The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

City boy wins IIT award for yoga project
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 15
A research project on management of diabetes through the practice of yoga has bagged a city student the first prize in the Inter-Science Talent Discovery Fair, held at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.

Speaking to TNS here today, Piyush Goswami, a class-X student of the DAV Public School, Sector 8, said that he had bagged this prize in the bio-chemistry category. The research is titled “A biochemical study of comparative efficacy of two sets of hath yogic practices for the management of non-insulin dependent diabetic patients”.

Initially, there were 2005 entries from all over the country, out of which 135 were shortlisted. Another entry from a student of the same school was also shortlisted.

Piyush, a state level yoga medalist himself, said that the research had been carried out in three parts, each of six weeks’ duration. In the first part, the effect of postures (asana) on diabetic patients was analysed, while in the second part the effect of breathing exercises (pranayama) was studied. The third part involved the effect of both, postures and breathing exercises on patients.

Twentyone patients each were studied in the first two parts, while the third part was restricted to 15 patients. Blood samples were collected from patients at three stages in each part — at the beginning of the study, after two weeks and at the end. These were sent to the Biochemistry Department of Panjab University for analysis.

In the first part, it was found that blood glucose levels came down, while the insulin level went up, while studies in the second part revealed that while glucose level went down, insulin level did not increase. “Thus we concluded that while postures helped in the management of diabetes, breathing exercises helped in increasing the management effectiveness,” Piyush said.

Piyush, who received a cash award of Rs 12,000, along with a certificate, said that the idea for the topic of research came from one of his guides, Dr Rakesh Giri, a state level yoga organiser. “Also, both my parents are diabetic,” he added.

The school’s biology teacher, Dr Mamta Goel, who oversaw the project said that biochemistry was a very competitive field, which required a lot of effort and diligence to make a mark in. “This is one step towards the international level’” she commented.

Patiala girl upholds NCC honour
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 15
Breaking the jinx on them cadets of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh NCC Directorate have won the first prize in national integration awareness (NIA) presentation during the ongoing Republic Day camp in New Delhi. Besides, another cadet representing this directorate, Pooja Gill from No.4 Girls NCC battalion, Patiala, has won the first prize in the solo song competition.

Speaking to TNS here, Deputy Director General, Brig D.S. Dhillon, said this was for the first time that this directorate had bagged the top position. As far as the cultural competitions were concerned, the directorate had achieved the fifth overall position among 16 NCC directorates, which is a precedent.

The 20-member team which had made the NIA presentation included eight boys and four girls from Punjab, three boys and a girls from Himachal and two boys and two girls from Haryana.

The cadets had depicted the culture of the region, starting from the Harappan era to modern day achievements. “The most challenging aspect was to combine the culture and heritage of three states and one union territory into single presentation which could captivate the audience,” Brig Dhillon commented.

Armed with ideas and some artefacts provided by creator of the Rock Garden, Nek Chand, the cadets also have high hopes in the flag area competition. The theme of the flag area is “wildlife and eco-environment”. An onground briefing on the theme after the flag area was prepared, was given to foreign military attaches, who were shown around the camp earlier this week.

While a number of competitions, including best cadet, drill, firing, etc are still underway, the initial success will give a boost to cadets. During the past years, the performance of this directorate had been rock bottom, coming next only to Jammu and Kashmir and states in the North-East, where NCC activities had been largely relegated to the background because of internal disturbances.

Cadets of the Junior Division from this directorate, too, have made their mark this year. They have stood fifth in the drill competition.

The cadets are scheduled to meet the Punjab Governor on January 31, when they return from New Delhi. The NIA presentation will also be made before him at Raj Bhavan.

Govt schools reopen today
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 15
While government schools in the city will resume regular classes from tomorrow, students of classes II and below in private schools will continue with their holidays. The timings of private schools for classes III and above have been shifted ahead by half an hour.

Officials of the Education Department said they had not received any approval to extend holidays after January 15. It may be recalled that the UT Administration had declared holidays in all government and private schools in the city due to severe cold conditions prevailing in the region. “All government schools will reopen from Thursday,” an official commented. “However, it is the prerogative of respective private schools to take their own decisions about holidays,” he added.

Mr D.S. Bedi, president of the Private Schools Association, confirmed that junior classes up to Class II would continue to observe holidays ‘till further notice’. “Timings for the other classes have been shifted ahead by half an hour, though the schools will close at the earlier timings. Saturdays will now be complete working days in private schools to make up for the loss of time,” he added.

However, Mr Atul Khanna of Strawberry Fields said their school would reopen tomorrow.

PU paper for NASA conference
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 15
After carrying out research on the evolution of the Solar System, Panjab University is to present a paper on its findings at an international conference being organised under the aegis of NASA, in the United States in March.

Based on “original research” carried out at the university’s Department of Physics, the paper deals with the contribution of very-large-sized stars (about 60 times the mass of the Sun) towards the formation of the Solar System in the early years. The research is being sponsored by ISRO.

Dr Sandeep Sahijpal, who is carrying out this research along with a doctorate student, P. Soni, said the paper was being sent to the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, an establishment functioning under NASA.

“Out of all stellar systems analysed so far, it seems that a particular type of supernova (explosion leading to the death of a star) could have shortlived radionuclei found in the early Solar System. This could imply that an event like the supernova could have triggered the formation of the Solar System,” he said.

