EDUCATION

157 teaching graduates given degrees
From A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, April 11 — The 45th annual convocation of Government College of Education, Sector 20, was held here today. A former Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Kuldip Singh, was the chief guest on the occasion.

The Principal of the college, Ms Satinder Tangri, welcomed the guests, staff members and students. After introducing the chief guest she read out the annual report of the college, highlighting the academic and other curricular achievements of the session 1999-2000.

As many as 157 teaching graduates were given degrees. A total of seven out of these were awarded the degree in Master of Education, 140 in Bachelor of Education and 10 in B. Ed (Yoga).

Justice Kuldip Singh gave away prizes to the students who topped. Satinder Kaur Gill and Sunita Batra bagged first and second prizes, respectively. In M.Ed (general) Kamini Chowdhary, Preeti Khurana and Hema Iiyer stood first, second and third, respectively, in B Ed general. Anjali Kahlon, Ritu and Nidhi of B Ed Yoga bagged first, second and third prizes, respectively.

Justice Kuldip Singh said,”I wanted to a be teacher throughout my life as this is the most honourable profession. You come in direct contact with persons who are the future of the nation and you are going to mould their destiny and thus the nation.” Dr (Mrs) Kamala Sood, Vice Principal, proposed the vote of thanks.

Education board probing exam scandal
From Our Correspondent

SAS NAGAR, April 11 — The Punjab School Education Board is conducting a probe into a suspected examination scandal in connection with which 28 persons have been suspended.

The probe report is likely to be submitted to the state government in a day or two, according to sources. The inquiry is being conducted by the Controller of Examinations.

It is reported that a complaint had been made to the board that in the Moonak belt and surrounding areas certain supervisory officials were “colluding” with examinees who were indulging in unfair means. At certain examination centres there was too much of “outside interference” and officials on duty either failed to control matters or may have actually “colluded” with the offenders. The payment of bribes could not be ruled out.

Sources said no complaint was officially made to the board in connection with the use of unfair means in the Moonak belt by the supervisory staff. However, when the Controller of Examinations and other officials visited examination centres in the Moonak, Banga, Ganotan, Lehal and Sunam areas, they found mass copying.

The Controller prepared a list of 48 suspects in the alleged scandal which was sent to the government. Twentyeight of them were suspended on the basis of prima facie evidence. The board later cancelled the examination centres.

Sources said in the ongoing probe it was noticed that there was a group, including teachers, supervisory officials and board staff, which was involved “collectively” in helping students to cheat. Supervisory officials were appointed by the District Education Officer concerned.

During the inquiry it was found that around 60 examination admission forms were sent to the board in which the address of the private examinees was the same. It is learnt that the address was that of a headmaster. Roll numbers and other examination related correspondence were received at this address.

According to board instructions, correspondence with private examinees should have been done at their permanent address.

All-India DAV board exam topper
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, April 11—Amit Jindal, a student of Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, has topped the All India DAV Education Board examination conducted for Class VIII. With 94 per cent marks under his belt, Amit was still not happy with his achievement.

“I was hoping to secure a minimum of 96 per cent in the examination but the languages proved to be the stumbling block for me,’’ he rued though he expressed happiness for topping in maths, science and social studies.

Ecstatic about his triumph, his family celebrated his success all night. “My grandmother who teaches me Hindi was overjoyed and tears swelled in my mother’s eyes when she learnt of the result. For me, it was rasgullas all the way. However, it all seemed a dream and was quite unbelievable,’’ he said.

After having put in 17 to 18 hours of hardwork, he still knows no rest. “I play only for one hour in the evenings or on off days. I have to still put in a lot more to perform even better in the senior classes,’’ he adds.

SPORT

City footballers for Goa camp
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 11 — Budding players of the only Football Academy of the region have been invited to attend an advanced summer coaching camp to be organised by the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs in Panaji, Goa, next month.

The invitation has come as a morale booster for the young footballers who are regulars at the football academy, run by St Stephen’s School, Sector 45.

The young players were an excited lot when The Tribune team visited them as they were gearing up for a new session of training under the watchful eyes of their coach.

The invitation came about after Goa’s Minister of Sports and the Director of Sports visited the school to have a feel of the football academy run by the school. Barely a month after their visit the Goa authorities sent the invitation to the Principal, Mr Harold Carver, requesting him to send the football academy members to Goa for advanced training in May.

