The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

More principals likely to get notices
Poor showing in class X, XII examinations
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31
After penalising principals of government schools for poor performance in the class VIII examination, stage is set for yet another round of show-cause notices by the UT Education Department to heads of government schools for a repeat in the CBSE class X and class XII examinations.

Sources in the Education Department said while the heat would be turned on principals who have shown poor results, teachers, too, would be made accountable for poor subject results in the examinations.

While show-cause notices would be issued as the first step in the exercise, this would be followed up with chargesheets to those who cannot justify their positions.

A meeting in this regard would be held next week though the department is said to have zeroed in on a few schools with low pass percentages.

In the class X examination, the worst performances have come from a school in Mauli colony where three of the 51 students have passed, in Government High School, Lahora, where seven of the 81 students have passed and in the GHS-25 where three of the 36 students who appeared have passed the examination.

In the GSSS-Dhanas and Sectors 45, 14 and 24 students have passed from among a total of 109 and 213 students, respectively. In the GHS-7, nine of the 61 students have passed, while 11 students have passed in the GHS-29-B from 74. In addition, there are nearly 20 schools which have a pass percentage between 20 per cent and 30 per cent.

The Education Department earlier chargesheeted heads of the GHS-11, 24, 25, the GMHS, Sarangpur, the GHS-38-B, the GMHS-29, GHS, Karsan and government school in Colony No. 4, besides calling for explanations of teachers who had failed to deliver the goods in the class.

In the class X examination the pass percentage in these schools is as follows: GHS-11 with 27.52, GHS-24 with 28.88, GHS-25 with 8.33, GHS-Sarangpur with 15.15 and GHS-Karsan.

PU dispatches roll numbers
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31
Stage is set for entrance examination for various postgraduate courses in Panjab University.

The examination branch has completed all last minute formalities in dispatching the roll numbers and announcing the centres in majority of the cases. Students have been asked to contact the university directly incase of an emergency because of non-receipt of roll numbers.

Official sources say admit cards for Entrance Test-2002 for LLB, LLM, MCA, MMC, MSc (honours) and MSc have been dispatched. Candidates who do not receive the admit cards by June 5 have been asked to contact the university directly on June 6 and June 7.

Students are expected to come along with a written application and a passport sized photograph at the old enquiry office. Duplicate admit cards can be collected only in person by the candidates. These candidates are required to submit Rs 35 at the State Bank of India counter in the university.

The examination for these courses are scheduled between June 8 and June 11. Entrance examination for LLB, LLM, Master of Computer Application and Master of Mass Communication courses are scheduled for June 8. Interviews for the honours school in botany, chemistry, physics and bio technology will be conducted on June 9.

The university will conduct examination for courses in zoology, bio-chemistry, microbiology and geology on June 10 and examination for human genomics and environment science on June 11.

Examination for these courses will be conducted on Panjab University campus and MCM DAV College, Sector 36, here.

College boys set out on peace mission
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31
It is the spirit of adventure that has got the better of three boys of Government College, Sector 11, who have begun their cycle expedition to Khardungla and Nubra valley through Rohtang and Leh.

Dijendra Singh and K.H Premjeet Singh, students of BA III and Tejinder Singh of BA 1, said they were looking forward to the mission of spreading the message of peace and harmony as they cycled through the areas.

The expedition was originally planned for May. However, sponsorship for the boys could not be tied up and the matter was postponed much to their disappointment. Finally, we managed to get everything in order and they are on their way to the highest motorable road,’’ the Professor in charge, Mr K.P.S. Shante, said.

The students said they were keen on cycling through Kargil with the peace mission and interacting and cheering the Army personnel posted there.

``We will go to the Nubra valley at the base of the Siachen glacier. After that, depending upon the situation at the border, we will seek permission to go to Kargil. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will get the go-ahead,’’ the boys stated.

Carrying the college flag as their identity, the boys set out on their cycle expedition which was flagged off by the Principal of the college, Dr S.N. Singla. He said the boys were keen on treks and other adventure sports.

IPW students display their creations
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31
Students of textile designing and fashion designing of the International Polytechnic for Women put their best foot forward when they displayed their entire range of creations like garments, linen, household articles, miniatures, embroideries, kalakaris etc on the school campus in Sector 35-C here yesterday. The occasion was the annual display examination of practicals done during the year.

Students of textile designing displayed everything from block printing to tie and dye, textures to batic. Students of fashion designing had displayed garments from bloomers to trousers. Embroidery, hand painting, different cuts and silhouettes were done on all kinds of fabrics.

This showcase of talent of students was judged by external examiners from Home Science College and Dev Samaj College for Women. The International Polytechnic for Women offers one-year and three-year diploma courses in textile designing and one-year and two-year diploma courses in fashion designing.