Dr Sahijpal, who received his degree in research from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) at Ahmedabad and did post doctoral research at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), said, while the hypothesis had been there for a long time, no one had gone into it’s detail, even at the international level. The focus of the study is to find the exact cause that triggered the formation of the Solar System.

An earlier paper by Dr Sahijpal was published in ‘Nature’, a science journal. During his stay in the UCLA, he was involved in the discovery of some of the most pristine oxygen reservoirs in the Solar System. He was also involved in proposing a theoretical model of the formation of Solar System grains at the time of evolution.

Data gathered by him during his years at the PRL and, the UCLA has been used in the study. Only a few scientists in India are involved in the study of the Solar System, and most such explorers are based at the PRL. ISRO has already approached Panjab University for a tie-up to set up a centre for astrophysics in Chandigarh.

A project report in this regard is being prepared by the PU Physics Department.

2 get RI in jailbreak case
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, January 15
Two accused in the Burail jailbreak case were sentenced to four years rigorous imprisonment by a local court on the charges of forgery and cheating. Satnam Singh and Balwinder Singh were convicted by the UT Additional and Sessions Judge, Mr Balbir Singh, and were fined Rs 4,000 each for committing forgery by mentioning wrong address and names in the jail record. The accused were also sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment for cheating.

The police had claimed that a team of officials had recovered 1 kg 100 gm of RDX from Satnam Singh near Model Burail jail on June 11, 1998. It was further claimed that Satnam Singh had allegedly kept 107 kg of RDX at his house in Salimpur village (Ropar) with further an intention to blow up the jail.

CULTURE

Fighting against cultural pollution
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, January 15
In a day when majority of the artistes, especially the music fraternity, are busy compromising the rich cultural heritage of Punjab in order to make it big in the entertainment world, Kamal, popularly known as Gulchoo, stands out as one who is willing to put up a fight against this cultural pollution. Miss North India of 1997, Gulchoo, waited for five years to set her career in modelling on the right footing.

Gulchoo, a popular name on the ramp who reigned stages after being crowned Miss North India till she got married to Mr Tejwinder Singh, a judicial officer in the District Courts, is back with the release of Hans Raj Hans’ latest album “Gama Di Raat”. She has been featured in three songs of the album — the title song “Gama Di Raat”, “Maaye Ni Maaye Main Ik Shikra Yaar” and “Tu Vida Hoyeyo”.

“When I was approached by the makers of the video, I decided to give it a try as all songs reflected the true Punjabi culture and are in good taste,” she says. “I am happy that atleast someone has dared to come out of the set trend and made some decent album which can be watched by the entire family sitting together,” she adds.

Though facing the camera is something new for Gulchoo, she takes it as a challenge. A proficient giddah dancer, she also has the experience of anchoring a show for Delhi Doordarshan a couple of years back.

Mother of a three-year-old son, Gulchoo has not lost the charm and excitement that made her Miss North India. Though she is a postgraduate in English from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and later a diploma in International Airlines Course from ITTC, New Delhi, Gulchoo has set her heart in pursuing acting as her career. “Modelling and acting has always been my dream profession and if I get good, decent offers both for films and music album, I am willing to give it a shot”, she says.

Combining cultures through dance
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 15
Rarely does one find a heartening combination of grace and technique. But in the traditional dance, presented by members of the visiting troupe from Seychelles, there were all elements that make dance one of the finest forms of performing arts.

As the dancers took off from one traditional dance style and then graduated to another, one could feel the vibrancy that marks the musical stream of Seychelles, an island enriched by people from varied cultures who converged on Seychelles with the passage of time. The result of this convergence was an obvious cultural assimilation which made the island rich in art, culture, dance and music.

From the French came the language and dance of this place; from Africa came the music and traditional dances of the ‘Moutia’ and ‘Sega’, two distinct forms that draw from distinct cultural lines. Also showcased was the beauty of Kamtole dances which have been directly influenced by the French form of dances.

The evening begun with a presentation of three separate dance sequences based on the ‘Kamtole’ form, unique to the island. Grace and lyrical movement of body marked the three presentations which set the evening rolling. Kamtole was followed by two other famous forms of dance, the Moutia and Sega, which have varied inspirations.

In fact, all forms of dance presented by the troupe members this evening were highly interactive in nature. They drew from the joy which togetherness begets. Dancing in couples, the members seemed to pay no heed to the nuances of their dance form. They simply followed the rhythm and flowed with the beat. The result was a magical spell, which was full of grace and simplicity and pleasure.

Following Kamtole form was sequences from ‘Sega’, a form of dance originally performed by drums. The sega drum was a three feet high instrument made out of a palm tree trunk and covered with goat skin. The dancers shook their bodies vigorously to keep pace with the beat of the drums. Over years, ‘sega’ has been modernised to suit the needs of a contemporary and international audience. So now the form also draws music from the fiddle, guitar, and sometimes even from the synthesizer. Presented today was a blend of different sega sequences, which had music from the most renowned musicians of Seychelles.

Moutia, a form which was presented last of all, is the music and dance unique to the island and its people. Marked by strong bodily gestures and movements, Moutia was once banned by colonialists on account of its strong sexual overtones. After a week of hard labour on the plantation the workers would gather under a coconut palm and dance to the beats of moutia drums, one of the simplest traditional instruments.