 |
|
|
Why only private schools make to ‘NASA contests’?
Parents forced to buy ‘expensive’ stationery from schools
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Volvo bus service from Jalandhar to Delhi airport kicks off
Proposal to develop new areas as mixed land use zones
Revenue patwaris to restart agitation
A cleaning robot
Phagwara BJP in troubled waters
Lovers take poison, nephew dies
Theft at jeweller’s shop
Karimpuri to head Punjab BSP
Young World
|
|
Why only private schools make to ‘NASA contests’?
Jalandhar, May 4 This question puts pressure on your grey matter, especially when schools who have won such “contests” organised by the pioneer space research agency, mushroomed everywhere across the city. Answer to this question is quite simple - No one from government schools is able to pay Rs 1.25 lakh to 2 lakh, which is being charged as a travelling cost by the managements of private schools from their students. It usually happen that one school holds a press conference to announce its students as winners of such contests and literally sparking the spree of conferences by other schools posing themselves winners and runners-up of other such contests, nature of which are by and large similar to one another. However, neither school, being a participant, nor NASA or any other organisation, being an organiser, bears the cost of such
contests. “Students bear the cost of travelling and staying on the foreign shores. Schools provide expenses only to teachers, who go as an in charges of teams,” said an in charge of one such team of a reputed school of the city. Though the managements of some schools deny to charge even a single penny from students, widely prevailed conception is that at the cost of student’s money, the managements are using the platform of agencies like NASA to promote their schools as most of the times even the well-educated citizens are not able to understand the procedures and technicalities adopted to participate in such hyped contests and conferences. “Parents hardly bother to know the procedures adopted by the schools to take part in such contests. Such promotions give reflections that students and faculty of schools are doing wonders. However, truth is that instead of creating something on ecological dangers being faced by today’s mankind, students are asked to make projects reports based on utopian ideas like development of a space settlement as an alternative to Earth,” said a city businessman. “Nearly whole of the information is gathered through the Internet by the team in charges and students are left with very little role to play in the development of such projects. Isn’t it strange that dozens of students in one city alone can make blueprints of space settlements in the universe? he said. |
|
Parents forced to buy ‘expensive’ stationery from schools
Jalandhar, May 4 Nearly all private schools in the city are providing stationery items on their premises and charging prices much higher than the actual cost. As it has become a status symbol for parents to get their children admitted to expensive public schools, they are left with no option but to bear the brunt of purchasing stationery compulsory at a much higher cost from the school than available in the market. “What schools are providing at Rs 10, that item is available at Rs 5-6 anywhere in the market. Simple rule is that business runs through bargain. However, in schools, as study of wards is at stake, we are not in position to argue with managements. Rather, if schools are really doing business, than they must give option to their clients to set a deal through bargain. But that is not feasible as bargaining is not an option there,” said a mother of a school-going kid. As per details gathered from different booksellers, publishers, stationery shops, binders and paper-making firms, on an average a stationery set costs between Rs 1,500 to 2,000 to a student and schools are earning approximately 40 per cent profit. The Tribune tried to get details of the profit earned by the schools through selling stationery. However, the district education authorities have no record of exact number of students admitted to such “big” schools. “Rather we know nothing about such big schools. We literally hold no authority over such schools. We are here only for government and government-aided schools,” said an employee in the District Education Office. “We should not oversee the role of publishers, who are selling books at prices 300 per cent above than actual cost. Such publishers directly go to school managements and offer them handsome commission. Both publishers and managements reap huge profits and end losers are parents,” said Kiran Anand of Kiran Book Depot. Another way, which some school managements have found to limit the options for parents, is to recommend only those books which are available only in stationery shops of schools and not in the open market. “Why students in such schools are not told to read books published by the NCERT? Why teachers recommend books published by big publishing houses? Either the managements or teachers have some kind of understanding with such publishers or they simply find contents of the NCERT books inferior to that in the books published by big publishing houses,” said noted educationist Tarsem Goel. |
