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July 12, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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NCC seeks varsity recognition
for C certificate Chandigarh, July 11 “We want the C certificate to get an appropriate equation in the civil street as well,” NCC Deputy Director-General, Brig D.S. Dhillon said. “We have already approached Panjab, Guru Nanak Dev and Kurukshetra universities in this regard,” he added. Cadets need to undergo three years’ training, attend camps and take part in adventure activities to be eligible to take the examination to obtain a C certificate. At present, 164 vacancies are reserved for C certificate holders in the Indian Military Academy and the Officers Training Academy every year. They need not appear for the written examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for entry into these academies, but can appear directly for interview by the Services Selection Board. Besides the armed forces, extra points are also awarded to C certificate holders in interviews for certain government jobs. The NCC wants to get the status of a university diploma for the C certificate which could also have a utility in the civilian arena. “It could be a diploma in socio-military studies,” Brigadier Dhillon said. The practical training and examination would be the responsibility of the NCC. Besides military-oriented training, the NCC has on its agenda a large number of social activities such as disaster management, community service and awareness programmes for cancer and AIDS. A move is also being initiated to introduce NCC for university students in the region. A large number of universities in southern states are offering NCC as a co-curricular activity to students. Only colleges and schools in this region offer NCC training. |
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534 admitted in schools
Chandigarh, July 11 According to sources, admissions in the art stream have been completed in Government Model Senior Secondary Schools of Sectors 10, 20, 33, 40 and 46. A total number of 415 students in arts and 119 in vocational courses were admitted today. Tomorrow the interview will be held for students who have secured 38 per cent marks and above. About 402 students are being called for interview scheduled for tomorrow. According to sources, admissions of students having compartments will be held from Monday.
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Date extended Chandigarh, July 11 |
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SCHOOL WORLD:
History
The American contact with India is very old. The first Americans came to India via the English East India Company. After independence from the English on the 4th July 1776 they began to come here as traders from an independent country. One of the first important Americans to come to India was Elihu Yale of Connecticut who reached the coast of India in 1672. As a young man of 24 he worked as a clerk to the English East India Company at the meagre salary of £10 per year. India in those days was the land of opportunity for all. It was presumed that the clerk would supplement his income through a variety of illegal means. Yale rose to become the Governor of Madras [1687 – 1692] and retired with an immense fortune. Not all Americans made it rich. One who did not was Major General David Ochterlony. A graduate of the New Hampshire’s Dummer Academy, he commanded the troops of the East India Company that conquered Nepal. Ochterlony was appointed the Resident to the Mughal Emperor’s court in Delhi. He purchased a large amount of property by taking loans from various Indian moneylenders. Ultimately the heavy interest charged on these loans turned him into a veritable pauper. For his services the English crown made him a knight in 1815 and provided him a pension after retirement. Among the people of the world the Americans were the last to begin trade with India. Their early trade was mostly in items which were appreciated by the 16,000 strong European community in India. The rum manufactured in New England is reported by Professor Bhagat to be a major item of trade. Other items included fish, pork, beef and spermaceti candles. Indians, however, showed no desire to purchase American products. So having reached India most American ships occupied themselves with what was known as the ‘country trade’, i.e. carrying goods between the ports of India and between India and other ports of Africa and Asia. After achieving independence the Americans began a search for markets in the East. The first ship to leave the American coast for this purpose was owned by Robert Morris. It was called the Empress of China. Its captain was John Green. With a mixed cargo worth $120,000 it set sail on Sunday, February the 22nd, 1784 from New York for China. But it could do little trade since it was not carrying enough silver while the Chinese, having little need of the whites or their manufactures, used only silver for the selling of goods to them. A month later, on 22nd March 1784, a 200 ton ship called the United States set sail for India with a cargo of ginseng, naval stores, copper, miscellaneous hardware, a considerable amount in dollars and of course lots of New England rum. Thomas Bell was its captain. It reached Pondicherry at 6 p.m. on the 26th December 1784 after a voyage of 9 months and 1 