 |
|
| Sunday,
May 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
|
|
B.Com admissions decentralised Chandigarh, May 17 The PU has centralised admissions for colleges offering B.Com course at Ludhiana and Chandigarh. Earlier, the university had centralised admissions in all cities with more than two colleges offering the B.Com course, a practice that was discontinued last year. The university had also centralised admissions to the M.Sc (IT), Bachelor of Computer Application and Bachelor of Business Administration courses. The centralised admissions to these courses were discontinued because of negligible student response. The PU Syndicate plans to clear the Vice-Chancellor’s proposal of setting up the University Institute of Dental Science from the next academic session (2004-2005). Prof K.N. Pathak, Vice-Chancellor, had made a mention of the course when Ms Sushma Swaraj, Union Health Minister, had visited the campus recently. The university is learnt to have had discussions with the Chandigarh Administration on the issue and that it has been assured that it may use facilities in Government Hospitals in Sectors 16 and 32. The university has earmarked five acres in Sector 25 for the institute. However, the university needs a formal clearance from the Dental Council of India. The Syndicate will clear the admission schedule and guidelines for the affiliated colleges and academic
calendar for affiliated colleges offering the B.Ed and M.Ed courses. It will consider the proposal of the Vice-Chancellor to allow a special reappear chance to students who have cleared their B.Sc (honours) examination with a view to improving their previous examination results on payment of a special fee. The university proposes to issue clear guidelines on a number of candidates who will be called for interviews for filling different teaching posts. Those who apply for the posts of professor will be invited for the interview. For filling the posts of a lecturer, the university proposes to call at least 15 candidates for one post and five more candidates for each additional post. Dr Ajaib Singh, a PU fellow who has been appointed a member of the Punjab Public Service Commission, has offered his resignation from the Senate and the Syndicate. He has also sought leave without pay for six years. The university proposes to give five seats in the NRI and NRI-sponsored categories to the MA (economics) course from the coming academic session. The fee for each of these seats will be $ 1000. for the M.Sc (environmental science) courses, the university proposes 10 seats in the NRI and NRI-sponsored categories on payment of $ 1,500 in each case. The Syndicate will consider the request of Mr H.L. Sharma, a former Finance and Development Officer who is looking into the financial irregularities in the Sports Department from 1994-2003. He is demanding Rs 10,000 for dealing with accounts of each year and two assistant-registrar-level officers to help him, for whom, he has demanded Rs 5,500 each for this period. |
|
Bye, bye school — it’s vacation time Chandigarh, May 17 The holidays, which commenced in Tender Heart School, (Sector 33), Strawberry Fields School (Sector 24), St Stephens School, (Sector 45), St Kabir School (Sector 26) and certain other institutes this week, will continue till June-end. The vacation will begin next week in Carmel Convent School, (Sector 9), St John’s School (Sector 26) and St Joseph School (Sector 44). Today, in almost all the schools, it was the same story. The children gathered in playgrounds to celebrate the beginning of fun and frolic and the end of a “boring routine of rushing to the school at 8 am”. Some could be heard grumbling about the homework. “Handwriting practice is one thing I hates”, a class III student, Ananya, complaint. The teacher has asked us to copy scores and scores of pages. I don’t know how I will be able to do it,” she added. Agreeing with her, Radhika asserted, “Handwriting practice is nothing but a wastage of time during holidays. I wish the teachers stopped harassing us by asking us to copy pages after pages. Anyway, I am planning to complete my homework in the first 10 days and enjoy the rest of my holidays in peace”. Others were making plans for the holidays. “I will be going to Manali,” a class VII student Raman Mahajan, was heard telling friends. “We are only waiting for the Prime Minister to come back before leaving for the hill station”. His friend Neeraj Sharma said, “I will be going to Kasauli. Dad’s already made arrangements for our stay. We hope to have a nice time.” Class I student, Saira, was, asking her friends to stay back at Chandigarh and attend a summer workshop. “We will have a great time, besides learning dancing and singing,” she said. As she and her friends walked out of the school premises, one thing was sure — they were all set to enjoy their vacation. |
|
NIIFT talent impresses designers SAS Nagar, May 17 These views were expressed by prominent dress designers who had come to NIIFT here today as jury members to evaluate the creations put up by the final year students of fashion designing. They were impressed by the talent presented by NIIFT students. Bobby and Manju Grover, a designer couple from Delhi, said their brand of clothes could be worn by persons who were sure of themselves and knew about style instead of merely being fashion victims. The couple, who has been in the business since 1990, said to achieve success it was necessary to have a foresight of the design, to follow the forecast and come up with more creative designs which had an original look. They, however, admitted that a number of stores were selling copied designs. The Grovers, who have held many shows in places like Paris, New York, London, Turkey, Singapore and Hong Kong, said the designing part was looked after by both of them though the business aspect was being managed by Bobby. Gautam Rakha, who is in for the bridal market, said the cost of his bridal ranged between Rs 35,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh. The dresses were costly because a lot of labour was put in to create new designs. Gautam, who has been in the profession for the past seven years and has earlier worked with Tarun Tahiliani, has designed clothes for Karishma Kapoor, Sushma Reddy, Kavita Khan and Anil Kapoor’s wife. Gautam felt that people had now become conscious of the way they dressed and had started spending more money on buying clothes. |