|
Volvo bus service from Jalandhar to Delhi airport kicks off
Jalandhar, May 4 With a seating capacity of 45 passengers, the bus costing around Rs 78 lakh is also equipped with two big LCD screens. The minister said this was the first ever Volvo bus from Punjab which would ply from Jalandhar to Delhi every day. “Keeping in mind the NRI population of the Doaba belt, the Punjab Roadways have started this bus service. Jalandhar is an NRI hub and the launch of the direct bus service would surely help scores of NRIs of this region. It would also help NRIs to reach Delhi airport directly with world class facilities,” he added. The bus would start daily from the Jalandhar bus stand at 11 am. And it would reach Delhi at 7 pm. While it would again start for Jalandhar from Delhi airport at 2 am and reach the city at 10 am daily”. The minister further said the Punjab Roadways would launch 150 new fleet of buses on nominal charges. He also said the Roadways would also start 35 AC buses and 70 buses under kilometre scheme. “The Roadways has spent approximately Rs 22 crore on providing bus travel facilities to police personnel, physically challenged, senior citizens and fourteen other special categories for subsidised travel”, he said. He said Punjab Roadways was also starting Super Integral AC bus from Amritsar to Delhi Airport on May 5. This bus would start from Amritsar bus stand to Delhi at 11 am daily and would reach Delhi at 9 pm. While it would start for Amritsar from Delhi at 4 am daily and reach Amritsar at 2 pm. “The passengers will have to pay Rs 675 per passenger as one way fare under this kilometre scheme bus service”, he added. |
|
Proposal to develop new areas as mixed land use zones
Jalandhar, May 4 Making a suggestion in this regard in the Master Plan, the officials have specified that such a mix could promote “Walk to work” culture. Since people engaged in commercial activities could also reside in the same area, it would facilitate easy access to workplace while reducing the need for commuting from residential to commercial zones. The mixed zone, it has been proposed, could also involve setting up of green industry (those that do not cause any pollution or produce obnoxious, hazardous, inflammable or non-compatible substances) with prior permission of the PPCB). Citing specifications for such zones, the officials have mentioned that the roads should have a minimum width of 10 m. Further, it has been clarified that such a use of land could not be permitted and approved in town planning schemes, residential schemes of Improvement Trust, Urban Estates set up by PUDA, government housing, institutional or staff houses of public and private agencies and residential colonies developed by private developers. The plan specifies that various bylaws, including those related to parking, design of the building and CLU sanction, have to be adhered to as already laid down. This has been done keeping in view certain implications such as parking problems, traffic congestion and increased pressure on civic amenities. In fact, such mixed land use pockets already exist in the old city areas. The officials have earmarked the same areas as commercial mix zones such as those along the old GT Road to PNB Chowk, Circular Road from PNB Chowk to Bhagat Singh Chowk, Bhagat Singh Chowk to Adda Hoshiarpur and Adda Hoshiarpur to Patel Chowk. Certain mohallas, which too have been earmarked, include New Railway Road, Milap Road, Phagwara Gate Rasta Mohalla, Khingran Gate, Mai Hiran Gate, Sheikhan Bazaar, Rainak Bazaar, Attari Bazaar, Old Sabzi Mandi and Pucca Bagh. The industrial mix areas include areas from Doaba Chowk to Sodal Chowk, to Bypass Chowk, to Pathankot Chowk and back. Since these old areas are very congested, it has been specified that these be declared as pedestrian mixed use streets not open to motorised transport. Further, since majority of these areas have roads with width less than 10 m, these have been allowed to continue in the present form for a maximum period of 10 years without any further extension or expansion. |
|
Revenue patwaris to restart agitation
Jalandhar, May 4 Representative of the union Kamal Sharma said in a press note here today that the patwaris would stage district-level dharnas on May 14. Sharma said the state unit of the union was assured of accepting their several demands by the state government on April 13 but they were not fulfilled. As a result, the patwaris were to start the agitation on April 20 but was postponed later.
