EDUCATION

MLA launches campaign for better school results
Our Correspondent

SAS Nagar, July 8
Government High School in Bakarpur village, near here, with the lowest pass percentage of 8 in this year’s matriculation examination in Ropar district, came under the media glare when the Punjab Deputy Speaker, Mr Birdevinder Singh, launched a vigorous campaign to prick the conscience of teachers for failing in their duty.

The school shocked parents and educationists when only three out of 35 students could clear the board examination. In the subject of drawing, which is taught by the wife of a PCS officer, not a single student has passed. In maths and English, only seven and eight examinees, respectively, were declared passed. As many as 21 students could not get through the examination and 11 had got compartments in one subject or the other.

Launching his “atam chintan and paschatap” campaign, Mr Birdevinder Singh, who is also the Kharar MLA, asked the school Principal, Mrs Sheela Kumari, who is to retire in about three months, to go on a long leave. He said he would propose strict action against the other teachers — Ms Bimal Mangal (English), Ms Neelam (maths) and Ms Malkit Kaur (drawing). He said a meeting would be held tomorrow in which the Secretary, Education, the DPI and the DEO would participate. It would be decided at the meeting as to what action was to be taken against the three teachers.

It is learnt from some teachers of the school that Ms Malkit Kaur is the wife of Mr Mukand Singh Sandhu, a PCS officer, who at present is working as the DTO, Ludhiana.

Mr Birdevinder Singh, who sat on a dari along with a number of residents of the village as a mark of penitence, told the gathering that when he went through the English notebook of one of the students of the school, he found 15 mistakes on one page but the teacher concerned had marked it as correct. He said he was shocked when he got to know that a student of Class VIII of the school was unable to recite the English alphabets. He said society would never be able to progress if education was neglected to such an extent.

Those gathered in the Government High School today were surprised to hear that the Principal of the school, which had performed so badly, was drawing a salary of Rs 18,000 per month.

The Deputy Speaker said he was making efforts to get the school upgraded. But now it would not be possible as only three students had passed the matriculation examination. He said the other schools that had performed badly in the matriculation examination this year were government school at Sakrulapur (18 per cent) and government school at Gobindgarh (24 per cent). He said three more schools of Ropar district had the pass percentage as low as 26. A detailed report about the results was being sought from all schools and action would be taken against teachers after the performance of each one of them was evaluated.

Mr Birdevinder Singh said as an incentive he would be giving Rs 50,000 and a water cooler to two schools where the pass percentage was quite high. They were Government High School, Rasenheri, (97 per cent) and Government High School, Majat, (95 per cent). The teachers of both schools would be honoured on August 15. Teachers of schools where the pass percentage was above 80 would also be honoured.

Commerce hot favourite in SAS Nagar
Our Correspondent

SAS Nagar, July 8
Admission to Class XI are going on in full swing at the only Government Senior Secondary School here. The authorities say they are witnessing a greater rush for the commerce stream as compared to other courses.

Seats in the commerce group are almost over as 86 students had already deposited the admission fee and more applications are being processed. Out of the five vocational courses being offered by the institution, seats in three courses are full. Admission to the arts and science streams are in progress and the last date of admissions is July 17.

Mrs Paramjit Kaur, Principal, said today that last year the school had only one group, comprising 60 students, for commerce. This year two groups would have to be formed as there was a greater rush and it had been planned to admit 100 students.

The school had so far admitted 88 students in the non-medical group and 69 in the medical group. There are two groups for the non-medical and one for the medical category. The authorities say that if more students take admission, two groups for the medical stream will have to be formed.

The school has fixed the cut-off percentage in the science stream at 60 for the general and 55 for the reserved categories. In the case of commerce, the cut-off percentage is 55 for the general and 50 for reserved categories. The highest percentage in the non-medical stream is 88.9 and in the medical stream 81.6.

The school has five groups for the arts group. Admissions for the two groups have been completed while about 50 per cent seats in the other three groups have been filled.

As far as the vocational courses are concerned, all seats in the electrical, food preservation, electronics courses have been filled. Only a few seats in garment making and secretarial practices are vacant so far.

However, student rush has not been witnessed at government senior secondary schools in Sohana and Manouli villages, near here.

In fact, teachers of the Government Senior Secondary School for Girls at Sohana, where science and commerce were introduced this year, have been making all efforts to attract students. Banners have been put up at different places and hand outs distributed. They have even given advertisements on the local TV channel. Till yesterday, the school had received only 15 admission forms against 60 seats in the commerce stream, 10 forms for the non-medical stream and five for the medical group. There are 30 seats for each group of the science stream.

