The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Media school launched with a seminar
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, July 30
A seminar and interactive session on “The new media — deciphering tomorrow” was organised by Global Icons, Noida, and Viamedia, Chandigarh, on the occasion of the launch of the latter’s media school here today.

Speaking at the seminar held at the Chandigarh Press Club, Mr Ujjwal Chaudhary, Director, Viamedia, said the change in technogy had changed the face of the media itself.

Well-known Doordarshan anchor Rahul Dev said the technology may determine the direction of change, but the journalist or interpreter of the change was the key element.

Addressing the gathering, IT Director Vivek Atray explained how technology had bridged the gap between the government and the governed.

Prof Pradeep Mathur of the IIMC, New Delhi, talking about his stint in journalism in The Tribune, said earlier the Chief Sub Editors would bribe plate operators to get work done on time.

Today changes could be made even at the eleventh hour, which was unimaginable earlier.

“Vivid India” by textile design students on Aug 1
Tribune New Service

Chandigarh, July 30
The National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD), Sector 8, is all set to organise a special exhibition featuring aesthetically designed works of students of interior design and textile design. Titled “Vivid India”, the exhibition will be organised between August 1 and 3.

The show will portray India’s rich cultural heritage conceptualised and adapted to modern settings. The NIFD interior design students will base their creations on two themes — traditional and contemporary. The students are creating a cultural village reviving the techniques used in rural India to create a dramatic setting of the past in the context of the present.

The hallmark of the traditional setting will be a typical village kitchen, an informal courtyard, bangle shops and an open-air theatre. The modern setting will feature a wall mural created in vibrant colours.

Textile design students will use techniques of block printing, tie and dye, batik, screen printing, embroidery, fabric printing and yarn craft to design and create a variety of home furnishings, pots, lamps and furniture.

Students hold rally on water conservation
Our Correspondent

Dera Bassi, July 30
To create awareness regarding jaundice and other water-borne diseases among the public, students of Col VR Mohan DAV Public School, Dera Bassi, held a procession here today.

Holding banners and placards, over 100 students along with their teachers in the shape of a procession passed through the markers of the township and distributed pamphlets, highlighting the means and methods of water conservation among residents and shopkeepers.

Earlier, Mr Amrit Pal Singh, President of Dera Bassi Municipal Council, who was the chief guest, planted a sapling in the school premises. Saplings of neem, jamun, amla and other trees were planted by students and staff members in the school premises and surrounding areas.

Tree plantation drive launched
Our Correspondent

Zirakpur, July 30
As many as 150 saplings of gulmohar and other shady trees were planted by students of Government Senior Secondary School Bhabhat, on the first day of a 10-day tree plantation drive launched by the Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat here today.

The drive was launched by Mr M.S. Sidhu, SDM, Dera Bassi. He appealed to the students to plant more trees to conserve forests and environment.

Mr Narinder Sharma, President, Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat, all councillors of the civic body and prominent persons of the area were present on the occasion.

Mr Sharma said over 3,000 saplings would be planted in 15 wards of the civic body in the next 10 days.

SCHOOL WORLD
About Bolivia

BOLIVIA is located in west-central South America. A land-locked country, Brazil lies to its north-east, Paraguay and Argentina lie to its south, while Chile and Peru share its western borders.

Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon Bolivar, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825.

Covering an area of 1,098,580 sq km, its terrain comprises the rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills as well as lowland plains of the Amazon Basin.

The country’s highest point, Nevado Sajama rises 6,542 meters above sea level. Principal rivers flowing through it are the Beni, Mamore, Pilcomayo and the Paraguay.

Climate varies with altitude, from humid and tropical to cold and semi-arid.

Bolivia’s natural resources include tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber and hydropower. Arable land accounts for about two per cent of its territory.

Principal agricultural products include soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes and timber.

Mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts and clothing account for the bulk of industrial output.

Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, has made considerable progress toward the development of a market-oriented economy.

The state airline, telephone company, railroad, electric power company, and oil company have been privatised.

