EDUCATION

St Stephen's shines at Chandigarh quiz
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 30 — Joseph Tito was the first head of the state to visit Chandigarh; fashion designer JJ Valaya is an alumnus of the local SD College; Le Corbusier's Edict is based on the "Charter of Ethens"; Rudyard Kipling's father was the Principal of Mayo School of the Arts, Lahore (now Chandigarh College of Art).

This is just a bit of the interesting information that was provided at the grand finale of the "Chandigarh Quiz" organised by CITCO, in collaboration with a local daily at Hotel Shivalikview here today.

It was St Stephen's School all the way at the finals, with its students bagging the first prize in both categories. While Ketan Sharma stood first in Category A (Class VI-VIII), Sahil Thapa bagged the first prize in Category B (Class IX-XII).

There was a keen contest as the first eight students in both categories vied for the top honours. Effective compere by quiz master Chittaranjan Aggarwal ensured regular participation by the audience in all six rounds.

The UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), who gave away the prizes, in his brief address, advised the children to join hands in the literacy drive by teaching the children, especially the under-privileged sections living in slums.

The students must realise their social responsibility, he said, adding that they were lucky as they had all facilities. But they must also understand the plight of three lakh slum dwellers that were living in inhuman conditions.

He also urged the students to play outdoor games because they built character and team spirit. The Administrator said it was the duty of every child to associate with the city in which they were living. They must also participate in the cleanliness drive of their areas to keep city clean and beautiful.

The Adviser to the Administrator, Ms Vineeta Rai, who gave prizes to the winners of Category B, emphasised the importance of extra-curricular activities.

Ms Neeru Nanda, CITCO Chairperson, gave away special prizes of T-shirts with logo "I Love Chandigarh" to all students, who had qualified for the second round of the quiz.

The following are the other results:

Category A: Udit Veer (St Stephen's) 2; Harsimranjeet Singh (St John's) 3; Shruti Aggarwal (Sacred Heart) 4; and Varun Singh (Vivek High) 5.

Category B: Naveen Mittal (Hansraj Public School, Panchkula) 2; Arun Kaul (Hansraj Raj) 3; Sidhartha Kant (St John's) 4; and Aakash Aggarwal (St Kabir) 5.

COURTS

Legal Services Authority recast 
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 30 — The Chandigarh Administration has reconstituted both the Chandigarh Legal Services Authority and the District Legal Services Authority.

The State Legal Services Authority will have the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as its Patron-in-Chief, while Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi will continue to be its Executive Chairman. Besides, the Administration has nominated 15 ex-officio members of the authority. They are the Home Secretary, the Finance Secretary, the Legal Rememberancer-cum-Director of Prosecution, the Director of Public Relations, the Director of Social Welfare, the Inspector-General of Police, the President of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, Dr B.B. Parsoon (Additional District and Sessions Judge, Haryana), the Chairman of the District Authority, Mrs Kamlesh Gupta of Sector 21, Mrs Amar Kulwant Singh of the Bal Niketan Society, Mrs Chander Mohan of Sector 36, Mr K.K. Monga of Sector 42, Mr S.S. Goindi of the Gandhi Smarak Bhavan and the Head of the Department of Law of Panjab University.

The District Legal Services Authority will be headed by the District and sessions Judge. Its other 11 members would be the Deputy Commissioner, the Additional District and Sessions Judge-1, the Senior Superintendent of Police, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, the District Attorney, the Public Relations Officer, the President of the District Bar Association, the Assistant District Attorney, Mr Onkar Chand of the Servants of the Peoples Society, Mr R.L. Sabharwal of Sector 43 and Dr Savita Malhotra of the PGI.

Judicial probe sought into lathi charge
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, July 30 — The Hind Mazdoor Sabha today demanded a judicial probe into yesterday's lathi charge by the local police on members of the Godrej-GE Employees Union allegedly at the behest of the management of the company. Strict action against the police officials who ordered the cane charge has also been sought by the sabha.

Addressing mediapersons, Mr A.D. Nagpal, Secretary of the sabha, said the workers were illegally detained between the factory gates and then lathi-charged. Refuting the claim of the police that they were violating the orders prohibiting protests within a 50-metre radius of the company premises, he said the workers were going on duty.

He alleged that the police in connivance with the management of the company ordered the lathi charge without any announcement. Mr Devinder Kumar, an advocate, fighting for the cause of the workers, said the lathi charge inflicted injuries on at least 22 workers. He said at least eight members of the union — Amit, Anil, Harish, Vikas, Sham Lal, Kapil, Mukesh and Ram Kishan — had been arrested under false charges.

Mr Nagpal alleged the police had been adopting a pro-management stand since the day the confrontation between the management and workers started. He quoted at least three cases in which the members of the union had been falsely implicated. He said instead of police interference the issue should be solved through bilateral talks or through the labour department.

The union has urged the Labour Commissioner, Punjab, to intervene in the matter. It alleged that the active members of the union were dismissed from service by the management to discourage unionism in the factory. The issue of safety shoes was the latest of the management from preventing the workers from entering the factory premises as it was getting the job done from a contractual labour.

CULTURE

Rafi awards for Seema and Devinder
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 30 — When melody plays, even the heavens stand in ovation. That is exactly what happened at Tagore Theatre where the entire singing talent of the North seemed to have converged to offer the gathering an evening of lifetime. The event was the singing contest organised by the Yaadgar-e-Rafi Society which is dedicated to hunting talent and arranging a platform for it.

As the contest progressed, it seemed that almost all the 31 contestants were rooted in music. The songs chosen were more than melodious, including the legendary songs like Chhalke teri aakhon se..., O meri mehbooba... and Salaam apki mithi nazar ko salaam... in the category of solo songs and Jeet hi lenge baazi..., Bekhudi mein sanam... and Din sara guzara tore angna... in the duet song category.

The contest, which began with Prem Bangad presenting Salaam apki mithi nazar ko salaam..., varied greatly in content, with Seema Arzoo of Shimla presenting Tere sadke balam..., Siddhartha singing Aankh milaye na... and R.S. Kala presenting Maan mera ahsaan...

Most of the contestants were promising enough to cause the judges' head to spin between who is good and who is the best. On the judges' seat were Ms Geeta Gangahar, Ms Deepa Chibber, Mr B.D. Kalia, Mr B.D. Sharma and Mr Brajesh Ahuja.

After a four-hour evening wrapped up in melody and excitement, apart from the normal competitive tinge, the awards were finally announced around 9.15 p.m. The result was more or less one that was expected with Seema Arzoo winning the Rafi award in the female category and Devinder Kaushik in the male category.

The first runners-up awards were bagged by Kanwalpreet and Amarjit in the female and male section, respectively, while Manju Arora and R.S. Kala were declared the second runners-up in the female and male category, respectively.

The evening also saw some wonderful off-hand performances to keep the audience occupied during the time the results were being compiled. With compere K.S. Chhatwal setting the pace with the Punjabi folk song Sare pind ch fuare paye billo ni tere gore rang ne... This was followed by the intoxicating Zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi... by Arvind Verma and then the ultimate Rafi song Main kahin kavi na ban jaun... by Raman Kant who was also music arranger for the evening. Among other musicians were Wavel Sharma on the flute, Suresh Nayar on the dholak, Parveen Rathi on the tabla, Puneet Talwar on the rhythemic guitar and Dr Arun Kant on the keyboard.