The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

	Teachers’ retirement age Centre throws ball in states’ court Tribune News Service CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — States often turn towards the Centre seeking solution to problems of policy, but in unprecedented case, the Centre has asked for comments of the states before a final decision on the issue of the retirement age of college and Panjab University teachers. The university senate had amended the retirement rule increasing the age of retirement from 60 to 62 years. The amendment has, however, still not been formally notified. The All-India Federation of University Teachers Association had shot letters to the Ministry of Human Resource Development asking for a quick implementation of the amendment. Although no direct reply has been received but a letter by Mr M.K. Kaw, Secretary of the Ministry of HRD to the Vice-Chancellor, has caused confusion among the probable beneficiaries, sources said here today. The letter says “the amended regulation was being sent back to UT and Punjab Government and the Government of India will take further action getting reply from funding agencies. All except a couple of states have failed to implement the UGC recommendation of increasing the age of retirement from 60 to 62 years. Central universities, including Delhi University, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, IGNOU, Jamia Milia Islamia, Benares Hindu University, Aligarh University, Vishva Bharti, University of Hyderabad, University of Pondicherry, Assam University and NEHU, Shillong, have also introduced the recommended change. One interesting reflection on the issue, however, was that the Panjab University rulebook said the Government of India Rules govern the university, so in effect there was no need to consult the state governments. When the senate had accepted the proposal to increase the retirement age, the provision of re-employment (60 to 63 years) was scrapped. Also, not a single representative of the Centre has figured in the Board of Finances meeting over the years despite a special seat. One related development in this regard was the case of Ms Kuldeep Kaur, Tara Singh Memorial College, Ludhiana, continuing in the office despite retirement of two teachers from the same college. Teachers went on a 26-day strike in 1998 following which a deal was struck with the government. The Registrar of Panjab University had also forwarded communication to the college Principals in this regard but did not give a key to a final solution. However, Panjab University is not totally a state governments funded institution unlike Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and Punjabi University, Patiala. Despite giving only 60 per cent of the total share of the budget, “the state seemed to run the show,” a senior fellow added.
	Education board’s matric exam schedule Tribune News Service SAS NAGAR, Jan 12 — The schedule of the matric examination of the Punjab School Education Board beginning from March 12 is as follows: English (March 12), Health Science-open school (March 13); Punjabi-A/Punjab History and Culture-A (March 14), additional languages/pre-vocational (March 15), Punjabi-B/Punjabi history and culture-B (March 16); home science (open school)/music — instrumental/home science — deaf and dumb (March 17); mathematics/ music-vocal/cutting and tailoring (March 19); agriculture-open school/painting (March 20), social science (March 21); science/music (tabla)/drawing-deaf and dumb (March 24) and Hindi/Urdu (March 26). The schedule of Senior Secondary School-level examination (humanities group/Sciences group/commerce group/agriculture group/textile group) beginning from March 12 is as under: General English (March 12); defence studies/music-tabla (March 13), general Punjabi/Punjab history and culture (March 14); rural development and environment/ music-instrumental/ computer application/elements of electronics engineering/elements of building construction/Mechanical Engineering/ Electrical Engineering/ Engineering Drawing (March 15); Psychology (March 16), history/physics/accountancy (March 17), geography/theory and practical of management (March 19); Punjabi/ Hindi/ English/ Urdu/ Bengali/Gujrati/Kannad/Marathi/ Malayalam/Manipuri/Oriya/ Assamese/Sindhi/Tamil/Telgu/ Agriculture (March 20), home science — only for girls/ Chemistry (March 21); public administration/ Insurance/Geology (March 22); education/biology/office management (March 24); economics (March 26); philosophy/geomatrical perspective and architectural drawing/music — vocal (March 27); physical education and sports (March 28); dance/book keeping and accountancy/Gurbani sangeet (March 29); mathematics/business statistics (March 30); sociology (March 31); business organisation and management (April 3); political science (April 4); Sanskrit/ Arabian/ Persian/ German/ French/ Russian (April 5); religion/history and Appreciation of Arts (April 7). The schedule of the examination of the vocational subjects (agricultural. group/business and commerce group/home science group/ engineering and technology group) of the Senior Secondary School is as under: General English (March 12), General Punjab/Punjab History and Culture (March 14), Vegetable Growing/agricultural promotion and management/workshop Calculation and Manufacturing Process/Office Methods and Practices/ Book Keeping and Accountancy/ Food Processing/Dress Designing/ Fashioned Knitwear/ Fabric Structure and Designing/Textile Designing and Printing/Elements of Electronics Technology/TV Transmission and Welding/ Materials/ Workshop Technology/ Data Processing technology/wood based sports goods/pattern cutting and designing (March 16). Land Scaping and floriculture/agricultural equipment/irrigation harvesting and processing and processing/Punjabi type writing/banking trade and office organisation/ plant management/commercial clothing/circular noting/textile testing and dying/testing and finishing/domestic appliances/test and marketing instrument/ reproduction and blueprint/ machine tool operations/tools and process/ garage practise and Management/ Cobol programming/ leather and synthetic based Sports Goods/Novelty Leather Items (March 19), post-harvest and preservation/material management/management of farm power machinery/Punjabi shorthand/type-writing/ history of art/food packaging/unit management/textile yarn/calculation/powerloom mechanics and operation/textile dying/material and workshop practice/TV Servicing/ furniture design/Automobile Suspension and Controls/Advanced Mathematics and Modern Computing Techniques/Textile based Sports Goods/Industrial Leather Goods (March 21), general foundation course (March 24). A spokesman of the board the matric examination would be held in the morning session (9 a.m. to 12 a.m.) and the Senior Secondary School Examination would be held in the evening session (from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.).
	5500 students take part in contests From Our Correspondent CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — Stressing the need to adopt the habit of reading good books and visiting libraries, the Governor of Punjab, Lieut-Gen (retd) J.F.R. Jacob today asserted that librarians should equip themselves to face the challenges posed by the cyberage. Addressing the gathering at the inauguration of Competition Master library related competitions at the Commonwealth Youth Programme’s Asia Centre, the Governor added, ‘’With the electronic media and Internet threatening print media, there is urgent need for traditional libraries to learn to manage digital libraries of the future.’’ More than 5500 students took part in competitions organised by the Chandigarh Librarians’ Association in collaboration with the Commonwealth Youth Program’s Asia Centre. The results are: CARTOON MAKING- (Category I) : Nischal Jatwani-I, Ananya-II, Tushar Khanna-III and Sanmay consolation prize; CARTOON MAKING- (Category II) : Niharika Mahajan-I, Sachin-II, Ketika Sharma III and Narinder Singh consolation prize; POSTER MAKING- (Category III) :Ashm Kataria-I , Rajesh-II, Roll no 5095, class IX-III and Amarinder Singh consolation prize; POSTER MAKING- (Category-IV) : Jyoti Aneja-I, Rashi Paliwal-II, Lov-III and Kavita Singh consolation prize; SLOGAN WRITING- (Category- I) : Vijay-I, Sunaina-II, Divya Rangray-III and Manpreet Kaur consolation prize; SLOGAN WRITING- (Category-II) :Chitrangada Singh-I, Gagan Deep Kaur-II, Harsimranjit Singh-III and Ravijot Kaur consolation prize; BOOKMARK MAKING (Category-I) : Shivani Sharma-I, Megha Jain-II, Prerna