EDUCATION

ICCT opens new vistas for youngsters

Chandigarh
If you have a great voice and can carry off a conversation with an American accent, then here is a million dollar job opportunity right under your nose. Vizinfoz in collaboration with the Institute of Call Centre Technology (ICCT) has brought an opportunity for the city youngsters to enter into mainstream jobs in top class organisations through a campaign called Call Centre Placement Programme which was launched at GGDSD College in Sector 32 here on Friday.

The campaign includes making the students aware of the job opportunities in this sector and also selection of suitable candidates and grooming them for various companies in India and abroad. Though institute targets at school and college going students, according to information available there is no bar on age to enter this sector.

Talking to the mediapersons at Defence Services Officers Institute in sector 36 here today Mr Raj Sukheja, President of ICCT said the Call Centre Industry is people intensive and hence offers plenty of job opportunities in India and other countries. “Anyone who is fluent in English, has a sense of humour, is smart and computer savvy can do well in this market,” he said.

In the first phase of the campaign, ICCT will target college and school students by holding seminars to make them aware of the scope and demands of this growing industry. The institute will organise an evaluation test on December 5 at GGDSD College, Sector 32 to select the candidates. After clearing a written objective type of test and a group discussion, the selected candidates will have to go through 45-day training before getting placement.

Forms for the test are available at Quite Office No 6, Sector 35. OC

Booksellers’ charge against schools
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 23
The Punjab Booksellers Association yesterday said private schools affiliated to the Punjab State Education Board (PSEB) or the Central Board Secondary Education (CBSE) are neither following the rules and regulations nor teaching out the books prescribed and published by the boards. They are moving in their own style with a view to earning the maximum commission. They only introduce the books of the private publishers who give at least 40 to 50 per cent discount without consideration of the high price. Instead of the routine five to seven books in Classes II to V, they prescribe 20 to 25 books of high price other than the copies and stationery, in much more price then the market.

They put an unnecessary burden on the parents and make the study more complicated. Mr J.N. Andlay, president of the Punjab Booksellers Association, said that the PSEB could not take any action against them in spite of repeated news in different papers.

The PSEB authorities have not questioned them in any way and have made the board to suffer a loss due to not selling their books. Mr Andlay said that the parents should now come forward so that they may not fool them any more. The schools tell the parents that the school is affiliated to the CBSE or the PSEB but neither their syllabus is followed nor their books are used.

In every school book and style is different which is a problem for the parents at the time of change of school or transfer. Mr Andlay told that the PSEB failed to take any action.

Flower-arrangement competition
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, November 23
Creativity was at its best at DAV School, Surajpur, during the inter-house fresh and dry flower arrangement competition.

While the fragrance of fresh flowers enveloped the atmosphere, the artistic beauty of dry flowers enraptured judges. Mr Amit Gupta of the Family Planning Association of India was invited as a guest. Prachi Soni and Rahul won the first and second prizes, respectively, in the fresh flower category, while Shikha and Varun won the prizes in the dry flower category.

Annual dance, poetry day

Woodlands House School today celebrated its annual dance and poetry day at the school premises. Tiny tots gave a colourful performance and presented a dance and recited rhymes. Students also performed dances on latest film and pop numbers .

Baby show at Satluj

An annual function-cum-baby show was held in the junior wing here today. The programme started with a welcome speech by the Principal, Mr Krit Serai. The tiny tots of KG class enthralled the audience with a rainbow dance. This was followed by the reading of the annual academic and cultural report of the school by Ritu Mehta, a student of Class V.

The main highlight of the function was a baby show. Students of Class IV, II and I jived to the tunes of “Macarena” and “Dil Hai Hundustani”. Dr Darshan Singh Serai, an environmental engineer, was the guest of honour on this occasion.

Dikshant International School

Children of Dikshant International School were today taken for an educational trip to a vegetable market in Sector 14. They were earlier briefed about various fruits and vegetables in the school.

The children tried to identify fruits and vegetables. They were also told about the functioning of a market. Mr Mitul Dikshit, Director of the school, said as part of the curriculum children were taken for a field trip to any of the public places to develop self-confidence.

COURTS

Plea to quash lecturers’ selection
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 23
In a petition filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court today, a city resident, Mr Ajay Sondhi, sought directions to Punjabi University, Patiala, and four others, to quash the selections made on October 9, besides the provisional appointment of three lecturers in Defence Studies by a selection committee.

