EDUCATION

Evasive clouds dishearten schoolchildren
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26
Evasive clouds and a sunny day played spoilsport. No, the farmers had nothing to do with this. Instead, eager schoolchildren, looking forward to a cloud watching exercise, had to make do with pictures of various types of clouds though they gazed at the sky with longing eyes, hoping that the rain god would oblige.

The sound of the raas malhaar resounded on the campus of the Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre in Sector 12 today and touched the soul of those present but the rain gods was unrelenting.

In the end, the senior meteorologist from the local office of the Indian Meteorological Department, Mr Surinder Pal, came to their rescue, explaining at length various types of clouds.

Displaying the pictures of various kinds of clouds, he went on to explain which ones were responsible for the rain and precipitation the world over. Armed with a cloud atlas, he answered queries on cloud identification, a subject that interested the students immensely.

Environmentalists in the making, these children from Moti Ram Arya School in Panchkula, moved on to plant saplings of fruit trees on the Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre. Saplings were also planted by the Director, Environment, Mr Sarban Singh, the Director Education, Mr Roshan Lal, and the President of the Environment Society of India, Mr S.K. Sharma.

Computer course at subsidised fee
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, July 26
The Lions Club Chandigarh Greater is offering a one-year computer diploma at subsidised fee at its Vocational Training Centre, Sector 30. Candidates with the minimum qualification of matriculation and whose family income does not exceed Rs 60,000 per annum can collect application forms on a payment of Rs 10 each. The club is offering a subsidy of Rs 4,800 on this course.

There are only 60 seats and the tentative date of commencement of the course is August 6.

COURTS

Court verdict on Sukhna hailed
A.S. Prashar
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26
The verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directing the Chief Engineers of Punjab, Haryana and the UT Administration to ensure that the water level in the Sukhna lake does not rise beyond the level stipulated by the BBMB has sent a wave of relief and jubilation among the citizens concerned about the safety and future of the lake.

Col (Dr) B.R. Pruthi (retd), founder secretary of the Save Sukhna Forum, hailing the verdict said the stand of the forum that the level of the lake should not be raised by 2 feet because it could pose a danger to the whole structure had been upheld by the court. Dr G. S. Dhillon, former Chief Engineer of the Punjab Irrigation Department welcoming the verdict said the UT Administration had landed itself in an unenviable situation. Its Engineering Department insisted on going ahead with raising the crest level of the lake despite warnings by the experts and a great hue and cry raised by the general public. Now all that money running into lakhs of rupees had gone down the drain because the court had ordered that the pond level should not exceed the level stipulated by the BBMB which was El 1160 feet.

Incidentally, the raising of the crest level by two feet would lead to a corresponding increase in silt deposits on the bed, he pointed out. “If the level of the lake is maintained at the fixed design level, the raised crest will also lead to a fall in the flood handling capacity of the Sukhna lake. This means that the capacity of the lake which has already fallen drastically will decrease further. So instead of saving the Sukhna lake and prolonging its life, are they not hastening its demise ?” he asked.

Mr J.S. Kohli, former Chief Engineer of the UT Administration, said The Tribune deserved to be congratulated for highlighting the problems facing the lake by organising an interactive session a couple of months ago where experts expressed their serious reservations on the administration’s move to raise the crest of the lake. Mr Kohli said when he was the Chief Engineer, a series of measures were taken to conserve the lake but raising of crest level of the lake was ruled out. According to him, the designed pond level of the Sukhna lake is 1159 feet, whereas the level at top of the gates of the regulator is 1160 feet. Specific guidelines had been laid regarding the release of water through the gates during monsoon, keeping in view the safety of the structures.

He recalls when he was the Chief Engineer in the 80s, certain measures were taken to preserve the lake. Since the storage capacity of the lake has been reduced considerably due to siltation, it was decided to remodel the gates to increase the pond level to 1960. To give immediate relief, the free board was reduced and the water was being stored up to the level of 1160 feet without the water spilling over the gates to avoid any damage to the spilllway. This had helped in boating and increasing the water body of the lake.

