Thursday, September 9, 1999
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N E W S Thursday, September 9, 1999 |
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weather spotlighttoday's calendar |
PU move on teachers’
retirement age CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — In a decision of far reaching consequence, the Regulation Committee of Panjab University has recommended the enhancement of retirement age of the teaching staff from 60 to 62 years with effect from July 27, 1998. The meeting of the regulation committee was held yesterday under the chairmanship of Mr Randeep Surjewala. As per the University Calendar Part-I, regulation 17-3, Chapter VI(A), the age of retirement is 60 years, which has been proposed to be increased to 62. The logic for implementing the same from July 27, 1998, instead of November 6, 1998, is that UGC's recommendations with regard to revision of pay scales and norms were implemented on the same day. This decision will have a significant impact on the service condition of teachers in the university and colleges. This recommendation will now be sent to the Syndicate and Senate for approval and later to Parliament for ratification and adoption. It was also proposed that the lecturers working in non-government affiliated colleges of the university should also be covered under this enhancement of retirement age. The other members of the regulation committee are two Senate members, Mr R.D. Anand and Dr Mohammed Khalid; the Registrar, Prof. Paramjit Singh, and the Controller of Examinations, Dr Sodhi Ram. Another significant decision pertains to the constitution of the Board of Finance Committee. They have proposed that this committee should have four instead of two Senate members (who should not be members of Syndicate) and two of these should be from the teaching departments. Besides this, there will be two members of the Senate also on the committee. According to Mr Surjewala, this will take care of the long-pending demand of research scholars in various departments as often the delay in release of grants for their projects affects their future prospects. Henceforth, two members of the teaching faculty on the board would be able to represent their cases properly for allocation of budgetary proposals. The committee has also recommended an increase in provident fund from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. They have suggested that it should be implemented from September 22, 1997, the day it was decided by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice. They have also
recommended that 1 per cent grace marks should be given
to M.Sc (honours) students, who need 55 per cent marks to
qualify for some jobs, from this session. This will be
done to raise the pass percentage in those cases, where a
student has not scored the qualifying 55 per cent marks. |
Residents block traffic Chandigarh, Sept 8 — Residents of Kumhar Colony today blocked traffic for more than two hours demanding an enquiry into the electrocution of a Kumhar colony resident. The protesters raised slogans against the Administration and were demanding action against the persons responsible for the death of 18-year-old Pappu. The agitators also demanded compensation for the family of the deceased. The deceased, along with another colony resident, had gone to fetch water from a public tap when they came into contact with a severed cable wire and received shocks. Brandishing sticks, the agitators held up traffic near the colony bringing all vehicular movement to a halt near the Sector 24 \ 23 roundabout and the Sector 24 market turning point. Many residents brought out cots on the road. The police diverted traffic to other roads which resulted in inconvenience to commuters The police had registered a case against the cable company for causing death by negligence. No arrests have been made so far. Mr P. S. Gill, SDM, visited the spot and pacified the protesters following which the agitators dispersed. The SDM said he had asked Mr H R Nagra, Tehsildar, to submit a preliminary report into the incident which will be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner for further action. Meanwhile, Mr Shivi
Jaiswal, President of the local unit of the Samajwadi
Party, while blaming the Electricity Department for the
incident has sought compensation for the family of the
deceased. He also demanded action against the guilty. |
Residents move court on garbage