day. The French Governor of Pondicherry de Bussy welcomed the Americans heartily much to the consternation of the officers of the English East India Company based in Madras [now Chennai]. They feared that the Americans would set up a base in India and vie for power. It did not help matters that the Nawab of Arcot too welcomed the Americans and gave a favourable reply to the letter that Captain Bell had brought him from the American Congress. The United States sailed back for the US on 13th February 1785. The return journey was very difficult. Most of its crewmen died due to scurvy and lack of fresh water. The ship reached Philadelphia on September 13th, 1875. Thus the trade link between India and the United States was inaugurated. Dr M. Rajivlochan, Department of History, Panjab University, Chandigarh, can be contacted at mrajivlochan@hotmail.com
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School World Helpline Play is one of most important and engaging social activity of children. Children spend most of their time outside of school playing with toys and with friends than they do in any other activity. Play appears to be intrinsically motivated rather than imposed or directed by others, it is free from external rules, is non-serious and highly engaging. Play serves several important functions in the development of competencies in children. Play facilitates the cognitive development of children, helps them to explore their environment, learn about objects and solve problems. By acting out roles, children learn to understand others and empathize. Play also helps children to resolve some of their emotional problems, to learn to cope with anxiety, and inner conflicts in a non-threatening environment. Play for toddlers involves simple, repetitive motor movements with or without objects such as running around, rolling a car back and forth, or playing with clay with no specific intent. Play becomes more creative as children grow older and 3 years old start to enjoy making houses out of toy blocks, drawing pictures, and completing puzzles. Make believe, imaginative play also emerges around 3 years and is an important developmental milestone. Children start to act out everyday imaginary roles like playing house, schoolteacher or doctor. Imaginative play is particularly important in the development of social competencies as it helps children to experience the roles and feelings of others. Several positive benefits have been associated with imaginativeness in play including increased self-control, low impulsivity and enhanced sharing, cooperation, independence and social maturity. Moreover, children who are more imaginative in play are more likely to show positive emotions than less imaginative children. There are marked differences in the play styles of the two sexes. Girls tend to play in low energy games in small groups close to adults while boys play high-energy games. Boys are involved in boisterous rough and tumble play, or play with blocks and cars while girls play with dolls, kitchen sets. Moreover, boys occupy nearly ten times the space as compared to girls. Both genetic and environmental factors appear to operate in determining the nature of play in boys and girls. It is possible that as traditional sex roles undergo a change, more shared interests might emerge for the two sexes. Parents actively encourage play in children by providing them with specific toys like cars, dolls, tea sets, board games, video and computer games. Interestingly, non-specific materials like cardboards, blocks, paper bags, and containers actually encourage more imaginative play than specific toys. Parents sometimes mistakenly overindulge their children and may buy several expensive toys in an effort to promote cognitive development in their children. Too many toys may actually overwhelm the growing child who may respond by avoiding all toys and turning to simple everyday objects. A good idea is to expose the child to a few simple toys at any time and once the child seems to have explored them fully to keep them away and replace them with novel toys. It is better to recycle toys rather than buy more because adding to the collection indiscriminately may increase the risk for over stimulation. Children’s play can also be indicative of emotional problems and parents need to be keen observers of the child’s play. Age inappropriate play, deviations in play, stereotypic play, markedly restricted interests, obsessive interest in only parts of objects have been found to be related to anxiety, emotional disturbances, and developmental problems. Failure to develop imaginative play may itself be indicative of pathology, or developmental delay, or deviance. Disturbed children also sometimes show a preoccupation with aggression and act out violent themes and show an inability to assume the role of providing or caring for others. Play is essential for learning in children and can be enhanced through toys and shared interactions. Although toys should never be used as a substitute for loving, unconditional attention from parents, toys can enhance child-parent interaction. There is abundance of evidence to indicate that play enhances a child’s self esteem, cognitive development and mastery of skills. Parents not only need to actively encourage children to play but also to ensure that they have adequate time to discover the joys and pleasures of play.
