EDUCATION

Degrees still elude graduates
Tarun Gill

New Delhi, July 4
Even as prospective students are trying hard to get into the college of their choice, the alumni of various colleges affiliated to the Delhi University, including the School of Correspondence Studies, are complaining that they still have not got their official degree from the university. The problem is particularly galling for those students who are seeking admissions abroad where the institutions insist on the original degree.

``I passed out of college in 2001, and I am still waiting for my university degree. Every time I call up my college (Hindu College), they say it is a cumbersome process and takes time. So, keep waiting. Though DU provides provisional degrees, what do I tell the universities in the UK? They want the original degree,’’ said Raju Sharma, a student keen on higher studies abroad. Pallavi Tondon, a student of the School of Correspondence Studies, is also facing a similar problem.

"I have actually given up. I know it will take ages to collect my degree. The university authorities told me that I have to submit the enrollment number. I have done the needful, but in vain’’ Pallavi pointed out.

"We have dispatched all degrees for the year 2000 and as far as last year is concerned it will take time as we are in the process of printing them. They will come out by early next year. Unlike foreign universities, where everything is automated, work in Delhi University is manual. So, obviously the process will take time’’, said, Mr B. S. Garg, Controller of Examination, Delhi University.

"The degrees are only given after the formal convocation, which is either in January or February. And then we also have to evaluate the college results.

But as far as the School of Correspondence Studies is concerned, there are a few problems, as we don’t know anything about the candidate’s background. The student’s inability to furnish the enrollment number — it is a special number given by the University — creates an additional problem. Most student’s don’t have the enrollment number and I can’t do anything about it,’’ he added.

Dr Hema Raghavan, Dean, Student Welfare, Delhi University, feels that college degree can be obtained before the convocation.

"Sometimes foreign universities don’t accept the provisional degrees. To get into such universities, one must possess all the original documents. A student can request the Vice Chancellor and obtain the degree in an emergency. But the student has to go through all the formalities," she said. 

MDU court meet postponed to July 22

Rohtak, July 4
The 27th meeting of the court of Maharshi Dayanand University, scheduled to be held on July 8, will now be held on July 22. No reason has been given for postponing the meeting, which was to be chaired by Haryana Governor-cum-Chancellor of the university Babu Parmanand. An official handout said that the meeting would be held from 10 am in the Senior Teachers’ Common Room of Indira Gandhi Vidya Bhawan of the university on July 22.

In another development, Dr Dalip Singh, Director, Directorate of Distance Education of Maharshi Dayanand University, has been entrusted with the additional charge of Director, Computer Centre, with immediate effect by the Vice-Chancellor of the university. The Vice-Chancellor has also ordered the shifting of the Computer Centre to the new DDE. 

COURTS

Govt can revoke suspension of NBB Director: HC
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 4
The Centre’s decision to revoke the suspension of National Bal Bhawan Director, Ms Madhu Pant, has been validated by the Delhi High Court.

“The government can disagree with the views of the Chairperson and the Board of Management of National Bal Bhawan. Consequently, it can overrule a decision taken by the Chairperson or the board, as it has done in the present case,” a Division Bench comprising Justice A. D. Singh and Justice Madan B. Lokur said.

“In case of termination/disciplinary proceedings, the same procedure as is adopted in the case of appointment has to be followed,” the Bench observed, while setting aside the order of a single judge of the court.

Allowing the government’s appeal, the Bench, before giving the judgment, observed, “we must say this is a case, which ought to have been sorted out by the parties amongst themselves, through some sort of in-house mechanism. Bal Bhawan, as its name suggests, was surely not intended by its founders to settle its internal disputes through a court of law.”

In December 2000, NBB Chairperson Ajay Singh had suspended Dr Pant, pending contemplated disciplinary proceedings.

Aggrieved by the Chairperson’s order, Dr Pant appealed to the central government challenging her suspension as well as the initiation of the disciplinary proceedings against her.

After being advised by the Ministry of Law and Justice that prior approval of the government ought to have been taken before placing the Director under suspension, the Ministry of Human Resource Development in December 2001 cancelled the suspension order.