issue CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — Residents of Dadu Majra village and colony in a writ petition have approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking directions to the UT Administration and the Municipal Corporation to shift the dumping ground in the area to some other site. The petitioners,including Mr G.S. Saini, a resident of the locality, said that about 20 acres of the community land was being used as a dumping ground for the "entire waste of the city". The petitioners say that even Dhanas village near the site is being affected by the waste.The area is marked by a strong smell of refuse, which is "unbearable at times".The air also carries germs of infectious diseases, according to them. A notice of motion to the authorities concerned has been issued by Mr Justice R.S.Mongia and Mr Justice J.S. Narang for September 30. The petition says that the Dadu Majra colony comprised about 5,000 houses ,besides Dadu Majra village. Sarangpur village is located adjacent to the dumping site.The whole area is marked by a spot of thick population well above 40000.Tonnes of waste collected from various parts of the city are dumped in about 20 acres of land.The petition says that local bodies had approached the administration on several occasions but to no avail. In 1997,residents of the colony went on an indefinite fast.The ground was shifted to Mani Majra.However, the dumping ground in the Dadu Majra area started being used after little time. The petition says that the refuse dumped at the site contains waste material of big hospitals like the PGI and general hospitals in Sectors 16 and 32.Waste also contained amputated parts of patients,besides syringes and medicines. The petitioners have also demanded a project on diseases, the number of people affected in the locality and its causes. The petitioners say that
it is surprising to see an ugly spot in a planned
city.The administration has done little to make
arrangements for a treatment plant.The petitioners also
urged that respondents be restrained from dumping waste
at the site till the pendency of the complaint. |
Admn asks departments to
recast DSCs CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 —The UT Administration has asked different departments to reconstitute their Departmental Selection Committees(DSCs) so that equal representation could be ensured for women, ex-servicemen and the Scheduled Castes. Realising that adequate representation was not being given, particularly in case of women, in the existing structure of committees formed by different departments, the UT Administration has reviewed its policy regarding the constitution of such committees. The Department of Personnel of the UT Administration, in a letter to all administrative secretaries, has cited the increasing number of women aspirants applying for different government posts, particularly at the junior level, as one of the major reasons, which had necessitated a change in the existing policy. "With an increasing number of women applicants for government posts in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, it is necessary that in the said committees women representative is included," said the letter issued by Mr Satish Ahlawat, Deputy Secretary, Personnel. He has also stressed that if need be the existing committees of each department consisting of four members "of appropriate seniority", be reconstituted to include at least one woman, one member belonging to the Scheduled Castes, one from ex-servicemen and a representative of the Department of Personnel in these committees. Another factor which has led to the change of policy regarding formation of selection committees was said to be the alleged inclusion of junior officials in such bodies formed by certain departments. The Administration, in its reviewed policy, has directed all departments that in case of selection of candidates for group 'C' posts, the committee should be headed by the Administrative Secretary of the department concerned or his nominee not below the rank of head of department. In case the post belonged to some specialised subject or field, departments were free to associate an expert in the relevant field of the subject with the committee as per the existing norms. As far as the group 'D'
posts were concerned, the committee of a department
should consist of four members and should be headed by
the head of the department or his nominee, who should not
be below the rank of the head of office. The committees,
for both category of posts, should be constituted with
the approval of the Administrative Secretary concerned,
said the Personnel Department letter, asking different
departments to take immediate action for the
reconstitution of the recruitment and selection
committees. |
Probe ordered into removal of
