EDUCATION

Marked absent ‘while on duty’
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 12 — Despite their presence at an international university-level function in Panjab University, teachers of the English Department have been marked absent from duty in their own department.

The department held a workshop in collaboration with the British Council during the same period, where the teachers were expected to be present.

The note from the department chair said the following teachers were not present at the workshop on March 9, and if they were not present in the department, they should apply for casual leave for that date.They include Dr Manju Jaidka, Dr Lovelina P. Singh, Dr Pratibha Nagpal, Dr Mina Surjit Singh and Dr Harpreet Pruthi.

Teachers were given the order on March 10. Replies are still awaited. Dr Nagpal said she would not comment on the issue.

Dr Jaidka, who was busy with the international student festival, said she was surprised at receiving the official communication. The duty outside the department was brought to the notice of the Chairperson of Dean Student Welfare Office much earlier than the function.

A letter from the office of the Dean of University Instruction, addressed to the Chairperson, requested these teachers to organise the function. The list included eight teachers.The Dean Student Welfare requested the Chairperson to allow Dr Jaidka to make arrangements for the festival. The request was duly allowed.

The events where the teachers were expected to be on duty included declamation, elocution, folk dances and classical dances.

Dr Jaidka replied that there was no reason why they should be asked to apply for leave when they were on university duty.The faculty concerned cooperated in smooth conduct of these events, he added.

Dr Pushpinder Syal, Chairperson, said duty of teachers elsewhere in the campus was not on official records. No details about their duties were provided to the office. The department was conducting an international workshop along with the British Council. The workshop should have included maximum faculty members and at least the absence should have been properly communicated, he added.

Dr Jaidka said teachers had attended the first day of the function and there was no reason why the department did not know of the teachers being on some other duty.

Dr Syal said it was a matter of ensuring that nobody was absent in the department without information to the authorities. Sources also said the issue was more of a direct confrontation between a teacher and the Chairperson.

BA exams of PU begin on April 4
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 12 — The annual examination for under-graduates in Panjab University are scheduled to commence on April 4, official sources said here today.

The English (compulsory) examination for BA (I) will be conducted on April 4. The subjects for BA (II) on the first day include political science (A), Indian classical dance, statistics(A), applied statistics(A) and computer science(A). Students of BA (III) will have examinations of physics (A) and botany(A).

The examinations for the first and the final years are scheduled for the morning session. Those for the second year will be conducted in the afternoon session.

All theory examinations of BA, including the vocational, end on May 5. The second year examinations featuring honours streams conclude on May 8. The BA (III) also has its last examination featuring the honours stream on May 8.

Dr Sodhi Ram, Controller of examination, said that candidates can use colour pencils for diagrams in science subjects. Candidates offering geography in the final year are permitted to use stencils or outline maps. These will be of material on which nothing can be written such as celluloid, thin tin, transparent or opaque sheets of plasticine. Dr Sodhi Ram said that stencils cut in any type of paper or cardboard will not be permitted.

B. Com (III) has the first examination in the commerce stream scheduled in the afternoon session on April 4. The first year examination begins on April 5 with English while the compulsory examination for second year in English (compulsory) is scheduled for April 6.

Examinations for the bachelor of computer application and bachelor of business administration commence on April 8 with English (compulsory). They are scheduled for the afternoon session.

COURTS

Lawyers’ rally today
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 12 — Lawyers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh are expected to participate in a rally to be held here tomorrow as a part of the ongoing agitation by lawyers against the proposed amendment in the Civil Procedure Code and in the Advocates Act.

According to Ms Daya Chaudhary, President, Punjab and Haryana Court Bar Association, if the amendments were made, poor and illiterate litigants would be the worst sufferers. She said that the rally would be followed by a protest march. On March 19, lawyers from all over the country would gherao Parliament on the eve of the arrival of the US President. The Bar Association also hailed the expulsion of Mr Ram Jethmalani from the Supreme Court Bar Association and appealed to the Gujarat Bar Association to ensure that he was not re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from that State.

CULTURE

‘Fusion music in, rock out’
By Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 12 — Punjab has a rich musical heritage which extends far beyond Bhangra, said Palash, the lead singer of a noted rock group — Euphoria — here tonight.

Talking to The Tribune at Aerizonna, a discotheque in Sector 9 here, Palash, who is in the town in connection with the promotion of the second album of the group, Phir Dhoom, said rock music was dying throughout the world and its place was being taken by the fusion music.

“A good music is a good music and you cannot classify in classes and creeds”, he commented, while asked to define the music of group which he prefers to call the “Hind Rock”.

Giving details of the new album after the unprecedented success of the the first album — Dhoom — he informed that the album, which had again been released by the Archies Music, had a dash of rock combined with a pinch of folk, blended with harmony and topped with a whole lot of love.

Starting off with Heer leading into an algoza flute solo with percussive Mirza behind it and using only the ethnic percussions which make the entire rhythm section, the song Maaeri, which has made it to the top countdown shows, is drenched in the ethnic Punjabi folk, which imparts to it a distinctly Indian flavour and an earthy rustic feel.

Picturised as the “Journey” by the director Pradeep Sarkar, the video definitely takes one to memories of journeys that the people might have undertaken at some point of time.

The other number of the 11-track album are the “Hum”, “New Millennium”,”Ek” and “Satyameva Jayte”.

The General Manager of the Archies Music, Mr Parveen Sethi, said:”The launch of another album for Euphoria from the Archies table is a reiteration of the mutual commitment between the two parties”. The Archies Music Division was launched in Delhi in the year 1997-98 with the objective of providing quality music and catering to the Indian taste. With an initial boost from the wide network of Archies Galleries all over India, the Archies Music is today running a parallel distribution network to cater to the masses.