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| Saturday,
June 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Admn ‘adamant’ on engaging part-time faculty Chandigarh, June 6 “While appointing faculty on contract basis we are now trying to look for vacancies in the entire department and not just in the two colleges,” a senior officer told TNS. “Since the appointments will be within the department, it is expected to serve our purpose,” he added. Besides inviting guest faculty, one option is to appoint faculty on contract, which, sources said, is now an accepted norm in educational institutes and government organisations. Contractual appointment, however, can be made only against vacancies in already existing posts and not in lieu of posts that are yet to be sanctioned. The faculty requirement of the College of Art is projected to be 12, while that of the Chandigarh College of Architecture is four. Sources in the UT Administration told TNS that while a case has been initiated to create additional posts of faculty in the two colleges to enable them to conduct masters courses, it is unlikely that regular faculty would be available in the near future. Senior faculty members at the colleges were of the view that it would be difficult to run masters courses if regular faculty was not available. Further, running regular courses only on the basis of guest faculty would not only be in contravention of Panjab University regulations, but it would be unwise and impractical to depend on “part-time” teachers. “Though we are hard at it, we will not rush through things,” the officer stated. “We will start these courses only if and when proper faculty is available,” he added. The situation has put a question mark over the administration’s “determination” to start these courses this year. Following acceptance by the All India Council for Technical Education, Panjab University, with which these two colleges are affiliated, had granted its approval earlier this year for introduction of masters-level courses in various disciplines being taught at the institutes. The disciplines at the arts college in which masters is to be introduce include painting, applied art, graphics and sculpture, while the architecture college would be initiating masters in two disciplines, conservation and urban design. Independent faculties and boards of studies are also being established by Panjab University to control these courses and redress academic matters related to them. |
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When principals went hiking Chandigarh, June 6 Organised as part of the training of group heads of Scouts and Guides, there was a lot of fun for the principals. After learning the ropes concerning scouting, they were given exhaustive lessons on leadership and management of resources at their disposal. However, the hiking lessons on the agenda added to the
excitement of the trip. Principal R. Minhas said,“We have had lessons in how to run scouting project in schools, had been on longer visits to hill stations but there was more punch packed into this one. I had never gone hiking before and it was fun, especially with friends around. Though my age doesn't allow much scope for hiking, I went with a positive attitude.” Principal Gulzar Singh had his wife for company on the trip as she is the head of another government
school. "The trip was a welcome break from the monotony of office work. With my wife accompanying me the trip uphill was a bliss,” he added. The contingent was led by the DPI (S), Mr D.S.Mangat. “Meetings and school functions give me hardly any time for a one-to-one discussion with my principals. Outside office, when all of us are more relaxed and not pressed for time, the interaction takes on an altogether different meaning. It was a learning experience for me,” he explained. The DEO, Ms Rajesh Chaudhary, also accompanied the heads and the session was held at the Navodaya Vidyalaya, Kunihaar. Last year, the team had gone on a three-day visit to Theog and participants were unanimous their opinion that the interaction helped them find solutions to problems they faced in running projects, helped pick up new ideas and enabled better handling of the project. |
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Evening
Studies Dept hotbed of politics Chandigarh, June 6 The faculty members are using forums of teachers' organisations, non-teachers' union and 'other' quarters to voice their views on the change. The Syndicate has also decided that the department should function from 5.20 p.m. to 10.20 p.m. everyday. The department works for five days a week like other departments. Classes are held between 5.40 p.m. and 9 p.m. only. One section wants the department to be closed down, saying that it does not meet the regulatory demands of the University Grants Commission for a minimum of 30 hours of teaching a week. Another section does not want the department to be closed down, saying that it has shown excellent results for over 40 years and has served a particular segment of disadvantaged students. Most of the teachers who want the department to be continued with are near unanimous on asking the university not to conduct classes for six days a week. The teachers say in case the university has to change the teaching schedule of the department, it can advance the time for classes. A teacher says most of the departments working in the morning, particularly in the arts and social science streams, hardly meet in the afternoons. According to rules, teachers should be present in the departments from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. but most of them are not. He says the argument that the department does not function for the required number of hours needs a re-look. Another teacher says the university calendar provides that the department caters only to employees. In reality, only an insignificant number of students are employed. He recommends changing the calendar. Those seeking the closure of the department maintain that B.Com classes do not get the required time. The department has only two teachers. The PUTA and the non-teaching wing of the university do not favour a change in the timetable and a six-day week. It is inconvenient for women to go home late and local buses do not ply late in the evening. |
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SCHOOL WORLD We all know that a cricket ball is heavier than a table tennis ball. If we throw both the balls with the same speed, it will be found that more force is required to stop the cricket ball, which has more mass, while relatively less force is required to stop the table tennis ball which has comparatively less mass.
