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| Tuesday, February 27, 2001, Chandigarh, India |
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PU teachers to retire at 62? CHANDIGARH,
Feb 26 — Will the retirement age of the teachers of Panjab University and its affiliated colleges increase to 62 years or remain 60 years? While Panjab University teachers are worried about the Central Government’s delay in notifying the PU regulation in this regard, which has now been with the Central Government for almost one-and-a-half years, a letter to the PU Vice-Chancellor is causing the teachers a lot of anxiety in the matter. This letter from the Ministry of Human Resource Development in a reply to a reminder sent by the PU to notify its regulation of December 22, 1999, states that the GOI will consult the Punjab Government and the UGC in the matter. In what is being termed by sources as an unprecedented step on part of the Central Government, it has written to the Education Department, Punjab, asking for its advice on the matter, which, unconfirmed sources state, has recommend continuation of the present age of retirement. Following the UGC’s recommendations, the PU Senate had resolved in March, 1999 that “steps be taken to change the conditions of service of teachers by amending regulations of the university and colleges, so that the age of retirement becomes 62”. It also stated that “in the interregnum and in view of the interim direction granted to similarly placed persons by the High Court, as also in view of the proposal being sent to the Government of India for increase in age of retirement of teachers from 60 years to 62 years, persons retiring during this period be permitted to continue at their own risk and responsibility, subject to and in anticipation of the approval of the Government of India/publication in the Government of India gazette.” Following the High Court decision, many of the Panjab University teachers, who were to retire at 60 have continued in service “at their own risk and responsibility” but the same decision is not applicable to college teachers, who retire according to their own set of rules. The government college teachers retire at 58, following the service condition rules of Punjab, the non-government aided college teachers retire at 60, while the Panjab University teachers retire at 62. Since the PU regulation includes the case of colleges, a decision of increasing the age of retirement of college teachers can cause an even more anomalous situation. “Since Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, and Punjabi University, Patiala, have not increased the retirement age of their teaching staff, Panjab University, doing it for its affiliated colleges will make the situation among the state’s other employees unstable,” states a senior college lecturer. While the college teachers fear that the GOI will not allow such a move, the PU teachers are hopeful about the increase in their retirement age, the fact remains that the GOI’s delay in taking a step in either direction is causing unnecessary rumour mongering among the teaching fraternity. |
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800 throng British Education Fair CHANDIGARH,
Feb 26 — It was the first session of its kind on the academic avenues available at various British Universities. No wonder then that the Education Fair, UK, which had 20 British education experts with ready information on concerned aspects, drew immense support. Attending the interactive session at Hotel Mountview this morning were none less than 800 aspirants who posed queries ranging from the scope of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the UK. Thanks to the British Council, representatives of 23 British universities were at the venue today, sorting out and clarifying the confusions of visitors to the fair. Talking to the Chandigarh Tribune about the strategy of universities, Sunita Kripalani, Head Education Counselling Service, The British Council, said, “The British universities are looking for excellent academic record, well-drafted applications and career-oriented aspirants. The motive behind this fair was to actually counsel people about the various courses offered by our universities.” |
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Teachers hold protest march CHANDIGARH, February 26
— Representatives of teachers drawn from 250 universities and 11,000 colleges of India under the auspices of the All-India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation
(AIFUCTO) gathered at Mandi House, New Delhi, and from there marched to Parliament for the implementation of an agreement between Prof Murli Manohar Joshi, HRD Minister and AIFUCTO on September 5, 1998, which was signed after 26 days of strike across the country. Issues resolved in the agreement included implementation of the CAS from 1.1.1996, pay fixation of DPs and librarians at Rs 14,940 at par with the senior lecturers and the grant of super selection scale of Rs 16,400-20,900 for senior teachers as a third promotion.
