The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

PECSTA controversy gets murkier
Chitleen K. Sethi
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 27
The Punjab Engineering College Service Teachers Association (PECSTA) had stopped functioning a month back when six members of its nine-member executive met and decided to dissolve the PECSTA executive, making the body defunct.

The PECSTA continues to exist as a body, but no policy decision will be taken by the members as no general body meeting (GBM) will be held till fresh elections to the executive take place. Complicating matters further, another organisation of teachers in the college, the Punjab Engineering College SC/ST/OBC Officers Welfare Association, has been formed. A white paper from the ‘‘acting’’ PECSTA heads has asked teachers to confirm their membership to PECSTA, stating that no one will be allowed to be a member of any other parallel teachers’ body in the college.

The dissolution of PECSTA has been a culmination of the division among PEC teachers regarding the issue of upgradation of the college to a deemed university. Sources state that although a majority of PEC teachers favour the proposed upgradation, a group wants to stall the effort.

The president of PECSTA, Prof R. K. Khitoliya, called a general body meeting of the PECSTA on March 16 and with the quorum complete, passed a resolution opposing PEC’s proposed upgradation. He was called in the Principal’s office the next day and told that he, as the president of the body, was not authorised to call a GBM. Only the general secretary, who was absent from that meeting, could call a GBM. At a meeting of the executive members of the PECSTA held on April 5, it was decided that the meeting of March 16 be declared unconstitutional and its resolutions null and void. In the absence of Prof Khitoliya, nothing regarding his alleged unconstitutional conduct was discussed. On April 9, the executive met again, this time in the presence of its president. It was decided that a GBM be called on April 27 and the matter be discussed.

The GBM was never held. Six of the executive members met on the day of the GBM and issued a white paper that the present executive had been dissolved and fresh elections to the executive would be held. Sources said it was clear that members of the executive were divided into two groups, one favouring the president and the other favouring the general secretary. Since no one saw eye to eye, it was best to dissolve the executive, said a member of the erstwhile executive.

Most of the teachers complained that the GBM was very cleverly avoided. ‘‘We are members of PECSTA and should have been consulted before dissolving the executive”, said a senior professor of the college. The teachers were also questioning whether a majority of executive members could take a decision to this effect, especially when the president of the association was absent from the meeting.

Adding to the confused situation is the letter written by Prof Khitoliya, complaining against the officiating principal of the college, Prof R.S. Gupta to the National Commission for SCs/STs, New Delhi. The letter stated, “The principal is harassing and discriminating against me personally and through other faculty members. He is forcing me to resign from the post of PECSTA president and has threatened me of dire consequences like disciplinary action and impeachment”.

CBSE Class X results today
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 27
The results of the All-India Secondary School Examination (Class X) conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education CBSE held in March-April, 2001 for Chandigarh region covering affiliated schools of the board from the Union Territory of Chandigarh, states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab will be declared on May 28.

In all, 61,449 candidates appeared for the examinations and 48,417 candidates have cleared the examinations.

The overall pass percentage of Chandigarh region is 78.79 per cent.

The pass percentage of boys is 78.12 per cent whereas it is 79.65 percent for girls.

The government schools of the city can collect the results from the office of the District Education Officer, UT, Sector 9.

Other local schools may collect their results from the regional office , CBSE, Sector 32 C.

Students of the city schools can contact their respective schools for obtaining their results and not the board’s regional office.

The results will be available on board’s websites www.cbse.nic.in and www.results.nic.in on May 28.

The results for the outstation schools will be despatched by post.

This information was issued through a press note issued by the Controller of Examinations, Mr Pavnesh Kumar.

Teacher dismissed
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 27
The services of Ms S. Sawhney, a teacher of Punjabi at St John’s High School, have been terminated for hitting a student of Class VII on the head. The decision to act against her was taken by the school’s managing committee .

The incident took place in January this year when Brother D’ Abreu was the Principal. Official sources said that Ms Sawhney was found guilty of a similar violation of the school’s regulations when she had brutally beaten up another child in August last year.

The teacher was suspended on April 1. Later an inquiry was held and the managing committee served a show-cause notice to her.

The present Principal, Ms Pushpinder Cheema, said, “Corporal punishment should be discouraged in schools. In this case, the teacher had been given due opportunity to change her behaviour.’’ She, however, added, “the action against Ms Sawhney should in no manner be considered demeaning. Nobody should question her credibility as a good teacher.’’

CULTURE

Fusion of East and West — the Maddi way
Parbina Rashid

Chandigarh, May 27
Music came as a call from above to this Canada-returned Punjabi pop singer who turned down a career in Mechanical Engineering to adopt music as a profession. He is Madan Maddi who is in town on a promotional tour for his recent album “Has Bol Ve”—a romantic album based on the fusion of eastern lyrics with western beat , a trend which seems to have stuck with the Punjabi pop singers these days.

Defending his compositions, Maddi says though Punjabi folk is rich in it’s own right, but to catch the attention of the younger generation, a coating of western beats has become an important part as they prefer the music that has the power to sway them.” Besides looking at the global demand for Punjabi pop, the artists have no other option but to present their song with an international flavour,” he adds.

The call for music came late for this singer. Maddi who did not have any training in music or a musical background, had joined his friend on impulse on a trip to Canada in 1989 to perform in a stage show for the first time.” The show was the turning point for me,” says Maddi.”It was the heady feeling of success that got me hooked to this profession,” he adds as he recalls his romancing days with Punjabi pop.

His first album “Mohabatta” in 1992 established him as a pop singer in Canada and later in India. The second album “Maan Na Kariye” which was released in 1998 established him in the world of Punjabi music.

Maddi who admits having been influenced by Punjabi singers like Sardul Sikander and Sukhwinder Singh feels lyrics are the most important ingredient of songs . “ Music may come and go ,but it is the lyrics that leave a lasting impression on people’s mind,” he says. Maddi writes lyrics for most of his songs.

Earlier, the singer addressed a press conference and performed a few numbers from his album including his favourite song “Tu cheez hai kudiye” at a discotheque in Sector 9 here today.

From modelling to acting
A Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 27
Jatin Grewal of ‘Rahul’ fame was in town to meet his old pals of DAVC, Sector 10, where he spent a number of years.

A star at 25, this handsome man also holds an MBA degree from a college in Pune. When asked how he ended up in the Mumbai limelight, he said after winning his share of fame in Gladrags Manhunt ‘98 there was just no looking back. What followed was a series of advertisements, music videos and finally a role in Subhash Jha’s movie.

Before ‘Rahul’ Jatin had done advertisements for Vimal, Pringle, Aquafina etc and music videos for Jagjit Singh and Pankaj Udhas. But surprisingly, the transition from modelling to acting was not that difficult a job for him. According to him, its just a myth that models have to use stiffness in their work. Its all a matter of attitude.

Prakash Jha, of ‘Mrityudand’ fame, apparently picked him up without a screen test. He saw him in advertisements. Jatin thinks of it as a stroke of unexpected luck that turned into an amazing learning experience for him. As a newcomer, Jatin allowed himself to be molded by the director.

‘Rahul’ was not a film with a typical story line and the role of a father was not a conventional one at all for a newcomer. Yet Jatin had no qualms about this score and indeed the audience has loved his performance. Even critics have appreciated this newcomer.

At this point of time his goal is to be established as a versatile actor and a performer in the film industry. There are no specific directors or actresses he would like to work with, he is currently focused on working on good projects.