EDUCATION

Stray dogs on PU campus
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 30
Stray dogs seems to have become a menace on the Panjab University campus here, with at least four persons having been bitten during the past few days.

Campus residents say that a professor in the Geology Department was bitten by a stray dog while he was taking a walk. Besides, the wife and daughter of a senior university functionary have also been bitten by stray canines loitering around the campus.

Pointing out that the number of stray dogs within the campus had multiplied over the past few months, several residents said they had to be careful while moving around on foot. There have also been a number of instances of stray dogs sniping at pedestrians and chasing cyclists and two-wheelers.

The matter has already been brought to the attention of university authorities and the university’s security staff has been apprised of the situation. A note in this regard is being sent to the Registrar, who will take up the matter with the UT Estate office.

Apart from this, a large number of monkeys are also reported to be creating nuisance. The monkey menace is particularly in the western part of the campus.

Good show by NCC cadets
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 30
Showing remarkable improvement in their performance as compared to the past few years, cadets from the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh NCC Directorate have bagged the seventh overall position at the Republic Day Camp (RDC) held in New Delhi.

The contingent arrived here this evening and were presented certificates and medals at a special function organised for the purpose. They are scheduled to interact with the Punjab Governor tomorrow and the Haryana Governor the day after tomorrow.

Besides several individual achievements, a number of awards were collectively bagged by the contingent in various competitions. A presentation of national integration awareness came in for allround praise and received a special prize from the N.C. Director General, Lt Gen B.K. Bopanna.

The 126-member contingent which had represented the directorate at the RDC included 32 girls, including seven from the junior division. Among boys, 46 cadets are from the Army wing, 19 are from the Air wing and 13 from the Naval wing, besides eight from the junior division. Among girls, 17 cadets are from the Army wing, five from the Air wing and 3 from the Naval wing.

Winter carnival begins
Tribune news Service

Chandigarh, January 30
A three-day winter carnival being organised by Mount Carmel School, Sector 47, began here today. Despite the incessant drizzle, students as well as visitors enjoyed themselves as the school wore a festive look.

Besides eatables, a number of stalls for games, such as test your nerves, lucky seven, tambola, magic pot, ring the target, darts, feeding the clown and fishing the bottle were there. A request stall was also set up. Several inter-school competitions, were organised on the occasion.

Cycle rally
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, January 30
More than 250 school students participated in a cycle rally organised by the Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship Development on behalf of the Petroleum Conservation Research Association here today. The rally was flagged off from the Sant Isher Singh Public School, Phase VII, and terminated at Shivalik Public School. Students from these two school and Government College, Phase VI, and Swami Ram Tirath High School also participated.

COURTS

MISSING FILES CASE
UT police challenges court order
Kiran Deep

Chandigarh, January 30
The missing murder file case resurfaced today after a long gap with the UT police challenging the order of a lower court which had directed an inquiry into the matter by a DIG-rank officer. Pleading that the post of the DIG was vacant, the police requested that the investigation into the case be entrusted to an SP or the SSP.

The police today filed a revision petition against the order passed by UT Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in the court of UT Additional District and Sessions Judge. Earlier, the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate had rejected the application moved by the UT police and directed that the inquiry in the case be conducted by a DIG-rank officer. The police had also pleaded that the charges against two DSPs, an Inspector and two other policemen — allegedly involved in a case of cheating and forgery — be dismissed.

The missing murder files include one related to the killing of Hindu Suraksha Samiti president, Inder Pal Gupta at his residence on April 17, 1984. The other file is regarding the murder of Ganpat Rai, a migrant labourer from Uttar Pradesh. The case came to light in 1999 when the two files went missing from the Sector 26 police station. After some time, the files were found. Then it was alleged that the signatures of the police officials on the files appeared to be fresh. Forensic experts opinion was thereafter sought into the matter of changes made in the files and subsequently a case was registered against four police personnel.

The UT police investigated the matter and filed a cancellation report in the case claiming that no charges against these police personnel were made out. However, the court directed that a then DIG, Mr Ajay Kashyap, should investigate the matter. The inquiry in the case was not completed as the DIG was transferred. Earlier, in his inquiry, a UT SP, Mr Baldev Singh, had reported that the missing files had been recovered from Sector 26. The report was submitted to UT Legal Remembrance, who indicted a DSP and an Inspector for forgery committed in the missing murder files case and indicted another DSP for the loss of another murder file.

CULTURE

Theatre fest concludes with “Mother”
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 30
Literature is not just an affair with words. It is a world unto itself, a world wherein the writer celebrates existence in his own way, making or marring characters that can virtually rule the human psyche for ages to come.

We still remember Maxim Gorky. Not just because he had something to say and share with the world, but also because he inspired his character with eternal life, in the process inspiring those in the world who care to know what a Mother’s due is. “Mother” has been staged for ages and for the kind of emotion it still inspires among hearts, it will continue to be staged till the end of time.

On the concluding day of Awami Natak Mela, Tagore Theatre became just another venue, where another team of director and actors attempted to do justice to Gorky’s legendary creation, which states plain, simple truths and talks of small people doing things.

The story was familiar, so was the narrative. Only the presentation differed. The story takes beautiful turns, making a revolutionary of a mother, played by Namrata Batra. As the plot matures, Gorky’s sensitivity stands revealed in the episodes that mark the life of an old lady who, in due course, sheds her inhibitions and wears a new face, that leads the world towards a new light.

Cast included Rohit Batra (also the director), Namrata Batra, Mohinder Kohli, Anilesh Mahajan, Kaushlesh Bhardwaj, Gaurav Sharma, Harish Verma, Anil Rana and Nirupama.

NEW RELEASE
A cross-cultural romance

ENCOURAGED by the success of ‘‘Monsoon Wedding’’, ‘‘Bend It Like Beckham’’ and ‘‘American Desi’’, SPE Films has released Bollywood/Hollywood. The English version of the movie opens today at K.C. Theatre here. Film director Deepa Mehta, who has presented Vinod Khanna’s elder son Rahul Khanna, a VJ turned actor, believes that there is an audience for such films in India as well as abroad.

‘‘As the title of this film suggests, it is a cross-cultural caper and its theme may appeal to audiences in India also’’, says Deepa, the maker of ‘‘Earth’’ and ‘‘Fire’’. Set in Toronto, this film pays homage to the East and the West with Bollywood songs and Hollywood choreography and plot. The Rahul Khanna & Lisa Ray starrer is a romantic comedy which was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival alongwith Shekhar Kapur’s ‘‘The Four Feathers’’, Buddhadeb Das Gupta’s ‘‘A Tale of a Naughty Girl’’, and Mani Ratnam’s ‘‘A Peck on the Cheek’’. The film crossed Canadian $300000 mark in Canada on its opening weekend and ranked number 10 in terms of viewership ratings. Rahul Khanna plays a young NRI caught between his family and love in the film, which crosses between the vibrant melodrama of Bollywood and the mainstream cinema of Hollywood. Aslo starring Moushumi Chatterjee, Ranjeet Chowdhury and late Dina Pathak, the film has screenplay by Deepa Mehta, cinematography by Douglas Koch, art direction by Tamara Deverall and costumes by Ritu Kumar and Anne Dixon. Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Akshay Khanna are there in special appearances. Sandeep Chowta’s music offers something different. DP