EDUCATION

PU panel to identify meritorious students
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 23
Taking up the issue of selection of the teaching faculty made to various departments till March, 2000, the Panjab University Senate resolved to constitute a five-member committee to identify “need-based and meritorious cases” at a meeting held yesterday. These would, then, be brought to the next meeting of the Syndicate and the Senate.

In the matter raised by Dr Ajaib Singh and deferred till the end of the meeting, Prof Charanjit Chawla moved a resolution, seeking the formation of a three-member committee to discuss all appointments, not confining to candidates who had moved court alone. This was accepted by the house.

However, Mr Sat Pal Jain, suggested that the number of members be increased to five and the committee constituted on the behalf of the Senate which finally got the nod.

These appointments had been made during the tenure of the former Vice-Chancellor, Prof M.M. Puri, and brought to the Syndicate in April, 2000. However, these were deferred, then, and could not be taken up later with the change of headship at the university.

These came up in the Senate meeting of December 26, 2000, with Prof K.N. Pathak, as Chairman of the Senate, and were rejected following which four candidates moved court.

Those who challenged the decision of the Senate included Mr P.S. Kang, Ms Saveen, Mr D. Marwaha and Mr V.P. Jhingan. The high court set aside the decision taken in December 2000, and the matter was again taken up at the last Syndicate meeting where it was rejected. It was brought to the Senate meeting for information where the decision to constitute a committee was taken.

Dr Jagdish Kalra, Reader in English, Department of Correspondence Studies, Panjab University, was reinstated by the Vice-Chancellor. This was communicated at the Senate meeting.

The university declared re-evaluation results of B.Sc. (General) I, MA I (Political Science) and MA II (English) examinations conducted in April-May, 2002.

Principal refutes overcharging allegation
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 23
The spillover to yesterday’s Senate meeting at Panjab University came here today with Senator, Syndic and Principal of the GGDSD College, Sector 32, shooting off a letter to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof K.N. Pathak, refuting allegations of overcharging for the M.Sc (IT) course.

Substantiating his claims with fee receipts of all students admitted to the course, Dr A.C. Vaid belied allegations that his college had charged Rs 32,500 from students against a fee of Rs 30,000 for the course, levelled by Senator Rabinder Nath Sharma.

Claiming that Mr Sharma had “defamed” his institution without any basis, he has also requested the Vice-Chancellor, also the Chairman of the Senate, to send a copy of his letter to all members of the Senate.

He, further, clarified that unable to elicit the response expected to this self-financing course, some local colleges might have resorted to overcharging to meet the recurring expenditure but the same was not true for his college.

“Intervening out of context, Mr S.S. Hundal said he, too, had paid Rs 32,500 for the course. However, he failed to mention that his son is not a student of my college but was studying in the local DAV College,” Dr Vaid added.

Claiming that Mr Sharma had threatened to resign from the Senate if proved wrong, Dr Vaid, in his letter to the Vice-Chancellor, has hoped that he would stand by his words and quit from the Senate.

While Dr Vaid himself handed his letter to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Pathak, he also gave a few copies to Syndics present at the university today. However, Mr Sharma was not available for comments.

School organises decoration contest
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 23
A class decoration and discussion contest was organised at Amravati Public School, near Surajpur, today.

Students decorated their classes on different themes and explained these themes to the judges. They also participated in class discussions on issues like elections in Jammu and Kashmir, their favourite sport, freedom struggle movement and festivals.

The school Principal, Ms Poonam Gupta, said the purpose of these contests was to develop confidence and spontaneity among the students and prepare them for constructive discussions. The results in various categories are as follows: Pre Nursery - Manvi, Havle and Tanvi; Nursery A - Anmol, Tanya and Sagar; Nursery B - Mohit, Prithvish, Rohan and Manik; Class KG - Mannat, Akshay and Atul; Class I - Lakshay, Kunal, Himank and Rohit; Class II - Prakhar, Arjun, Radhika and Rohit; Class III - Tamanna, Shiva Harish and Vivek; Class IV -Aditi, Subir and Anav; Class V - Akshita and Anjali; Class VI -Munish and Nikhil.

Meeting on adult literacy
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 23
A meeting to prepare a plan for adult literacy and community development programmes for Panjab University and the Chandigarh Administration was held in the Registrar’s office of the university today.

It was decided to send an appeal to all heads of the departments both in the university and the Administration to prepare a list of all illiterate employees, workers and their family members and submit these to Ms Manjeet Paintal, Director, Regional Resource Centre for Adult and Continuing Education, Panjab University, for enrollment in the adult literacy-cum-vocational training courses. Among others present at the meeting were Dr C.L. Narang, Director, NSS, Dr Ajaib Singh, Director, Centre for Adult and Continuing Education, and Ms S. Kalra, Deputy Director, Adult Education, UT.