Representatives of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal,
DUTA, FEDCUTA, joined the protest march and raised slogans against the government for not implementing the decisions. Later, in the evening a five-member delegation of AIFUCTO met the Speaker of Parliament and expressed resentment over the inordinate delay in the implementation of the agreement. |
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Sec 14 SBI to be PU cashier CHANDIGARH Feb 26 — The Sector 14 branch of the State Bank of India will act as the cashier of Panjab University and would be collecting all the fee and selling various forms from April 1, 2001. Presently the university fee is collected by a private contractor whose contract is to expire on March 31 this year. According to the sources in the bank, the fee collection counter will remain at its present location at the basement of the Administration Block and the bank will be ‘‘installing computers’’ at the cashier counter. Sources in Panjab University claim that the move will ‘‘speed up’’ the process of fee collection and by delegating the fee collection and form selling to the bank, the university will be saving Rs 18,000 per month. Presently, the university give the amount to the contractor as commission. Mr Paramjit Singh, Registrar of the PU, confirmed that the SBI would become the cashier of the university. It is also learnt that bank officials have requested the PU authorities to make certain changes in the dates of fee for the various examinations so that the rush could be avoided as last date of the various examinations of the university often ‘‘occur on the same date’’ causing rush at the cashier counter. Meanwhile, the branch has started selling the Common Entrance Test (CET) forms from today. The forms are also available at the bank’s branches at Delhi, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Jallandhar. Earlier, the forms were sold from the cashier counter of the university. |
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Peace march by Ladakh students CHANDIGARH,
Feb 26 — More than 250 supporters of the Ladakh Students Association of Chandigarh held a peace march here today demanding a Union Territory status for the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Starting from the Panjab University, the students carrying banners moved towards the Sector 17 plaza where they raised slogans voicing their demand. The students are demanding that Ladakh should be separated from J&K. |
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March disallowed CHANDIGARH, Feb 26 — A group of Tibetans was refused the permission to hold a peace march on the Panjab University campus here today. This group of students, monks and nuns was going from Dharamsala to New Delhi to attend the National Uprising Day rally on March 10. Members of the Chandigarh unit of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress received the group at the PU gate. These
students will now attend the Tibetan New Year celebrations tomorrow in
Valmiki Bhavan here. |
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Annual day of society CHANDIGARH,
Feb 26 — The Hindi-Sanskrit Society of the Sector 11 Government College for Girls celebrated its annual day here today. Group dances, folk songs, poems and Saraswati Vandana were presented on the occasion. Ved Mantras were also recited. The Principal of the college, Ms Vijalakshmi, was the chief guest. A skit presented by students called Meethi Yaadein depicted the transformation of children from school kids to college graduates. There was also a garba performance. The function was organised under the guidance of Dr Vinod Suri of the Department of Hindi and Dr Shyamlata of the Department of Sanskrit of the college. |
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Bhatnagar: transfer case to civilian court CHANDIGARH, February 26 — Major Maneesh Bhatnagar today submitted that his trial be transferred to a competent civilian court and that the judge advocate in the general court martial trying him for dereliction of duty be changed. In a six-page submission, Major Bhatnagar contended that since no justice was expected from the court in the given circumstances, the case, under Section 125 of the Army Act, be transferred to a civilian court. Certain offences which were not purely military in nature could be tried by either a civilian court or a court martial. He contended that since intricate questions of law were likely to arise in the trial, it should be transferred to a competent court having concurrent jurisdiction. Alleging that the court proceedings on record had been tampered with, Major Bhatnagar said they showed a totally different account of the trial. He added that blank spaces had been left in the draft proceedings and that the judge advocate had failed to prepare a fair copy of the proceedings on a day-to-day basis. Major Bhatnagar further alleged that the judge advocate was quoting irrelevant procedures of law, thereby denying justice. Contending that the judge advocate’s legal advice to the court was contrary to the issue in focus, the accused officer contended that he was trying to shield witnesses as well as disallowing relevant questions and not allowing the truth to come out. He further alleged that the judge advocate was reading out court proceedings to certain parties on the telephone and had denied the accused officer certified copies of the court proceedings. He contended that since the judge advocate had acted contrary to the provisions of law, he was ineligible to sit in the GCM and should be replaced. The prosecution, while denying to comment on the conduct of the judge advocate, maintained that as far as the question of supplying certified copies to the accused was concerned, the matter was simply academic and had no legal bearing. |