|
130 take
part in fancy dress contest Chandigarh, May 17 There was an impressive ceremony of the school cabinet installation and 37 students of classes IX and X took oath. The chief guest Mr S Marriya, Principal of DAV College, pinned badges to the new cabinet members. Mr Charles Sammuel, Principal of the school, administered the oath to the members. The following are the winners of the fancy dress competition (Chandigarh branch): Kindergarten group — Simran Raina (I), Zuhayr Shayna Bedi (I), Shefali Mengi (3) Sub-junior group — Khusboo (I), Shonit Pahuja (2), Kshity Sharma (3) Junior group I — Amanjot Grewal (I), Jeremy Ben Thomas (2), Purti Kalra (3) Junior group II — Vipul Sharma (I), Bisham Bhatia (2),
Jasmeen Bedi (3) Senior group I — Piyush Mehta (I), Ishaan Dev (2), Shashank Kaushik (3) Senior group II — Jonathan Ivan Charles (I), Baruni (2), Ranbir (3) Mohali branch: Group I — Tarunpreet Kaur (I), Tejvir Singh (2), Safaldeep Kaur (3) Group II — Ashmeet Singh (I), Gagandeep Kaur (2), Arpit Khippal (3) Group III — Sabby Kalsi (I), MM Ajit (2), Khusmeet (3). |
|
No accommodation for wardens in GCG-42 Chandigarh, May 17 According to college sources, a dwelling unit has been created for the hostel warden by converting a verandah into a make-shift home. A hostel coming up on the college campus is expected to be functional from the coming academic session. The new hostel will have space for 70 students. This would aggravate accommodation problem, as the college would then, have two hostel wardens. Another problem for the college is to arrange accommodation for a resident nurse. As per government regulations, girls’ colleges are required to have a nurse present at all times to deal with any medical emergency. Presently, the nurse, along with her family, has been allocated a room in the hostel for students. Earlier, the nurse used to commute daily from her house, but later, it was decided by the college authorities that the nurse should stay on the campus. Teachers said other government colleges in the city have adequate accommodation for wardens. College sources said the Principal’s bungalow on the campus had been vacant for several years and this house could be used to accommodate wardens and the nurse till a permanent solution to the problem was found. |
|
Portraying pain through theatre Chandigarh, May 17 The play presented at the Pracheen Kala Kendra this evening in memory of famous playwright Balwant Gargi had something to do with pain and its deadly mechanism. “Phandhi”, the protagonist (played by Kapil Kalyan) walks the tightrope between duty and destiny. His father, a patient of cancer, is slowly proceeding towards death. Even as his pain multiplies, “Phandhi” is unable to muster enough money to buy him an injection of morphine — the only soother of pain. The story is a routine tale of horror and pain, that has been lived for ages and is still being lived. Penury takes its toll of lives, forcing people into subhuman existence, and even as the country walks the path of development, a certain portion of its population is pushed further towards the wall. As the plot of the play progressed, it bared the levels of poverty, which often force people into crime. Unable to mitigate his father’s pain, Phandhi concedes to the latter’s demand to kill him. But as he answers the call of duty, the loop of law falls in his neck. He is arrested by the police and is taken to task by the court. The dialogues of the play, scripted for a an uninitiated viewer, were strong enough to bring out the poignant elements in the story. The tale does not end here. In fact, it virtually begins here, posing a thousand questions, staring law in the face. Finally, the play ends on a reflective note, touching upon a sensitive issue — what is the validity of a law that prevents a son to save his father from pain? In what capacity can the court order the trial of the person, who dared to risk his own life so that he could do good to his progenitor. The play was presented by Theatre Arts. It was written by Shanker Shesh and directed by Rajiv Mehta. |
|
FILM
REVIEW While one cannot say expressions of emotion in all its complex forms amounts to copying in any way, because all humans work within similar emotional boundaries, yet one expects originality, at least, in its story. 'Armaan' however appears a direct lift from a popular serial on Star TV these days. There are minor alterations from the original on the small screen. This factor is likely to have a telling impact on the future of the big screen presentation. Amitabh Bachchan is the big Bollywood screen legend, yet the audience these days does not go only by 'brand names' as it used to during the era of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Raj Kumar, Dev Anand and for that matter even later during times of Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan's prime. Bachchan builds a hospital in a sleepy hamlet on the hills and dreams to expand it. He is looking for financial help from outside sources. Anil Kapoor is his adopted son, because of whom he has never married. Gracy Singh joins the hospital as Kapoor's colleague and both fall in love. Everything moves on smoothly till Preity Zinta, daughter of a millionaire (Randhir Kapoor), lands on the scene. She also falls for Kapoor. She is possessed by him and wants to marry only him. Her millionaire father is prepared to give Bachchan all the financial help if Anil marries Preity. But Priety Zinta realises later that Kapoor loves Gracy and wants her to leave the hospital premises. Preity Zinta has outclassed everyone with her convincing performance in a negative role. Anil Kapoor and Gracy Singh also have decent roles. An attempt to show the sincerity in the technical details of a hospital management to lend more power to the story has not been successfully handled. Dialogues and lyrics by Javed Akhtar and music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy promises good future in private collections. Honey Irani, a noted script writer, has made her directorial debut and a rather decent one. Dinesh Gandhi's presentation might not be a great trendsetter but it is a decent show. |