COURTS

CONSUMER COURTS
HUDA directed to pay 50,000
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 23
Finding deficiency in the services provided by Haryana Urban Development Authority(HUDA), the UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed HUDA to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 on account of harassment and mental agony suffered by a resident of Panchkula. The consumer commission has also directed the HUDA to pay 18 per cent interest on the amount deposited by the complainant after two years from the date of deposit till the actual physical possession of the vacant plot is handed over by the HUDA.

A complainant, Capt Piyush Babbarwal, had filed the complaint against HUDA through its Chief Administrator, Director Country and Town Planning-cum-Urban Estate, Sector-18, Madhya Marg, HUDA through its Chairman, Estate Officer, HUDA, Gurgaon.

The complainant had filed a complaint for seeking the issuing of a direction to HUDA to handover the physical possession of the plot allotted to him after completing the development works in the area or Sector as per project plan.

He had prayed for issuance of further direction to the HUDA and others to pay interest at the rate 18 per cent per annum on the amount of Rs 7 lakh deposited by him with HUDA and others till the actual physical possession was given to the complainant. The complainant had also sought compensation on account of harassment, mental agony and expenditure in pursuing the matter with HUDA and also compensation on account of escalation in the costs of construction material had also been claimed besides costs of litigation.

The complainant further stated that the Estate Officer, HUDA, Gurgaon, had allotted plot number 603 in Sector 38 in Urban Estate HUDA, Gurgaon, to him and he had deposited a sum of Rs 7 lakh approximately. He alleged even after that HUDA did not offer possession of the plot after completing the development work as per the project zoning plan.

He added that more than two years had passed but still the actual physical possession had not been handed over by HUDA to him and this amounted to deficiency in service. It was alleged that HUDA became annoyed with the complainant who was pursuing the matter regarding the delivery of the actual physical possession of the plot.

It was further alleged that HUDA was not entitled to demand annual installations and on the other hand were liable to pay interest at the rate of 18 per cent per annum on the deposited amount after the lapse of reasonable period of two years’ which in this case expired on December 15, 2001. The complainant further alleged that the total price of the plot was Rs 18, 47, 110 and as such this commission had a requisite pecuniary jurisdiction to entertain the complaint.

After hearing the arguments from both sides, the UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission stated in its order that the complaint moved by the complainant was allowed to the extend that HUDA and other parties had been directed to pay interest at the rate 18 per cent per annum on the amount deposited by the complainant after two years’ from the date of deposit till the actual physical possession of the vacant plot was handed over by HUDA and other parties in the case to the complainant. The HUDA and others were further directed to pay a sum of Rs 50, 000 as compensation to the complainant on account of harassment and mental agony suffered by him. Also the cost of litigation was quantified at a sum of Rs 2000 to be paid to the complainant.

DISTRICT COURTS
Statement recorded in rape case
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh September 23
The statement of another girl was recorded in the rape case of a Shimla-based girl, in a local court today. The statement of the girl was recorded in an enclosed court in the afternoon.

Earlier, the UT Additional and Sessions Judge, Mr Balbir Singh, had granted anticipatory bail to a suspect, M.K Jain, in the case and also disposed of the anticipatory bail plea moved by the victim girl with directions to the police to give a seven-day notice to the victim girl if her arrest was required in the case. The judge had also dismissed the plea moved by the three suspect, Ram Lal, Surinder Sharma and Baldev, in the case.

Judicial remand: The two employees of the Haryana Tourism Corporation (HTC), Resham Singh and Surinder Singh, who had been arrested by the UT police in connection with the rape of a woman belonging to Halo Majra, were today remanded in judicial custody by a local court. It was alleged that the two suspects had allegedly raped the woman in a guest house in Sector 2.

Beant case: The statement of a head constable with the UT police, Anil Sharma, was today recorded in the Beant Singh assassination case before the UT District and Sessions Judge, Mr H.S. Bhalla, in a special court in Burail Jail.

In his statement, the witness stated that on August 31, 1995, he received a wireless message that a bomb blast had taken place in front of the Civil Secretariat. He rushed to the spot along with an Inspector. Then he went to the PGI and recorded the statement of the victim, Pala Ram.

The witness added that he had also recorded the statement of one of the victims of the bomb blast, Dhanwant Singh, who later succumbed to his injuries. The witness said that he submitted all record pertaining to the statement of the victims to the in charge of the North police station. After recording the statement of the witness, the judge adjourned the case till October 16.

Statement recorded: The statement of a minor girl, who was allegedly abducted and illegally detained by a Kashmiri youth, was today recorded in an enclosed courtroom in a local court. As per the prosecution, the victim girl had been recovered by a team of the UT police from Banihal in Kashmir.

The case against the suspect was registered by the police on the complaint of the father of the girl. The suspect in the case has not been arrested by the police yet.