Bolivia has trade relations with the US, Argentina, Colombia, UK, Brazil, Chile and Peru. It imports capital goods, raw materials and semi-manufactured items, chemicals, petroleum and food, while it exports soybeans, natural gas, zinc, gold and wood.

Geography

Fact File

National Name : Republica de Bolivia

Capital: La Paz

Population: 8,400,000

Currency: Boliviano

Type of Government: Republic

Date of independence: August 6, 1825

Languages: Spanish, Quechua, Aymara

Major cities: La Paz, Santa Cruz, Beni, Potosi, Cochabamba, Oruro

Continent: South America

COURTS

Bhagat Singh kin’s case dismissed
Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 30
Nothing is wrong with glamorisation or addition if the basic character of a national hero is kept intact in reel life — the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled in a significant judgement on a petition challenging the screening of films on martyr Bhagat Singh.

Dismissing the petition filed by the martyr's relatives, a Division Bench of the high court, comprising Mr Justice V.K. Bali and Ms Justice Kiran Anand Lall, ruled: "It is too well known that cut and die story of a national hero of whatever eminence would not draw any crowd. Profit making, or at least running the film without any loss, has to be the natural aim of story writers, producers or directors making the films for public viewing. If, while keeping intact the basic character of a national hero, some glamorisation or addition to the main event is made, which is not derogatory or offending, nothing wrong can be found with the same".

The Bench further ruled: "It is not disputed that the supreme sacrifice made by Shaheed-a-Azam Bhagat Singh, and the message it would convey to millions in the country, runs through all the films sought to be banned. If that be so, no complaint can at all be made on a few scenes or dialogues which story writers, directors and producers might have thought necessary for better success of the film at the box office".

The Judges added: "The court is rather of the view that in the present case, when almost seven decades have passed by since Bhagat Singh's death, the only way to remember his sacrifices would be through television serials or films, but if no addition — we may mention that such an addition should not distort the main theme — is made, it may not attract the audience.

The Judges asserted: "We are of the view that the petitioners, who are none other than the descendants of Sardar Bhagat Singh, far from feeling depressed, should feel happy that after so many years, the memories of their ancestor, who laid his life for the nation, are being kept alive".

In their detailed order, the Judges held: "We have gone into the alleged distortions and the dialogues of the actors playing in the different films, but we do not find anything therein that may detract from the main theme of the film, which is to convey the supreme sacrifice by the martyr".

In their petition, nieces and nephews of Bhagat Singh had claimed that in a movie a heroine was shown as the martyr's fiancee. The two were shown as dancing. In another movie he was shown as wearing a garland. This, they asserted, was against the facts. "Bhagat Singh had refused to marry. The only aim in his life was freedom of motherland," the petitioners had added. In another movie, Chander Shekhar Azad was shot by a fellow revolutionist though he had shot himself, counsel had argued on behalf of the petitioners.

Production warrant against Bhullar
Kiran Deep

Chandigarh, July 30
A local court today issued production warrant against Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who was awarded death penalty by a Delhi court while he was facing trial in a local court for his alleged involvement in a bomb blast in the city. The blast was meant to kill former UT SSP Sumedh Singh Saini in 1991.

The case came up for hearing today before the UT District and Sessions Judge, Mr H.S. Bhalla, who, after hearing the defence counsel’s plea that the police had intentionally provided wrong addresses of the accused to delay the trial, issued production warrant against Bhullar for September 29.

Meanwhile, two other suspects allegedly involved in the case, Partap Singh and Gursharan Kaur, today appeared before the court.

Bhullar was sentenced to death for his involvement in the assassination of Manjinder Singh Bitta, a former President of the All-India Youth Congress. Bhullar is currently lodged in the Tihar jail.

The defence counsel also pleaded that everybody knew that Bhullar was lodged in the Tihar jail but the UT police had no clue to this effect. The Tribune, on July 29, highlighted the fact that the UT police was ignorant of Bhullar’s whereabouts, though his being lodged in the Tihar jail was a matter of common knowledge. However, the Chandigarh police continued to furnish Bhullar’s old address of Punjab before the court.

