Mohali, June 24
A Mohali police constable, Amritpal Singh, murdered a 27-year-old youth, Manjinder Singh, alias Sonu, by stabbing him in an inebriated condition following a tiff with the victim’s brother at the Sector 68-69 traffic light point, here at around 11 pm last night. The main accused and his accomplice have been arrested.

The victim’s father, Gurdial Singh, and his younger brother Harjinder Singh, alias Happy are head constable and constable, respectively, in the Mohali police and both the families (the accused and the victim) are said to have shared very good relations.

Sonu was a state-level cricketer. The incident took place just a few metres away from the Phase VIII police station, where Happy has been posted. Amritpal has been posted in the Home Department on deputation.

According to the police, Amritpal Singh and Happy, who were very good friends, had a tiff last night following which the latter called up his brother Sonu to the spot. Sonu, who had come to settle the issue between the duo, was attacked by the accused with a knife without any provocation. Sonu, who was stabbed in his chest near the heart and lower abdomen, was shifted to Fortis Hospital at Phase VIII, where he was declared brought dead.

Happy and Amritpal also received injuries in the scuffle and were admitted to Civil Hospital at Phase VI. Later, Amritpal fled from the hospital, but was later caught by the police. Apart from Amritpal Singh, the police also booked his father Rashpal Singh, constable Mohan Lal and some other unidentified persons under Sections 302, 307, 148 and 149, of the IPC at the Phase VIII police station.

The woman constable who was friendly to the accused had allegedly provoked Happy and Amritpal Singh led to the scuffle. “Earlier, Happy had an affair with the same woman”, said the police.

Giving details, inspector Gurdip Singh, Station House Officer of Phase VIII, said that Happy, Amritpal and Mohan Lal were consuming alcohol at Mohan Lal’s house, located in the Police Residential Colony near the police station. “After having their drinks, the trio ordered food from a local dhaba. After some time, both Amritpal and Happy again went to the dhaba to get more food. On the way, both had an argument which turned violent”, said inspector Gurdip Singh.

While Happy called up his brother Sonu, Amritpal Singh also asked some of his acquaintances to come to the spot, said the police.

“As Sonu knew Amritpal Singh very well, he went to settle the issue but was attacked with a knife by Amritpal Singh.

“It seemed that Sonu’s heart was damaged with the knife”, said inspector Gurdip Singh. Amritpal Singh sustained injuries on his forehead while Happy received cuts on his hands. The postmortem of the deceased has been conducted at the Civil Hospital, Phase VI. “Two accused had been arrested in this connection so far”, said the Inspector.

New Delhi, June 24
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today directed the Union Territory of Chandigarh to swiftly implement the Micro, Small and Medium Entreprises Development Act and ensure thatprivate properties do not get affected while declaring heritage buildings.

Reviewing the working of the UT Division with senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs here, the Minister noted that while the MSME Development Act, 2006, had been implemented by various state governments, Chandigarh had not done so.

“The Home Minister directed that the UT of Chandigarh might be asked to implement the Act in a quick and time-bound manner'', a Home Ministry spokesman said here. The Act created a national level credit-linked subsidy scheme, the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme providing financial assistance to set up micro enterprises costing upt Rs 10 lakh in the service sector, and Rs 25 lakh in the manufacturing sector.

The assistance is provided in the form of subsidy upto 25 per cent of the project costs in rural areas while it is 15 per cent in the urban areas. The subsidy component goes up by 10 per cent for the special category, including weaker sections.

At the end of the financial year 2013-14, the Act is estimated to have generated employment to 4.28 lakh persons and an amount of Rs 1,418 crore, including Rs 1,380 crore margin money provided in the Budget. The Act has also been put to use to revive sick, medium and small-scale units under it.

Turning to heritage conservation, the Minister noted that a committee is currently undertaking the task of listing out the structures/buildings to be declared as such.

The Minister directed the Union Territory to ensure that private properties “do not get adversely affected by this exercise”, the spokesman said adding that “even if some private properties have to be declared as heritage structures then the heritage rules should provide for adequate compensatory provisions.''

Chandigarh is seeking a UNSECO world heritage status and has decided to send a trans-national nomination, in collaboration with France, Belgium and Switzerland – places where French born architect Le Corbusier worked. The UT plans to focus only on the structures designed by Corbusier in Capitol Complex and not the entire city. 