dead eye CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The Panjab University Vice-Chancellor, Prof M.M. Puri, today ordered an inquiry into a complaint filed by Mr Jagdish Ram, record lifter, Department of Music, against Dr Rajan Chugh, part-time eye specialist at the university health centre alleging removal of his right eyeball (dead) without his consent at his private clinic. According to reliable sources in the Vice-Chancellor's office, Dr K.S. Chugh, a Syndicate member, has been deputed to inquire into the matter and submit his report immediately. Meanwhile, the matter has also been sent to the Registrar for the necessary administrative action. Prof Paramjit Singh, Registrar, said that he would look into the matter and evolve some policy to check the functioning of part-time doctors in the health centre. He further said that the university availed of the services of these specialised part-timers for the benefit of employees and their families, but any misconduct on their part in dealing with patients would not be tolerated. Necessary action would be recommended after verifying the facts, he added. The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Pragya Kumar, in a note sent to the Vice-Chancellor yesterday sought an appropriate inquiry into the complaint of Mr Jagdish Ram, preferably by appointing an eminent doctor from the PGI as the inquiry officer. Mr Jagdish Ram, a class IV employee, in his complaint submitted alleged that when he went to Dr Chugh on August 23 in the health centre to show the fibrous growth on the eye-lid of his right eye, he prescribed an eye-drop, besides suggesting a minor surgery to remove the same. He further advised him to contact him at his private clinic in Sector 21 as no proper equipment were available at the health centre. He further alleged that as desired by the doctor, he went for the surgery to his clinic on August 25 and deposited Rs 2,150. When he tried to negotiate with the doctor for a concession in the fee, he was told that this was the minimum fee. He was allegedly not issued any receipt for the amount deposited. He also alleged that when he went to get the dressing from his right eye removed on August 27 following the operation, there was profuse bleeding on account of some pressure put by the doctor. However, a day later when the bleeding stopped he was shocked to see that his eye (though dead) had been removed and the fibrous growth, for which the operation was performed, was still there. He also mentioned that he had contacted Dr Pragya Kumar at her residence for referring him to the PGI, but she declined to do so, saying that she was on a two-day leave and referred him to the doctor on duty. Dr B.S. Lal referred the case to the PGI where his treatment started after persuasion. His main grievance is as to why the right eye-ball was removed without his consent and why he was not issued a receipt for the amount deposited even when he had assured to help him get the money reimbursed. Mr Jagdish Ram maintains that Dr Chugh should be proceeded against. Mr Dharam pal, president of the Panjab University Non-Teaching Employees Federation, has supported his cause by demanding that the university, which is responsible for availing the services of such a doctor, should register an FIR against the doctor for recommending wrong treatment and that too at his clinic. The university authorities should also take up the matter with the Medical Council of India (MCI) for cancelling the licence of Dr Chugh. He has demanded suitable compensation on account of the loss and injury suffered by him and money for legal assistance. He has also sought departmental action,for a mere inquiry will not yield the desired results as a part- timer may decide not to cooperate in the inquiry and it will be just an eyewash. Mr Dharam Pal further pointed out that such cases should be referred to the government hospitals or the PGI so that the amount spent on treatment could be reimbursed at the PGI rates approved by the Syndicate and not private clinics. He also accused the CMO of passing the bills of private clinics for reimbursement, leading to such malpractices. Dr Rajan Chugh has in a representation to the Vice-Chancellor and doctors of the health centre alleged that Mr Jagdish Ram was even threatening him along with family and friends. He stated that he had been asking him for fictitious bills worth Rs 15,000 to claim the reimbursement for the operation. Dr Chugh said that he declined to give him such a bill and specified that he would give him a bill of the amount actually charged. He claimed that the consent sought by him before the operation was torn by Jagdish Ram. He clarified that administering medicine would not have been effective and surgery was the only solution to the problem of the eye which had been dead for the past 20 years. Meanwhile, the CMO said
that she had refused to refer his case to the PGI as she
was on leave for two days and this may have posed
problems for him at the time of filing a police case.
