The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

From Schools
KVM students to maintain park
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 10
Two students of KVM’s Eco-Club accompanied by their in charge, Ms Jeevan Kaur and Ms Anuradha Kaushal planted saplings at Kitchlu Nagar, G-Block Park. Mr B.K. Gupta, Joint Commissioner, municipal corporation, here also assisted in the venture “earth matters programme”. This programme aims at creating awareness among residents by setting an example. This park will be maintained by students of KVM for this session. KVM aims to adopt the area for making Ludhiana beautiful with the help of the corporation.

Mr S.C. Saxena, Principal said this venture of the students would help residents understand the problem of pollution.

Technorati 2006: The mega event of Ludhiana-Technorati, 2006, was inaugurated today at Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School BRS Nagar. Continuing its celebration of its silver jubilee year, the school organised a computer carnival.

Believing in “One world one campus”, the school intends to bring out the latent talent in the computer savvy kids. Today the carnival was inaugurated by the Principal, Rev Sr Sobel.

The first and second prizes were awarded to Sheeba Soin of KVM, and Chahat Saini of Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, respectively.

PAU staff stage dharna

Ludhiana, August 10
The Punjab Agricultural University Employees Union today staged a dharna on the campus against the local Audit Department of the Punjab Government in protest against the “undue objections” raised by the department, which had resulted in rejection of decisions of the Board of Management and other competent authorities of the PAU.

Hundreds of employees participated in the dharna.

In a joint statement, union president D.P. Maur and general secretary Amrit Pal said the objections raised on the pay fixation of farm workers and tractor drivers were not justified, as the same had been admitted earlier by the local audit of the Punjab Government itself. — TNS

Kids tie rakhis to trees
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 10
Member of the Guru Kirpa Seva Mission Charitable Trust yesterday celebrated Rakhi in a unique way. Children tied rakhis to trees to draw the attention of the people towards the degrading environment.

The president of the mission, Mr Arun Atri, said decline in environment was a universal phenomenon and we all need to make efforts to stop pollution and save environment. Students planted saplings in vacant spaces and tied rakhis to them.

College contest

Ludhiana, August 10
The fine arts department of the Government College for Women organised a talent search competition and exhibition here today. Results of the competition are: Landscape painting — Jaspreet (1), Trishy Jain (2) and Ruchi Sethi (3); life drawing — Balwinder (1), Sakshi (2) and Sukhjeet Kaur (3); still life painting — Mandeep (1) Maninder (2) and Natasha (3); collage making — Harpreet (1), Neetika (2) and Isha Arora (3); poster making — Jaspreet (1), Davinder (2) and Maninder (3); cartoon making — Rajinder (1), Kamalpreet (2) and Neetika (3). — OC

CULTURE

‘Awaaz Punjab Di’ audition in Ludhiana
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 10
MH One TV Network kicked off audition for its music talent hunt show “Awaaz Punjab Di” in the city today. “Last year, the show received quite an encouraging response. This time, in the auditions conducted in Amritsar and Chandigarh, we have already received more than 40,000 entries and expect three to four times higher participation than last year,” said CEO Pradeep Gangal.

He said the channel had received entries from participants from places as far as London, Dubai and The Netherlands.

“Our aim is to bring to the fore real talent in Punjabi music, whichever country it may come from.”

The show, he said, would be aired on the channel on August 23 and would come out with two finalists by January next year.

Regarding the winners of last year, Mr Gangal said besides winners Roshan Prince and Rupinder Handa, the channel promoted 10 other participants who came out with their albums.

On the requirements, singer Hans Raj Hans said: “We are looking for a person who is a good singer and performer.”

He said talent hunt shows provided platform to youngsters and it was important for aspirants to take training in music seriously.”

On the expenditure involved in promoting an artiste, Mr Gangal said: “On an average it costs the channel almost Rs 1 crore per person.” The judges for this year’s show are singer Anamika and Hans Raj Hans, while Komal would be the compere.

Young artistes need patience, feels Hans Raj Hans
Shveta Pathak
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 10
Young artistes these days seem to be in a hurry to make their presence felt. It could be their search for glamour or lack of patience needed to hone their art. They need to realise that music requires great devotion and training, comments renowned singer Hans Raj Hans on those participating in talent hunt shows, vying to make it big.

Hans, one of the judges for a music talent hunt show on MH One TV Network was in the city. He said: “ We receive thousands of entries. There is no end to numbers, but the search for an Asa Singh Mastana or a Surinder Kaur still continues.”

Narating an incident, Hans said: “We had a participant who said he was into selling mobile phones. He applied for participation, thinking if lucky he would make it. They need to realise that music needs lifetime devotion and proper training. It is not easy. Patience is lacking in such aspirants.”

Appreciating talent hunt shows, he said they provided a platform to youngsters and made things relatively easier for them.

Singer Anamika, who is also one of the judges for the show, talking to Ludhiana Tribune, said the country had a vast pool of talent, a fact she realised when she came face to face with aspirants while conducting auditions for the show. Talking about piracy, she said: “It has become a system now and is not possible to do away with it. But it can certainly be controlled.”

However, she added: “artistes cannot do much about it as they have to focus on their work. One can either be creative or start a fight against the system.” Anamika revealed that she would soon be coming out with an album titled “You India”. The album would have qawwalis, fusion and even Punjabi numbers.