As per the prosecution, the accused, along with others, had allegedly hatched a conspiracy to assassinate Saini. The blast took place on August 29, 1991, when Saini was on his way from police headquarters, Sector 9 to Sector 17. Two accused— Navneet Singh and Gurdeep Singh— died during the trial. Meanwhile, three others—Manmohan Singh, Manjit Singh and Balwant Singh— were declared proclaimed offenders in the case. There are a total of 73 witnesses in the case.

CULTURE

Powerful plays wrap up Gargi festival
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 30
The past two days have been all about Balwant Gargi who filled Punjabi literature with verve. Continuing in the same vein, playwright Gursharan Singh again presented two powerful plays from the repertoire of Gargi, whose prolific pen gave theatre lovers a chance to witness consummate plays.

Known for taking the rotting system hands down, Gargi is especially remembered for “Jawai” and “Bomb Case” that are a satire on the administrative set-up that solves less troubles than it creates. Presented by actors of the Chandigarh School of Drama at Tagore Theatre on the concluding day of the Gargi theatre festival, the plays were relevant in the present political scenario, where vital issues await attention, while non-issues command focus.

Today’s presentation featured “Jawai”, a satire on political machinery and officialdom, that never takes into consideration the aspirations of people. The play centres around an old woman who grants asylum to a fugitive by telling the police that he is her son-in-law. The events take a turn and the fugitive has to run away. The moment he leaves, the actual son-in-law of the woman arrived and ends up being arrested.

Conceptualised finely, the play was all about knave police officials who must fill registers to show their work, irrespective of the quality of work.

The second play was “Bomb Case” which follows the same line as “Jawai”. The police arrests the protagonist on a baseless charge. On the hunt for a man who is charged with making bombs, the police ransacks the house of an old woman after getting a tip-off that her son makes bombs. Without proving the charges, the man who plies a “tonga”, is arrested. He knows how to make a bomb case which is a part of a “tonga”. Unaware of the technical details, the police walks away with the wrong man, yet again.

The plays were well-received. The same plays were staged by the Chandigarh School of Drama at the Punjab Kala Bhavan on July 5.

Actor’s workshop to break new grounds in training
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 30
Come September and aspiring actors in the city will get a chance to brush shoulders with some of the best professionals in the world of films and television. Announcing the launch of actor’s workshop at Hotel Mountview this afternoon were leading professionals like actor Tom Alter, cameraman, Gyan Sahay, director, writer Milind Gaur and advertising professional Mayank Gaur.

Coming together under the aegis of Cine Scope and the Actor’s Workshop, which will accommodate 150 aspirants to begin with, all members of the new team promised realistic training in the realm of acting. Introducing the need to shift base in Chandigarh this morning,

Mayank Gaur, the man behind the idea said, “This region has the best star material. We are here with our expertise in the field of acting and technique. Our attempt is to make people face the camera so that they can take on the world of cinema with ease. With my 19 years of experience in advertising, I have realised that many people cannot make it to the top just because they have not been trained to face the camera.”

Taking over the stage, Tom Alter talked about the need to get friendly with the camera. He said, “When I passed out of the Film Institute in Pune, I got a chance to work with Dev Anand. Full of zeal, I put forth my best performance but I saw that Dev Anand was not watching me. He was looking the other side. Later, I realised that he was facing the camera, which is the sounding block for the actor. Through this workshop, which will be conducted for 12 days, we will train people to face the camera and think before the camera. It’s such a fine equipment, it can simply read and translate emotions. I will be training students for two days in each session.”

The workshops will be practically conducted by Milind Gaur, a famous TV director, who is currently working on a new serial Mrigtrishna, being produced by foreigners. Said Milind, “I will bring to the city my expertise in direction. We will roll the workshops in September. Ours will be the first workshop which will allow students to be in front of the camera all the day. Once basic training is done, we will call in Gyan Sahay who will shoot the final sequence with three hi-tech cameras. Towards the end of the workshop we will give the students a complete actor’s profile in the shape of VHS tapes and CDs.”

Gyan Sahay, the leading cameraman, who has been associated with serials like “Idhar Udhar”, and who has directed hit serials like Antakshri, will also be a part of the workshop.