In brief

Mohali Govt College introduces hotel management course
MOHALI: The government college in Phase VI here has introduced a three-year degree course in hotel management from the next academic session. It is the first government college affiliated to Punjabi University,Patiala,to offer this course,which is sponsored by the Punjab Department of Tourism in collaboration with the Union Tourism Ministry. Announcing this on Thursday,college principal Nirmal Gupta said massive development of the campus was underway with the aid of Rs 1.52 crore granted by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s discretionary quota of funds. The annual college convocation will be held on Saturday and Supreme Court judge Swatantar Kumar will be the chief guest on the occasion.

Three shops gutted
AMBALA: Three shops were gutted in a major fire that broke out around 3.30 pm near the old civil hospital in Ambala City on Thursday. Two brothers – shopowners Sanjay and Rajiv ¿ claimed to have suffered a loss of lakhs. A case has been registered as the owners suspected foul play.

Khalsa College seeks foreign tie-up
PATIALA: A delegation led by Graham Pike and Bruce Condie from Vancouver Island University,Nanaimo British Columbia,Canada,visited the Khalsa College in Patiala on Thursday. According to a press release issued by the college,SGPC president Jathedar Avtar Singh has taken an initiative to start a series of programmes to provide education of international importance to students of various colleges running under the patronage of the SGPC. The local Khalsa College is seeking a collaboration with Vancouver Island University to offer new courses to the youth.

Retired bank employees voice grievances
CHANDIGARH: Matters pertaining to the update of pension,leave travel concession and granting of dearance allowance were discussed at the general body meeting of Central Bank Retired Officers’ Association on Thursday. The members also expressed concern over the long pending problems of the employees.

Artificial limbs camp begins tomorrow
CHANDIGARH: A five-day artificial limbs and polio calipers camp is being organised by Max India Foundation from March 13 to 17 at the Guru Akal Ashram in Mohali. The camp aims to give a new lease of life to over 500 people belonging to underprivileged sections of the society who have lost one or both limbs due to an accident,injury,disease,genetic disorders,polio etc. People registering for the camp would be given free consultation,operations and medication along with 3-4 days free stay and guidance on usage and maintenance of the artificial limb,said organisers of the camp. Mohini Daljeet Singh,head of Max India Foundation,told Newsline: “The whole process is not only about providing artificial limbs,but to create a bond between people and to make them aware of their health problems. During the camp,we will be also be educating them about oral health and hygiene.”

Homage paid to PGI professor
CHANDIGARH: A condolence meeting was held at the PGI on Thursday to pay homage to Dr Harjinder Singh,former additional professor in the Department of Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery who passed away on March 10 at Chandigarh. Rich tributes were paid by hospital director Professor K K Talwar,Professor T Shyam,Head of the Department of Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery,Professor J S Gujral,former Head of the Department,former directors,faculty members,administrative staff and resident doctors. Dr Harjinder Singh had been ailing for the last few years following a brain surgery. He made an exemplary contribution towards the treatment of patients,teaching of postgraduate students and service of poor patients.

IOC depots to be shifted from populated areas
AMBALA: The depots of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on NH-1 at Ambala Cantonment will soon be shifted from populated areas of the town. This assurance was given by the Haryana government in reply to a question by local MLA and BJP Legislature Party leader Anil Vij at the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on Thursday. The residents expressed happiness over the decision to shift these oil depots from populated areas of the town,which always remain at risk. Several minor fires have broken out in these depots. Earlier,Vij had even staged a dharna along with his supporters in front of the IOC Terminal and Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had announced that the depots would be shifted from the city. He made this announcement in the wake of the massive blaze at the Jaipur oil depot last year.

Fashion show marks end of Panache-2010
MOHALI: The two-day techno-cultural festival,Panache-2010,concluded with a fashion show at the Shaheed Udham Singh College of Engineering and Technology in Tangori village near here on Thursday. The day started with technical events like Motor Mania in which more than 20 teams of various colleges participated. Students of the host college won the fashion show.

Ranjit Bajaj case: Hearing to resume tomorrow
PANCHKULA: During hearing on the regular bail application of Ranjit Bajaj,his counsel completed arguments before District and Sessions judge S P Singh on Thursday. Bajaj’s council Rajan Malhotra told the court that as the injuries to Gurmohan Singh Bedi were not of serious nature,there was no case under Section 307 of the IPC. The judge later deferred the hearing till March 13,when prosecution will initiate its arguments. Meanwhile,the district police have managed to recover the pistol of one of the guards of Bajaj,Malkhan Singh,from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Malkhan’s arms licence was also found. A police team is still conducting raids at Panipat to arrest Bajaj’s other guard,Mahinder Singh.

Non-teaching staff of Khalsa,Modi colleges boycott practical exams
PATIALA: On a call given by Punjab and Chandigarh Non-Teaching Employees’ Union against the non-implementation of the 5th Pay Commission recommendations,non-teaching employees of government aided colleges have decided to boycott university practical and theory examinations. Vinod Sharma,press secretary of the union,said non-teaching employees of Modi College and Khalsa College boycotted the university practical examinations which started on Thursday. Sanjay Gupta,secretary of the union,said they were forced to take the step as the government was not implementing the revised pay scales. The boycott will continue for all coming examinations,he said. Gupta further said that the Association of Principals of Non-Government Colleges has also written letters to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Education Minister Upinderjeet Kaur mentioning the problems being faced by non-government colleges due to the ongoing boycott. Principals have reportedly recommended the implementation of new grades for non-teaching employees as they are “an important part of education system.