However, she had immediately referred him to the doctor
on duty, who did the needful. |
Dumping of 'malba' to attract
penalty SAS NAGAR, Sept 8 — The municipal council is contemplating action against those house owners who dump their ''malba'' at public places. Notices would be issued to the violators on the basis of a report given by the field staff. Dumping of ''malba'' by people who construct structures on their plots has, in fact, become headache for the council which has to spend lakhs of rupees each year to clear the public places of the waste material. The President of the municipal council, Mr H.S. Billa, said the council would issue notices to the violators and penalise them. Though the amount of fine to be levied on such house owners had not been finalised, it would be around Rs 200. He said the violators were not only private persons but also contractors engaged for construction of government buildings. Citing an example, he said the council had to spend a heavy amount to clear the ''malba'' generated during the construction of a cricket stadium in Phase X here a few years ago. Sources said on earlier occasions proposals to penalise the violators could not be implemented due to objections by municipal councillors. The problem dumping ''malba'' on roadside is more visible in the township where a lot of construction activity is taking place. Another problem being faced by the council is the damage caused to the internal roads due to heaps of construction material dumped by house owners on roadside. Apart from blocking the natural flow of water, the construction material like sand and bajri chokes the storm water drainage. Meanwhile, the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) has written to the council regarding selection of a site for dumping the ''malba'' generated from the township. Sources in PUDA said
that the council had been advised to select some
low-lying area which could be filled up with ''malba''. |
Yoga mandir rival groups
clash Chandigarh, Sept 8 — The police had to intervene when two groups clashed at Divya Yoga Mandir in Shivalik Enclave, NAC Area of Mani Majra, this afternoon. According to eyewitnesses, members owing allegiance to the Pradhan Yogacharya, Professor M. Lal, and supporters of Mr Roshan Lal Jindal came to blows and levelled allegations against each other. Mr Jindal's faction claimed that the devotees had elected another managing committee and new office-bearers to manage the affairs of the mandir. Professor Lal, on other hand, claimed that he had been elected Pradhan Yogacharaya by members of the managing committees of various yoga kendras in the region and had been authorised to take decisions regarding the welfare of the mandir. He said the yoga centres had been started by his father, the late Swami Devidayal ji, for furthering the cause of yoga and to ameliorate the suffering of the people. Lakhs of people had benefited and his father enjoyed a "god like" status among his followers. The Yogacharya alleged that the rival faction had engineered the episode and got a case registered against him and his followers a couple of days ago. Today also a couple of his women disciples were allegedly manhandled by members of the other group who tried to force their way into his living quarters and take away some important documents. The belongings of Ms Shashi Shah, who had been living on the top floor of the mandir, had allegedly been thrown out by his supporters. A case in this context was registered at the Mani Majra police station under Sections 448, 511, 506 and 34 of the IPC, on September 5. Mr Jindal, on the other hand, claimed that Mr Lal was throwing out the old-time followers of his father in an effort to usurp the assets of various centres. He had also converted the original ashram of his father at Delhi into a gym and was also involved in other shady deals, he alleged. Ms Geetanjali Kundra,
SDM, visited the mandir in the evening and talked to
members of both the factions. |
Rapist’s arrest demanded Chandigarh, Sept 8 — Various political parties and social organisations have demanded the arrest of Suba Singh, the son of Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, Punjab Agriculture Minister, for the alleged rape of a minor at Ludhiana. Members of the Congress, CPI, CPM, Punjab Bhalai Party, Punjab Kisan Sabha and Janta Dal, besides the state units of the All India Democratic Women Association and the Punjab Istri Sabha, took part in a dharna here today. The speakers condemned the intense pressure brought on the police not to arrest the accused, who was roaming around freely. The inquiry ordered into the episode by the Chief Minister was an eye wash and was an attempt to hush up the crime, they alleged. The minister should have resigned in view of the crime but had chosen not to do so, giving a bad name to the law-abiding people of the state, they said. The protesters demanded
the dismissal of Union Minister Sukhbir Badal for
assaulting mediapersons at Faridkot. The agitators also
presented a memorandum to the Governor. |