Chandigarh, June 24
Even as the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today asked the UT Administration to implement Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, the UT Administration is in a quandary over its implementation in the city.

The converted plot owners are against the implementation of the MSMED Act whereas the Industries Association of Chandigarh is urging the Administration to implement the same.

As industrialists are divided over the issue, it will be a tough task for the UT Administration to implement the Act.

The main issue for the implementation is that the conditions of the Conversion Policy of the UT Administration are clashing with the MSMED Act.

Recently, the Converted Plot Owners Association had written a letter to the Administration that if UT implements the MSMED Act — which allows the same activities for which converted plot owners have paid more than Rs 1,200 crore as conversion charges to the Administration — the Administration should refund their money.

The association had maintained that under the new Act, some commercial activities such as information technology (IT) and banking, for which the Administration has charged an amount running into crores of rupees, will be free of conversion charge.

Under the conversion policy, the IT, IT-enabled services and banking are allowed upon the payment of conversion fee.

Whereas the Industries Association of Chandigarh had submitted to the Administration that the MSMED Act was enacted in 2006, to replace the age-old Industrial Development and Regulation Act of 1952.

This was done to accommodate changes in the market demands, technology and needs of the modern times and altered industrial scenario. Many value-added activities such as services and IT etc, which were non-existent earlier, were included in the Act. 

Dera Bassi, June 24
In an apparent move to benefit the well-connected politicians and realtors’ lobby, the Punjab Government has extended the limits of the Dera Bassi Municipal Council by including 15 villages. Turning the land which has been included into a money-spinner, influential persons had over the last few years bought prime chunks of land located alongside the major roads in the area.

Highly placed sources in the department said that the limits were extended by the state government under pressure from a BJP minister and a notification in this regard was also issued on last Thursday. Keeping the development under wraps, the government did not even take the area MLA NK Sharma into confidence while finalising the move to extend the limits.

Village residents had also opposed the move alleging involvement of Anil Joshi, Minister of Local Government, Punjab, who was keen on extending the limits for his vested interests. Anil Joshi, however, denied the allegations and claimed that the MC limits were extended going by a resolution passed by the House of the civic body. The villages - Devi Nagar, Haripur Kuran, Janetpur, Bir Bakarpura, Mahmadpur, Dhanoni, Dera Jagadhari, Issanpur Rauni, Mubarikpur, Meerpur, Saipura, Gulabgarh, Mahiwala, Dandrala, and Mothanwali, have been merged with the existing Dera Bassi limits. However, three villages Bhankharpur, Trivedi Camp and Sadh Nagar have been exempted from the merger.

Moreover, the decision has come crashing down on seven panchayats that had lodged their objections over the Punjab government’s move to include their villages in the Dera Bassi Municipal limits. The villagers allege that the Minister was in a hurry to extend the MC limits so that he could extend benefits to the real estate players, speculators and some of his close associates who have constructed a restaurant on the Ambala-Kalka highway in Devi Nagar in violation of the Punjab News Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952.

Moreover, the decision was taken collectively after discussing it with the area MLA, the Minister claimed.

“To get a change of land use for land, outside the Dera Bassi limits, from the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMDA) was proving a cumbersome job for investors. With the inclusion of the villages there will be no harassment for the investors and the general public,” the Minister claimed.

Keeping in view the pending demand of the area residents, the limits of Dera Bassi civic body have been increased, claims NK Sharma, MLA, Dera Bassi.

Chandigarh, June 24
A day after aspirants and their parents protested the last-minute clarification on the Medical Council India’s (MCI) disapproval for increasing MBBS seats at GMCH-32, the Director met the department heads on the matter today, seeking a compliance report.

The department heads were asked to look into the shortcomings pointed out by the MCI, on the basis of which the request for increasing the seats from 50 to 100 was turned down, and told to prepare a compliance report.

The compliance report (citing undertaking) will be sent to the MCI by July 3. A senior faculty from the hospital told Chandigarh Tribune, “Some of the shortcomings like setting up gymnasium lockers for students can be done away with immediately. For others, that will involve construction time, an undertaking will be given.”