And yesterday students of interior design and display of the IPW displayed their creations in subjects like furniture design, furnishings/fittings, drapery, art and craft layout plans, construction material, professional studies, computer graphics. One could see models of various rooms, sheet work, mural paintings, nib paintings, jute art, pin and crush painting, stain glass, pot designing, etc. The institution offers one-year and three-year diploma courses in interior design and display.

COURTS

DISTRICT COURTS
3 accused in bribery case granted bail
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 31
Three employees of the Controller of explosives office, Sector 22, who have been arrested by the CBI while accepting bribe, were today granted bail by a local court.

The CBI had registered a case against the three under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The three — Kamlesh Kumar, Jarnail Singh and Chandiram — were granted bail on the furnishing bond of Rs 15, 000 each by the court.

As per the prosecution, the CBI had laid a trap on the complaint of Gulab Singh who had bought an oil tanker and wanted to get the same registered in the name of his wife. He was allegedly asked by the employees to pay Rs 2,500 as bribe for getting his work done.

Bail granted

Mukesh, who had been arrested by the UT police under the provisions of the NDPS Act was granted bail by a local court on Friday. As per the prosecution, the UT police had arrested the accused from the ISBT bus stand and seized 10 kg poppy husk from his possession.

Bail in theft case

A local court on Friday granted bail to an accused, Amit Thakur, who had been arrested by the UT police in a case of theft. The accused was granted bail on the furnishing of a bail bond of Rs 10, 000.

As per the prosecution, the accused had stolen a computer, some other articles and Rs 15, 000 from the Chartered Assistant’s office in Sector-36.

Three persons arrested on the charge of assaulting a photographer of a local English daily were granted bail by a local court on Friday.

The accused, Shwandhi and two others, had allegedly assaulted the photographer when he was taking the photographs in Sector 22 market during a demolition drive.

Bikramjit case adjourned

A local court yesterday adjourned the case filed against the senior IAS officer, Punjab, Mr Bikramjit Singh, under the Prevention of Corruption Act registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The court has adjourned the case till July 11 as the CBI has sought more time to file reply on an application moved by the accused. Earlier, Mr Bikramjit Singh’s counsel had moved an application that the CBI had not supplied the necessary documents required in the case to him.

The CBI had filed a charge-sheet against him under Sections 5(1)(e) read with Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and Section 13(1)(e) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 accusing him of “amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income”.

The CBI had alleged in the charge-sheet that Mr Bikramjit Singh had maintained a fleet of cars and a number of credit cards besides a large number of bank accounts and property, including a house in Sector-33-B, shop-cum-office 76-77 in Sector 8-C and shop-cum-office 439-440 in Sector-35, and purchased agriculture land measuring 32 kanals at Bazidpur village and some other places.

Panchkula MC poll within 4 months: HC
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31
In a significant statement before a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Haryana’s Advocate General yesterday said elections to Panchkula’s Municipal Corporation would be held within next four months.

Appearing before the Bench headed by Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta, the AG, Mr Surya Kant Sharma, added that the process of finalising the elections would begin from today itself. The statement was issued during the hearing on a bunch of writ petitions.

It may be recalled that the High Court had earlier issued notice of motion on a petition alleging that the act of Panchkula’s Municipal Council in issuing notices assessing annual value, and house tax payable thereon, on properties located in Sector 21, was illegal.

In their petition, the House Owners Welfare Association had contended that even though the notification issued on January 25, 2001, by the state of Haryana declaring Panchkula as a municipal area was not applicable to the under-developed areas, including Sector 21, the MC in January, 2002 had issued notices of assessment for April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002.

Going into the background of the case, counsel to the petitioner had added that the Haryana Government had decided to divide the municipal area in two parts — the developed sectors and the other areas. The developed sectors included Sector 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12A, besides Sector 14 to 19, along with Industrial Area Phase I and Industrial Area Phase II.

He had further added that the HC had dismissed a writ petition on the ground that the notification declaring Panchkula as a municipal area had been confined only to the developed sectors and not to the entire urban estate of Panchkula. In spite of this, the MC had illegally issued notices of assessment and was now illegally proceeding to issue final bills of demand of the house tax even in those areas that had not been brought under the MC’s purview.

Bar council submits list of fake graduates
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 31
The Punjab and Haryana Bar Council today submitted a list of “fake” law graduates to the UT Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) demanding the registration of case of cheating and forgery against them.

The Chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, Mr Anmol Rattan, informed that the council had submitted a list of all “fake” law graduates who had procured “fake” law degres from Bundelkhand University, Jhansi in the office of the SSP in the evening.

He said seeing the gravity of the case in which number of persons had managed to procure “fake” law degrees, the council had demanded that the inquiry in the case should be marked to a senior police official not below the rank of SP or DSP.