Nagar kirtan procession CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — A colourful nagar kirtan procession was organised by the nagar Kirtan Talmel Committee on the eve of Guru Granth Sahib Divas here today. Intermittent showers in the city and its surrounding areas in the afternoon notwithstanding, the procession started from the Sector 26 Bapu Dham gurdwara and passed through various parts of the city. It moved through
Transport Chowk, Sectors 27, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24
before terminating at the Sector 37 gurdwara. The entire
route of the procession was tastefully decorated. The
police had made elaborate security and traffic
arrangements. |
53 pc urban votes polled CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The local unit of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has compiled data which shows that 53 per cent of the total votes cast during Sunday's polling for the lone Lok Sabha seat from Chandigarh were cast by urban voters. Slumdwellers cast 29 per cent of the total votes, while the remaining 13 per cent were cast by the rural segment of society, living in villages on the UT's boundary. This data shows that the urban electorate was not so ''disinterested'' in the poll process, as it was initially reported. However, going by the sheer percentage of voting calculated for the three main segments of the society, residents of slums cast 52.44 per cent of their share of 1,56,199 votes. This was the highest for any class of the society. In total, 5,83,936 residents of the UT were listed as voters for this election but only 2,82,654 residents cast their votes to elect their representative out of the 16 candidates in the fray. Out of this figure, 1,62,926 were urban people. Total urban votes were 3,35,799, thus 48.52 per cent of the urban segment exercised their right to franchise. The lowest percentage of votes were cast by the rural segment of residents. A total of 91,938 residents are listed as voters from villages. Out of this, 37,810, or 41.13 per cent of rural voters, made an effort to cast their votes. In the entire constituency, the voting pattern has been high in certain pockets, while it has been low in some of the traditional high voting areas. For example, the voting percentage dropped the most in the rural segment. Compared to the previous general elections, this time, the voting percentage had dropped between 4 per cent and 6 per cent for the three segments of the society. Total urban votes in the general elections in February, 1998, were 58 per cent of the total polled votes. This time, the 53 per
cent urban vote was 5 percent less than earlier. Since
Sunday, when polling took place, two major political
parties — the Congress and the BJP — have been
making calculations and working out various permutations
and combinations to calculate how many voters could have
voted in their favour from each of the three segments of
the society. |
'Awareness on AIDS vital' PANCHKULA, Sept 8 — AIDS poses one of the greatest dangers to mankind and spreading education about HIV is the only way out of the problem, Mr G Madhavan, Financial Commissioner and Secretary to Haryana Government (Health and Medical Education), said here today. He was speaking at an orientation workshop on HIV and AIDS for school children, organised by the Surya Foundation, a non-government organisation, at the regional staff college of the Punjab National Bank. He emphasised the need to spread awareness on the subject among the adolescents and youth and take this education to the grassroots level while stating that planned action backed by programmes in the school curriculum on HIV and AIDS would help achieve the purpose. Further, he stated that parents needed to shed inhibitions and educate their children on the subject. Deputy Commissioner Vivek Joshi in his address said that usually a patient suffering from AIDS was shunned by his family and acquaintances which is very demoralising for the patient. He suggested that greater care and attention should be paid to any HIV-infected individual,which would make him feel better. Praising the efforts of the foundation in organising the workshop, he said the first step had been taken in awakening the younger generation to HIV and AIDS. The Project Director, Haryana AIDS Control Society, Mr RK Khullar, said that HIV-infected patients can lead a healthy and normal life if they so desire and that practical experience had shown that educated parents, too, were hesitant to talk to their children on the topic. He also spoke on the advantages and disadvantages of knowing HIV status. The Chairman of the Surya foundation, Dr RK Sharma, informed the gathering that similar workshops would be conducted for school children in Pinjore, Barwala, Raipur Rani and Kot very soon and gradually in the state. Dr Ramneek Sharma, Director, explained the needs and objectives of the workshop. Over 50 students from the three government schools of the city and Moti Ram Model School attended the workshop. 'Anant', a film on the
reactions of family members towards the patient affected
with AIDS,was shown to the students.Dr Manoj Gupta, a
physician, lectured on symptoms, transmission, diagnosis
and management of the disease. Dr GP Saluja, Haryana AIDS
control society, said that over 2.5 million people were
affected with the dreaded disease and about 25 per cent
of these were in the 10 to 25 years age group. |