Therefore we can conclude that the force required to stop a moving body is directly proportional to its mass as well as its velocity. Thus, the quantity of motion in a body depends on the mass and velocity, which is referred to as momentum. The momentum of a body is defined as the product of its mass and velocity. It is also described as the force possessed by a moving body at a particular instance. Though a cricket ball is not very heavy, but when thrown with a high speed, it acquires a very high momentum and may hurt a person the ball hits him. On the other hand, a car or a bus may be moving at a slow speed, but because of their high mass, they acquire a very high momentum, which may hurt a person coming in their way. Take the case of ships and boats. When their engines are disengaged, ships continue to drift in the direction of their motion for some distance before coming to a dead stop. This is because of their momentum. Larger the ship, greater the momentum. and hence, greater the distance they will drift. A super tanker, for example, which has a mass of about 500,000 tonnes and a cruising speed
go about 18 knots, can drift up to 10 kilometres before coming to a stop after its engines are cut.
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Plea allowed in Beant Singh case Chandigarh, June 6 The judge also allowed the application moved by the CBI that one additional witness be allowed to be examined in the case. The CBI had stated in the application that the witness concerned was not mentioned in the list of witnesses, but his statement was required in the case. In an application filed through his counsel, Mr N.S. Minhas, Navjot Singh stated that his father had pleaded in the court that he be allowed to assist the counsel in his son’s case. The CBI had misled the court, stating that a similar application had earlier been filed in the court and had been dismissed, he added. |
‘Saanp Sidi’ of corporate lifestyle Chandigarh, June 6 Based on the hustle and bustle of the corporate lifestyle, the play promises something new for the audience here. Corporate politics, high tension and pressure to keep up with the demands of everyday life and extramarital affairs have been rapped up in a nice package to give the audience a taste of this new sector. Mohan Maharishi will direct the play. “The play highlights the pressure under which the corporate sector people have to work and analyses the reasons for it without being judgmental,” says Mohan Maharishi who is helping the group to get its acts right at Punjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16. The script is written by Maharishi himself and about 20 per cent of the groundwork has already been completed. The script is based on Anurag Mathur’s novel “The Scene From An Executive’s Life,” says Maharishi. “The very relevance of the topic urged me to take up this venture,” he says. The very first scene of the play questions the institution of marriage, the cut-throat competition for reaching out to the materialistic goal everyone has set for oneself and how such people are coping with the mounting pressure or rather not coping with it in the process of striking a balance between professional life and personal life. The ambience speaks of sheer modernity with a lot of English dialogues. Rohit Batra, producer of the play, who is also acting in a lead role in the play, calls the play a step towards good amateur theatre, if not a professional play. “It is a common complaint from the people that we do not have enough good productions locally, so this is our endeavor to deliver the good to them within the limited resources available to us,” says Rohit. Mohan Maharishi agrees with him. “The scene for drama lacks professionalism, because theatre has always taken a backseat in terms of priority with the Administration here,” he says. “There is no dearth of talent or good audience, but getting sponsorship is the main problem that one has to face while producing a play here,” he says. “The reason for not producing a play here for quite sometime is party professional,” says Maharishi. “At this stage one needs to work with professional actors, rather than training them,” says this former Dean, University Instructions, and visiting professor of the NSD. However, he may be facing problem with the latest production for almost all actors, actresses here are amateur and not all of them can spare time to be present during the rehearsals every day, but he is willing to work with more local groups in future. “I found this group absolutely dedicated and hard working, and if more such groups approach me, I will help them in their projects,” he says. |
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Play gives message