Mr Sondhi also sought directions for sealing the relevant record, including the applications of the candidates, besides the selection list and other documents. Directions against the release of salary to the three lecturers till the final disposal of the petition were also sought. Taking up the petition, a Division Bench of the court has issued a notice of motion to the respondents for April 1 next year.

The petitioner, meanwhile, contended that one of the respondents was not eligible as he had submitted his Ph.D thesis on September 23, after the last date for the submission of forms. He added that another respondent was also ineligible as he had not passed Punjabi at matric level.

His counsel said the petitioner was eligible for the post as he fulfilled all conditions. He had qualified the state-level eligibility test, had studied Punjabi at matric level, and was a postgraduate with distinction in Defence Studies. It was further contended that the petitioner, physically challenged with 70 per cent disability, was not given weightage in spite of the fact that he had placed on record the relevant certificate.

CULTURE

Exhibition shows Tibetan sufferings
Parbina Rashid

Chandigarh, November 23
The exhibition does not evoke any pleasant feelings but then it was not meant to. It was an attempt to make the world aware about the sufferings of the Tibetans. The exercise was taken up by the Tibetan students under the umbrella of Tibetan Freedom Movement and Regional Tibetan Youth Congress through a series of gruesome photographs at Mohyal Bhavan in Sector 24.

A brain child of Norsang, president of Tibetan Freedom Movement, the exhibition is called after “Gu Chu Sum Movement of Tibet”, a movement established by former political prisoners in Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan-Government-in-exile in 1991. It was named according to the months in which major demonstrations occurred in Lhasa.

The exhibits include photographs of the 14th Dalai Lama, as well as all the major demonstrations in Lhasa, the palaces and statues destroyed by the Chinese Army, the torture weapons used for the torturing. It revived some nostalgic memories too — like the one with a huge crowd garlanding their national flag at a temple on the day of Tibetan New Year or the Tibetan delegation taking part in the Asia Relation Conference in 1947 when Tibet was still a free country.

“Most of the photographs are rare and almost all were taken by foreigners who had visited the country from time to time,” says Norsang. The exhibition contents give not just an insight into the political unrest but people’s desperation to flee the country like the one photograph of a dead boy who tried to cross the hostile border in search of freedom and security.

Presence of three former political prisoners and sharing their harrowing experience in the Chinese prisons certainly gave a dignity to the show. For Yasai Jhakgal who completed his prison term of two years for taking part in a demonstration and Kama Dawa with five years sentence which he recently finished, the experience was enough to leave their country and seeking refuge in India. “There is no security in Tibet and in order to survive I decided to flee from my motherland,” said Kama Dawa. They both are now settled in Dharamsala. The third person who was present in the venue was Tashi with a similar experience.

“We believe that as more and more people become aware of Tibet’s plight, pressure will be put on the Chinese to respect the Tibetan people’s freedom,” said Norsang ,”and we are trying to do through media as the Chandigarh Administration is taking a tough stance against the Tibetan students here after that stone-pelting incident at Government Art Gallery and Museum when the Chinese Ambassador had visited the venue about two months back,” he said. Their plea to put up the same exhibition at two different venues, namely at Sector 17 Plaza and Panjab University, was refused by the Administration.

“It is true that there are some rift between the Tibetan students and the authority here in the recent times and we are trying our best to ease out the rift between the two,” said Mr Baldev Pande, president of Bharat Tibetan Sahayug Manch who had inaugurated the exhibition today.

Immortal comedy retold with rod puppets
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 23
The beauty of puppet theatre was today brought alive by four young caretakers of Kat-Katha, an association of puppeteers and storytellers that operates under the aegis of the Foundation of Universal Responsibility of HH Dalai Lama. Anurupa Roy, with her associates Anamika Mishra, Javed Naseem and I.P. Singh, told the timeless Shakesparean tale Almost Twelfth Night through the medium of rod puppets and theatre at CITCO’s Drop In restaurant in Sector 34.

Brought to the city by CITCO and the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi, Almost Twelfth Night came across as a pure Shakespaerean play, retold in the most modern context, through the most contemporary medium. The high point of the presentation was its language which was Hindustani. The script was so absorbing that it easily held the interest of the ever-evasive modern day audience, that can ignore anything the moment the script fell loose.

Adapted perfectly and presented with ever more perfection, the immortal comedy about twin siblings Viola and Sebastian, separated in a shipwreck, amazed kids and adults alike. Using elements from day-to-day life, like a beautifully-crafted cupboard of Lady Olivia and the sweet little throne of Duke Orseno of Illiriya, the presenters of Kat-Katha wove the interest of the audience so well that they wanted more of the puppet treat.