Trainer of Saif, Hrithik in city
Shivani Bhakoo

Kishor Namit Kapoor

Ludhiana, August 10
Mr Kishor Namit Kapoor, the person responsible for training stalwart like Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor etc, feels that acting was a thorough research. One had to put in best efforts to get perfect results. Mr Kapoor is in the city for two days to take the auditions of budding actors.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Mr Kapoor, the founder of ‘Kapoor Acting Lab’, said his passion and desire for acting led him to enroll with the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) where he completed his acting course and topped his batch. Leading actors, who are his students, call him ‘Lovable Hitler’ because of his rigorous training.

Comparing the actors of yesteryears with today’s young actors, Mr Kapoor said the former used to project their own personalities. “They had established their own identities but today we see the actual performance of actors. They are talented, passionate, keen and versatile. They would get themselves deeply involved in any role given to them. I must compliment that they are hard workers”, he said.

He added that acting had become a complete package today. A good actor should be a great performer giving his best in singing, dancing, acting etc. Citing an example of Hritik Roshan, he said the actor was very hard worker. “When he had entered the industry, he was lean and skinny and used to stammer. But today, he has proved everyone wrong. He is so dedicated that even if he misses a class for a day, he would be apologetic and repeatedly ask what did he miss?”, said Mr Kapoor.

Mr Kapoor was all praise for the Punjabi youth. “They are talented, attractive and possess good looks. That is why we are here to hunt for the talent”, he said.

Talent hunt for young actors
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 10
Auditions for SaharaOne’s reality show “Fair and Lovely Menz Active Super Stars” were held here today. The show provides platform to budding actors to showcase their talent.

The auditions were taken by leading Bollywood acting trainer Kishor Namit Kapoor.

The two-day auditions would be held at New Delhi on August 13 and 14; Kolkata on August 17 and 18; Bhopal on August 20 and 21; and Mumbai on August 22 and 23.

The 120 selected candidates from regional auditions will be invited to Mumbai and groomed by experts.

Participants will be judged on the parameters of originality, similarity and ersatz of performance abilities.

The final evaluation would be done by Shiamak Davar and Urmila Matondkar on the basis of appearance, presentation, movements and singing abilities of each contestant.

Rin star contest
Asha Ahuja

Ludhiana, August 10
Another ‘talent show’ to shortlist two students for Rin Mera Star Super Star in a nation wide contest organised by Rin Advance was held at DAV Public School, BRS Nagar, Ludhiana today. Olympian Ramandeep Singh, model Ashu and Punjabi folk singer Malhar, were present at the function. The presence of the Olympian Ramandeep Singh electrified the participants. Each vied with another to be selected.

At the second auditions at DAV School, the students performed brilliantly. The city auditions are judged by experts from the field of performing arts.

One saw mesmerizing performances from children across the city and one of the judges was forced to comment, “I am simply floored with the superlative talent these kids have displayed. The enthusiasm that each of them has shown is thoroughly impressive.”

Not only were the participating students excited but also their mothers were equally excited. One of the mothers said to Ludhiana Tribune that she was a little nervous during the question answer round. She was asked, “Do you think your child will win and do you support him?What is more important to you, your child’s talent or his studies?”

Singer enthralls audience

Ludhiana, August 10
Prof Manjit Kaur Patiala enthralled audience with her melodious voice at a musical evening at Punjabi Bhavan here yesterday. The Punjabi Sahitya Akademi, Ludhiana, had organised the show.

She sang famous songs and ghazals of Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Nandlal Noorpuri, Prof Shaida and Dr Surjit Patar. She also enchanted music lovers with popular Punjabi folk songs.

Prof Manjit Kumar has composed the notations of 31 ragas of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and published a book on Gurmat Sangeet.

Akademi president Dr Surjit Patar appreciated the compositions and selection of songs. —OC

SPORTS

Vidya Mandir shuttlers enter semis
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, August 10
In the ongoing Punjab Schools Zonal Sports (PAU zone), Sanatan Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Civil Lines, besides Satluj Public School, GGN School, Rose Garden, and Green Land Senior Secondary School won their respective quarterfinal badminton matches to enter the semifinals in the different age groups today.

In the matches played at Tagore Public School, Sanatan Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School recorded 2-0 win over Bhartiya Vidya Mandir School, Udham Singh Nagar, in the u-17 (boys), while Green Land Senior Secondary School defeated SAN Jain Model Senior Secondary School 2-0 and Kundan Vidya Mandir beat Rashtriya Vidya Mandir 2-0 to advance into the semifinals.

In the u-14, GGN Public School, Rose Garden, outnumbered hosts Tagore Public School 2-0; Green Land Senior Secondary School got the better of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir School, Chandigarh road, 2-0 and Sutlej Public School blanked Bhartiya Vidya Mandir School, Udham Singh Nagar, 2-0 to secure berths in the semifinals.

In the u-19, Kundan Vidya Mandir outclassed SAN Jain Model Senior Secondary School 2-0 and Green Land Senior Secondary School beat Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Udham Singh Nagar, 2-0.

In the football matches conducted at Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU ground, Bhartiya Vidya Mandir School, Udham Singh Nagar, boys in the u-17 routed Wylie Memorial Public School, Brown road, 4-0 to reach the semifinals.

The winners were leading 3-0 at half time. The scorers were Nitin, Rahul, Sahil and Raghav.

In another match, Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, edged past Government School, Mangat, 2-0. In the u-19, Government School, Mangat, beat Bhartiya Vidya Mandir School, Udham Singh Nagar, 2-0.