The footballers and the hockey players of the school will thus attend the 15-day coaching camp in Goa from May 6 to 22.

Body meeting
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, April 11 — In the executive committee and annual general body meeting of the Chandigarh Ball Badminton Association here, Mr Farmesh Singh and Mr Gurpreet Singh Sandhu were nominated the Vice-President and Joint Secretary, respectively, of the association.

The association which met under the presidentship of Mr Harbhushan Gulati, decided to approach the Ball Badminton Federation of India for the allotment of the next National Ball Badminton Championship to Chandigarh.

The other nominations for the year 2000-2001 were as follows: Chief referee — Mr Sewa Singh; deputy chief referee — Mr Ram Kishan.

The various committees members include Dr Panna Lal as Chairman of the Referee Board, Mr Harbhushan Gulati as Chairman of the selection committee, Mr Farmesh Singh as Chairman of the tournament committee and Mr Rajinder Rajput as Chairman of the disciplinary committee.

Officials undertake 14-km trek
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, April 11 — It was a gala time for officials of the UT Sports Department, including 38 coaches, both men and women, who trekked from Anandpur Sahib to Mata Naina Devi shrine under the leadership of Mr J.P.S. Sidhu, Joint Director Sports of the UT.

The trekking team began hiking from Anandpur Sahib at 9 am and reached the destination at 12 noon after covering 14-km-long and tough hilly route.

COURTS

Bal is CAT Bar President
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 11 — Mr G.S. Bal was today unanimously chosen President of the Central Administrative Tribunal Bar Association. This is for the fourth time that Mr Bal is being appointed President of the association. He was earlier elected in 1994, 1995 and 1998.

Mr N.P. Mittal and Mr R.S. Chauhan were elected as Vice President and Joint Secretary, respectively. Besides, Mr G.S Sathi and Mr C.L. Gupta were elected executive members.

Bus driver gets RI for causing death
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, April 11— Convicting a bus driver accused of causing death of a motorist in an accident, Panchkula Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Ved Pal Gupta, has sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for one year.

Amrik Singh of Yamunanagar — was earlier booked by the local police for causing death by rash and negligent driving under Sections 304-A, 337, 279 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code after motorist Arun Kumar succumbed to his injuries on way to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.

According to complainant Jagdish Kumar, the accused, driving rashly and negligently at a high speed, had rammed the bus into the car. The prosecution had added that the accused, had fled from the spot leaving behind the bus.

The accused, when confronted with the incriminating evidence against him, had, denied the allegations. Claiming to be innocent, he had asked for a trial. Arguing before the court, the defence counsel had added that the accused was being implicated in the case.

Pronouncing the orders in the open court, the CJM observed: “Taking all the facts into consideration, it can be safely held that the prosecution has successfully proved its case against the accused beyond all reasonable doubts”.

CULTURE

Potters find growing interest

Like all artists, potters come from somewhere. American-trained Zoya points to her cheerful glazes and bold, free-spirited shapes and says her work "oscillates between the U.S., and the Indian folk dimensions". Ruby's forte is stoneware pottery "however, recently, and for the first time, I have moved towards low temperature firing that yields brilliant yellows, rusts and oranges."

Both are delighted to see Indian pottery evolving into art from its craft origins, even though as Zoya says "Indian studio pottery is still in its infancy" She points out that while terracotta village pottery goes back to prehistory, glazed ceramics are relatively new "introduced in late Mughals times and carried over into the Raj ... but never widespread because of the traditional fear of jutha that made people prefer easily cleaned metal utensils"

The environment friendly character of clay attracts Ruby and she is happy to see a popular rejection of synthetic materials in favour of pottery for attractive items of daily use.

For the Maati exhibition, Zoya's offering will be "masks, masks and more masks" and Ruby will be showing her cool-fired pieces -- "although if I had had more time I would have created more of the animal-figures I so much enjoy making".

Both women see an increasing sophistication in the Chandigarh audience which is reflected in more art-pottery sales. "When I first arrived here about a decade back, people hadn't a clue about modern pottery," recalls Zoya, adding "Now, I am happy to say that people ask me questions such as, 'Does this piece have a lead-based glaze?'. They still prefer bone-china to stoneware but awareness is growing, partly because of shows like this one.' — Suparna