EDUCATION

B.Ed. entrance test results amidst chaos
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Aug 4 — There was a mad rush of the B.ED seat aspirants at Panjab University Extension Library and the Malwa College of Education here in the city today as the results of the entrance examination held recently was available at these places.

But since the number of candidates who had appeared and had come to know the results was high, utter chaos prevailed at the centres. The places presented a picture of contrast in the city here as due to the bandh call most of the city wore a deserted look today.

More than 5000 candidates of this district had appeared in the test and as soon as the news of arrival of the results spread anxious candidates and their parents began converging at the centres. Some excited boys even smashed the window panes at PU Extension Library.

No board was used for displaying the results.

Inter-school quiz contest held
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Aug 4 — Reynolds Quiz Whiz, an inter-school quiz contest, was held at Guru Nanak Public School here today. More than 250 teams, each comprising two contestants, from 15 schools of the city participated in the quiz.

Any number of teams from a school could participate in the quiz. Maximum contestants were from Sacred Heart Convent School, which sent 60 teams.

Two elimination rounds were held today, one each for seniors and juniors, in which questions on topics like current affairs, science, literature, wildlife, history, geography, personalities, cartoons, music and cinema were asked. Forty five questions were dictated and the contestants were asked to give answers in writing in one hour.

The junior teams were from classes V to VIII and the senior teams were from classes IX to XII.

Six teams each from the senior and junior groups were selected for the final round which will be held tomorrow at the same venue. Final contestants from junior teams are Alisha and Anmol from Sacred Heart Convent School (SHCS), Ajay and Gaganpreet from Guru Nanak Public School (GNPS), Harshdeep and Akshay from SHCS, Avneet and Nikhil from GNPS, Priyanka and Rupali from BCM School and Preetinder and Jasleen from Tagore Public School (TPS).

In the senior group, the six finalist teams are Mohit and Sushobhana from BCM School, Sabina and Harsimran from SHCS, Anirudhi and Bhuvnesh from Sacred Heart High School, Puneet and Simaranjeet from GNPS, Sangam and Mohit from TPS and Varun and Jashanjot from GNPS.

Mr Saurab Roy, the quiz master and coordinator of the Year of the Quiz Kids, told Ludhiana Tribune that it was a national quiz sponsored by Reynolds with 50 series of events which would be held in different cities. The final round will have 10 to 12 rounds and most of these would be visual. LCD projectors and Australian softwares will be used for these rounds, he informed.

A similar quiz contest was held at Chandigarh and the next are scheduled to take place at Dehradun and Mussoorie.

HEALTH

‘Need to guard against AIDS’
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Aug 3 — Today India has every reason to be cautious about the increasing number of HIV positive, AIDS and hepatitis B cases. Even the WHO has declared India the capital of AIDS. Stating this here today, Dr Manorama Verma, Professor and Head of the Paediatrics Department in the Christian Medical College, said in order to curb AIDS — doctors, parents and teachers — should pay special attention to the problems of adolescents.

The Paediatrics Department is observing Adolescent Week by launching an education drive at school-level.

Dr Manorama said that the self claimed righteousness in adolescents causes cleavage in parent-adolescent relationship, often resulting in behavioural waywardness and other emotional problems. This, she warned, was dangerous at this tender age. Such behavioural vagrancy in adolescents can mislead them and they may become victims of sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS. Dr Verma stressed the need for awareness among paediatricians, health workers, school teachers and adolescents in particular.

CULTURE

Mixing tradition with modernity
From Shivani Bhakoo

LUDHIANA, Aug 4 — Trendy fashion designers today are picking up ideas and objects from Indian mythology. Be it a painter, sculptor or a dress designer, everyone seems to be using mythological symbols in his or her creations. Various gods from the Hindu pantheon are, now-a-days, cropping up in the work of different designers. This culture seems to have inspired the people of Ludhiana as well.

This trend was also observed at the fashion show organised by the NIFD in Ludhiana recently. Top models of the country, including Bipasha Basu, Helen Brodie, Sheetal Mallar and Nina Manuel, walked down the ramp holding symbols like Om, trishul, tumbi and snakes in the ‘divinity round.’ The ideas and dresses were conceptualised and created by the students of the NIFD, Ludhiana.

How did the idea come about? When people and trends are moving towards modernity, why are  the designers opting for the traditional? Is the use of religious symbols on their creations ethical? Are they not hurting the feelings of religious minded people?

According to Mr Arvind Gupta, the centre director of the NIFD, Ludhiana, “It was basically the idea of our own students. They did not copy anyone. They expresed their creativity in various ways. There was nothing wrong in it. We have respect for our gods in our hearts.Even the first invitation card was offered to Maa Durga. If we displayed this on stage, I do not think there was anything wrong in it. We put on show the dresses, our ancestors used to wear. If we say history repeats itself, why should fashion not repeat itself? No fashion is bad as far as it is displayed in a respectable way. If good things have to be copied, there is nothing wrong in it either. If you see an angrez with a chimta in his hands, that does not mean that he is making fun of our culture. He is trying to be close to God as he wants to forget his worries and frustration. He has faith in our culture and one should not have any kind of objection to it”.

Explaining the idea further, Ajminder Kaur and Kokila Bhandari, the faculty at the NIFD, said in the previous years, there used to be a dhoti kurta round as the traditional one, but this time that was changed. “So we thought of creating a fusion between the modern and traditional trends”, they said. The round was basically a combination of screen printing, block printing and mirror work. “If the westerners are following our traditions, why should we not follow our own”, they asked.