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| Saturday, January 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India |
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Booting trouble for IT course in
schools CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — The plan of the Chandigarh Administration to invite private parties for providing computer education in government schools and colleges here has run into trouble. This might destroy aspirations of thousands of city students. The Administration had invited top computer-education institutes in November past year to run specialised courses in 67 schools and 4 government colleges here from April this year. However, a legal battle over the previous tender that was floated about 8 months ago has now held up things. For the moment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has allowed the Administration to open technical and commercial bids. However, these cannot be declared till the case of the previous tender was pending. Sources said that the first tender had been cancelled because the Administration, after declaring its IT policy, wanted to upgrade the requirements for selecting the party. An ISO certification was made mandatory and the student-teacher ratio was fixed. None of the earlier bidders had the ISO certification. One of these bidders moved court, challenging the cancellation of the tender. In the second tender, the Administration sought separate rates for vocational and certificate courses. Separate courses will be
introduced for Microsoft certification and colleges. The bidding parties were required to have an annual turnover of Rs 3 crore. The companies will use their own computer hardware and software for running the courses. The configuration of hardware and latest upgrades have been included in the terms and conditions. The Administration also laid down the required minimum qualifications of computer instructors employed by the companies. The course will be for students of Class VI and above, besides all students of the government colleges here. Sources said the facility would be extended to aided colleges later. The syllabus has also been finalised and the other guidelines will soon be laid down by the Education Department of the Administration. Before inviting the tenders, the Administration realised that it would be difficult for it to fill the posts of teacher and buy computer hardware and software all by itself. The cost of maintenance would have made the venture even more expensive and time-consuming. In the fresh tenders, the bidders will be asked to quote their price for teaching one child for one month. The cost of quality computer education is expected to be not more than Rs 100 per month. About 60 per cent of the students in each school and college here are expected to join this course. The Administration will provide the private party, that gets the contract, with rooms and power connections. The power will have to be paid by the private party only. The teaching material will be approved by the Director Public Instructions (schools) and the curriculum will be updated regularly. The company that gets the contract will pay 10 per cent of the fee collected from students to the IT funds of respective schools. |
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Women not safe
today: Kishwar CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — Women are not safe today. Sexual harassment, so pervasive, is also a recognised fact of a part of a woman’s life. This was stated by Ms Madhu Kishwar, Editor of Manushi, and a well-known social worker, while addressing a seminar on ‘Sexual Abuse of Students by Teachers’ organised by Yuvsatta here today. Ms Kishwar said leave apart adjectives like ‘Durga’, ‘Chandi’ and ‘Shakti’, the fact today was that no woman was safe from sexual abuse including those who were witnessing clear malafide advances from the male bastion. “I was a student at Delhi University. I opted for a paper in English, which had very few books. I went to my teacher who made vulgar advances at me. I slapped him and ran. My repeated complaints to the chairperson and even the Vice-Chancellor fell on flat ears. I was a known student leader. If my case went unheard, then one can imagine others who keep their mouths shut”, Ms Kishwar said. Referring to a mention by an earlier speaker of building an atmosphere where girls could be safe enough to enter closed rooms of guides, she said: “This decency never happens in real life”. There have been significant movements for women rights but the mood needed to be upbeat. Ms Kishwar added that it was impressing that Yuvsatta, which was largely a male bastion, had come forward to organise a seminar on sensitising people on women issues. Earlier, she formally opened a box, The Rakshak, which will be displayed at various places. Harassed victims can put their problems in the box, which Yuvsatta would enquire into, Mr Pramod Sharma top head of the organisation said. Mr Sharma earlier quoted press briefs over the past couple of years where case of sexual harassment of girl students by teachers had been reported. He said the aim was not to malign the teacher activity. The social existence had changed for students. The issue needed a re-look from a fair perspective. Prof P.P. Arya, a former president of the Panjab University Teachers Association, said that the issue should perhaps be addressed by the teachers themselves for introspection. Panjab University had negligible cases of such acts. The university needed to gear up first for the exercise. One problem was that the time of enquiry and ultimate declaration of judgement was much more than necessary. The world of students also had undergone a change. Night parties, dances and outings had become an accepted feature of life. The world of computers, cable and even changes in newspapers had become important issues. Munish Anand, a former president of the Panjab University Campus Students Council, said there were several cases where girl students, particularly research scholars, faced trying times in the department. |
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Innovative exhibits on
display Students had put up models on different topics like computer education by depicting computer as a miracle of science and other such as handicrafts, collection of various seeds, Punjabi culture were set up by students of senior classes .