Technical education seminar ends CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The two-day national seminar on "Curriculum challenges in technical education'' concluded at Technical Teachers Training Institute with certain recommendations on various aspects of technical education. It was decided that provision should be made to ensure continuous learning either through institute-based training or through the concept of distance learning. There should be provision for multi-skill development in a technician engineer so as to enhance his role in the light of technological developments in different functional areas. The participants recommended that the employability of technician engineers can be improved by providing knowledge and training in hi-tech new emerging areas viz service/tertiary sector. The need to bring about a change in the mind sets of technician engineers was also discussed. They suggested competence- based curricula. In case of horizontal mobility of diploma engineers in their own stream, modular courses may be provided to meet specialised requirements, based upon functional requirements. The concluding session was presided over by Dr BB Chopane, president ISTE, Delhi. Earlier, Dr S. Krishnamurthy, Principal TTTI, read out the annual report of the institute. He informed that the institute had started two more ME programmes during previous year in the areas of electronics and communication engineering and instrumentation and control. Later, Dr Chopane gave away awards to meritorious students of previous academic session. Nearly 40-50 papers were
presented during various sessions on the impact of
automation/computerisation/information technology on
competency profile of technician engineers; curriculum
structure for diploma programmes in engineering and
technology and networking with industry, entrepreneurship
development and aspects of curriculum implementation. |
Medical students honoured CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — Professor Hari Gautam, Chairman, University Grants Commission today emphasised the need to restructure the educational institutions and the contents of the curricula to make medical education system in our country more effective and relevant. Addressing a large gathering at the annual day function of Government Medical College, Chandigarh at the PGI Bhargava Auditorium today, Prof Gautam said the transformation that society was going through warranted a rejuvenation in the teaching process. He told the students that medical education was a life time occupation, which would bring forth many challenges and it was essential to be sincere and dedicated to one’s profession. The quality of medical education pivots mainly around teachers, their commitment, status of knowledge, competence and willingness to contribute effectively. He lamented that educational system including medical education was today in a critical state and was in danger of soon becoming irrelevant. With a view to improve the system, there was need to encourage competent and talented men to join the stream of medical education. He also called upon teaching institutions, including private and professional colleges to make co-ordinated efforts to introduce remedial measures. Earlier, while welcoming the chief guest, Professor V.K Kak, Director, Principal of GMCH-32 and Secretary, Medical Education and Research, in his annual report highlighted various activities of the Medical College in different fields during the past one year. He informed that the construction of `d’ block which would house offices of various departments, hostels for students, nurses and doctors would be completed by the year end. The entire college and hospital would be totally computerised in the next three years. He further stated that the Sector16 General hospital, Sector 22 polyclinic and all dispensaries would be linked through the computer with the medical college. All information related to patient health would be available on computers, he added. The Adviser to the UT Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, said that Chandigarh medical College had grown in stature in a short span of eight years. She further said that high pass percentage of 90 in the college also speaks of the quality of medical education being imparted in the college. She also lauded the college for making serious efforts to fulfil its commitment to provide medical facilities to the local residents by the year 2000. She later released the college magazine. Prof Gautam gave away prizes to the outstanding students of the college. While Surbhi Vig and Anu Thukral are the toppers of MBBS (final) year examination held this year; the toppers of MBBS second year were Jasleen Kaur, Amita Utreja, Gaurav Aggarwal and Sharad Prabhakar, the toppers in MBBS part I are Mili Bhardwaj and Kirandeep Kaur Khangura. The students who had won
first and second prizes in various cultural activities
were also given prizes. Later, the students presented a
colourful cultural programme which commenced with an
innovation to Lord Ganesha. However, the highlights of
the programme were flute recital, Gujarati dance and
popular “gidda” and “bhangra”. |
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Showers cool
