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August 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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PU entrance test for PhD
on November 3 Chandigarh, August 30 A high-levelled committee has cleared the basic guidelines. However, a final shape to the recommendations will be given shortly. The committee members included Dr Sodhi Ram, the Controller of Examination, Dr Deepak Mammohan, chairman of the Sheikh Baba Farid chair, Dr Satya P. Gautam and Prof S.M. Handa, besides others. The university is preparing the basic guidelines for the entrance test which will be circulated along with the forms. However, the syllabi and pattern of the entrance papers will be given individually by the teaching departments. It was suggested that departments should also prepare sample papers for assistance to the students. The university has decided to introduce the entrance test to raise the standards of research. It is a well established fact that a large number of students of doctorate never completed their research and merely availed the university facilities. Also, there has been negligent research contents of national or international standards in routine research which get noticed for contributions in individual fields. The committee has recommended that students will have to be at least second division holders to qualify for the entrance test. The university has also decided that research facility in the departments will only be available to students where guides were available. All the candidates who have qualified for JRF in NET conducted by the University Grants Commission will be exempted. All NET qualified teachers and NET qualified M Phil scholars will also be exempted from a written test. In-service college teachers will also be exempted from the entrance examination. A majority in the academic circles strongly support a written test for entry into PhD. This will help in screening a large number of non-serious students who just enrolled of the PhD degree but never completed their works. Foreign students holding valid research visas for doing PhD will have to qualify the test. Cases of sponsored foreign students under the ICSSR and other academic exchange programme fellowships will not be required to appear for the entrance test. Importantly, the validity of the test will be only for one year from the declaration of the result. |
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Eco clubs struggle to survive Chandigarh, August 30 After implementation of the National Green Corp a year back, about 100 such clubs had mushroomed in various schools of the city, but they are still in the infancy stage. Abiding by the guidelines of the corp laid by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, last year, the government schools in the city had geared up to join the mass movement for saving the environment from further depletion, but their enthusiasm seem to have deserted them halfway. A visit to a few schools revealed that few staff members and even a lesser number of students were aware of existence of such clubs in their schools. Except for attending a few seminars by the in charge of the club or sending students to a couple of on-the-spot painting competitions organised by environment-related voluntary organisations, activities organised by these clubs amounted to almost a nil. “The activities of eco clubs are limited to phase I, which is awareness generation, whereas the hour of the need is to get the students actively involved, “ said Mr S.K. Sharma, president of the Environment Society of Chandigarh. “It is time to move towards more realistic concepts like sustainable development, rather than limiting students to tree plantation and pollution conted,” he added. “There is no separate school fund to carry out such activities in the eco clubs” said In charge of one such club. The club which started a vermiculture project to utilise the dry foliage littering the school premises had to be abandoned due to lack of funds. “It takes about Rs 1200 to buy a kg of worms for vermiculture and a sizable amount of money for animal waste which adds up to about Rs 1500 per project,” informed one of the teachers. “With the Ministry of Environment and Forest sanctioning just Rs 500 per annum, how can a school afford to continue such activities,” he asked. Under the National Green Corp, the eco clubs were to undertake activities under two heads, awareness generation and actual conservation of environment. The awareness generating part includes seminars and lectures for staff and senior students and activities like slogan writing and painting competitions for younger students to sensitise them with environment-related problems. Analysing the reason behind the failure of these clubs in a majority of schools, Dr Vikash Kohli, in charge of the eco club in DAV Senior Secondary School for Boys, Sector 8, said apart from financial crunch attitude of the teaching faculty was also to be blamed. “Most of the teachers who are made in charge of such clubs feel they are being saddled with extra work and hence do not put in their best,” he said. DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, is one such school which has done good work in ecology-related activities in the school campus. The school had initiated such activities even before initiation of the National Green Corp and had conducted activities like vermiculture, vermivash, water harvesting besides having a full fledged harbel garden and green house. The school authorities have also been conducting nature-study camps and talks to involve students of other schools as well. Admitting the failure of eco clubs in government schools, another teacher from one of the Government Model Senior Secondary School said teachers were already overburdened with academic work. However, the most important drawback remained the lack of funds. “Once or twice we drew money from other funds to carry out activities of our club, but this type of adjustment cannot be done for a longer period,” he added. Sources from the Department of Environment and Pollution, Sector 17, which is the nodal agency to supervise the activities of eco clubs, said though the Central Government had given only Rs 500 last year, the department was willing to consider funding of any worthwhile project submitted by the schools. |
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One year of excellence Chandigarh, August 30 It has made software for the Pollution Control Board, the Employment Exchange and libraries. A number of seminars, including those by Microsoft, Infosys and the IT companies of the SPIC IT Centre, have been organised here in the past one year. The anniversary function was presided over by the UT Secretary Information Technology and the Finance Secretary. The function was attended by a number of IT professionals, students and teachers, besides the Director IT, Mr Vivek