with tinge of humour Chandigarh, June 6 The story opens with a comparison of the present environmental state of the country and what it could be if we take little care towards preserving it from reckless exploitation. The audience is taken to “Indralok”, where Indra is having difficulty in causing precipitation due to the disturbed ecological balance. The story takes a dramatic turn when God Chitasen assaults Rambha, the “apsara” in Indra’s court, and gets cursed to lead the life of a donkey. The action then shifts to the earth. Chitrasen makes the earth green again to marry the daughter of King Brahmputra to regain his place among the gods. Though it is done for a selfish reason, the message given here is that whatever may be the reason, we must also work hard to protect our environment, starting from today, which is being celebrated as World Environment Day. The funny dialogues and the acting prowess of the team kept the audience captivated. Play director Sudesh Sharma and costume designer Parvesh Sethi took pains in making the characters look original using authentic costumes and masks. The play was written by Rajiv Mehta and the cast included Parvesh Sethi, Rajiv Mehta, Rocky Bhardwaj, Hatinder Kumar, Yogesh Tungal, Manpreet Singh, Sonika, Naresh and Monu. The music was given by Bhushan Baggan. |
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NRI here to make Punjabi film Chandigarh, June 6 It brings yet another NRI, Balbir Panesar, a London-based engineer who is willing to shell out Rs 3.5 crore for this project, and his brother Sangram, who has worked with film personalities like Guy Hamilton and Rudy McDonald. Sangram, a former student of National Film School, Beaconfield, UK, started his career as an apprentice with Guy Hamilton for his project, “For Your Eyes Only.” It took him two years to graduate to handling the back projections for “Superman I” in the late 1970s. Success came with roles in “Planet of the Apes” and a comedy serial, “It ain’t Half Hot Mom”, to name a few. However, he did not click in Bollywood. Back in India in the early 1980s, Sangram started acting in Hindi films. “I managed to get lead roles in seven projects but only ‘Baaton Baaton Mein’ was released,” he says. In the film, which starred Amol Palekar and Tina Munim, he played the second lead. His only directed film, “Kalankini”, did not help him much. “Kalankini” was a blend of a commercial and an art film. Its release, unfortunately, coincided with the Mumbai riots of 1993,” he says. So what has made him take a risk with a Punjabi film? “This is more of a commitment to my own people which motivated me to take up this project,” he says. “We strongly feel about the subject and want to revive this industry,” say Balbir and Sangram. "So even if the film breaks even in terms of profit, we will be satisfied,” adds Balbir. Without revealing the storyline of the film, Sangram says he will be pouring all his experience and the technical advancement in the film-making into this venture to make it a hit. The technical part will be brought from Mumbai and so will be a majority of the star cast. Rahul Roy is in the lead role while Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri play supporting roles. Shweta Menon is there to add glamour. Local girl Jonita Doda will be playing the female lead role. The groundwork for the film has already been done. “We are here in India for three more months and within that time we are planning to complete the shooting,” says Sangram. The shooting will commence on June 22 in and around Chandigarh during the first phase. “In the second phase, which constitute about 60 per cent of the scenes, we are planning to shoot in various locales in England,” says
Sangram. |
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Vikrant
back with Punjabi album Chandigarh, June 6 “Soft romantic lyrics, folk-based Indian rhythm and Western beats that are peppy yet not loud” — that is how Vikrant describes his latest release. “I am experimenting with rhythm in my album, to make it different from the rest,” he says. This Mumbai-based singer is currently on a promotional tour for his new album and that is what brings him to the city. A singer who is open to experimentation, Vikrant says he is drawn to all forms of music. “I try to introduce different elements of music in my albums while remaining within the ambit of true Punjabi culture,” he says. A poet in his own right, Vikrant has tried his hand at writing lyrics for a few songs of “Sonne Da Chhalla”. Though it remains to be seen whether his new album is going to bring a new lease of life to the declining popularity of Punjabi pop, Vikrant’s career has picked up like never before as his ultimate dream — to be a playback singer — is just about to be fulfilled. “I have recently recorded a Hindi song for an untitled film which will be released in four or five months,” he says. Born in India and bred in England, Vikrant’s foray into music started with school-level contests which inspired him to take lessons in light classical music from Pandit Vishya Prakash in England and then started his own reggae group while he was still a student. His first professional attempt, “Dance India”, bagged him a Filmfare award in 1999. Vikrant today performed at a local music house in Sector 17, where he enthralled the audience with his latest numbers like “Sonne Da Chhalla”, “Nikki Nikki”, “Laal Laal Ghagri” and his previous hit, “Rann Babey Di”. |
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A group of 35 heads of government schools and Nayodaya Vidyalayas went hiking to infuse new life into their mundane routines.
If we throw two cricket balls with different speed, it will be found that relatively more force will be required to stop the ball moving at higher speed than the one moving at a lower speed, even though their mass is the same.