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| Thursday,
September 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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PU ponders over paternity leave issue Chandigarh, September 4 The university had received a letter in this regard from the Punjab Government earlier this year. The matter had also featured in the Syndicate meeting. However, the issue could not be cleared due to differences of opinions. The university has constituted a committee to look into the matter. The committee members under the chairmanship of Prof R.J. Hans Gill, Dean, University Instructions include Principal Tarsem Bahia, Prof S.P.Gautam, Mr Ashok Goyal, Principal P.S.Sangha and Prof R.D.Anand. The Punjab government letter said “A male government employee (with less than two surviving children) on his request may be granted paternity leave for a maximum period of 15 days (after commuting his 30 days half pay leave), during the confinement of his wife.” The letter adds, “ This leave should normally be not refused”. The letter was forwarded to the university. Initiating the discussion in the syndicate Principal Tarsem Bahia had pointed out that in contravention to a University Grants Commission circular “the circular received from the Punjab Government regarding paternity leave should not be accepted in isolation of the UGC circular. This would create confusion and might land the university in trouble”. He, however, asserted that the leave rules should be decided either in accordance with the UGC norms or the Punjab Civil Services norms. ‘Endorsing the view points expressed by Principal Bahia, Principal A.C.Vaid said the UGC circular should be followed instead of adopting parameters which were “palatable and not following what was not palatable”. Dr M.M. Sharma said since the circular was a part of UGC leave rules, it should be adopted. Justice D.V.Sehgal said way back in 1975, the university had accepted the Punjab Government rules. He said Punjab Government under the national policy had issued leave rules that should be accepted by the university. Dr Amarjeet Singh Dua said the university should adopt the circular, like it has done in other cases. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof K.N. Pathak, said ‘The adoption of the circular regarding paternity leave to employees would be examined in light of the discussion and would be brought once again before the syndicate after discussions.” A university professor said granting paternity leave was a move initiated by the Centre that had been adopted by the state. The university also functions in a similar environment and male teachers in the university had similar family responsibilities so there was every reason in granting them paternity leave. It was a facility being extended for family care so there was no justification in university rejecting it. A fellow of the university Senate, however, differed on the issue. Already the workload of a university teacher, in general, gave him enough time for family care under existing conditions. So, there was no need for the facility of paternity leave being extended to them. |
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Taking up teaching
for convenience Chandigarh, September 4 On Teachers’ Day, Vandana, along with other speakers, will be delivering a long lecture on dedication and
hard work during a special function organised to commemorate the occasion. But if you ask her, she will tell you the truth — off the record that is. “I was not interested in teaching at all,” she says. “After doing my M.Com, I wanted to settle down in some nice multi-national firm. In fact, I even took up a job with an organisation having an office at Mani Majra. All was well till I gave birth to Nidhi. Then I realised that I had to take up an 8 to 1 job that would give me enough time to spend with my daughter”. “It was then that someone suggested that I should take up teaching as profession. I applied for a job and, being qualified, got it. At first, I found it difficult to interact with the students, but soon I got used to it. At school, I realised that I was not the only one who had taken up the profession just because it was convenient. There were so many other teachers, like me, who were instructing students just because it was easy”. Commenting on the trend, Principal of Sector 15 DAV School Rakesh Sachdeva says: “It is surprising to observe that nowadays we have a class of youngsters who are taking up teaching as a career not because they love to instruct and interact with kids, but because it gives them anything between Rs 3,000 to Rs 8,000 without going to the office from 9 am to 9 pm”. Giving details, she said, “What makes matters worse is the fact that girls who hate