Dr Prahbhjot Malhi, Associate Professor, Child Psychology, APC, PGIMER,
can be contacted at apc1@gilde.net.in
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Gupta granted bail Chandigarh, July 11 Mr Gupta, on furnishing bonds of Rs 50, 000 with a surety of same amount, was granted bail by the CBI Special Judge, Mr R.S Baswana, after the CBI today conceded that the investigation in the case had not been completed therefore it had not prepared a challan in the case yet. Mr Gupta’s bail application pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court meanwhile, was rendered infructous following the grant of bail the local court. Mr Gupta was arrested by the CBI on May 11 on charges of corruption. As per law, the CBI was expected to file a challan in the court by July 9. The investigating agency, however, could not file the chargesheet under Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code against him. The CBI failure to file the challan within stipulated period had opened the doors for bail for Mr Gupta in the case. Though the deadline expired two days ago even till today, the CBI had not presented the challan documents in the court. Mr Gupta’s counsel had moved an application for bail on July 9 after finding that CBI had been unable to file the challan during court hours. The counsel contended that since the period of 60 days expired on July 9, therefore Mr Gupta deserved the concession of bail. |
Justice Surinder Singh’s spiritual nuggets Chandigarh, July 11 And because everyone present during the release ceremony of Justice Surinder Singh’s little book of thoughts, “Tapestry of life”, has been a part of his progress as a writer, the evening turned out to be enriching, with the author introducing to the gathering all those who made his life worthwhile. The day also saw the release of the Hindi translation of his earlier work, “Of Repose and Rapture”. The book has been translated by eminent poet Madhav Kaushik, who conducted the proceedings for the evening. Present on the occasion as special guests were Mr Justice Amar Dutt, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court, who released “Tapestry of Life,” and Dr Chander Trikha, Director, Haryana Sahitya Akademi, who released “Kshitij Ke Us Paar,” the translated version of “Of Repose and Rapture.” The good part of the evening was its highly soothing flavour. Each of the guest speakers talked in a language, loaded less with lofty phrases and more with love — an emotion the writer has worked hard to underline. Dr P.S. Bedi rightly averred, “The work touches the strings of your heart. Although every word has been written from the brain, it makes better sense to the heart and comes across as a distillate of the writer’s life’s experiences. Once you read the work, you know that the writer has understood the profound perspective of life.” Taking the narration further, the writer’s elder brother, Sardar Joginder Singh, referred to the work as a virtual collection of symphonies. “In this symphony of life, there is melody and music. This little book helps us get nearer to that music. It tells us that the knowledge of this music is a prerequisite to reach out for the conductor of the divine orchestra.” For Mr Shaju Peter, past President, Rotary Mid Town, it was easy to relate with the work of Justice Surinder Singh. He admired the verses, narrating to the audience from the book, “Life is a beautiful tapestry only if we known how to blend the colours....Play your part well till the curtain drops.” Bishop Gerald John Mathias, when asked to speak, congratulated the writer for his work and for his birthday. He said, “Justice Surinder Singh’s works are not fruits of intellect, but writings from the soul. I see in him a man of God.” |
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Promoting
literature among youth Chandigarh, July 11 “With realisation downing on us that no youngster is going to come forward to ask for a book, the Akademi decided to reach out to them and as a result a composite capsule of literary campaign has been formulated,” says Dr Rama Rattan, Joint Secretary of the
Akademi. The Akademi has already written to about 60 colleges in Punjab and Chandigarh and is waiting for their reply. The programme include a “Ru-ba-Ru” session with established Punjabi writers, “Kabya Divas”, “Kahani Divas” and play production by a group of veteran actors from the
Akademi. One of the major focus of the campaign is to provide platform to upcoming writers through a programme called “Nava
Kalma”. “Through this programme we will give a chance to talented youngsters to come in contact with Punjabi writers, who will provide guidance,” says Dr Rattan. Not only this, a panel from the Akademi will also help monitor the progress of such students from time to time. Book exhibitions to popularise the works of Punjabi authors will also present an opportunity to the author to explain his works. “This is a step to get the students curious about Punjabi novels and other literary works. Just by looking at the covers, one does not know what to expect. So we decided to present books, along with the author himself, so that he can talk about his works,” says Dr Rattan. The Akademi had conducted such a workshop in Government College in Dera Bassi a couple of months back which proved to be a success. “We introduced the works of famous poet Surjit
Pattar, besides staging a play by renowned playwright Gursharan Singh during the Lohri function in the college,” said Dr Rattan. Though some colleges have already started responding towards this literary move, the Akademi is waiting for a few more responses to get started with. |
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