“In the event of flash floods, the level of the water in the lake can further rise by 2.5 feet over the pond level i.e. 1162.5 feet and this aspect has been taken into consideration while designing the structures of the lake. In case it is decided to raise the water level of the lake by 2 feet, there is a possibility of water reaching the level of 1164.5 feet, which is likely to endanger the embankment besides flooding some areas”, he said. “The level of the crest of the gates need not be raised, as it will increase the deposit of silt in the area adjoining the regulator by another 2 feet. This view was supported by all experts in the interactive session on the Sukhna lake organised by The Tribune. The provision of silt excluders needs to be considered with caution. In case of poor monsoons, the lake may be deprived of sufficient water and thus adversely affect the boating facility and reducing the water body of the lake. Chandigarh has experienced such weather conditions in the past”, he said.

He suggested that in order to the save the lake, dredging should be undertaken which would also help in providing low earthen bundh on the north-east side which would intercept silt water entering the lake. A series of permanent decantation tanks properly designed to arrest the silt before it entered the lake should be constructed. Remodelling of the gates should also be undertaken with proper free board without increasing the level of the crest. A Centre- sponsored scheme for soil conservation should be undertaken in the catchment areas of the Sukhna lake falling in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

CULTURE

Virtuoso mesmerises audience
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26
Jalandhar based Alankar Singh today mesmerised audience with his vocal presentation at Government Museum auditorium. A lecturer in music at Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, Jalandhar, he received training in classical music and Sikh devotional music in the “guru-shishya parampara” from Gurmat Sangeet Acharya Prof Tara Singh, a renowned musicologist and composer. He belonged to the Gwalior gharana of khyal gayaki.

For the past eight years, Alankar Singh has been under the tutelage of Pt Ganesha Prasad Sharma, a well known name in the Sahaswan School of Music. As for his forte, khyal gayaki has been his first love and passion. He reflected this passion in plenty today.

Combining his love for music with a career in teaching and research, Alankar Singh did his postgraduation in vocal music from Punjabi University’s Department of Music in 1997. Apart from enjoying the rare distinction of passing each of his examination in first division, Alankar has to his credit many more firsts.

He got the first position in the prestigious competition of classical vocal music at the 118th Baba Harballabh Sangeet Sammellan in Jalandhar. He was also adjudged best classical vocalist in 1995-96 and in 1996-97 at the Punjab State Inter-University competitions.

Western Film Review
Action-packed mediocre film
Rajiv Kaplish

CHANDIGARH: It is raining mediocrity. If inadequacies of “Charlie’s Angels ... inundated your nerves three weeks ago, it is a flood of trivia you wade through in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (Kiran) this week. It surely is the rise of the machines which are out to terminate whatever is left of your intelligence.

This time they have assumed the forms of “Mr Bulging Biceps” Arnold Schwarzenegger and blonde Kristina Loken. While the former has donned the mantle of the saviour of the human race, the latter has come from the future to annihilate mankind. One is the sniff-and-snuff out destroyer and the other is the identify-and-save protector.

Caught in the warfare are John Connor (Nick Stahl), humanity’s only hope for the future, and veterinarian Katherine (Claire Danes) who unwittingly earns the wrath of the killing machine.

As the rampaging female cyborg hounds out her targets to carry forward her vicious agenda and the male fighting machine confronts her in a bid to save humans from impending apocalypse, the screen turns into a battleground. Burning buildings, crashing cars and trucks and flying debris are your lot for most of the time. Machines turn into human beings and vice versa at the drop of a hat.

Though definitely not in the league of James Cameron-directed “Terminator” and “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”, the sequel which has Jonathan Mostow at the helm has its moments in the performance of Shwarzenegger which is a curious mix of breezy antics and display of rippling sinews. Claire Danes is easy on the eye. The mandate for Kristina Loken is to look as robotic as possible. The result: she does not bat an eyelid.

Given its cyborg vs cyborg fights, they should have named the movie, “Fight of the Cyborgs”.