These students had also put up beautiful items made in the art and craft department. Spotted toys, embossed paintings, block printings, glass paintings and other innovative creations were displayed. Students from class II had displayed a model depicting national players. Tiny tots from first class had made beautiful figures out of the clay. They had used waste material like coke cans, sticks, spoons and other things to make beautiful models out of them. Collection of seeds in different shapes had been displayed by students of class IV. Students participated enthusiastically in the making of the models. These exhibitions enhance the creative ability of the students, said the teachers. Meanwhile, it is also learnt that the annual prize distribution function of the school would be held on January 20. The Director Public Instructions (Schools), UT, Mr D. S Saroya would preside over the function. |
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‘Criticism necessary for growth of language’ CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — A periodical critical evaluation was needed for the development and pace of development of any language and evaluation and criticism were not mere the tools of pointing out drawbacks and questionable aspects of the writings of any period, said Prof Sutinder Singh Nur in the inaugural address of the three-day national seminar on “Evaluation of Punjabi literature in the 20th century” being organised by the Panjab University School of Punjabi Studies and the Sahitya Akademi, Delhi, at the ICSSR complex of the PU here today. The turn of the century was an opportunate time for reassessing the development and moods of the language which had seen definite changes over the past century. Marxism, neo-Marxism, modernism and post-modernism, besides other phases of the century, has characteristic features which have contributed to a separate identity and the force of literature in the language, he added. Prof Nur said that there were many aspects of the development of the language which could raise eyebrows in criticism. The debate in the mood of criticism was necessary for growth of any language. Punjabi had faced certain problems in struggle for maintaining a distinct identity and began to look for a separate identity from the beginning of the century. Prof Ashok Sahni, Dean University Instructions, said, “The last 100 years in the world had been remarkable but Punjab had seen incomparable historic scenes during this period. There was trouble right from the start of the century. The world wars cost precious heads of the land. The partition saw unimaginable scenes of the devastated families’. I was myself in Pakistan in 1947, he said. Green Revolution brought changes in the way of living. The years of terrorism in the 1980s need no introduction for the years of pain. The language was bound to have imprints of the life around. Santokh Singh Dheer, a noted Punjabi author, presided over the inaugural session. Dr Raghuvir Singh introduced the subject while introducing the speakers. Mr Ramesh Bhasin, a special secretary in the Sahitya Akademi, welcomed the guests. He said that the proceedings of the seminar would be published in book form after allowing the authors to make changes if thought deemed following discussions. The speakers in the afternoon session included Dr Amarjit Singh Grewal, Dr Surjeet Li, Dr Paramjit Singh Sandhu and Dr Vaneeta. The topics were related to language, culture, science and influence of the west on Punjabi. Prof N.K.Oberoi, English Department, presided over the session. |
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Debate on books, libraries CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — ''Books and libraries can never be written off as they cater to the masses and not the classes as is the case with the electronic devices,'' was the message conveyed by students at an inter-school debate organised in collaboration with the Chandigarh Librarians Association at the GMSSS, Sector 35, here today. The topic for the debate was ''In this electronic age, libraries are not needed''. Twelve teams comprising two participants from each school from Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Panchkula participated. In the end of the debate the motion was put before the House for an open discussion and voting. For the motion: the first prize went to Kanika, St Annes School, and the second to Mohit of GMSSS, Sector 35. Against the motion: the first prize was won by Aarti of Mount Carmel School and the second by Guneet of, Shishu Niketan School. The General Secretary, Chandigarh Librarian Association, Mr I.B. Verma, informed the next competition in the series was inter-college debate on books and library-related topic in collaboration with Government College, Sector 46, on the college premises. |
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Blood donation in college CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — More than 70 volunteers donated blood at a camp organised by the Government College of Education in collaboration with the Panjab University branch of the State Bank of India on the college premises here today. The camp was inaugurated by the DPI (Colleges), Ms Madhavi Kataria, who stressed the need for cultivating social sensitivity among the youth. |
