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April 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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English language section in British Library Chandigarh, March 31 Inaugurating the section this morning, Ms Alison Sriparam, First Secretary, English Language Services, British Council India, expressed great satisfaction at the spread of English as language of the people in India. Referring to the language as means of communication and of bringing people together, Ms Sriparam said English had emerged as a global language, with around 400 million people using it on a regular basis. In India alone, there are around 200 million users of the language on a regular basis. After spending four years with the British Council, India, in Barcelona (Spain), Ms Alison Sriparam took over the new assignment in India in September last year. Currently in charge of the English language promotion through the network of British libraries in India, Ms Sriparam said the inauguration of the ELT section at Chandigarh was in response to the overflow of inquiries for teaching material and learning resources on English language. The collection will cater to all aspects of English — from grammar, punctuation and phonetics to listening and speaking. The visiting language expert said development and maintenance of the ELT collection would be the priority at the library . “We are interested in promoting the language in a big way and it is a matter of great encouragement that English has many takers in India. Our focus will be on spreading the practical knowledge of the language by talking about grammar and also about how to put that grammar to the right kind of use. Through our resources we will try to talk about how to incorporate grammar in usage and how to strengthen the written and spoken language.” She observed that the greatest concern of Indians was the correct usage of English grammar. She added, “The high standard of English in India is evident. There are many resource persons who are members of the British Council’s ELT network. We are also conducting seminars on various important issues and these seminars have been extremely successful.” Manager of the library, Mr Sushant Banerjee said ELT resources at the library would be strengthened gradually. He also said the library authorities were working out shifting to a bigger premises. Mr Banerjee said the library was in the process of collecting the literary works of Indian authors who write in English. “We are strategically working in this direction and soon the British Library will have the greatest works written in English by Indian authors like Vikram Seth,” he said. |
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Training
programme for
teachers Chandigarh, March 31 The programme was inaugurated by the Home Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, Mr R.S. Gujral, who emphasised upon the need to educate teachers about the implications of technology advancements in the field of optical communications. He also commended the concept and curriculum of the programme. Organised by PEC’s department of electronics and electrical communication, in collaboration with All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the programme aimed to provide an opportunity to the participants to learn and appreciate the technology options in the field of optical communication. Besides updating the knowledge of participants to meet challenges of the fast growing communication and network industries, the programme would also make the participants as resource persons for the onward propagation of core technology. The training programme would also cover some concepts of data communication, digital communication and design concepts of optical communication system. The participants would be exposed to the practical fibre optic handling techniques with special emphasis on fibre optics and opto-electronics technology. Besides, teachers of degree and diploma-level institutions of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir approved by the AICTE, experts from academic institutions, CSIO, eminent resource persons from leading industries like MTNL, C-DOT, NIT, BSNL and TTTI would be delivering talks on the technological aspects of optic communications. |
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New PEC research
programmes Chandigarh, March 31 According to faculty members, five research scholars will be initially admitted to the programme. The admission process has been initiated and the admissions are expected to be finalised by the end of April. Only Indian nationals are eligible to apply for admission to the programme. Research programmes are being offered in 10 disciplines, including aeronautical, civil, computer science, electrical, electronics and electrical communication, mechanical, metallurgical and production engineering, applied sciences and information technology. “Introduction of the programmes would give a boost to research and development activities in the college, besides improving the teaching-learning process,” a faculty member commented. Earlier, PEC used to offer part-time Ph.D programmes in a few select disciplines for in-service engineering lecturers and professionals. This programme for teachers is expected to continue with the regular programme. Candidates for the regular Ph.D programme should have a masters degree in the relevant discipline with at least 60 per cent marks and have at least three years of teaching, research or industry experience. Unlike as in the case of the part-time programme, regular research scholars would not be permitted to take up any other job or assignment. Research scholars, however, would be required to undertake teaching and allied activities as assigned by the Head of the Department concerned in addition to their research work. They will be entitled to scholarships, which would be Rs 7,000 per month for those holding masters of engineering degree and Rs 6,000 per month for holders of masters of science degree, besides a contingency of Rs 10,000 per annum. Payment of scholarship would be made only if the progress of the research scholar is satisfactory.  |