On Monday, chaos prevailed at the counseling venue in GMCH-32. Candidates hopeful of 100 seats in GMCH for the MBBS course had not applied in other private institutes, as the GMCH prospectus mentioned likelihood of increase in seats from 50 to 100 this year. As soon as the GMCH officials announced that counselling for only 50 recognised seats was to be held on Monday, since an approval for another 50 seats was still awaited, enraged parents disrupted the counselling session by holding a protest in the auditorium.

The prospectus of GMCH-32 mentioned that tentatively 100 seats would be available in the institute subject to approval from the MCI. However, some of the candidates had not applied in other colleges in the hope of finding admission at GMCH-32, while the last date of application in various private medical colleges has already lapsed. 

Chandigarh, June 24
The PGIMER is going to hold an awareness camp and panel discussion on scleroderma for patients suffering from this disease on June 26.

June is Scleroderma Awareness Month and June 29 is celebrated as World Scleroderma Awareness Day.

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease. This means that the immune system causes damage to some of the body’s own cells. In systemic sclerosis, the immune system damages the connective tissue cells, which are found in many parts of the body. So, systemic sclerosis is classed as a connective tissue disease. Scleroderma means hard skin. If you have scleroderma, you have areas of hardening of the skin. People with systemic sclerosis should have regular monitoring of blood pressure, blood and urine tests, and lung function, and should report any unexplained symptoms promptly to a doctor.

Systemic sclerosis cannot be cured, but there are various treatments which can help. Newer treatments have improved the outlook for this condition. 

* Skin may become tight (contracted)

* Difficulty in opening the mouth

* Reduced saliva production

* Bleeding from the gut

* Blockage (obstruction) of the bowels

* Incontinence of the bowels

* Heart complications

* Thyroid gland can become underactive

* Depression

* Thinning of the bones (osteoporosis)

* Blood pressure can become high

* Kidneys may become less efficient

* Sometimes, kidney problems get worse quickly and the blood pressure becomes very high 

Chandigarh, June 24
During a conference on potential of plastics industry focusing on plasticulture (plastic for agriculture) and food processing was organised here today, the problem of depleting groundwater level in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan was discussed.

During the last decade, the groundwater level has decreased by more than 88million acre-feet. The plasticulture has been introduced as the solution to the problem. Per capita consumption of plastics is only about 9.7 kgs in India compared to about 109 kgs in USA and about 65 kgs in Europe and 45 kgs in China, said the experts.

The use of plastics has helped farmers to increase crop production , improve food quality and save water resources , similarly it has contributed to other sectors like packaging, construction, healthcare the conference focussed on the plasticulture application in the field of water management by lining of canals, ponds and reservoirs with plastics film/drip and sprinkle irrigation system/water conveyance using PVC and HDPE pipes and Sub-surface drainage, as also applications in horticulture besides innovative packaging solution, it was discussed.

The Conference was jointly organised by the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India, FICCI and National Committee on Plasticulture Applications in Horticulture of Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and with the support of various industry associations.

The conference also covered the issue of plastics waste management as also potential of industries which can come up based on plastics waste. It was noted that while the usage and benefits of plastics are manifold, it invariably gets branded as a polluting material. The facts or myth regarding the polluting characteristic of plastic were addressed in a scientific manner.

Mohali, June 24
The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) today held draw of lots for the allotment of plot numbers to beneficiaries in Aerocity here.

The draw was held only for three categories of plots. These measured 300, 400 and 500 square yards.

The Aerocity scheme was launched by GMADA in 2010. Letters of intent were issued to the beneficiaries in about three months’ time.

The plots allotted by GMADA in Aerocity were of various sizes.

There were 700 plots measuring 125 sq yards each, 550 measuring 150 square yards, 800 measuring 200 square yards and 520 plots of 250 square yards each.

Besides, there were bigger plots of 300 square yards (730 plots), 400 square yards (50 plots) and 500 square yards (650 plots).

Shalinder Anand, chairman of the Mohali Property Consultants Association, said GMADA had to give possession of the plots in about two-and-a-half years, which had got delayed by over a year.

He said the development works in the area were still going on and no proper road connectivity had been provided so far. 

Mohali, June 24
Punjab State Women Commission Chairperson Paramjit Kaur Landran today directed officers of the Social Security and Women and Child Department to draw up a plan to organise awareness seminars in villages to sensitise people about the Domestic Violence Protection Act, 2005.