teaching and were never good at expressing themselves are taking up the profession as soon as their kids begin to attend school. This way, they not only earn money, but at the same time manage to give personal attention to their growing kids”. Talking about her days as a teacher, she says, “When I joined the profession as a young teacher, things were different. Then, we had dedicated youngsters taking up the profession. Youngsters who were really interested in teaching children and believed in establishing personal relationships with them. Those were the days when children could walk into the residences of their teachers. Cards were not required on the Teachers’ Day to express love and respect for the tutors. Now things are different”. Agreeing with her, another teacher Anu Sharma, comments, “We are not trying to say that we do not have competent and dedicated teachers these days. They are there but their number is less. There is nothing wrong with taking up teaching as a profession because it saves labour, but the teachers must make it a point to justify their time as long as they remain in the school”. |
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‘Review
needs of universities’ Chandigarh, September 4 This was said in a press note of the All-India Federation of University Teachers Association here today. It has been sent in context of the ‘Teachers’ Day celebrations, scheduled for tomorrow. Prof P.P. Arya and Prof Satya P. Gautam, its president and general secretary, respectively said: “Ceremonial functions will be held and role of teachers as the builders of the nation will be chanted. These rituals only betray the complete lack of responsibility towards the cause of education in the country. It is tragic that none of the political parties care to put education as a significant issue for their agendas”. “To comply with the demand of structural adjustments from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the sector of education has been taken as a soft target for demolition in the name of curtailing expenditure”. “The manner in which posts are falling vacant in the universities and colleges are being abolished is a clear indicator of the irrational and irresponsible approach being adopted in the name of economising expenditure.” The note added: “The increasing bureaucratisation of the universities by denying academicians the chance to provide academic leadership to the universities deserves condemnation.” |
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Workshop
concludes Chandigarh, September 4 The main emphasis of this workshop was to develop positive thinking among the students to make them aware of adolescent and environmental problems and their solutions. The speakers advised students to put in their best in studies. A declamation contest was also organised by the Lions Club, Gold, Central, Midtown and Moonstar. The awards were given by Dr N.K. Grover. The results of the declamation contest are as follows. Juniors — Manisha and Sagu Priya; seniors — Amit and Monica; environment — Bhupinder and Sangeeta; seniors — Swati Salwan, Abhay and Monica. |
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DISTRICT COURT Chandigarh, September 4 Meanwhile, the court has dismissed a plea moved by Sidhu to direct the Chief Secretary, Punjab, to take possession of government accommodation (house number-914) in Sector 39 allotted to him by the Punjab Government and to direct the SP Vigilance, Punjab, to deliver the goods inclusive of everything lying in the house. Sidhu was produced in the court of UT Judicial Magistrate(First Class), Mr Sanjay Sandhir, in the afternoon by the Punjab Police personnel. Sidhu had also stated in the plea that he was forcibly taken away from his house in Sector-39 by policemen on March 25, 2002, without affording any opportunity to him to talk to any of his relatives or acquaintances or friends. Sidhu further stated in the plea that the police had taken away some of the documents also and the possession of government house had been taken by the Vigilance Bureau police from that day and they had not delivered the articles and valuables lying in the house or in the possession of the police. He added that the authority letters from time to time in favour of four individuals were got attested from the court for the delivery of goods but he remained unsuccessful in getting back his belongings. The UT police had registered the case against Sidhu under the Excise and Arms Act on the complaint of the DSP Vigilance, Mr Jora Singh. The police had allegedly recovered 14 bottles of foreign liquor, 250 rounds ammunition of .12 bore gun and 225 rounds of Springfield rifle from accused house in Sector 39. The UT police had framed charges against the accused on June 12.