Bail granted: A city resident arrested by the police under the NDPS Act was today granted bail by a local court. The suspect in the case, Raj Kumar, had been arrested by the police and had recovered 400 gm of charas from his possession. The suspect was granted bail on furnishing a surety bond for Rs 25,000.

CULTURE

Play depicts ‘life’s journey’
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 23
After Bipin Kumar’s play “Yayati”, philosophy again took centre stage in the context with human relationships as one of the local theatre groups Chandigarh Rangmanch staged “Tat Niranjana” which marked the sixth day of the ongoing National Natya Festival organised by the Haryana Public Relations and Cultural Affairs and the North Central Zone Cultural Centre, Allahabad at Tagore Theatre here today.

A meaningful script, multidimensional with layers of meaning but sticking to one single truth — life is a flow, a continuous never-ending search which compels even Buddha, who is the central character of the play, confesses — ‘there is no such thing as final truth and I am not the last Buddha’. The script does not, by any means challenges the image of Buddha, it only drives home the point that all truth is relative.

Based on an Orian story written by Vijay Mishra, the Hindi version by Rajender Kumar Mishra effectively shows the conflicts in human mind and the desire and temptation to give in to that desire. Albeit a bit slow in presentation, the play effectively captures the essence of that era. But what strikes you the most Buddha’s get up which do not tally with the image we have in our minds. “We wanted to have Buddha with long hair keeping the theatrical vocabulary in mind,” according to Pahlad Aggarwal, the director of the play.

The play starts with the relationships of Icchamati and Neelohit which ends up at Gotama’s sangha. Icchamati’s strong philosophy, not to turn away from this life in search of finding happiness in another, makes an interesting start.

Icchamati’s probing questions drives Gotama to do some soul searching and after a visit to his old life at Kapilvastu. As the questions raised by three women — Icchamati, Sujata — the tempress who approached him for achgild and his wife Gopa, force Gotama to record that there is no such thing as ultimate truth and there is no end of desires either. He says ‘life is a journey — it is a continuous search —like Niranjana it flows on and on’.

Pahlad Aggarwal, director of the play, believes deeply in Osho’s insight on theatre — one should live life as if it is theatre and one should do theatre as one is living life. So many of his plays, though embodied in deep philosophy, have never wavered from realities of life.

Pahlad’s association with play acting goes back to 1977 when with Abhinet, a group for amateur theatre artistes, he acted for the first time in a play called ‘Ant Nahin’. “However , it was not until I attended a theatre workshop by Badal Sircar in 1978 when for the first time I learnt the true perspective of theatre,” he says.

As a lecturer in Commerce at Government Post Graduate College, Chandigarh, Pahlad has been devoting his non-working hours to theatre. As an actor he has performed in ‘Ant Nahin’, ‘Dulari Bai’, ‘Aalha Afsar’, ‘Mitti Ki Gaadi’, ‘End Game’ and many more besides directing ‘Lsl Karner’, ‘Debantar’, ‘Purani Haveli’, ‘Khel Ghar’, ‘Neel Panchhi’, ‘Shakuntalam’, ‘Hastinapur’ and ‘Kimidom Yaksham’. The last one among his directed plays made it to the National Theatre Festival organised by the National School of Drama last year.

The character of Gotama in tonight’s play ‘Tat Niranjana’ was played by Pahlad himself. The other cast for the play included Arkesh Sharma as Neellohit, Urja Sarpal as Icchamati who also portrayed two other characters of Sujata and Gopa. Vipul Singh played the role of Bhikshu Anand. 

Punjab Kala Bhavan meeting
Parbina Rashid

Chandigarh, September 23
After almost six months of inertia, Punjab Kala Bhavan which houses offices of the Punjab Arts Council and three akademies — Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi, Punjab Sahitya Akademi and Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, finally springs into action with the organisation of the first meeting of the council on September 26, an initial step towards reconstituting the council after the previous council was dissolved on February 9.

The first meeting which will formally commence the Arts Council was scheduled to be held on September 18 but a majority of the ex-officio members were busy in some other important meeting in New Delhi, the meeting had to be postponed till September 26, informed Mr H.S. Bhatti, secretary-general of the dissolved council. There are 14 ex-officio members in the council and it takes the presence of one-third representation from the group to select new members.

Twelve new members will be selected during the meeting on September 26, six of which will be prominent personalities while the other half will be constituted by six representatives from the affiliated cultural organisation under the council. Sources said 14 organisations had already submitted their nominations.

The proceedings for reconstituting the council had started when the Punjab Government had cleared three names — MP, Rajya Sabha, from Amritsar, Mr Kartar Singh Duggal, noted theatre personality, Ms Neelam Mansingh Chaudhury, and former Principal of Government College of Architecture Col I.J.S. Bakshi earlier last month.

According to information available after 15 days of commencing the first meeting, a second meeting of the council will be held tentatively on October 10 when chairman, vice- chairman and secretary general and other office-bearers for the council. After the second meeting, the council will be functional formally.