Mrs Paramjit Kaur, Principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Manouli, did not reveal the number of seats filled in her school so far saying that admissions would close on July 17 and she would be able to give the figures only after that.

GIFE to have branch at Panchkula
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 8
The management of the Graduate Institute for Further Education (GIFE) of Australia has decided to open a branch of its institute at Panchkula. Admissions for the first "certification III course in hospitality" (Asian cookery) have already started and the classes will begin on August 4.

According to a press note issued by the institute, this has been done keeping in view world-wide acute shortage of chefs trained in Asian cuisine. This one-year certificate course in Indian cookery will be coordinated by professionals and food columnists.

The course has been designed to conform to technical and further education (TAFE) requirements and incorporates a mix of theory and practical knowledge. The institute has a well-equipped industrial kitchen for the practical component of the course.

On the successful completion of the course, students will also be offered job placement assistance. For this, Indian restaurants in Melbourne are being requested to take GIFE's students as apprentice cooks.

GIFE also offers various certificates and diploma courses in business, information technology, multi-media to international and Australian students. All these courses are approved by the Government of Australia and recognised by the industry.

Restart arts stream, urge parents
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 8
Parents of the Class XI students (arts) of ACC DAV Senior Public School, Surajpur, have complained that their wards have been left to fend for themselves as the school has now decided to discontinue the arts stream.

They said their wards had been attending the classes for the past one month and now it would be difficult for their wards to seek admission elsewhere.

They urged the principal to restart the classes. However, the principal said there were very few students in the arts stream and the course was not financially sustainable.

SCHOOL WORLD
TEMPERATURE

THE temperature of a substance is the degree of hotness or coldness of the substance.

Modern thermometers use mercury as the thermometric liquid, though in some cases alcohol is also used. They measure temperature in units of Celsius or Fahrenheit.

Temperature scales Just as two fixed marks of 0 cm and 100 cm are required on a meter scale to measure length, two fixed temperatures, also called fixed points are required for a temperature scale to measure heat. The two fixed points are : (i) The temperature at which pure ice melts under standard atmospheric pressure is taken as the lower fixed point. (ii) The temperature at which pure water boils under standard atmospheric pressure is taken as the upper fixed point of the temperature scale. There are two temperature scales which are commonly used for the measurement of temperature. These are Fahrenheit scales and Celsius scales. Fahrenheit Scales : On Fahrenheit scales, the melting point of ice (lower fixed point0 is given the value of 32 degree and the boiling point of water (upper fixed point) is given the value of 212 degree. This scale is generally used for doctor’s thermometer for measuring body temperature. Celsius Scales : This is a more convenient, metric scale of temperature, on which the melting point of ice is taken as 0 degree, while the boiling point of water is taken as 100 degrees. The two fixed temperatures of Celsius scale have been given simple values of 0 and 100 and there are 100 degrees in it. So it is quite easy to do calculations using this scale and it is preferred in scientific work. Relationship between the two scales : To convert Fahrenheit temperature into Celsius -- C = 0.556 x (F-32) To convert Celsius temperature into Fahrenheit -- F = 1.8 x C + 32 F = Temp. in Fahrenheit C = Temp in Celsius Temperature of the Human Body The normal temperature of a human body is 37 degree Celsius. It can neither tolerate excessive hot weather nor excessive cold weather. During summers, when the outside temperatures are high, a lot of sweat is produced, causing loss of water from the body, which may cause heat stroke. During winters, when the outside temperatures are very low, heat starts flowing from our body into the air, causing the body temperature to fall. Hence warm clothes are required, which act as insulators and prevent heat flow. How & Why: Principle of Calorimetry Calorimetry means measurement of heat. According to the principle of calorimetry, when a hot body is mixed with a cold body, the heat lost by the hot body is equal to the heat gained by the cold body, provided no heat is allowed to escape into the surrounding and there is no change in state of the two bodies. Hence, Heat lost = Heat gained

Gupta’s remand extended

Chandigarh, July 8
Jalandhar’s suspended District and Sessions Judge R.M. Gupta was yesterday further remanded in judicial custody till July 9 by a local court in a corruption case registered against him by the CBI. According to the CBI, Mr S.S. Bhardwaj had allegedly demanded and accepted Rs 7 lakh for himself and on behalf of R.M. Gupta to show favour in an anticipatory bail matter of Gurvinder Singh Samra, complainant in the case in a complaint pending before Gupta’s court in Jalandhar. OC

CULTURE

YOUTH LIFE & STYLE
Glitz & glamour
Bridging the gulf between India and Pakistan through fashion show
A.S. Prashar

A cultural exchange with a difference took place between India and Pakistan when Bridal Asia, the flagship event of the Delhi-based Services International, organized a glittering fashion show at Karachi, tracing the age-old cultural links between the two neighbours, who have been at loggerheads with each other for nearly half a century now.