The story matured with the tools of presentation. Viola, disguised as a man, finds work in the palace of the Duke, who uses her poetic skills to win over his love Lady Olivia. Confusion marks the climax with the ever-mourning Olivia finally finding the love of her life in Viola, the pageboy, who then begins her journey towards realisation of true identity.

As theatre progresses, the interest also heightens, not just in the climax of theatre but also in the techniques of presenters, who tell a fine story of abandoned identities and the effort to rediscover the same.

The presentation was attended today by Adviser to UT Administrator Ms Neeru Nanda and Managing Director, CITCO, Mr S.P. Singh.

The comedy will be presented tomorrow at Kalagram’s Baithak restaurant at 6 pm.

Sambhang Natyotsav attracts 250 participants
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 23
Reliving its tradition of paying creative homage to Prabhat Gupta, who sacrificed his life while saving a child in 1987, the Sambhang Theatre Group today organised the Natyotsav 2002 in which over 250 artistes participated.

Contested by 14 teams from Punjab, Haryana and UT, the one-act play competition today witnessed issues concerning the society. From corruption and national unity to the plight of women and female foeticide, students today made strong statements of their creativity in the medium of theatre. From the last year the direction of this year’s productions was much better, the scripts were cohesive and the presentation was professional.

The function was divided into two sessions. It began with the morning session in which DAV Public School, Sector 8, Stepping Stones, Sector 38, GMSSS, Sector 19, Golden Bells School, Sohana, GMGSSS, Sector 18, DAV English Medium School, Sector 8, Panchkula, St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Mount Carmel School, Sector 47, and some other schools presented their plays. The evening session had participation from MCM DAV College, Sector 36, Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36, DAV College, Sector 10, Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, Government College, Phase VI, SAS Nagar, GCG, Sector 11, Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45.

Yet another significant part of the programme was the conferring of Sambhang Theatre Award which was presented to Somesh, who has been attached with theatre since 1976. Sambhang Award of Cultural Heritage was conferred for the first time on local principals of various colleges and schools for contributing their bit in cementing the society.

The awards went to Principal and PU Senator, Mr P.S. Sanga (Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26), Dr Satinder Dhillon, Principal, Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36, Ms Usha Gupta, Principal, MCM DAV College, Sector 36, Mr Harold Carver, Principal, St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Mr Samuel Charles and Mrs Annie Charles of Mount Carmel School, Sector 47, Ravinder Talwar, DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, Ms Sarita Manuja, Principal, DAV School, Sector 8, Mr D.S. Bedi, Principal, Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, Ms Madhu Bahl, Principal, KBDAV Centenary School, Sector 7, Ms Rajesh Minhas, Principal, GMSSS, Sector 18, Mrs Rakesh Sachdeva, Principal, DAV Public School, Sector 15, Ms Santosh Bhandari, Principal, DAV English Medium School, Panchkula, Sector 8.

The chief guest on the occasion the MLA, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, lauded Mr D.S. Gupt, chairman, Sambhang Theatre Group, for his efforts in the field. Mr Vivek Atray, Director, Public Relations, was highly appreciative of the quality of one-act plays presented today. Mr Vijay Sehgal, Editor, Dainik Tribune, also joined others in talking high of the achievements of Mr Prabhat Gupta. Also present was Mr S.S. Bhullar, Deputy Editor, Punjabi Tribune, who is also the adviser of Sambhang.

The running trophy and the first prize among colleges was won by DAV College, Sector 10. The second and the third prizes among colleges was bagged by Khalsa College, Sector 26 and MCM DAV College (bracketed) and Dev Samaj College, respectively.

The best actor award went to Prashant and Aneesh of DAV, Sector 10 and Khalsa College, Sector 26, respectively. The second best actor and third best actor awards went to Sandeep Singh and Ayushmaan, respectively.

Gurpreet of Khalsa College was declared the best actress followed by Pooja of MCM and Gurmanjot in the second and the third slots, respectively.

Among schools the prizes in order of merit went to St Stephen’s, Sector 45 (first), Paragon and DAV, Sector 8 (bracketed second) and Golden Bells, respectively. Among actors, the best actor ward went to Gaurav, followed by Shubhdham and Rattan in the second and third places, respectively. Navneet Sidhu was declared best actress, followed by Navjot in the second place.