Kalra-III and Parshav Jain consolation prize; BOOKMARK MAKING (Category II) : Chetna-I, Sahil Dua-II, Jasleen Kaur-III and Sai Priya consolation prize; COLLAGE MAKING (Category IV) : Priya Verma-I, Bhavna Ranjan and Shaveta Singh-II, Neeru Saini-III; HAND WRITING (Hindi) Category-II :Amrita-I, Ramneek Ghuman-II and Jasmeet Kaur-III; HAND WRITING (Punjabi) Category-II: Deep Bajwa-I, Charu Arora-II and Priyanka Grewal-III; HAND WRITING (English) Category-II : Sanghapreeya-I , Abhinav Saini-II, Shivani Sharma and Garima Sharma-III; HAND WRITING (ENGLISH) Category-III : Manpreet Kaur-I, Priyanka Rishi- II, Chetna Sharma and Sahil Arora -III; HAND WRITING (PUNJABI) Category-III : Nitika-I, Navneet Pannu-II and Ritu III; HAND WRITING (HINDI) Category-III : Rekha Negi-I, Jyoti Thakur-II, Mamta and Poonam - III; HAND WRITING (HINDI) Category-IV : Raj Narayan Avasti-I, Vibha-II and Tek Dharni-III; HAND WRITING (PUNJABI) Category-IV : Baljeet Kaur-I, Amandeep Kaur-II and Sunita Rani-III; HAND WRITING (ENGLISH) Category-IV : Chandmeet Kaur-I, Bhavna Ranjan -II and Divya Sharma-III; HAND WRITING (ENGLISH) Category -I(Lkg and Ukg) : Nitin-I, Ankita-II and Akshat-III; HAND WRITING (English) Category-I (1stand 2nd) : Nardip-I, Mehak Garg-II and Ariandam III; HAND WRITING (Hindi) Category-I (IIIrd and above) :Karishma Singh-I, Pavneet Kaur-II and Mahima-III; HAND WRITING (Punjabi) Category-I (IIIrd and above) : Manpreet Pannu-I, Aastha Singhal-II and Sarabjit Kaur-III; HAND WRITING (ENGLISH) Category-I (IIIrd and above) : Pallavi Piplani-I, Reva Tyagi-II and Sahil Malhotra III; READYMADE ENTRIES (Slogan Writing) : Kamal Kishore-I and Surjit Singh-II; READYMADE ENTRIES (Cartoon Making) : Anu Sharma-I and Sanjeev Arora-I.
	IDP organises seminar Tribune News Service CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — More than 90 students were today acquainted with environment and others areas needing care when they join academic institutions in Australia very soon. The IDP Education, Australia, organised a team ‘pre-departure seminar’ here today. Ms Shalini Kahlon, Manager, IDP, said the basic purpose was to acquaint the students with the working conditions, immigration rules and infrastructure, which they would face besides several other things. Ms Kahlon said several agencies had offices in India but the IDP held a stronger position as it was a non-profit organisation, which had been formed by a union of education institutions. It has branches in over 60 countries. She said “fooling around” by other agencies was very much possible and students needed to guard against it. The main speakers, included Ms Mona Malik Dahiya from Victoria University of Technology, Ms Kanchan Preet Kaur, IDP counsellor, Ms Geeta Gulati, Travel People and Neeru Dayal, DIVA. A number of parents accompanied their wards at the pre-departure counselling.
	PU Prof on NAAC team Tribune News Service CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — Dr B.B. Goel, Professor of Public Administration at the Department of Correspondence Studies, Panjab University, who is on the National Cadre of Assessors on Quality Education, was deputed by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) Bangalore, in connection with making an assessment and accreditation of M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara (Gujarat) from January 8-10, 2001. The Peer Team comprised four Vice-Chancellors (including one serving) and other distinguished scholars. The UGC has made it mandatory that NAAC (an autonomous body of UGC) would assess and grade all Universities in the country by March 2001. Dr Goel had participated in a three-day accreditation process organised by the NAAC as also a similar workshop on Technical Education conducted by the National Board of Accreditation last year. Physics contest From Our Correspondent CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — The first inter senior secondary physics Just A Minute contest was organised at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, here today. The contest was organised in collaboration with the Indian Association of Physics Teachers. The students were asked to speak on a topic concerning physics for one or two minutes. Ten teams from various schools participated. The trophy was won by Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35. The first prize at individual level was won by Jithun, second prize by Prabhdeep and third prize by Swati. The prizes were awarded by Prof M.P. Khanna of the Physics Department, Panjab University. Principal Ram Kumar Sharma proposed the vote of thanks. KU to cancel entrance tests, says VC From Our Correspondent PANCHKULA, Jan 12 — Kurukshetra University has decided to cancel the entrance tests to various courses from next year apart from new job oriented courses. This was stated by Mr R.S. Chaudhary, Vice-Chancellor of the university in his valedictory address at a literary workshop-cum-competition organised by Government Degree College near here today. Mr Chaudhary disclosed that strict action would be taken against the private colleges for under-paying their staff. The five-year law courses will also be restarted with new amendment. Later, the Vice-Chancellor also gave away prizes to the winners of the competition and appealed the college authorities to conduct such types of workshops. Over 100 students from 20 colleges affiliated to Kurukshetra University participated. Mr Hari Chand, Principal of the College, thanked the Vice-Chancellor. Vivekananda’s birth anniversary celebrations From Tribune Reporters CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — A seminar on’ Swami Vivekananda’s Dream India’ marked the beginning of an eight-day long celebrations by the Nehru Yuva Kendra, at Sector 23, here today. The kendra has planned various events to celebrate the International Volunteers Year - 2001. The occasion was the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. Speakers, who spoke on the occasion, stressed upon the need of following the path shown by the Swami. Mr G. S. Bajwa, District Youth Coordinator, said the strength of youth is the strength of the nation. Mr M P Soni, stressed that youth should follow the path of the Swami and should work to remove the present evils in the society. Ms Madhvi Kataria, Director Social Welfare Department, Chandigarh, was the chief guest. Ms Anuradha Sharma, Ms Rajni Gupta and Ms Karmajit, all students of the kendra also participated in the seminar. Earlier, the programme started with paying floral tributes on the portrait of Swami Vivekananda. The programme concluded with lohri celebration. Meanwhile, the Panchkula Journalists Association also celebrated the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda at Chaman Lal DAV Senior Secondary School, at Panchkula, today. Mr S. K. Monga, Deputy Commissioner, presided over the function. Speaking on the occasion he asked the students to follow the teaching of the Swami. Mr Shambhu Ram Vashisht, General Manager of Irrigation Department, Haryana, while addressing the gathering threw light on some of the teachings and values of the Swami, Vivekananda. A quiz competition was also held at the function in which Ms Priyanka Chauhan was adjudged ‘Vivekananda’. She answered all questions in the quiz. Sonal, Richa, Hemant, Vasudhra, Hitesh Oberio, Amit, Roopsi, Sidharth and Shivi, also won appreciation from the crowd for their performance in the quiz. The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad campus unit of Chandigarh observed youth day to mark the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda here on Friday. Former Principal, D.A.V. College, Abohar Dr D.S. Gupt, was the chief guest on the occasion. While addressing the function Dr Gupt, said Swami Vivekananda’s work had given a ray of hope to the mankind. He appealed to the youth to live in peace and harmony. The State Executive Member of Punjab, Mr Surat Negi, said the organisation works towards agitational movement for the cause of students and constructive work. He also gave slogan of ‘Students’ Power Nation’s Power’ by giving the example of Soharto’s movement against tyranny of Indonesian Government. The President of the ABVP, PU, Mr Vivek Chauhan, issued the vote of thanks for the day. School timings From Our Correspondent PANCHKULA, Jan 12 — The Deputy Commissioner of Panchkula today ordered all the recognised school in the district to change their timings due to the cold weather. He has asked the school authorities to open the schools from 9 am and not to keep the dress code mandatory. The orders will remain in force till January 31.