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LEAF FROM
HISTORY T HE area around Chandigarh was relatively new for the English traveller in the early 19th century. The region was still without any definite ruler. It fell at the borders of a number of rulers. Like any other border area in olden times, the people were left much to their own devices, with only a nominal presence of the state to maintain law and order. The hill chieftains owing their allegiance to Nepal had already been defeated by the English during the wars of 1813-14. The Rohilla chieftains on the eastern side of the river Jamuna had already lost their pre-eminence. The power of the Sikh chieftains was as yet neither widespread nor deep enough to influence the tenor of life in the villages and small towns. The people, often from Rajput backgrounds, were as dismissive of any authority, state or otherwise, in those days as they are today. So when the English East India Company first moved its troops along the axis of what is today known as the Sher Shah Suri Marg, it had experiences which were quite different from what it had seen either in Bengal or the Awadh or the Central Indian region.As the war with Nepal over the control over lower reaches of the Himalayas ended, the English had begun to move into the newly conquered regions to show their flag to the people and demand obeisance. The people may not have openly opposed the English, but they did not seem to pay homage to the English either. If their zamindars and rulers had done so, the people seemed to say, it was their business being done without the support of the people. The English noticed that the region between Delhi and the Himalayas, at one corner of which lay the land that was converted into Chandigarh, was made up of a large number of large and small states governed by chiefs who were more or less independent. The degree of independence being a function of the intrinsic strength of the chief, with the weaker ones far readier to pay homage than the strong ones. The last of the English military outposts till 1818 was at Karnal. In the region beyond it the casual English traveller was not particularly welcome. It seems that despite travelling with a posse of soldiers from the 1st Bengal Lancers, aka Skinner’s Horse, the merchant and artist James Baillie Fraser received some rough treatment from the people. “Their manners”, he noticed, are as rude and inhospitable as their natures: proud and insolent, they are ever prompt to insult strangers who pass through their country; and they do not spare individuals of the [English] nation”. Rather tendentiously he thanked his stars for not being molested or harassed in any manner! The land, he noticed, was fertile, though sandy. Each village and town was fortified against attacks from marauders from the neighbourhood. Small round towers, resembling glass-furnaces in a Scottish village, provided the necessary vantage point from which to ward off attackers. Most of the houses in the towns were made of brick, while village houses were predominantly kutcha. The towns had a larger fort with towers for their safe-keeping. The movement of the English body of which James Fraser and his brother Local-Major William Fraser were a part, was seen with some suspicion by the villagers. “The people, as we passed rapidly, contented themselves with staring stupidly at us”, he noted in his diary. There was no effort on their part to interact with the Englishmen. Many years later, during the revolt of 1857, the people of this area would respond in a truculent manner to the English who were fleeing Delhi. As for now, Fraser observed that the people “looked surly and silent, offering no civility, and as if they were well inclined to be insolent and troublesome if they dared”. |
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More chambers for lawyers on poll agenda
Chandigarh, March 31 Contestants for various posts are Mr Sajal Koser and Mr Rajinder Mahajan for the post of president, Mr Vinod Verma and Mr Vijay Sharma for the post of vice-president, Mr K.S. Lamba and Mr Satish Bhardwaj for the post of secretary. There are about 1,800 advocate members of the association who will cast vote in the elections, including members practicing at the high court, Kharar court, Panchkula court, Income Tax Tribunal, Central Administrative Tribunal, Debt Recovery Tribunal. According to the candidates, the UT Administration had allotted 108 chambers in 1986 but with the passage of time, the number of legal practitioners enrolled with the District Bar Association had increased manifold while the number of chambers remained the same. Therefore, there was an urgent need to built at least temporary chambers for the advocates who did not have proper sitting place. Some others opined view that the expansion of the lawyers’ complex was not possible as the foundation of the building could not take any further load. Therefore, the new Court Complex building in Sector 43, the proposal for which was accepted by the UT Adviser in 1999, would help to solve the chambers’ problem. With four days left for the elections, an intensive campaigning begin. Many of the candidates were seen visiting advocate at their chambers. Many candidates organised tea parties, besides the door to door campaigning. The following have been elected unanimously: treasurer — Mr Harpreet Singh Hundal; and joint
secretary — Ms Sarabjit Kaur. Seven other candidate have been elected
executive members. |
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