In brief

PIL seeks chargesheet against Kahlon
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to Punjab Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon; the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI); Director,Vigilance Bureau,Punjab,among others on a public interest litigation (PIL) that requests the court to direct the CBI to file a chargesheet against Kahlon in a recruitment scam case. The petitioner,Advocate Joginder Sharma,has also requested the court to quash an order,dated January 7,of the Punjab government wherein the state had denied prosecution sanction of Kahlon demanded by the CBI. Over 900 panchayat secretaries were recruited “illegally” by Kahlon,in connivance with others,when he was a minister,it is alleged.

Lecture on human rights held at GNDU  
AMRITSAR: The Law Department of Guru Nanak Dev University organised a lecture on ‘Human Rights,Ethics and Criminal Justice System’ here on Thursday. Professor Balraj Chauhan,Vice-Chancellor of Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University,Lucknow,was the chief guest. Dr Jaspal Singh,head of the department,welcomed the chief guest.

Jagmohan Kang on Cong election panel
Chandigarh: Senior Congress leader and former minister Jagmohan Singh Kang has been appointed as Member of the Pradesh Election Authority for the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) organisational elections 2010 by the All India Congress Commitee. Kang will be acting as Additional Pradesh Returning Officer for the Uttar Pradesh organisational elections,a release said

Thursday.

City BJP unit a divided house
CHANDIGARH: The rift in BJP was out in the open on Thursday,a day after names of the executive body members of the city unit were announced. Leaders of the party,including former presidents and mayors,held a meeting expressing dissatisfaction. They have reportedly approached the party high command with complaints regarding the selection. Election for the president of the unit was held last month in which Sanjay Tandon emerged victorious. The run-up to the election had seen a lot of political bickering with more than one candidate willing to contest. With the intervention of senior leaders of the party,one of the prospective candidates,Ramvir Bhatti,was asked not to file his nomination. Party sources said he was promised the post of general secretary and a say in the selection of other office-bearers.

Vends on MC land to be inspected
CHANDIGARH: The Municipal Corporation has decided to take stock of the liquor vends that are functioning on the civic body’s land. Mayor Anu Chatrath has asked for a detailed report about the revenue being earned by the MC through these vends. The details will be placed before the Finance and Contract Committee. Chatrath has sought details of the rent,when it was decided and since when the rates have not been revised. The city has more than 200 liquor vends of which some are functioning on municipal land. “When a person enters the city,it does not give a good impression as liquor vends are the first thing one notices. I would take up the issue with the Administration and urge the authorities to reduce the number of liquor vends near the bordering areas,” the mayor said.

Extra coaches in trains to cope with Holi rush
CHANDIGARH: To clear the long waiting lists prior to Holi,three extra coaches were added in Unchahar Express and Sadbhawana Express trains on Thursday. Ambala Division took the decision in the wake of the long waiting lists exceeding 400 for these trains. Three coaches in Sleeper-II class were added in Unchahar Express (4218) from Chandigarh to Allahabad. Three Sleeper-II class coaches were added in the Sadbhawana Express (2232) from Chandigarh to Lucknow. The Division has been adding extra coaches during festivals to cope with the rush. “The Division would be adding extra coaches in trains if the rush persists. Also,special trains have been arranged. This would be done in the future too,” said Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Karan Singh. Though the waiting list of Paschim Express,from Chandigarh to Mumbai exceeded 400,extra coaches could not be added from Chandigarh as it already carries its maximum capacity of coaches. “No seats are available in Paschim Express till March 15,but this load cannot be carried in the additional coaches as the train already has 14 coaches. Passengers who could not get their reservations confirmed have to travel by air,” said Chandigarh railway Station Superintendent R K Datta.        

SD College in Ambala gets UGC grant
AMBALA: Sanatan Dharma College (Lahore) in Ambala Cantonment has been granted the status of ‘College with Potential for Excellence’ by the University Grants Commission (UGC),said college principal Dr Deshbandhu. He said the college was one of the 159 colleges which had been given the coveted status in the country,while adding that the selection was based on the evaluation of 80 criteria concerning all round activities of the institution. The college was expected to get an additional grant for improving teaching-learning and research facilities. Meanwhile,a national seminar sponsored by the UGC was held at the college on Thursday. Nearly 100 teachers from different colleges of the university attended the seminar on ‘Use of Hindi in Technology’.

Trainee teachers organise cultural fest
CHANDIGARH: Students of the Certificate in Education course at DAV Model School,Sector 15,organised a cultural function,’Blooming Buds’,at Government Model Senior Secondary School ,Sector37 on Thursday. The children welcomed the guests with a prayer song and followed it up by a tribal dance. Dr Rakesh Sachdeva,principal of the school,said the aim of the function is to provide an opportunity to the teacher trainees to learn how to organise functions,and it also helps in building good relations with parents.

‘Academia,government and industries should not stay in ivory towers’
CHANDIGARH: Educational institutions should encourage research in the field of science and engineering so that the quality is improved. This was the main theme of a national seminar held on research in technical education at the National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research,Sector 26,on Thursday. Pawan Aggrawal,secretary to the government of West Bengal,in his address emphasised on the use of technology and experimental facilities for research. He said institutes should go for “talent mining” by creating school clusters to help tap the real potential. “There should also be a combination of formal and non-formal methods of talent spotting,mentoring and material support to tap talent. Institutes should identify creativity through interpersonal sessions,” he said. The seminar was followed by a panel discussion on higher education and trends in research. During the discussion,Krishan Kalra,former secretary general,PHDCI,observed that the three sections of academia,government and industries should not stay in their ivory towers and must work together to promote quality higher education.

Keep resources in mind while starting new courses: Sobti
CHANDIGARH: Principals of various affiliated colleges attended a meet to discuss initiation of job-oriented skill development courses for unemployed youth of Punjab at the Evening Studies Auditorium in Panjab University on Thursday. Vice-Chancellor Professor R C Sobti addressed the meet which was attended by around 120 principals. He asked principals to conduct a survey in their respective areas to identify the needs,abilities,capabilities,interests and employment opportunities of school dropouts. Sobti also advised the institution heads to keep in mind the availability of resources,infrastructure and trained instructors while selecting courses. Principals of rural colleges were asked to implement the project on priority basis.

‘Feminism and secularism must be included in the writing of history’
CHANDIGARH: Interesting topics like the sociological aspect of culture and ways to record history were discussed on the second day of the national seminar on ‘Philosophy,History and Multiculturalism: Contesting Claims’ at Panjab University on Thursday. In the first session,Professor Harjinder Singh Laltu informed the participants about Howard Zinn,an American historian,author,activist,playwright,intellectual and professor of political science at Boston University. Prof Akshaya Kumar addressed the problems while writing history. He was of the opinion that history should be critically evaluated and issues of feminism and secularism must be included in the writing of history.

Punjab to start junior science colleges in engineering institutes
MOHALI: “Junior Science Colleges will be set up in all engineering institutes of the state to improve science education,” said Principal Secretary,Technical Education,Punjab,Suresh Kumar,here on Thursday. Kumar said inspired by the success of the scheme in Singapore and Malaysia,such colleges will be started from the coming academic session. Speaking at the placement day function at the Chandigarh Group of Colleges in Landran village,Kumar said every year about 5 lakh students pass their senior secondary exams in Punjab,but was difficult to fill the 23,000 seats in engineering colleges. He also emphasised the need to train teachers of engineering colleges. Kumar handed over appointment letters to students selected for jobs in various leading companies like TCS,Bank of America,India Bulls,Money Matters,Accenture,Godrej,Convergys,Karvy and North Star,among others.