evening Today's temperature was almost 4° more than yesterday's 30.6°C. Overcast conditions and brief spells of rain in the past few days had brought down the temperature and brought relief to the city as day temperatures had been soaring beyond 34°C last week. The showers started around 4.30 p.m. and caught several people returning from office unawares. The local meteorological office has predicted a possibility of thundery development for tomorrow. Relay
fast by telecom staff Employees have been sitting on dharna for the past eight days. Mr Swaran Singh, district secretary of the unit, said that the honorarium because of an acute shortage of staff should be fixed at between Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 for each employee. It also demanded transfer of the Principal General Manager, Telecom (PGMT), Mr Prithipal Singh , saying his tenure was over. Stir
threat by UT powermen The union said that this was being done to jeopardise the promotion chances of the UT cadre employees. It maintained that the administration had already agreed in principle not to take any deputationist either from Punjab or Haryana for the Groups C and D posts as sufficient cadre strength was available in the UT itself. The union has also demanded reversion of the Superintending Engineer, Electricity Operations, as little has been done to improve power supply in the UT besides making no efforts to fill the vacant posts. It threatened to resort to an agitation if the administration persisted with the panel of names from the PSEB for the grade C and D posts. Organisations
threaten dharna A meeting of the Sikh Nari Manch, Punjab Joint Action Mulazam Dal, Nyaya Morcha, Punjab Istri sabha, Punjab Working Women's Organisation and the local unit of the Akali Dal (B) was held at the Red Cross Bhavan here today. Those present also appealed to the public to inform the police in case they had any information regarding the whereabouts of the Singlas, the in-laws of the deceased. A memorandum was presented to Mr S.K. Singh, IGP. He assured them that the needful was being done and efforts were on to get the accused declared proclaimed offenders. 'Yoga
an organised way of living' He said yoga encompassed every aspect of life, including not only the kind of exercise you should do but also what kind of food to take and in how much quantity, besides the general conduct of a person. He pointed out that urban elite, particularly executives, suffer from excessive pressure in their jobs. The exercise however depends on age, capacity, profession, specific requirements and should be done for 20 to 40 minutes. However, people should abstain from taking to yoga by watching a TV programme and should go in for tailor-made yoga programmes. Though exercise is important but one should not jump to strenuous programmes right at the beginning. Regarding food, vegetarianism is the best bet with less oily and spicy food. He also talked about increasing the water intake and eating a balanced food with a lot of roughage. Exercise and food will help fight diseases like blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes, arthritis etc. He also advocated positive thinking because negative thinking coupled by bitter and jealous feelings nullifies a person's efforts to take care of his body. The ultimate aim of yoga is the unison of human soul with God and the development of a healthy human being. Literacy
Day observed The Department of Adult and Continuing Education, Panjab University, celebrated the day at SGGS College, Sector 26. More than 150 students and teachers participated in the function. Dr Ajaib Singh, Director of the department, said it was unfortunate that India had the maximum number of illiterate persons even after 50 years of independence. This was despite several drives planned and executed by the government. Dr Jitendra Mohan, Department of Psychology, observed that literacy of the masses was a pre-requisite for economic development as well as improving the quality of life. Prof Ashok Sahni, Dean, University Instructions, said education was related to problems of population, poverty and superstition. He said each one should teach at least one illiterate person. Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr (Mrs) Sween, a senior project officer , and Prof Kulwinder Singh from the host college. The NSS and NCC volunteers in Government College, Sector 46, organised a small function to celebrated the day for education of the masses. Maj D.P.Singh, principal of the college, said students could play a major role in the eradication of illiteracy, which was a social evil. A
day of role reversal It was a day of role-reversal when the students donned the mantle of their teachers and taught them a lesson or two. Songs, skits, dumb-charades, musical chairs and antakshri were the items these kids had in their "curriculum" for their teachers. The teachers too had a good time in this role. Tree
plantation drive Prof V.K.Kapoor, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University, who was the chief guest spoke on medicinal quality of the plants. A poster-making contest
was organised in the evening in which more than 40
students participated. Principal Balbir Singh also spoke
on the occasion besides Mr Ashok Mittal,the main convener
of the function. |
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