III, Panjab University, by June 21 up to 4 pm. Installation of five terminals The Vice-Chancellor on Tuesday announced installation of five special terminals at the enquiry block (within Aruna Chandra Ranjit Hall) to help students fill up the online BCom forms. He added that the location and modalities of five terminals would be worked out shortly.
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Online admission to 19 courses at Panjab University
Chandigarh, June 7 The online form was yesterday uploaded on <http://cetadmissions.puchd.ac.in/> along with guidelines to fill in the form. Applicants are supposed to fill in this online form and submit it along with requisite documents for verification before June 30, 2011, (5 pm) at the department of environmental studies. The online application process has been developed at Computer Centre, Panjab University, and will cater to 19 different courses such as BA LLB (Chandigarh), BCom LLB (Chandigarh), BA LLB (Ludhiana), BA LLB (Hoshiarpur), BSc (tourism management), BSc (hospitality and hotel management), BPharma, BSc (honours school) biotechnology, BSc (honours school) biophysics, BSc (honours school) botany, BSc (honours school) microbiology, BSc (honours school) zoology, BSc (honours school) anthropology, BSc (honours school) chemistry, BSc (honours school) geology, BSc (honours school) physics, BSc (honours school) mathematics, BSc (honours school) mathematics & computing, BSc (honours school) biochemistry. The admission to these courses will be based on a merit-cum-preference basis. Merit shall be calculated on the basis of CET marks and marks obtained in qualifying examination and weightage as per information given in the handbook of information. Candidates are required to mention their course preferences while applying. The date, time and departments in which students need to report for admission will be put on the website.
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PU directs colleges to update teachers profile on website
Chandigarh, June 7 The colleges have been asked to put the date of affiliation of various courses on the website, along with profile of courses offered, facilities provided, fee structure and all relevant details. “Several cases have been observed by inspection committees, in which the college would show fake teachers as their faculty members. To avoid duplication, a brief profile of the college teachers would also be carried on the website from now onwards,” said Sobti. While certain local colleges already have an updated website, several other colleges in rural areas of Punjab do not have an upgraded website, added university officials. In yet another circular issued by the university, the colleges that ask for a selection panel from the university to interview faculty members in a bid to express their seriousness to recruit teachers have now been directed to conduct interviews quickly. “There are certain other colleges who have asked for interview panels from the university for selection of teachers but have not completed the process yet. Such colleges have also been directed to conduct the interviews as soon as they can,” added Sobti
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The Aryans Group of Colleges (AGC) on Tuesday celebrated its fifth foundation day. Various cultural items were performed on the occasion, including antakshri, solo songs, group songs, dance, tambola, musical chair, passing balls, etc. Winners were given prizes also. Dr Anshu Kataria, chairman, Aryans Group, said the group had got the approval to use GMAT, GRE, CAT and XAT scores from GMAC (USA), ETS (USA), IIMs and XLRI, respectively.