Ex-subedar’s plea on cuts allowed CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Chief Justice Arun B.Saharya and Mr Justice B.K.Bali today admitted a writ petition filed by Subedar Mukhtiar Singh (retd) challenging the circular dated November 24,1997 of the Ministry of Defence issued regarding revision of pension to pre-1996 Armed Forces Pensioners, which provides for double deduction of the commuted pension from the revised arrears from January 1,1996 to November 30,1997. The Bench, after admitting the petition ordered it to be heard on October 22. Counsel for the Union of India accepted the notices on behalf of all the respondents. Subedar Mukhtiar Singh, who retired on January 31,1991 was granted a basic pension of Rs 1300 per month and an amount of Rs 585 per month from the old scale of pension. However, at the time of giving him revised pension arrears, which was effective from January 1,1996, an amount of Rs 585 per month was deducted for a 23 months which resulted in double deduction of the commutation value of pension. The subedar’s case was sponsored by All India Exservicemen’s Welfare Association under its legal aid scheme, which has been espousing the cause of pre-1996 pensioners, as a large number of ex-armed forces personnel had been adversely affected by the circular said Mr Bhim Sen Sehgal , chairman of All India Exservicemen’s Welfare Association. Show-cause notice to ex-Secy Our legal correspondent adds: A Division Bench of the High Court issued a show-cause notice to Mr Prem Prashant, the then Haryana Financial Commissioner and Education Secretary to show cause why a direction should not be issued to the government to take action against him for having passed the order on March 31 appointing the Additional DC, as administrator of Mahavir Jain Girls School, Jind, in wanton disregard of provisions of the 1971 Act on the ground of alleged irregularity and embezzlement of grant-in-aid by the school authorities. Mr Justice G S Singhvi and Mr Justice Nirmal Singh, comprising the Bench, issued notice to Mr Prem Prashant for March 12. The school had filed a writ petition challenging the appointment of the administrator of the school. The school was a recognised aided school and had been receiving grant-in-aid to the extent of 75 per cent of the expenditure against the sanctioned posts. The government did not release the grant, which led to the financial stringency. The Secretary passed the impugned order on a complaint filed by teachers of the school, who alleged embezzlement of grant-in-aid. On inquiry by the City Magistrate, the allegations were said to have been proved. It was contended on behalf of the school that the Haryana Aided School ( Security of Service) Act, 1971, had no provision for appointing an administrator, which allegation was found to be correct by the
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Six-month RI for adulteration CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — The UT Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Sant Parkash, sentenced Gurcharan Singh, a resident of Patiala, to six-month rigorous imprisonment under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, here today. It was alleged that the Food Inspector had visited the shop of the accused on July 8, 1992, and had found 20 litre of cow’s milk for sale there. The Inspector purchased 750 ml of it as a sample and sent it for laboratory analysis. The analysis revealed that the sample was deficient in milk fats. The Judge sentenced the accused to six-month rigorous imprisonment and imposed a Rs 10,000 fine on him. Bail granted The Judge observed that the co-accused in the case had already been granted bail and the police had not presented the challan as yet. The accused was granted a bail on furnishing a bond of Rs 15,000 and one surety of the like amount.
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Bhatnagar case CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — Amidst heated arguments in the ongoing general court martial, Maj Maneesh Bhatnagar today demanded that the Commander, 50 Parachute Brigade, Brig A Shivrain and Brigadier-ic-Administration, 14 Corps, Brig A Vasudeva be produced in court and asked to explain how the former had communicated direct with the GCM’s presiding officer. He also questioned as to why the Army was seeking an explanation from Brigadier Shivrain on its own instead of the GCM asking him to explain as the matter pertained to the trial. Terming the proceedings of the GCM as illegal, Major Bhatnagar, in an eight-page submission put before the GCM today, contended that the prosecution could not give a reply to his plea of jurisdiction without first examining witnesses. Major Bhatnagar had finished reading out his plea, challenging the jurisdiction of the court, earlier this week. He contended that as per the provisions, he should now be leading evidence with the prosecution cross-examining them before replying to the plea. In his submission, the accused officer also termed the conduct of the GOC, 14 Corps, in regard to a statutory complaint filed by him earlier, as illegal. Contending that the summary of evidence (SOE) was illegally recorded, he maintained that the convening of the GCM was illegal as the charges mentioned against him in the court of inquiry and the SOE were different. Maorj Bhatnagar also alleged bias against him by his commanding officer, brigade commander, division commander, corps commander, Army commander as well as the Army chief, besides the GCM’s Judge Advocate, Major Vipin Chakravorty, who, he contended, was guiding the prosecution. The Judge Advocate, a law qualified officer from the Judge Advocate General’s Branch, is the legal adviser to the court martial. He further alleged unwillingness on the part of the Judge Advocate to record his submissions. Major Bhatnagar also demanded to know under which provisions of the Army rules is the Army planning to conduct proceedings of the trial “in camera”, where no outsiders would be permitted to view the proceedings. He was referring to Brigadeir Vasudeva’s comments that certain portions of the trial, where operational details or matters pertaining to national interest would be discussed, would be closed to the public. Meanwhile, in the other ongoing GCM of Maj V.K. Madhan, the defence produced a letter written by the accused officer to the Deputy Judge Advocate General, Northern Command, which alleged improper recording of the summary of evidence. The letter consisted of an appendix, containing the verbatim text of a conversation allegedly between the officer recording the SOE and a witness. The examination of the witnesses continued, with Colonel Vivek Tripathi, Commanding Officer of a locally based Army Service Corps battalion, deposing before the court. Col Tripathi was asked by the defence to produce some letters and applications written by the accused officer and forwarded through him to the higher authorities. |