Now it was decided to restart the agitation, he added. The Punjab unit of the union decided not to sign any mutation due to several shortcomings in computerised mutations, he said, adding that patwaris also taken a decision not to attest farads issued by farad centres. |
|
A cleaning robot
Jalandhar, May 4 The duo has explored the technological advancements of the robotics world and designed an amazing robot ‘Dustocop’ which can work 24X7 and easily pick the cut hair fallen on the floor. Courtesy: the vacuum suction technology of the robot. Nitish Sikka and Manish Kumar, both students of B.Tech (Instrumentation and Control Engineering)-III year under the guidance of Assistant Professor K.S. Nagla have developed the new mobile robot. The ‘Dustocop’ robot has been developed at the Robotics laboratory of the institute under ‘e-Yantra’ project, which is a robotics collaboration of NIT, Jalandhar and IIT, Bombay. Talking to The Tribune, Nitish said the robot was based on vacuum suction technology which makes it practically feasible as it can easily suck hair fallen on the floor around the chair. “At the same time the robot can also be used for carpet cleaning in houses, hotels, airport or in any public place. The robot is fitted with micro-controller and sophisticated sensors, which helps in its movement. It works similar to a vacuum cleaner”, he added. The students along with their professor held a demonstration of the mobile robot at 90 degrees, a local saloon here today during which the practical use of the robot was shown. “This autonomous robot has been specially designed to clean the surface in a saloon around or near the barber’s chair. It works on the basis of touch sensors, remote sensing, micro-controller and LDR sensors which make it flexible as it moves on an optimum speed”, said Manish Kumar. He added that saloons usually appoint somebody for cleaning the floor on a regular basis. “The mobile robot is capable of cleaning the floor simultaneously, while one is getting hair cut done”, said Nitish. Assistant professor K.S. Nagla from the department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering, who is also heading the Robotics Lab at the institute, said he underwent training at Bombay IIT to develop and design this robot. “This robot has a lot of practical usage and if launched in the market it can be a booming success. We are looking forward to some major takers for this project and we are sure that it would be of a great use to the flourishing saloon industry”, he added. It might be noted that Nagla has till date developed as many as fifteen robots in the robotics laboratory of NIT, Jalandhar. “Many other students of the institute are also working under this project so as to develop more purposeful robots”, he added. |
|
Phagwara BJP in troubled waters
Phagwara, May 4 Infighting in the unit came to prominence again during the visit of BJP National Secretary Navjot Singh Sidhu and Rajya Sabha Member Avinash Rai Khanna in Phagwara on Sunday, as the District BJP President, Phagwara NC President Balbhadhar Sein Duggal and many other senior leaders give the reception function a miss. Though Technical Education Minister Swarana Ram and Phagwara Improvement Trust Chairman Tejaswi Bhardwaj donned the role of host, void created by infighting could be easily guessed. —
OC |
|
Lovers take poison, nephew dies
Jalandhar, May 4 According to the police, Sardul Singh (40) and his aunt (35) were having illicit relations and had eloped from their houses. The woman was also accompanying by her three kids. SHO Gurmeet Singh of Division 8 police station claimed that the two were noticed by passers-by who subsequently rushed them to a hospital and informed the police. The duo had eloped from their village and were hiding in the house of their relative in Santoshi Nagar. Sardul Singh died
in the hospital, while his aunt was discharged from the hospital late this evening. The kids were handed over to the their father, Makhan Singh. The police has questioned the woman relative who had provided
them shelter. |
|
Theft at jeweller’s shop
Jalandhar, May 4 The thieves entered the shop after breaking open the locks of the main gate and ransacked the entire shop, he claimed. A case in this regard has been registered at police station division 3. —
TNS |
|
Karimpuri to head Punjab BSP
Jalandhar, May 4 They said that a 35-member state committee would include 13 general secretaries, 15 secretaries and a cashier and four committee members. —
TNS
|
|
Young World
Jalandhar, May 4 The PG Department of Fashion Designing of the Kanya Maha Vidyalaya held an exhibition-cum-sale ‘Sukriti’ on May 1. An annual feature, the exhibition showcased the talent of the students through items like kurties, suits, sarees, stoles, skirts and tunics. Attraction of the exhibition was lamp shades, photo frames, baskets, clocks, candle stands, home furnishings, bed sheets, towel sets, cushion covers and jewellery as well. College Principal Atima Sharma said such events helped in bringing the talent of the students to the fore. Nehru Study Centre
B.D. Arya Girls College, Jalandhar Cantonment, has started two months vocational training for girls at Nehru Study Centre under UGC scheme. As many as 150 girls have been enrolled for free coaching in computer and spoken English. It is a special drive to help SC\BC\OBC and minority girls of the region. College Principal Sarita Verma said the purpose of this scheme was to provide training to the needy and dropout students and enable them for self employment. Investiture ceremony
