EDUCATION

Homoeos’ strike continues
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Jan 30 — The strike by students of Homoeopathic Medical College, Phase 2, entered its eleventh day today. The agitating students raised slogans against the Director and Principal of the college for not redressing their grievances.

The students who were enrolled with the college in 1998 lamented that they had paid over Rs 50,000 each as fee but their annual examinations were not being held on schedule. The college authorities had failed to get affiliation for Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot.

They claimed that earlier, an inspection team of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences had visited the college and pointed out various shortcomings.

They further alleged that the students of the college were being taught by inexperienced teachers.

Euphoria-2000 concludes
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 — The inter-medical college cultural contest, Euphoria-2000, being organised by Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, concluded here this evening.

In various competitions organised today, the team of the GMC, Patiala, won the first prize and that of the DMC, Ludhiana, the second prize. Umesh Paul from the GMC, Patiala, won the first prize in hasya kavi sammelan.

The play Gadhey ki baraat was also well-received. Prof V.K. Kak, Director-Principal of the GMCH, gave away the prizes.

In the final match of the North Zone Medi Cricket 2000 held at the PCA stadium, SAS Nagar, the team of the GMC, Jammu, won the match by defeating the GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh. Mr I.S. Bindra, President of the Punjab Cricket Association, presided over the function and gave away the prizes. Different teams of medical and dental colleges of the north zone participated in the tournament.

The response to the Indian sangeet competition at the CSIO auditorium yesterday was tremendous, with as many as 25 entries for the solo singing and six for the duet. Munish Mahajan of GMC, Patiala, bagged the first prize in solo singing, while Surabhi of GMCH-32 won the second prize and Vineet of CMC, Ludhiana, won the third prize.

In the category of duet songs, Amit Micheal and Gaurav won the first prize for singing Dooba dooba, while Munish Mahajan and Ravneet Kaur of GMC, Patiala, won the second prize.

The response to the competition in Indian dances was equally good with the crowds cheering them all through.

The team of Sonia, Sherry, Mili and Shiba won the first prize in collage making; Megha, Ritu, Chirag and Kunal won the second prize and the team of Arshgjyo, Kamaljit, Nidhi and Satinder won the third prize. Even in Medi-quiz, the prelims of which were held on Friday, both the first and second prizes went to GMCH-32 and the team of GMC, Patiala, bagged the third prize.

GMC, Patiala, bagged the first prize for the skit Rumayan. The other entries were GOMCO Games by GMC, Patiala, and Inspector Chuara Singh by DMC, Ludhiana.

Another major highlight was the Made for Each other contest in which the two participants were evaluated on the basis of compatibility. Angel Singh and Diksha of GMC, Patiala, won the first prize, while Ravneet and Arvinder, also from GMC, Patiala, won the second prize. Raveen Singh and Ashwani of GMCH-32 and Rachandeep and Vikram of DMC, Ludhiana, shared the first prize in egg catching.

Meanwhile, in Medicricket, GNMCH-32 beat IGMC, Shimla by 179 runs. GMCH 32 had made a score of 211 in 30 overs while IGMC, Shimla was 31 all out. Raveen Singh was declared the man of the match for scoring the highest score of 51 runs and for taking 4 wickets for 20 runs. In the second match, GMC, Jammu, beat GMC, Amritsar. GMC, Jammu, had a score of 201 in 30 overs, while GMC, Amritsar, were all out for 144 runs.

In carrom, Vikas of GMC, Patiala, bagged the first prize, while Nikunj of GMC, Patiala, won the second prize. The joint winners of chess are Gurmukh Singh and Ashok of GMC, Patiala.

And in the men's doubles of table tennis, Varun and Neeraj of DIRDS, Faridkot, won the first prize and Amit and Avisham of GMCH-32 won the second prize. In men's singles, Varun of DIRDS, Faridkot, won the first prize while Neeraj of the same college bagged the second prize.

College festival ends with clash
From A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 — A scuffle between students marked the concluding day of the Mosaic, the inter-college cultural festival at Dev Samaj College for women, Sector 45, here today.

No major injuries have been reported and no culprit has been identified so far. Also, no arrests have been made. The police sources said a "compromise" had been reached between the two groups.

Visitors, however, complained that no proper action had been taken against those involved in the incident.

Four contests were held on the final day, including the fancy dress show, salad dressing contest, flower arrangement and garment designing contest. The prize distribution function was also held today.

Mr K.A.P. Sinha, Joint Finance Secretary and DPI of the UT, was the chief guest at the fete today. Mr Sat Pal Jain, a former MP, was the chief guest at the prize distribution function.

Tanmeet of the GCG, Sector 42, won the salad dressing contest. Second prize went to Renu Rana of SD College, Sector 32, while Damandeep of the PPW was third.

In the flower arrangement contest, Satbir Kaur of the host college was first, while Ruchika of the CPW, Sector 24, stood second. Renu Rana won the third prize. Ramyani Ghosh and Prabhjeet Kaur, both of the CPW, Sector 24, won the first and the second prizes, respectively, in the garment designing contest.

In the 3 to 5 age-group of the fancy dress show, first prize went to Paramdeep Singh, while Ritika was second and Isherpreet Singh third. Neha Saved stood first, while Shivang Sharma and Sukanth were second and third, respectively, in the 5 to 8 age-group of the contest.

COURTS

HUDA asked to hand over plot
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Jan 30 — The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered the Haryana Urban Development Authority to give the allotment letter to a complainant, Mr Gurmit Singh, a resident of Chandigarh, hand over possession of a plot in Sector 25, pay Rs 10,000 for mental agony and Rs 2000 towards cost of proceedings.