Paramjit Kaur directed the officials of SAS Nagar district to strictly implement the Act so that victims of domestic violence could be protected and their rights ensured. Presiding over a meeting of officials of the department here, she said the Act should be implemented in its true spirit in the district.

She said the Punjab Government as well as the commission was committed to the welfare of women in the state. She futher said women were not aware of the Act and were thus being victimised. Paramjit Kaur told the officials to launch a special campaign with the help of panchayats to create awareness about the Act . She also sought help from NGOs in this regard.

She said SAS Nagar would be taken as model district. The women and child victims of domestic violence would be provided all kinds of help as well as security. Child development project officers of every block in the state had been designated as protection officers in whose offices any victim could register his or her complaint.

Besides this, any victim could approach the Magistrate and police station concerned with the complaint. Moreover, voluntary organisations working in the field of women protection had also been assigned as Service Providers and complaints could also be lodged at the offices of the organisations too.

Panchkula, June 24
The Haryana Economic and Statistical Analysis Department will organise a state-level function to mark the 8th National Statistics Day here on June 29.

A spokesperson for the department said the Additional Chief Secretary, Planning, Rajan Gupta, would inaugurate the function.

Eminent statisticians, economists of local universities and officials of the state government involved in statistical activities would participate in the function.

Every year, June 29 is celebrated as the National Statistics Day which coincides with the birth anniversary of Late Prof PC Mahalanobis in recognition of the contribution made by him in the field of statistics and economic planning.

The idea behind celebrating the day is to create public awareness or interest for drawing inspiration from Professor Mahalanobis about the importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation.

Chandigarh, June 24
City residents seem to be developing an aesthetic sense, if the demand for hair transplant is any indication.

While the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH)-16 is flooded with requests from over 1,800 patients with a waiting of 2 years for hair transplant (being the only government institution in the region offering the service), many private centres have also been seeing an increase in patients.

At GMSH-16, nearly 100 men are undergoing hair transplant on the head, two women aged 20 have opted for thickening of lost eyebrows and two for even head hair growth in the last one year. in addition, a few men are undergoing beard transplantation.

“Losing hair leads to trauma among patients, especially those who are young. But we have been receiving requests from all age groups who are keen on getting their hair transplantation. People are now aware and their aesthetic sense is growing,” said Dr C Mohindroo, hair transplant expert at the GMSH-16.

Veer Kaul, Managing Director, Headmasters salon that operates DHI hair clinic, said, “We have done about 300 hair transplants in the past two years, including transplantation on lost eyebrows and beard. We charge money as per graft (including the number of hair strands).”

* The costs vary as per hair strands that are to be donated from the back portion of the scalp and implanted on the front. The more the number of strands, the higher will be the cost. It may go upto Rs 1 lakh at some centres.

* Though the costs are lesser at GMSH-16, waiting list is of two years.

* First, hair are examined and counselling sessions are held for a few months.

* After transplantation, special care is to be taken for two weeks.

* Hair starts growing normally after three months of the transplant (roots are 3mm below the scalp and normal growth is 1mm per month).

* If done effectively, transplanted hair last for a lifetime.

At GMSH-16, apart from the 100 patients undergoing hair transplant on the head, two women aged 20 have opted for thickening of eyebrows and two for even head hair growth in the last one year. The men are opting for beard transplantation.

Chandigarh, June 24
The unidentified patient, who had been lying in a pitiable condition outside Panjab University (PU) for the past two days, found relief when a group of PU students got him admitted to the GMSH-16 today.

The patient was diagnosed with two fractures in the right arm. After much counselling, he informed that he was a resident of Mathura in UP.

The students, including Jagdish, Gurdeep Singh, Vicky Baudh, Vijay Kumar, Gurdhyan and Devinder Singh, took him to the hospital. “We first took him to the PGIMER Emergency in a police van but the officials refused to admit him. Later, we took him to the GMSH-16,” said Gurdeep.

The hospital authorities have sanctioned poor-free treatment for him, he added.

“We are waiting for his condition to improve so that we can trace his family members,” said the students.

Much to the apathy of the Chandigarh Police, the man had been lying in a semi-conscious state outside Panjab University’s Gate No.1.

Chandigarh, June 24
City residents can now have an image of their choice on the postage stamps that they use.