COURTS

Pay 10 lakh ex gratia to martyr’s kin with costs
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today came to the rescue of Mrs Rajbala, widow of Kargil martyr Lance Naik Bhim Singh, a resident of Dhabi Khurd village in Fatehabad district, who laid down his life for the country on July 2, 1999 at Gurmarg in the Kargil sector during “Operation Vijay”.

Mr Justice V.K. Jhanji while allowing her petition directed the Haryana Government to release ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh — Rs 5 lakh to the petitioner and Rs 5 lakh to the parents of the deceased — within one month from the date of furnishing a copy of this order by the petitioner. Thereafter, it would carry interest of 12 per cent annum till payment is made.

The petitioner shall also be entitled to the costs of this petition, assessed at Rs 10,000, which shall be borne by the state government. In case, some amount of ex gratia is released to the petitioner or parents of the deceased during the petition’s pendency, it shall be adjusted towards the balance payable to them, Mr Justice Jhanji ruled.

“If this is the manner, in which the families of martyrs are to be treated, then in future, no mother or wife would send her son or husband to join the armed forces. There is no justification on the part of the state of Haryana to withhold the payment of ex gratia to the petitioner and parents of the martyr, Lk Nk Bhim Singh. This writ petition deserves to be allowed with costs,” Mr Justice Jhanji concluded.

Bhim Singh joined the armed forces the 193 Battalion of BSF in 1988 and was one of those who laid down their life for the country. He died on July 2, 1999, at Gurmarg post. The petitioner came to know about the demise of her husband on July 4. When the SDM, Fatehabad, informed her and the funeral of her husband was attended by state Home Minister, besides the Deputy Commissioner and town’s SP, she said in her petition.

She pointed out that she had three minor children, aged seven, five and three, to support and there was no other source of income to meet household expenses, except pension. The petitioner averred that except messages of condolence and lip sympathy, she had not received any ex gratia declared by the Haryana Government vide memo no. 13/8/92-4D-III on July 2, 1999 at the time of the Kargil action.

“It is really unfortunate that the petitioner received no response despite having written a letter to the Chief Minister for the release of ex gratia, which she was entitled to under the instructions issued by the state of Haryana,” observed the judge.

PPSC ex-member’s suspension quashed

Mr Justice K.C. Gupta of the High Court today quashed the suspension of a former member of the Punjab Public Service Commission Gopal Krishan Saini ordered by the then Governor on February 5, 1983.

Mr Justice Gupta also ruled that the petitioner was also entitled to pension from the date of his superannuation and non-payment of pension was not only oppressive to the retiree but also amount to punishment before trial. “Since at the time of suspension , he was entitled to subsistence allowance and non- payment of the same vitiated the entire proceedings”, observed Mr Justice Gupta.

It was contended by counsel for the widow and son of Mr Saini that the petitioner was appointed as PPSC member on May 30,1981 during the President’s rule. However, a controversy arose between the petitioner and the then PPSC Chairman which was later on distorted and blown out of proportion by the media.

Coop funds for school repair stayed

Our Legal Correspondent adds: The order of the Punjab’s Education Secretary to the Registrar of Cooperative Societies and the Primary Cooperative Agricultural Development Bank Ltd for release of Rs 12.12 crore for the repair of government primary schools in Punjab, was challenged today in the High Court by Mr Pishora Singh, president of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta) and six others.

A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice S.S. Sudhalkar and Mr Justice M.S. Gill, while issuing notice of motion to the state of Punjab and other respondents, restrained them from releasing any amount from the state Agricultural Development Bank and Primary Agricultural Development Banks in Punjab.

The Registrar of Cooperative Societies as per the orders issued by the Secretary had issued directions to the Managing Directors of Apex Cooperative Federation, and Central Cooperative Bank for release of the amount.

The petitioner contended that the aims and objects of the cooperative societies, enshrined in the Cooperative Societies Act and the byelwas of the of the banks, is to promote the development and welfare of the farmers and members of the cooperative societies as well as agriculture and did not include any other purpose.