|
WESTERN
FILM REVIEW
CHANDIGARH: Ever wondered what life was like in Chicago in 1929? Rewind to an era of debauchery and deception. Lust, jealousy and murder are the high points of the low world. Committing a crime is adored. Sticking one’s neck out for someone is ridiculed. It is a decadent world and it revels in its decadence. Picture this. A murderer, Velma Kelley (Catherine Zeta-Jones), is the cynosure of all eyes as she belts out seductive numbers in a jazzy night club. She leads a high life in jail thanks to an “ever-obliging” warden (Queen Latifah) and has hired a greedy but the most successful lawyer in the town, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), who helps her devise new ways to keep her crime on the front page of every newspaper. Enter Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger), an up-and-coming singer/ dancer with stars in her eyes, who, in a bid to emulate her idol, Velma, bumps off her lover and lands in jail. As Flynn diverts his attention from Velma to Roxie, all hell breaks loose. Adulation turns into animosity. Stabbing in the back, lies and cheating become the order of the day. The two women would stop at nothing to topple one another to grab what they claim to be their rightful place in the spotlight. A song-and-dance flick, Chicago (Kiran) makes no pretensions of the fact that it has hardly anything to offer to its main players in the form of acting. So, the ensemble of celebrities does the next best thing. After every few minutes, they start crooning and gyrating with gay abandon. Hotties in their scanties sizzle as the screen unfolds one after another concoction of visual feasts. Gere’s dance numbers have no fizz and qualify to be called no more than pelvic disorders. Ravishing Zeta-Jones with a raunchy voice and captivating Zellweger, however, handle their musical chores with aplomb. John C. Reilly and Queen Latifah who play the roles of Roxie’s husband and the jail warden, respectively, demonstrate their ability to sing and dance well in an extravaganza which, otherwise, has nothing for them. It’s official now. Hollywood’s honeymoon with gangsters is over. The dream factory which for long remained hooked on to the mob has finally divorced it and married the musical. By rewarding “Chicago” with six Oscars, it has reinvented a genre it had a lost in the seventies. How many viewers will become part of this audience-participation cinema, however, remains to be seen as this reviewer could not find more than 60 persons at a matinee on Friday.  |
||
|
Gymnastics
at Plaza carnival Chandigarh, May 17 The show started with gymnastics and aerobics, beautifully co-ordinated by 30 children of Stepping Stone School, Sector 7, and Sports Complex, Sector 7, at the lower Plaza. The troop had a leader, national gold medalist Jai Prakash, giving them the cue as he performed himself at the main Plaza. What followed next was a cultural show of composite folk culture, with items from areas like Jind, Rohtak, Mewat and Chandigarh. The programme started with Saraswati Vandana, followed by a Mewati group song and a Haryanvi folk dance. The show was interspersed with folk humour known as Ragini. Prem Singh Dehati, Inder Singh Lamba and Satbir Bhardwaj presented humour while other artistes rendered group song and group dances spreading the flavours of rich Haryanvi culture. The show concluded with a patriotic group song “Haryana meri martrobhumi.” Other usual attractions of the carnival were also there. The carnival costumed characters mingling with the audience and the artists corner luring the visitors to get tattoo done or sketches made by the young talented students of the Government College of Art. The event was sponsored by The Tribune and Coca Cola. |
||
|
‘Soch ki Khushboo’ released
Chandigarh, May 17 The book was released by Mr K.L. Zakir, an eminent poet and a former secretary of the Haryana Urdu Akademi. This is the sixth book by Khanna and his third book of poetry. The London-based writer shifted abroad after a stint as a teacher at a college in Delhi. Talking to TNS, Khanna said he shifted to London more than 20 years ago. Despite having spent years abroad, he still has a strong yearning for his homeland. “Discrimination of Indians in the foreign land is the most troubling aspect of life abroad which is a recurring theme in majority of my poems. My remembrances of my homeland and my strong bonds with the land are another recurring subject in my poetry”, Khanna said. Khanna does not boast of any big list of honours and says his biggest honour is the reception he gets whenever he comes here. Interestingly, the poet in Urdu who taught English in England says “I am, most comfortable in Punjabi”. The function was followed by a “mushiara”. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
'Armaan' (Piccadily and Suraj, Panchkula) is a tale of an over-possessive heart playing with the dreams of fellow beings. Myriad emotional games to control the loved one are a test of character of a son fighting his way to fulfil his father's dreams of a state of the art hospital in a hilly town.