Earlier, the council had marked an inquiry into the case after getting a feedback from the members of the council that some of the degrees submitted by the students to get council’s license seemed to be procured through fraudulent means.

Thereafter the council sent the degrees to the respective universities for verification. The investigation done by the council revealed that students had submitted “fake” degrees.

Special Lok Adalat today
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 31
To solve various types of cases, a Special Lok Adalat will be held on June 1 in the District Courts Complex. The UT Chief Judicial Magistrate-cum-Secretary of the District Legal Service Authority, Mr C.L Mohal, informed 18 benches of Lok Adalat had been constituted to deal with various types of cases such as motor accident, matrimonial disputes, rent matters, recovery matters and summary cases involving traffic offenses and cases under the shop act. He further added that lenient view would be taken while deciding the cases.

Mr C.L. Mohal, informed that any person who wished to settle tany dispute in the Lok Adalat could approach him.

HC order on blood bags
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31
Taking suo motu cognisance of the supply of defective blood bags to hospitals and blood banks, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the registry to treat it as a litigation in public interest.

Pronouncing the orders, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Ms Justice Bakhshish Kaur, also directed that soon after the replacement of the defective bags, samples of the new bags should be got tested from a laboratory. “If found to meet the prescribed standards, the government may permit their use in hospitals and blood banks,” the Judges ruled. The Bench, on the last date of hearing, had directed the state of Haryana and other respondents not to use blood bags being supplied by the firm as these did not conform to the specifications.

CULTURE

Puppet workshop at Kala Gram
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31
The puppet workshop organised by Dadi Pudumjee at Kalagram here attracted many learners this morning. Holding the dais was none other than master puppet artiste Dadi Pudumjee, who used various materials to create rod and hand puppets.

Dadi, who has been in the city to take special classes in puppet making on an invitation from the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi, is already conducting a workshop at Government Model School in Sector 10. Close to 24 participants of various age groups are part of this workshop, which has covered various aspects of puppet theatre right from directness of a puppet to its power to communicate almost effortlessly.

The workshop at Kalagram will also largely cover all these points. Object animation will be the special area of focus, with Pudumjee talking about how to choose objects and lend them the touch of reality so that the viewers cannot see the world of illusion behind the puppet. In the words of Pudumjee, “Objects speak for themselves. Each object has a certain movement. Once you discover this movement you start relating with it the various sounds created. These objects are used as characters and the puppeteer lends life to them.”

The workshop at Kalagram will go on till June 2.

Bhagat Singh’s magic on silver screen
Parbina Rashid

Chandigarh, May 31
Shaheed Bhagat Singh as a national hero has been known for occupying a special place in people’s hearts. But more than his sacrifice during the Indian freedom movement, what has rekindled everybody’s interest is five Bollywood movies showing his heroic deeds on the celluloid at the same time. So when first of the series, Iqbal Dhillon’s “Shaheed-E-Azam”, was premiered at Jagat Theatre in Sector 17 today, people thronged there to see one of the many portrayals of their favourite hero.

The film, based on the motto “History as it is, Bhagat Singh as he was”, did justice to the subject and treated the subject with the required amount of dignity without getting into the characteristic melodrama of Bollywood productions. The film is directed by Sukumar Nair of Shaheed-e-Mohabbat fame.

“Though many movies are being made on the same subject, this film can boast to be the most authentic one,” says Gurkirtan, a renowned Punjabi actor who plays the part of SSP Khan Bahadur in the film. Prof Jagmohan Singh, who happens to be Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s nephew, had done two years of thorough research on the subject before finalising the script, he adds.

“The subject still holds relevance to the modern day freedom fighters,” says Vinod Sharma, an actor who plays the part of the Speaker, hinting at separatist outfits in India. “Though Bhagat Singh did not work on the line of Mahatma Gandhi, he did not believe in violence just for the sake of it,” he adds referring to the scene in which Bhagat Singh throws a bomb in the Assembly.

Sonu Sood, who played the lead role, is yet to carve his niche in Bollywood but his experience in Tamil film industry has certainly paid off, which otherwise could have been a Herculean task with veterans like Ajay Devgan and Bobby Deol who are playing the role of Bhagat Singh in similar films.

Though Sonu Sood could not make it to the premier show, others including Gurkirtan, Gaurav Trehan and Vinod Sharma were there to celebrate. Famous names from this region like Gursharan Singh, Gurkirtan, B.N. Sharma, Gaurav Trehan and Vinod Sharma have provided a platform for the regional actors to exhibit their talent at the national level.

The sets designed by Rashid Khan managed to retain the true essence of Punjab, making it an authentic Punjabi film in a broader Indian context. The audience at the premier primarily comprised youngsters who were so moved by the presentation that not only did they keep clapping throughout the movie, they ended up shouting “Inqualab Zindabad” in chorus at the end.