A Pakistani model displays a creation by Anamika Khanna

Divya Gurwara, CEO, Bridal Asia along with "Fashion Gurus" - Ritu Kumar, J J Valaya and designer Anamika Khanna presented the fashion show in Karachi on the June 28 showcasing the panorama of Indian fashion, each having its own distinctive flavour. Invited by the Jang Group, a renowned publication house in Karachi, Bridal Asia celebrated the 25th anniversary of Jang group’s fashion publication ‘Mag The Weekly’. Bridal Asia has had participation from Pakistan since its first year of inception in 1999.

Commenting on the event at Karachi, Ms. Divya Gurwara, CEO, Bridal Asia said, "It was a great experience for all of us to be there and be a part of the grand finale. It was overwhelming to see the response of over 700 people who appreciated every design that was showcased. We are very glad to be associated with the Jang group and have received an invitation from them to make Bridal Asia an annual event at Karachi.”

“I would like to thank Ritu Kumar, J J Valaya & Anamika Khanna who have supported me throughout in making this event a grand success”, adds Divya. Bridal Asia like always has been the first to take Indian designers to Pakistan. Each designer’s creation was different from other’s like Ritu Kumar’s, whose collection was steeped in tradition with benevolent smatterings of dhapka, aari and gota. Shying away from crystals, sequins and other embellishments, her creations were replete with metallic embroideries, using gold and silver threads.

Says Ritu Kumar, “It was a cultural exchange between two neighbours which was very meaningful and fruitful and I look forward to more such associations in the future. Barriers are easy to bridge through art, culture, music and design, which bring together people irrespective of all politics, leading to a better understanding and appreciation of our cultural diversity. The people there were very warm and hospitable and our collections were very well appreciated. It was also a pleasure for me to see the work of the Pakistani designers, especially Bunto Kazmi. She has a very classic form which is very parallel to my work of revival here in India”.

The event at Karachi also showcased the collections of two Pakistani designers - Bunto Kazmi & Faiza Saimi. Faiza has already been associated with Bridal Asia as she showcased her collection in the year 2000 at Bridal Asia in India. Bunto will be visiting India to participate in Bridal Asia 2003. “ We are very happy to invite Bridal Asia to Karachi as the work presented by the group has been appreciated tremendously by our publication and we hope to have a long term commitment with Bridal Asia”. Says Andleeb Rana, Editor, Mag The Weekly, Jang Group. According to J. J. Valaya, “I wanted to present the best of Indian fashion, so I selected some of my best creations from my latest collection. I am very happy to Karachi and I look forward to being a part of this event every year”.

Apart from the bridal finery, Valaya also presented a collection for men featuring embroidered sherwanis and coats.

The collections of the designers reinforced that fashion's myriad moods and varied signatures span a whole gamut of design sensibilities. When it comes to bridal creations, it finds an expression more eloquent than any other. No longer the realm of an ordinary seamster, the sartorial style of a bride is deftly defined in a combination of cross-cultural delicate nuances conceived by talented visionaries, whose expertise helps in the transition of the mundane into the ethereal.

Speaking about the event, Anamika Khanna said, "I made a conscious effort to showcase the ‘ new age bride’ as my clothes were free spirited and exuberant. The collection was for brides who want to deviate from the conventional. I would like to thank Bridal Asia for giving me an opportunity to showcase my talent in Karachi.”

Bridal Asia, the first of its kind, which started in 1999 with 40 participants and 9,000 visitors, has now become an annual extravaganza with over 80 participants and over 40,000 visitors. What started, as a small showcasing of trousseau collections under one roof has become a much awaited and prestigious event featuring a variety of bridal trends and range of bridal accessories from the Asian Subcontinent.

New trends
Devdas around your neck

ALL you movie buffs eager to imitate the stars twinkling on the silver screen, here is some good news. You too can walk into a bash with long and solid earrings worn by Chandramukhi and Paro in Devdas.

"I want to erase the irrational obsession for gold from the minds of women," Ms Modi asserts. "I want to make them realise that jewellery is a reflection of personality. That's why we offer unique and affordable ornaments that give them the feeling of completeness". No wonder, you will not be forced to take out more than Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 from your handbag for the product.

RADIO BUZZ
Colourful songs for you

HEY kids, here is a colourful list of songs with different hues. Just switch on your stereo and have a nice colourful time. Happy listening..