IIT ‘Rendezvous’ fails to enthuse fest lovers
Sanjog Gupta

New Delhi, September 23
The festival season has arrived on the university campus. Marking its commencement was ‘Rendezvous’, the festival of IIT opined to be one of the most ‘happening’ festivals in the university circuit–from September 19- 22.

The most celebrated aspect of the IIT festival was supposed to be its grand finale–the rock show, which attracts bands from various parts of the country. The main event on Sunday witnessed individuals running helter-skelter trying to arrange for entry passes outside the open-air theatre. However, the general impression was that the effort was not really worth it. Normally, six bands perform in the final but this year, the organisers decided to allow only four bands. The event, which usually goes on till midnight, folded up by nine. Ruchir Sachdev, a Hindu College student said, “the whole festival sucked this time as compared to previous years, their standard has really gone down.” The event saw a ‘professional’ performance by ‘Orange Street’. A band called ‘Acquired Funk Syndrome’ from Pune was declared the eventual winner.

The main event was preceded by a preliminary round of selection on Friday night when 16 bands converged in the Convocation Center to perform before a select audience of judges, band members, privileged IIT-ians and the select few who managed to sneak in-posing to be band members. Bands hailing from Pune, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore performed into the wee hours of Saturday morning, enthralling an audience numbering around 120 rock enthusiasts. Some band had to wait as long as eight hours to perform. However, according to one band member, “the wait was totally worth it, this is where it all begins and once you’re in the finals, the sky is the limit.”

The other prominent events at the Rendezvous were the choreography competition and the fashion show. The hype around these events got magnified since they were dominated by participants from LSR, Miranda House and other girls colleges dressed in ‘unorthodox clothes’. One IIT student proudly proclaimed, “if you want to catch a glimpse of the best looking women, turn up at our festival.” Low turnout, scaled down events, disappointed attendees and ‘non-happening environment’ constituted this years ‘Rendezvous’.

72 students get Udayan Shalini Fellowship
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 23
The first Udayan Shalini Fellowship Award Function was held here. The Lt-Governor, Mr Vijai Kapoor, was the chief guest. He administered the Pledge to the Fellows and later presented them with their cheques. Sixty-one secondary school students from 42 different schools and 11 college girls from 10 colleges received their awards.

The Governor remarked that this was the first time that he had come across a Fellowship Programme which went beyond giving money and included actual upbringing and mentoring of the selected Fellows. He complimented those who had conceived this scheme as being very innovative and one that actually reaches into the lives of the families where the girls live. At the same time, he cautioned people present that the real challenge now lay with the mentors, who had accepted such a major challenge. The Lt-Governor was welcomed with bouquets by Tarrannum Zehra, a History honours student who was placed first in order of merit of college students in the NAT -Needs, Ambition, Talent test that was used to select the Fellows, and by Mr Surendra Mohan, Secretary of the Mahavira Foundation that runs the Mahavir Senior Model School, Sangam Park Extension, where the function was held. Mr Judge Mal Jain, president of the Mahavira Foundation, also presented the chief guest with a bouquet.

Huma Malik and Deepika Ghai of Sardarni Sada Kaur School and Air ForceGolden Jubilee School, respectively, who had come joint first in order of merit in the schools’ section, took the oath on behalf of all the Fellows. A highlight of the award ceremony was the 30 minutes that the chief guest spent exclusively with the Fellows.. "It is an unbelievable day for me," said Roshan Jahan, pursuing Physiotherapy at Jamia Hamdard. "I could never imagine that I would own my own chequebook," was Pooja Kumari's remark. Pooja is in class XI at the Jahangirpuri Government School for Girls. 

Education Director's nod is must for 
suspending teachers
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 23
The Delhi High Court today ruled that it was necessary for all government and private schools in the Capital to seek the approval of the state's Education Director for suspension of a teacher.

The court said that the consent of the Director should be obtained within 15 days, failing which, the order would be deemed to have lapsed.

It pointed out that if the Education Director did not give his approval within the stipulated period, the teacher so suspended would be entitled to all the consequential service benefits, including salary.

A three-judge Bench, comprising Chief Justice S. B. Sinha, Justice D. K. Jain and Justice A. K. Sikri, issued this order while disposing of an appeal by Delhi Public School.

The court said that it was a statutory provision in the Delhi School Education Rules and had to be implemented in letter and spirit by every school, whether run by the government, aided by it or was privately managed.

The Education Director was duty-bound to pass an order on any suspension matter referred to him and assign sufficient and logical reasons in his order, the court said.

The order read that the statute had a duty cast upon the Director to take appropriate decision within 15 days, failing which, the suspension order would lapse.

The appeal by Delhi Public School was in response to an earlier order of the court's on a petition by a teacher of the school, Ms Indira Ghosh, who was placed under suspension. The matter was referred to a three-judge Bench for proper interpretation of the law.