It was submitted that even the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) through its general manager in letter on October 25, had also objected to the orders as, according to him, it was not covered under the aims and objections of the Cooperative Societies. The work of repair/construction had to be done through the village education committee, yet to be formed by the state. A notice of motion was issued for April 18.

CULTURE

Installation art comes to city
by Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 12 — More than a curator of international repute, Peter Nagy is a lover of India and its rich artistic heritage. He still remembers his first few visits to the country before 1992 which left him craving for more. And by the time Peter decided to settle down in New Delhi for good in 1992, he had already travelled extensively to various parts of India, and experienced its artistic might. Today he is engaged in the promotion of art through Nature Morte, his famous art gallery in Delhi which has seen exhibitions by some of the very seasoned artists of India, as also abroad.

The artist from New York is nowadays in the city for a major mission — that of curating an international art exhibition, the first of its kind in this part of the region. The exhibition (titled Context as Content — Museum as Metaphor) will see works by six famous Delhi-based artists who are trying to blend traditional and contemporary concerns through the medium of art. As Peter got busy giving the final touches to the exhibition at the Panjab University Fine Arts Museum this morning, The Tribune caught up with him to know what made India so special to him and also about how, as an artist, he reacted to the space of the City Beautiful.

“The experience has been just wonderful and I am really impressed with this city in general and with the amazing space of the PU Fine Arts Museum in particular. In the present show I have kept one full room for exhibiting artistic concerns of Mr B.P. Mataur, the man behind the architecture of Panjab University,” he said.

The concept of this exhibition on installation art opening tomorrow matured when Dr Alka Pande from Panjab University contacted Peter in the summer of 1999 in this regard. Since then, he has paid about 10 visits to the city, and has studied the collection of the museum very minutely. In the current show, a lot of works from the museum archives have been used in order to reflect the coherence between socio-political conditions of the past century and those of the present century. The entire space of the museum lies occupied with artistic samplings of the highest order from famous artists like Vivan Sundaram, the illustrious nephew of Amrita Shergill, Samit Das, Anita Dube, Subodh Gupta, Sonia Khurana and photographer Ram Rahman.

Talking about the first-ever exhibition to be curated by him in India, Peter Nagy said, “The idea has been to introduce the concept of installation art to the audiences of this part of the country. We are lucky in that the museum authorities have been extra generous in allowing its space to be represented by the artists. Here the artists are free to make their own interpretations.”

An expert in paintings, ceramics and installation himself, Peter feels India’s artistic and cultural heritage is very rich. “I have spent a lot of time in the College of Fine Arts, Baroda, and even at Ahmedabad later, and I have found India’s artistic insight to be great,” he said, adding that he has been very happy about repeating the concept of his New York gallery Nature Morte in India also. “I am not a nationalist in any sense, and I don’t make distinctions between arts practised in various places. I have held exhibitions in Sydney, Australia, New York and have also held a number of shows in different cities of India. The kind of art that interests me is the same all over,” he added.

In the present show, Peter has done up three rooms — In one he has tried to look into the concept of minimalism and has reflected the commonness between South Indian and Japanese art. The collection has been taken from the museum archives. In yet another he has extensively experimented with giving a contemporary touch to the works of artist Jai Swaminathan.

Other artists have also used the museum collection extensively, and have blended the same with their own works to create an altogether novel artistic experience. Ram Rahman has picked up the lithographs by Gaganendranath Tagore and has tried to achieve a connection between socio-political conditions existing in Bengal in 1917, vis-a-vis those existing today. Vivan Sundaram recreates the experience of Kasauli art camp stretched over almost a decade. Samit Das’s work deals with the architecture of the building which seems to have impressed him a lot, while Sonia Khurana takes paintings from the museum and layers them with cloth to make them appear as dreams. The show will be open for the public till February 10.