Atray. The centre was inaugurated by the UT Administrator, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), last year. The Chandigarh Administration came up with the infrastructure and Microsoft gave the manpower support and software. The centre is managed by the Society for Promotion of IT in Chandigarh (SPIC) under the aegis of the Department of Information Technology. This complex is spread over 3,500 sq ft and comprises a conference hall, hi-tech classrooms, 30 workstations and a meeting room. It has the latest equipment for training, software development and presentations. The centre offers courses in
MCSF, MCSD, MCDBA, VB and SQL 2000. Microsoft trains the faculty, students of the centre (from the PEC and other institutions) and employees of the Chandigarh Administration. The aim is to develop skills for the emerging software industry in the UT. |
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Karnataka
students hurt as bus overturns Chandigarh, August 30 At least six students, who were admitted to the
GMCH, Sector 32, were discharged today. The students were travelling by a private bus as part of their educational tour. The injured students were immediately offered medical aid by Dr
G.D. Goel, who runs a nursing home at Naraingarh. The six of the injured were later shifted to the
GMCH. Most of the students were in a state of shock when the Chandigarh Tribune team met them in the Baba Balak Nath dharamshala in Sector 29 this morning. The students were waiting for a bus to take them back to
Rishikesh. Ms Shanla, a lecturer of horticulture, who was heading the students, said : “We were sleeping when the bus suddenly overturned at about 4 a.m. Of the 51 students in the bus, around 40 received minor injuries.” Perturbed over the incident, the tour to Shimla was cancelled and now they would be travelling to Rishikesh and
Hardwar. |
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CBSE awards for two DAV principals Chandigarh, August 30 While the Principal of KB DAV Centenary Public School, Sector 7, Ms Madhu Bahl, will be handed over the CBSE Teachers’ Award for 2001 by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, on September 4, the Principal of DAV Model School, Sector 15, Ms Rakesh Sachdeva, will be given the National Award for 2001 against the CBSE quota by the President of India, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on September 5. The award includes a certificate of commendation, a cash award of Rs 15,000 and a shawl. Ms Bahl already has the PTA National Award, the Woman of the Year Award and the Excellence Award 2000 to her credit. |
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Notices
to Admn, school on land Chandigarh, August 30 Seeking directions to place on record the allotment letter issued in favour of the Heritage Society and praying for allotment of the site to their society, the petitioner submitted that the Shivalik Society was having more experience in running the schools than the Heritage Education Society. They further submitted that in fact their society was more competent than the Heritage Society. Alleging that the Heritage Society was not having any experience in running schools, it was contended that in spite of this the site had been allotted in their favour at the behest of a local member of Parliament. |
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Cases of harassment for dowry Panchkula, August 30 Ms Sunaina has accused her husband, Parwinder Singh, of Singhriwala in Hoshiarpur, of harassing her for dowry. A case under Sections 498-A, 406, 323, 504, 506 and 34 of the IPC has been registered. In another case, Ms Kusum Lata has accused her husband Ram Singh, Sunita, Rameshwari Devi and Bachna Ram of harassing her for getting insufficient dowry at the time of the marriage. A case under Section 406, 498-A, 323 and 506 of the IPC has been registered. |
Rahul Bose’s film bares life, frame by frame Operating at three levels, personal, dual and societal, …I’m Fine raises the most basic of questions: why do we behave the way we do? It starts and ends in Xen’s, an upscale hairdressing salon, in one of the most exuberant
neighbourhoods of Bombay. What lies between the first and the last frame of this cinematic masterpiece by Rahul Bose is hard reality, bared piece by piece through a perfect chemistry between editing, sound, musical score and dramatic element. As Xen, the hairdresser, reads the minds of unsuspecting people, the viewers see their carefully erected facades collapse. And although they all say they are fine, in reality they are not. They are just living up to the false image they created for the world last night. So every morning they must get ready to face the world in a facade they chose for themselves. It is from this distortion of reality that the relevance of the film’s title surfaces beautifully, as beautifully as director Rahul Bose expects. The dynamic actor-director of 33 years, who was at Lawrence School, Sanawar to conduct a theatre workshop, spoke with The Tribune about his artistic evolution through his first film; also about why he did not think twice before putting Rs 3.75 crore at stake. “Finance flowed easily. I hope the film will crossover. The problems it explores are universal, its emotive appeal is global and its sensibilities are close to the bone,” he told us. No wonder ESIF has already beaten Men in Black everywhere; equalled or beaten Minority Report at other places. In the second week in Delhi, it has beaten Devdas on percentage collections. Coming from Rahul, who is essentially an actor, the film is incredibly honest and appealing. Created by best professionals in the field, it scores the most on music by Ustad Zakir Hussain. Admits Rahul, “As I wrote the film I began to hear the music that would play behind its words. It spanned all genres: rap, trance, rock, pop, jazz, and qawwali. And I knew only Zakir could so it.” Even as you watch ESIF, you can smell the world in it. The film has Flora, an Algerian singer, harmonizing with Talat Aziz on one track, Carlos Santana playing to Storms’ vocals on another, and members of the horn section of the Californian band, Tower of Power, playing alongside traditional qawwals from India. Direction is the highest point in ESIF. With 11 plays, four films, a best actor award at the Singapore Film festival for his role in Split wide open, and powerful roles in English August and Bombay Boys, to his credit, Rahul could well have continued being an actor alone. But he says his urge to make ESIF was uncontrollable. “I have been close to people who say they are fine, even when they are not. To say that you are fine is a way to project your positivity, but when you project the same to a level where it begins to sound untrue, life becomes torturous. People lie because they are overly consciously of societal response. Here is a film that can help them be true to themselves and the world.” Rahul adds: “The film is emotional, not arty or intellectual. I may have acted in arty films but this is my first creation and my creations are always from the heart. That is perhaps why the film has done well wherever it has been released.” Even outside the country, ESIF has attracted large audience, not because it has a great star cast but because it has a great story line, and convincing performances by Rehaan Engineer (Xen), Koel Puri (Nikita), Rahul Bose (Rage), Pooja Bhatt (Tanya) and Anahita Uberoi (Misha). |
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Chandigarh, August 30