The State Public School held an investiture ceremony on May 1. The students cast their votes for the nominated candidates. Rajvir Singh Shergill and Sukhpreet Kaur of Class X were elected as the head boy and head girl, respectively. Smyle Verma and Simran Kaur of Class X were elected as vice-head boy and girl, respectively. House captain
Aarzu Dogra a student of class V of the Apeejay Public School was declared as the captain of Arawali House in the primary wing. An oath taking ceremony was held on the campus on this occasion. Workshop held
The PG Department of Computer Science and Applications of the Kanya Maha Vidyalaya today held a free workshop on ‘Manage your own PC’. The workshop was organised with an aim to help the computer users to acquire skills to fix common and frequent problem faced by them while operating a PC. The three-hour workshop received an overwhelming response in which the participants were told how to install operating system, softwares and how to fix virus problems. Contests
On the occasion of Labour Day, MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar, celebrated the day by organising inter-house card making, collage making and structures building competition. Approximately 150 studetns form various classes participated in the activities and message of “Save Earth” was spread. Creativity was displayed through mega structures built by the students on spot with the use of waste material. In card making, Sagalpreet Singh (Class V), Kriti (Class VI) and Jasmine (class VII) stood first, second and third, respectively. In
collage making first position was bagged by Sahibzada Ajit Singh house and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh house bagged the first position in structure building. Meanwhile, Apeejay School, Rama Mandi, celebrated Labour Day. A skit on dignity of labour enlightened students to respect all those who work for us throughout the day. Thereafter, the students were put some questions related to Labour Day and the importance of all the supporting people in our lives. Investiture
Investiture ceremony was celebrated in Manav Sehyog School on May 1. Captains and other office bearers of the four houses were selected and administered the oath. Head Boy Daljit Singh and Head Girl Suamn Thapar also took the oath. ‘Fantasia’
‘Fantasia’, the annual cultural programme of LKG was held at Innocent Hearts School, Jalandhar. District Transport Officer Babita Kale was the Chief Guest. Tiny Tots of section “A” presented a spiritual song ‘Come on Friends’-Krishna. Bhangra was presented by the students of Class III. Shally Bowry disclosed the new Project of old age home which is going to be started shortly. Dheeraj Banati, the Prinicpal of the School gave a vote of thanks. The stage was conducted by students of Class IV. NASA contest
Apeejay School, Jalandhar, won the first position in Annual Space Settlement Design Contest organized by NASA Ames Research Center, California, USA in collaboration with National Space Society (NSS). School won in both the senior (Class XI and XII) and the junior (Class IX and X) categories. The junior team include Vaibhav Dhingra, Aditya Bathla, Abhinav Jain, Dikshita Gupta, Kamya Batra, Khyati Gupta, Roop Kunwar Singh, Ruhani Sardana, Gagandeep Singh and Harshit Arora. The senior team comprised of the Parabal Partap Singh and Samarth Batra. The students worked under the expert supervision of Physics teacher Emmanuel Ratnaraj. Meanwhile, Police DAV Public School participated in ‘Project Space Settlement Design Contest’ organized by NASA Ames Research Center, US and bagged the second position. The project ‘Zenith’ on Space Settlement Design was prepared by a team of 5 students of class IX and X including Somali Vij, Aanandita Randev, Manvir Kaur, Rajandeep Kaur and Prajwal Sharma and their guides .Navdeep Sharma Karm Inder Singh. Project aims at designing colony for 15,000 people to be permanent resident with complete infrastructure in the settlement. School is also shortlisted to participate in the University of Toronto Space Design Contest to be held at University of Toronto, Canada in the month of May 2010. The project was prepared by the students of Class X & XII including Aanandit Randev, Somali Vij, Mayank Walia and Nimrataju. Project in junior category was prepared Dhara Rakshak has been prepared by students of Class IX to XI including Rajandeep Kaur, Prajwal, Manveer, Gurshan and Nicher. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Jalandhar, May 4
Punjab Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal flagged off Punjab Roadways Volvo Super Delux bus to Delhi Airport from the local Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh International Bus Stand here today.
The Punjab Roadways have introduced this bus in its fleet on the basis of kilometre scheme. The state-of-the-art bus includes features like mobile chargers, reading lights and special trays for eating food along with every seat for the passengers.
Officials of the Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA) and Town Planning Department have proposed that the new upcoming areas be developed as mixed land use zones with coexistence of residential and commercial activities.
Making a suggestion in this regard in the Master Plan, the officials have specified that such a mix could promote “Walk to work” culture. Since people engaged in commercial activities could also reside in the same area, it would facilitate easy access to workplace while reducing the need for commuting from residential to commercial zones.
Jalandhar, May 4
Jalandhar, May 4