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Patiala carriers told to
pay compensation CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — The UT District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Patiala Carriers to pay compensation to Mankind Pharma (P) Limited, Industrial Area. The complainant, distributor of pharmaceutical products, had stated in his complain that the company had booked a consignment of medicines with the Patiala Carriers worth Rs 11370 for carriage from Chandigarh to Bathinda on January 20, 1998. It was alleged in the complainant that the consignment did not reach its destination and the consigne didn't returned the documents. In view of this, the complainant had requested the opposite party to rebook the consignment. It was further alleged that the Patiala Carriers, even acknowledged the loss of consignment and agreed to make good the loss, but despite repeated requests the Patiala Carriers did not settle the matter. The forum observed that the goods had neither been delivered at the destination nor delivered back to the complainant amounting to grave deficiency in the service on the part of Patiala Carriers. The forum direct the Patiala Carriers to make payments of Rs 11,370 as the price of the consignment with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from the date of the complaint till payment along with Rs 1,100 as compensation. CJI to open
seminar CHANDIGARH, Jan 19—The Chief Justice of India, Dr A.S. Anand, will inaugurate a two-day seminar on “E-commerce, information technology and cyber laws: emerging trends in the new millennium” here tomorrow to mark the inauguration of the Punjab and Haryana regional subchapter of the SAARC Law Indian Chapter. Stating this here today, the president of the organising committee of the seminar, Mr Harbhagwan Singh, said Justice R.N. Bhagwati and Dr Justice Nasim Hasam Shah, former Chief Justices of India and Pakistan, respectively, would be among the participants. A Supreme Court Judge, Mr Justice Umesh C. Banerjee, who is the President of the SAARC Law India Chapter, will deliver the keynote address. Mr Harbhagwan Singh said Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi, who is the patron of the organising committee, would deliver the special address, while Dr A.M. Singhvi, Vice-President of the SAARC Law, would deliver the inaugural address. He said the implications of information technology, specially in the light of the IT Act, 2000, passed by Parliament would be the main topic for discussion at the seminar because these were not clear to not only the common man but even to the legal fraternity. |
Bangla play presented CHANDIGARH,
Jan 19 —
Teesta Paarer Brittanto, the Bangla play based on a novel by Debesh Roy, was presented during the ongoing festival of traditional and contemporary theatre by young artistes, Swarnotsav. The play, which has been adapted and directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay, was presented today at Tagore Theatre by Chetna, Kolkata. The play is set in northern parts of West Bengal by the banks of the Teesta. Gayanath — the master of creation, had once ordered Bagharu (played by Sankar Debnath) to tie trees to his body and allow himself to be carried away by the waters of the mighty river. Later Bagharu is trapped in a fatal situation from which he is rescued by villagers. The play reflects the undeterred spirit of Bagharu who remains constant in his attitude despite the changing times and upheavals. Here in the play, Bagharu is negation personified. Suman Mukhopadhyay, director of the play, admits that it was not easy to handle the sensitive subject portrayed in the novel by Debesh Roy. "It is difficult to make a play out of a novel, and especially when the novel adds a fresh chapter to the very history of the genre and creates a new paradigm for narration. The play was well-received. |
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Shail, Mangal sing for enthused
fans CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — The day saw yet another Punjabi singer Mangal Singh talk about his onward journey towards the world of music. Saturation in this field apart, it's strange to see the way the world of music is luring talent, and a lot of Punjabi talent at that. Mangal Singh who is currently selling his latest album Koka which is being talked about more for its three videos by choreographer Ganesh Acharya, also performed at the Chandigarh Press Club this evening. The performance was quite loud and active, and it seemingly impressed the gathering. Also on the stage was Shail Oswal, the young singer who was recently in the news for his release Kahan Hai Tu which had great music by Biddu. Earlier during the day Mangal Singh talked about the latest release Koka which has musical scores by Vidyut Goswami. The music director who has done a number of jingles has somehow managed to give the album a different tinge lest it should sound like just another so-called Punjabi pop music lineage. There are eight songs which suggest different emotions from those of pain to nostalgia to bliss. As far as lyrics of the album by Sham Balkar, Madan Pal and Mohan Preet Singh are concerned, they do manage to match up to fair standards. Koka comes after a break of two years as the singer himself informed while interacting with the media this evening. "This album is different from any other album done by me and I hope it is well-received," said the singer making a rather humble claim. Video of the album was also talked about as satisfactory, and three video direction have come from famous film choreographer Ganesh Acharya. As for Shail who bore a rather humble look during the conference, things are just beginning to shape. His video Kahan Hai Tu has been received well at the music channels, and especially so for the amazing direction by Bobby Khan who chose to shoot the score in the exotic locales of Toronto. Songs of his album were penned by Timon Singh, Sophiya, and Zoheb Hassan. |
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