Mr Singh said he was allotted a plot in Sector 25 and deposited 10 per cent earnest money along with the application. However, after the allotment of plot, he was given no intimation of the same by the HUDA office. He was informed in 1995 that his allotment had been cancelled and the earnest money forfeited.

Following the cancellation, he appealed to HUDA, which set aside the order of 1995 and ordered the complainant to pay 5 per cent surcharge of 15 per cent of the amount in addition to 18 per cent interest on defaulted amount and pay all outstanding dues in one go.

Hence, without getting the demand notice, Mr Singh deposited three installments of Rs 92,000 in addition to Rs 90,000 in April and May of 1997. However, in September 1997, the Estate Officer passed an order resuming the plot in question for non-payment.

In reply, it was contented that the complainant had failed to convey his consent for the plot and failed to deposit 15 per cent of the amount following which the allotment of the plot was cancelled and the earnest money forfeited.

The Bench observed that the order passed in 1997 was challenged before higher authorities and restored to the complainant. Therefore, the act and conduct of HUDA had caused harassment which amounts to deficiency of service.

SAD panel tenure case on Feb 25
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 — The UT Civil Judge (Junior Division), Mr Mahender Singh, on Friday fixed February 25 for filing of replication by Punjab Legislative Assembly member Ravi Inder Singh in his suit seeking "declaration to the effect that the Shiromani Akali Dal's Working Committee had over-lived its tenure of two years and could not act anymore."

At the very onset, counsel for Mr Ravi Inder Singh asked the Civil Judge to grant them additional time for filing the replication as the same was not ready today.

Counsel for defendants — SAD and its President Parkash Singh Badal — in their reply earlier submitted before the court had claimed that the suit was not maintainable.

Denying the allegations regarding the working committee having no power to hold any meeting, counsel had stated that the time for holding the organisational election of SAD had already been extended by the Election Commission of India. He had added that Mr Ravi Inder Singh was an active member of the Working Committee as well as the Committee of Political Affairs.

Claiming the absence of a valid legal right, the plaintiff, it may be recalled, had sought declaration to the effect that the defendant had become "functous officia" as SAD President since August, 1997, and could not act as the party President.

In his 13-page suit, the MLA had stated that the President of the party and the district Jathas was to be elected by the general house annually. The defendant, Mr Ravi Inder Singh had elaborated, was "elected President in mid-1996 when the first meeting was held". A general house meeting, he had added, was held in July-August, 1997, but no new president was elected.

CULTURE

Mushaira in Multani
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 — An all-India Seraiki mushaira was held at the mini auditorium of the DAV College, Sector 10, here this afternoon in which poets from different parts of the region recited their poems in the Multani language.

The mushaira was organised by the Federation of Migrant Groups from north-western India (now Pakistan) in collaboration with the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala, as part of the celebrations of 50 years of India being a Republic.

The function was inaugurated by Bhisham Sahni, an eminent Hindi writer and of the Tamas fame. While speaking on the occasion, Sahni said that Multani was today a dying language and he would welcome youngsters to get introduced to it so that further research work could be underdone on this language.

Speaking in Hindi, Sahni promised that he would try and get Multani introduced as a language in educational institutions ''so that the heritage of our land does not get lost in the oblivion''.

About 20-odd poets participated in the Multani mushaira, and though there was hardly any trace of an audience, language barrier being a major detterent, the sound of wah-wah did resound in the auditorium emanating from the participants themselves.

The show was conducted and compered by Rana Ghanori. The participants included Ram Lal Raheja, Hiranand Soz, Munnewar Sarihda, B.D. Ejaz, J.C. Batra, Bhag Singh, Subhash Bhasi Multani, Pankaj Arjun and Bodh Raj Zafar.

In fact, even near the end of the show, participants were seen trickling in the mushaira.

DD to telecast Chani's films
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 30 — Four documentary films made by city based theatre person and the present Chairman of the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi, G S Chani, and produced by his wife, Harleen Kohli, are scheduled to be telecast on DD-I on four consecutive Mondays, starting from February 21, from 11 p.m.

The films are Bhavai, Naqal, Yakshgana and Therukoothu. Incidentally, Therukoothu has also been invited to be screened at the seven-day Sixth Mumbai International Film Festival from February 9.

Therukoothu, which is a folk theatre form of Tamil Nadu, tells the story of this street-play tradition. The choice of filming the form is hardly surprising because this husband-wife duo are known for their activities in street theatre, especially with children. The film also gives and insight into the celebrations of Mahabharata festival, which is essentially dedicated to Draupadi, since a major portion of the Therukoothu in the festival revolves around the marriage of Draupadi and ends with the defeat of Duryodhana. The cinematography has been done by R. V. Ramani.

Bhavai, as the name suggests, is the folk theatre form of Gujarat, which has been known to exist in parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as well.

The film traces the struggles of such traditional performers. While shooting for this documentary, the film-makers were unable to come across any single Bhavai group which has been performing the traditional theatre regularly.

Naqal is a poignant film about the traditional folk performers from Punjab who are resorting to other means of livelihood. It tells the tale of their dismal future since even the state is supporting more of bhangra.

The fourth film in this series is Yakshagana, a theatre form of Karnataka. This is one of the few traditional forms of India that has had an uninterrupted existence for 400 years now. In fact, the film tells about a large number of professional troupes, each offering 200 shows each season and other hundreds of amateur groups performing in schools, colleges, temples etc to keep Yakshgana alive.