Sector-19 SHO accuses woman of sending ‘objectionable messages’ on phone
CHANDIGARH: The Station House Officer (SHO) of Sector 19 police station,Inspector Ram Gopal,has filed a daily diary report in his own police station against a woman who has allegedly been sending him “objectionable text messages”. According to the complaint,the SHO has been receiving text messages from a number on his official mobile phone,in which the sender has been pursuing him,showing her love interest. The number,it is learnt,has been traced to a resident of Panipat and call details and other credentials of the sender are being verified. The SHO was said to have filed the complaint after his efforts to settle the matter by warning the girl against sending such messages or making any blank calls did not yield any results. However,when asked,the SHO did not either confirm or rule out there was any such complaint by him.

Former mayor elected chairperson of Punjab Kala Parishad
CHANDIGARH: Former mayor and councillor of the Municipal Corporation,Harjinder Kaur,has been appointed Chairperson of Punjab Kala Parishad. Harvinder Singh Khalsa would be the vice-chairman and Hardip Singh the general secretary. There are three academies functioning under the aegis of Punjab Kala Parishad. Singer Hans Raj Hans has been named the president of Punjab Sangeet Natak Academy . Artist Ranjodh Singh would be the president of Punjab Lalit Kala Academy ,while Prof Rajpal Singh has been named as the president of Punjab Sahitya Academy . A meeting of all the heads would be called in the coming days to discuss the future course of events.

UT to receive 10,800 doses of swine flu vaccine
Chandigarh: Even as the region has seen no fresh cases of swine flu in the last two months,the UT Health department has been allotted 10,800 doses of Panenza vaccine,which would reach the city on Monday. According to the officials here,the frontline health workers,including doctors and paramedic staff working in the isolation wards here,would get the first dose. The vaccine,which is manufactured by pharma company Sanofi Pasteur,is intra muscular and injected one time as an adult dose of 0.5 ml quantity. “As per the requirements of the Health ministry,we had prepared the action plan to identify the first group which would be the first to receive the vaccine shot. After the medical officers and staff,we would see how the public is to be administered the vaccine. Plans are yet to be made,” said a senior official.

248 donate blood at camp
KHARAR: As many as 248 students donated blood at a blood donation camp organised by Rayat and Bahra Biotechnology Centre of Excellence at its campus in Sahauran village near here on Thursday. The camp was inaugurated by Dr Raj Bahadur,Director-Principal,Government Medical College Hospital ,Sector 32,Chandigarh . A team from GMCH-32 Department of Transfusion Medicine could manage to collect only 248 donated blood units,whereas as many as 1,210 students had got themselves registered for donating blood. Speaking on the occasion,Dr Raj Bahadur lauded the efforts made by the college to inculcate the sense of responsibility within the students for helping and saving the lives of their fellow citizens and laying such a philanthropic precedent for others to follow by organising such camps. He asked the college management to increase the frequency of such camps in future.

Workshop on ‘puppetry in education’ ends
PANCHKULA: A 10-day workshop on ‘Puppetry in Education’ concluded at Dikshant International School on Thursday. The workshop was conducted by Maggie Winston,a professional puppeteer,performance artist,and drama educator from Canada . During the workshop,teachers were taught how to make puppets and use them in classroom for teaching. The workshop was divided into two phases. In the first phase,teachers played theatre games and did exercises on how to use theatre in the classrooms. They were taught to make curriculum interesting by infusing dramatics in the lessons. The second phase focused more on practical activities,where teachers learnt to make socks and mask glove puppets. Few sessions on object animation were also held. Making of puppets was followed by learning the skill of voice modulation and the art of moving the puppets. The teachers then made their stories and enacted them using their puppets.

2-day conference on advanced computing begins
KHARAR: A two-day national conference on computer science to promote sharing of creative thinking about computer-related issues was inaugurated at the Doaba Group of Colleges on Thursday. Dr N P Singh,Dean,Punjab Technical University,inaugurated the seminar. Dr T S Kamal,who chaired the conference,delivered a felicitation talk while Jeet Singh proposed the vote of thanks. Twenty papers by students and 49 papers by the faculty would be presented. A programming and robotics contest will be held on Friday.

PAU regional kisan mela gets underway
NAWANSHAHR: The regional kisan mela,organised by Punjab Agricultural University,Ludhiana,started at the Regional Research Station for Kandi area,Ballowal Saunkhari,on Thursday. Punjab Mandi Board chairman Ajmer Singh Lakhowal inaugurated the fair. He exhorted agro-scientists to make farmers aware about the judicious use of natural resources like water and soil to make agriculture a cost-effective and lucrative venture. Dr Manjit Singh Kang,Vice-Chancellor,PAU,said Kandi comprised 10 per cent of the landed area in the state and was plagued by problems like erratic rain and soil erosion. “Keeping in view the prevailing climatic conditions in Kandi area,PAU scientists have been focusing on evolving specific farm technologies. The conditions here are conducive for growing fruit crops like mango,guava,galgal,citrus,ber and amla,” said Kang.