In an innovative experiment, the General Post Office, Sector 17, has launched a scheme, “My Stamp Service”, wherein people can have their own picture or of any other individual, animal, logo of a company along side the designated stamp print. This combination will be used as a postage stamp.

The service is already functional in metropolitan cities such as Delhi and Mumbai for the past three years. “Earlier, we were short of infrastructure to start the service. But now we are ready,” said Narinder Kumar, Senior Post Master, GPO.

Bhishan Singh, Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Chandigarh, said, “My Stamp Service was launched to add colour to special posts, to celebrate occasions such as engagement, baby’s birth or greeting cards sent to loved ones.”

Chandigarh, June 24
Differences brewing between Municipal Corporation officials and councillors came to the fore when a verbal altercation took place between two Congress councillors and the MC Chief Engineer at the latter’s office today.

As per information, a verbal spat took place between former deputy mayor Satish Kainth, former senior deputy mayor Darshan Garg, both from the Congress, and MC Chief Engineer Mukesh Anand, over the issue of not carrying out development works in their ward.

Both the Congress councillors along with the residents of their respective wards will stage a protest outside the Chief Engineer’s office on June 25.

Satish Kainth, councillor from Ward No. 20, said the Chief Engineer had not carried out work such as installation of streetlights, construction of toilet block and dispensary in Industrial Area Phase I, which falls under his ward. Besides, repair of tube wells and cleaning of road gullies had also not been done.

“When the Congress leaders complained to the Chief Engineer about the pending works, he did not lend them an ear, thereby resulting in a heated argument. Now, they will stage a protest against the Chief Engineer’s anti-people approach tomorrow,” said Kainth.

Darshan Garg, councillor from Ward No. 11, said, “For the past many months, re-carpeting work in Palsora village is pending. Despite repeated requests, the Chief Engineer has not done the same. Besides, work related to the construction of toe walls in seven green belts in Sector 56 is also pending.”

On the other hand, Chief Engineer Mukesh Anand refused to comment on this issue. He said estimates related to these works had been passed and work would be started soon.

Chandigarh, June 24
The Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC), of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh today passed various agenda items pertaining to development and policy.

The agenda items included re-carpeting of parking in the Cremation Ground in Sector 25 and salary of 19 peon-cum-helpers engaged in the office of the Municipal Corporation.

Meanwhile, the committee also discussed the action taken report on the resolutions passed by the Finance and Contract Committee from the period January 2012 to December 2013. 

Panchkula, June 24
Dodging security agencies and Panchkula police, scores of striking PG unemployed teachers quietly reached Chandigarh and protested outside the Haryana Chief Minister’s (CM) residence to lodge their resentment, today.

Keeping their plan secret, the striking teachers took auto-rickshaws, buses and other modes of transportation from Panchkula and assembled outside the CM residence, this afternoon.

The city police and intelligence wing of the district police rushed helter and skelter when they got information from Chandigarh regarding sudden appearance of PG teachers in front of the CM residence.

Police officials from Panchkula rushed to Chandigarh to restrain the protesters from creating ruckus.

The striking unemployed PG teachers including women had launched an indefinite protest in front of the Shiksha Sadan adjacent to the CBSE Regional office building, Panchkula, for the past one month.

The protesters have been protesting against the government for initiating all procedure for their selection but not issuing appointment letters. Some of candidates who also underwent through the selection process were given appointments letters but ignored at the eleventh hour, they claimed.

After assurance from CM that that they would get appointment letters by June 30, the protesters again reached Panchkula and continued their protest till receiving of the appointment letters, a press note issued by the protesters stated.

Chandigarh, June 24
While the parents of MBBS aspirants created uproar over shortage of seats at the GMCH-32 yesterday, for BDS admissions to the Dr HS Judge Institute of Dental Sciences, 51 out of 100 seats remained vacant during the first counselling held today.

Blame it on the new criteria for admission to BDS colleges adopted across the board this year (that considers minimum score of 50 in AIPMT), clashing dates of counseling for different colleges or poor scores of students, the dental college failed to fill all its 100 seats on Day 1 despite having 300 applications.

Until last year, the college had been admitting students on the basis of percentile in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

Situation worse in Punjab colleges

While 49 students were admitted to the Dr HS Judge Institute of Dental Sciences in Chandigarh on Tuesday (out of 100 seats), only 130 seats were filled out of 1,200 in Punjab colleges.