The NBB and its Chairperson moved the court against the government’s order. Their prayer was acceded to by the single judge in January 2002 as a result of which Dr Pant was again placed under suspension. However, the Division Bench, hearing an appeal against the January 2002 order, reserved the decision.

According to the rules for the post of Director of Bal Bhawan, the appointment can only be made after prior approval of the central government.

Consequently, if disciplinary action was to be taken against the Director by its Chairperson, then the same could only be done with the prior approval of the government and not otherwise, the Bench said.

Bal Bhawan is a government-funded, yet autonomous, organisation of the Ministry of Human Resource Development with an aim to provide opportunities to children for education, to enhance their creativity and provide them with experience and activities not otherwise available to them.

CULTURE

ARTSCAPE
He conquered the darkness of Ajanta with his camera
Garima Pant

Art historian and photographer Benoy K. Behl at Sigiriya caves, Sri Lanka.

THE exhibition on ‘Ajanta - The Unseen Jewel’, photographed by Benoy K. Behl, is on display these days at the National Museum, New Delhi. Benoy has “conquered the darkness” of the Ajanta caves with his technique of accurate photography in dim light. Through these breathtaking photographs, the world gets a chance to discover the still bright colours of the Ajanta paintings, regarded as one of the most exquisite exposition of art worldwide. They are at last finding their true place in the world.

The 31 caves of Ajanta are carved out of the rock in the horseshoe-shaped gorge of the Waghora river in the Sahyadri hills of Maharashtra. In this wild solitude, amid forests and ancient hills, the followers of Buddha sought spiritual solace. They created an isolated refuge, far from worldly thought, to mediate in peace.

The British rediscovered the Ajanta caves in 1819 and were struck by the extraordinary beauty of its paintings. The paintings of Ajanta mainly depict the Jataka tales: the stories of Buddha in his previous births, as a man and in forms of various animals. These simple parables convey the teachings of Buddha. The world of compassion, the main essence of the teachings of Buddha, is enshrined in the paintings of Ajanta more beautifully than anywhere else in the world. The Ajanta site is on the World Heritage list of protected monuments.

Despite the fact that the Ajanta paintings have been a subject of research of scholars from around the world, these were largely unseen in their authentic colours until now. The reason being that the caves are dark and the Archeological Survey of India does not permit the use of strong lights, as these would damage the ancient paintings. However, Benoy’s photographs capture the paintings in their true colours and ambience.

A Banarasi Pandit and a person from Orissa, Cave 1, Ajanta.

PLAYTIME
A mirror to the world around

THE play, ‘Cleansing’, directed by Sanjay Kumar and staged by Pandies’ theatre at the Shri Ram Centre in the Capital, is an acute response to what is happening around the world — violence, destruction, oppression. In a world fast losing its sanity, the play foregrounds and focuses on conflict and its resolution. Does nationhood and evolution of a national identity mean the submergence of the other? This is the question that is raised by the group..

What constitutes this national identity? Does it include a woman, a poor woman? Does it include a Dalit or even a poor Brahmin boy? The play abounds in images of terror, rape, bestiality, domination, humiliation and seeks introspective answers from its viewers. The play was well received by the audience in the Capital.

Pandies’ theatre was registered in September 1993.

Committed to stage plays relevant to the ethos and time, it has evolved as an activist and possibly the only feminist theatre group in the Capital. Started as a university movement in 1987, it has established itself among the leading groups with an impressive strength of 70 regulars.

(Input by Garima Pant)

MUSIC ZONE
New albums from T-series

MUSIC giant T-series released the music albums of two new movies, Ankhiyon Se Goli Maare and Kaante, this summer. While Anand Milind has composed the music for Ankhiyon Se Goli Maare and Sameer the lyrics, famous playback singers like Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik and Sanjeevani have given voice to the lilting notes.

For Kaante, the music was composed by Anand Raaj Anand and lyrics by Dev Kohli. Anand Raaj Anand has also lent his voice to some of the songs in the album, others being Kumar Sanu and Kavita Krishanamurty.