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HC issues notice of
motion on cop’s plea CHANDIGARH, Feb 26 — On a petition seeking the registration of a case against Patiala’s Senior Superintendent of Police Harpreet Singh Sidhu along with two other cops for allegedly harassing a woman constable, Mr Justice V.M. Jain of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice of motion for March 14. Constable Paramjit Kaur in her petition had earlier alleged that the house allotted to her was cancelled without notice and she was illegally detained at police post, Tripuri, after she refused to co-operate with Sub Inspector Bindu Bala and other cops in implicating Superintendent of Police Harjinder Singh in a false case. Seeking directions for registering a rioting and criminal conspiracy case under Sections 365, 342, 220, 120-B, 148, 149, 354, 382, 392 and 409 of the Indian Penal Code, the petitioner had added that household articles were also taken away after certain police officials entered her residence by breaking open the doors. Giving details, the petitioner had added that SI Bindu Bala had called her in May last year as the SSP wanted to involve the SP in a case of immoral trafficking. She had added that the SI became hostile towards her following her refusal to cooperate with them. |
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Nagaland notes
enrapture audience PANCHKULA, Feb 26 — Nagaland, with its dances and songs, by students from across the country, were brought to the audience at a cultural programme organised at Government College, Sector 1, here today. The function, organised under the North-eastern School Students Cultural Exchange Programme by Nehru Yuva Kendra, the Ghoomer Academy of Arts and Culture and Government College, Sector 1, saw cultural items from the states of Punjab and Haryana as well. Beginning with the presentation of Vande Matram and a patriotic song, the vivacious Punjabis, attired in colourful suits, set the mood for the day, doling out one Punjabi folk song after another. Next came the rustic notes of Haryanavi folk songs and girls in lehangas of vibrant hues gave a lively performance during the two-hour programme. Students staged a skit highlighting the fight of women for liberty and freedom from an oppressive society and traced their route to victory. These items were jointly prepared by students of the college, members of the Nehru Yuva Kendra and the Ghoomer Academy. Later around 30 Naga students gave an entertaining cultural programme, transporting the audience to their state, as melodious notes of Naga music, accompanied by peppy beats of the drums, charmed those present. The Chief guest, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Shyamal Misha, said that exchanges like these, would go a long way in preserving and propagating the cultural heritage and revival and formation of Indian traditional arts and culture. |
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Radha-Krishna lila in shadows CHANDIGARH, Feb 26 — It was yet another interesting presentation by Prabal
Pramanik, the ustaad kalakaar of Devasthanakala, the traditional art of paper cutting. After presenting two very successful shadow-puppet shows on themes concerning the Buddha and another concerning a French Fairy Tale, Prabal today focused on the Radha Krishna lila and brought home the theme through amazingly cut-out images depicting Radha and Krishna on the banks of
Yamuna, Radha and Krishna going to pastures with cows, and both watching pigeons. Apart from the delightful presentation, Prabal also went on to talk about the history of this art which flourished in the Vaishnav community hundreds of years ago. He informed that the ustads used to ply scissors and sharp cutting blades creating amazing art works to decorate temples, nat-mandirs, and kirtan sabhas at the time of Vaishnav festivals such as Ras, Holi, Janamashtami and Jhulan. “The speciality of this art that produced superb creations was that the paper cuttings were made without any previous sketching or tracing. At
Mathura, Vrindavan, Bengal and Orissa, where Vaishnav communities lived and enriched Indian culture, this rare art form manifested itself in different schools depicting silhouette and stencil forms. It is interesting to note that ustads of the yore not only depicted Radha Krishna lila but also scenes from the daily life at their time,” the artist informed. Prabal will hold two more shadow puppet shows on February 27 and 28, titled, ‘The delusion of time and Chandi-Mahishasur mardani’, respectively. |
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