Chandigarh, June 24
Panjab University has announced the detailed counselling schedule for the University Institute of Applied Management Sciences (UIAMS) on the PU campus.

The spokesperson for the PU said the counselling for admission to MBA (Sectoral) programmes at the UIAMS in general category seats would be conducted on July 4 and July 5 from 8.30 AM onwards at the UIAMS, South Campus, Sector 25, Panjab University.

For reserved categories seats, the counselling would be conducted on July 7 at 8.30 AM. Candidates are advised to bring all original documents in support to their admission.

The students may visit the UIAMS notice board at http://uiams.puchd.ac.in/show-noticeboard.php?id=987 for more details.

Chandigarh, June 24
A 40-minute-long power failure at PU dental college led to major inconvenience to 20-25 patients. The power failure disrupted all services, including registrations at the dental OPD.

The complete blackout between 10 am and 11 am at the OPD forced many patients to wait as they came in pain for follow-up treatment. While some of the patients returned, others had to wait.

Anuj Sharma, a patient who came from Sector 39, said: “The backup system of the hospital should be improved. The electricity problem has long been an issue here.”

While equipment, including X-ray machines, could not be run without power, due to the lack of enough light, patients could not be examined during the power cut.

When contacted, Dr Ashish Jain, Head of the Dr HS Judge Institute of Dental Sciences (PU dental college), said: “We have an effective DG set, but it was being repaired today. We had recently written to the competent authorities for providing us a hotline.”

Chandigarh, June 24
The University Institute of Hotel Management and Tourism (UIHMT), Panjab University, will conduct its final counselling on June 26 (Thursday). It will be held at 10 AM at the UIHMT (near ICSSR Centre), Sector 14, PU, against vacant seats for open category students.

Nine seats are vacant in BSc (Tourism Management) and 12 seats are vacant in BSc (Hospitality and Hotel Administration).

All eligible candidates have been informed to remain present on the counselling date and time, along with the required document, certificates and fee as announced in the prospects, to avail the chance.

For any query, contact UIHMT office on 0172-2541969, Dr Prashant Gautam on 09815976444 and Anish Slath on 09872039980. — TNS

Chandigarh, June 24
Students of DAV Model School, Sector 15, Chandigarh, claimed top 12 positions in the exam of Diploma in Early Childhood Education (DECEd) course. The exam was organised by the State Council of Educational Research and Training, Sector 32, here.

Shefali Nayar bagged the first position by securing 92.4 per cent marks, while Pampa Majumdar secured second position by claiming 89.4 per cent marks. Shalini Shukla with 89.13 per cent marks stood third in the exam, followed by Jasmeet Kaur 88.2 per cent marks, Parveen Devi 87.93 per cent, Silky Malik 87.6 per cent, Promila Bisht and Rekha Rani 87.13 per cent marks each, Skeempy Chauhan and Anju Bala 86.86 per cent each, Kalpana Bisht 86 per cent, Kamini Nainawati 85.13 per cent, Gurpreet Kaur and Suman 84.46 per cent each, Neha Thukal 84.33 per cent marks.

Chandigarh, June 24
“Ankahi Ansuni”, a documentary produced by students of Add-On Video Reporting Course from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, GGDSD College, here, has been adjudged the best documentary in the 3rd Bengaluru Short Film Festival held on June 21.

The festival received a total of 256 short films and documentaries from 40 countries. Out of these, 31 short films were nominated from the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Singapore, Mexico, Argentina, the Netherlands, Estonia, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, Sweden, Malaysia and Kazakhstan. Nine documentaries (one from the USA, one from Malaysia, one from Italy and six from India) were nominated for the competition.

“Ankahi Ansuni” by the students of GGDSD College, Chandigarh, was one of the nine nominated documentaries.

The documentary is scripted, shot and edited by the students - Joy Joshi (BA-I), Gaurav Mittal (BA-II), Kavita Saini (BA-III), Pranjal Munjal (BA-II), Anjali Sharma (BA-I) and Baljit Kaushal (BA-I) - of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. They worked under the guidance of Rajnish Sharma, Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Ashima Dhir, Associate Professor and Coordinator, Functional English, and Rajat Sain, a former student of the department.

Bhushan Kumar Sharma, principal of the college, congratulated the students and the faculty.