Case adjourned In a civil suit filed by a Propaganda Secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal Badal district Ropar, Mr Gurmeet Singh Matharu, through his counsel, Mr N.S Minhas, against the Chief Minister of Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, Mr H.S. Hanspal and Punjab Congress MLAs through CM, Punjab (defendants) in a local court has been adjourned till October 3. The Deputy District Attorney today appeared in the court for the Chief Minister of the Punjab and sought time to file a reply in the case. Mr Matharu had filed a suit for mandatory injunction directing the defendants to declare their assets since the day they had taken oath in Punjab Vidhan Sabha. The plaintiff Mr Matharu stated in the suit that PPCC had contested the Punjab Assembly election in the month of February 2002 and in its election manifesto the PPCC had issued a number of long advertisements and also made a promise to the general public through newspapers, electronic media and openly declared in the public rallies that if they came to power after the election then the CM, and other ministers as well as the MLAs would declare their assets on the day they will take oath in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. It was also stated in the suit that earlier a legal notice was issued to the defendants but no reply had been received so far. Hence the present suit has been filed against the defendants. The plaintiff had pleaded in the suit that the defendants may be directed to declare their and their family members’ assets to the general public as well as to the plaintiff in the interest of justice. |
Blending harmonies across the globe Chandigarh, September 4 For vocalist and guitarist Mark, India is now as much a home as it is for Kaiya, who has presented about 10 concerts here. Heavily inspired by the music of Pt Ravi Shankar and by some of the happening Bollywood beats rendered in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ by Ehsaan, Shankar and Loy, both Mark and Kaiya, international rocking artistes from the UK, love to be in this part of the world. Currently engaged by Wills Classic to give form to the musical phrase “Passionite” across 20 Indian cities, the musical duo are today in Chandigarh to offer to the crowd whatever their musical instincts crave for. In a face-to-face interview this morning, the two communicated in the language of music, talking of how, despite meeting as a team for the first time, they feel they have known each other for ages. Mark inherited the art form from her mother, Mecca Trapaga, who still has her musical sleeve up. With a host of performances alongside legendary Latin star Julio Iglesias to her credit, Mark’s mother was often invited especially to perform at the Coconut Palace of Emelda Marcos. Mark naturally grew up with nostalgic Santana and flamenco tunes, which he now blends beautifully for his listeners. As far as rapport with his teammate Kaiya is concerned, Mark rightly said, “It is for the first time Kaiya and myself are coming together as a team to perform. But there is no element of strangeness between us. We both talk music and so it does not really matter what languages we speak. We can both understand each other through our respective tunes and rhythms.” Reciprocating Mark’s views, Kaiya talked about the Indian audiences which seems to be on the verge of shedding their inhibitions. “When we perform live for audiences in night clubs or hotels, we can see a sure change. They take time to release but the moment music takes over, they are ready to just flow with the rhythm.” As far as musical offerings are concerned, Mark has a passion for classic rock and Spanish flamenco. His music is the most received when it has something to do with the age when Hotel California and Summer of 69 were offered to music buffs. Also Mark has performed everything from Enrique Iglesias, Santana, Prince to Gypsy Kings, Tom Jones, James Brown and Neil Diamond. A die-hard fan of U2, Mark is always accompanied by his guitar, which he uses to spill old world magic of Elvis Presley as also of Julio Iglesias. Not just that, he is especially known for presenting a version of hotel California in Rumba flamenco style. ‘It is a relaxed beat, which beings a soothing effect,” said the vocalist. Jamaica-born Kaiya, now a London resident, has an enviable mix of melodic collaborations with Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Chubby Checker, Eddy Floyd and Percy Sledge to her name. Mainly a solo performer, Kaiya has performed extensively in India. Teaming up with Mark, Kaiya presented a rich melange of numbers ranging from the pre-eighties to neo-music to rock’ n’ roll in the city today. As the programme, titled
Passionate, had a special flavour which must be maintained throughout all presentations across India, the duo are more focused on vocally-powerful music. “Especially in context with Punjab we would like to be vocally very strong because we are aware of the boisterous Punjabi beat,” said Mark, adding that they would present everything from versions of Careless whispers, the traditional La Bamba to Coco Jumbo and Un-break my heart. The duo performed at Blues in Sector 34. |
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Freshers jive to latest numbers Chandigarh, September 4 The occasion was a bash for the freshers and they were all welcomed in style. As the students gathered at Khyber in Sector 35 to give form to the function, the mood was set by some of the hot and happening Bollywood songs playing in the background. Gradually, the youngsters started taking on to the dance floor. The music that played was a blend of Western and Indian numbers, the hottest of them all being Addictive (a remix of a Western melody on the beat of the old Hindi song “Thoda sona lagta”. Among the other numbers that played were some of the old-time as also new Punjabi songs with loud powerful beats, that added to the fun of jiving. |
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