225 children contest for Bal Shree awards
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27
It was a day of competition for 225 children from 35 city schools, who participated in two main events to qualify for the National Bal Shree Awards, to be presented by the Indian Council for Child Welfare.

Coming forward to participate in today’s events of creative art and creative performance were 225 children, including special children, who gave a tough time to each other. The event was organised at Bal Bhavan, Sector 23, by the local chapter of the Indian Council for Child Welfare, which has to select children at the local level. The contest was organised by the local chapter on the behalf of National Bal Bhavan, which will later hold national contests for selecting the winners of National Bal Shree Awards.

From among the children who participated in today’s events were those between the age group of 9 and 16 years. The creative art competition was judged by Mr R.D. Lahotia, former Principal, Government College of Art, Sector 10 and Mr. Sandeep Joshi from The Tribune and Ms Tejinder Bajwa. the creative performance events were judged by Mr N.S. Rathor, Ms Veena Suri and Ms Asha Vashishtha.

Results in the creative art category (in the order of merit) are: Ritu Beri (GMSSS, Sector 35), Khushdeep Kaur (Government Model High School, Sector 38), Bharti Sharma (Carmel Convent, Sector) 9. The special child who won the prize was Ashish Rathaur from Prayaas, the institute for the handicapped.

In the creative performance, the prizes in the order of merit are: Nidhi Sood (Govt Model High School, Sector 43), Divya (Shishu Niketan, Sector 32), Charu (GMSSS, Sector 18). The special prize went to Kirti from the Institute for the Blind, Sector 26.

FROM COLLEGES
100 saplings planted
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27
A sapling plantation campaign was organised at Government College, Sector 46, Chandigarh, at 10 am here today. The programme was inaugurated by Lieut-Col Surinder Kumar, 2 Bn, NCC, Chandigarh. He was accompanied by Lieut-Col Om Prakash, Administrative Officer, NCC. The function was presided over by the Principal, Mr S.C. Nijhawan. More than 100 saplings were planted.

Mr Nijhawan highlighted the importance of trees. He said NCC Cadets should be disciplined so that other students could learn from them.

Lieut-Col Surinder Kumar highlighted the importance of NCC and counted the advantages of joining defence services. Mr Sanjit Sardar extended the vote of thanks.

Play contest

The Dramatics Club of MCM DAV College, Sector 36, held annual inter-class play contest here today. Students from various streams participated in the event. Plays were staged on contemporary issues in English, Hindi and Punjabi.

Mr Ramesh Kapoor of All-India Radio presided over the function. BA III students won the first prize for “Christmas Carol”, while BA II students won the second place for “Nayee Mehmaan”. BA I students won the third prize for staging “Bimar ka Ilaj”. The prizes were given away by the chief guest. The Principal, Ms Usha Gupta, was also present on the occasion.

Blood donation camp

As many as 262 volunteers donated blood at a camp organised at DAV College, Sector 10, here on Wednesday. The camp was organised in collaboration with the State Bank of India.

The camp was inaugurated by the Deputy General Manger, SBI, Mr V.S. David. Mr S. Marriya (Principal of the college), Ms Kavita Marriya, Prof Umesh Vinayak and Dr Surinder Kumar also donated blood.

FROM SCHOOLS
Musical morning at school
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27
A musical morning was organised at Rainbow Preparatory School, Sector 27, here today. Tiny tots dressed in blue check shorts and white shirts began the programme with a prayer, “Bind us together” performed by students of the UKG.

This was followed by an action song “Old McDonald”. The children of the LKG presented a bouquet of rhymes like “Are you sleeping”, “Billi boli”, “Pani barsa cham cham” and “Yankee doodle”. The children together danced to “Clap your hands”. The programme ended with a melodious song “We shall overcome”.

Entrance test

The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti will conduct an entrance test for admissions to vacant seats of Class IX on September 28 at 10 am. The test would be held at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sector 25, for two seats in the general category and 17 seats in the Scheduled Caste category.

The last date for submission of forms is September 5.

Admission norms changed for compartment cases
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27
Panjab University has decided that students of plus two who have cleared their compartment examination before the last date of admissions will be given admission in affiliated colleges from the current session.

Earlier, students of plus two who were placed under compartment were not eligible for admission. A student with at least 20 marks in a paper was placed under compartment as per the university rules. In case of a majority of school boards, a student with lesser marks qualified for compartment. The rule has been changed following a resolution by Principal Jaswant Singh Gill which was accepted by the university Syndicate.

The Syndicate order reads; “If a candidate placed under compartment in plus two clear by appearing in the supplementary examination of the board before the last date of admissions, he or she should be considered eligible for admission to the higher class”.

PU accepts some demands of students
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27
Panjab University partially accepted the demands the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in allowing certain concessions to the students of BSc (honours school) here today.

Prof Nirmal Singh, Dean, Student Welfare, met the agitating students and said the university had accepted the demand of allowing 26 out of 40 credits as eligibility for promotion to the second year with two reappear chances, a press note said.

Saurabh Joshi, secretary of the parishad, ended his indefinite fast.

Earlier, a delegation of students, comprising Arun Dhiman and Mukta, president and vice-president of the parishad, met the Dean, University Instructions, and the DSW.

COURTS

Notice of motion on dumping of waste
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27
Acting on a petition seeking directions to the Chandigarh Administration and other respondents to stop the practice of dumping ‘entire municipal waste’ in the ground adjoining Dadu Majra colony, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice of motion.

Taking up the petition filed by the Mazdoor Ekta Welfare Committee of Dadu Majra colony and two other petitioners against the Administration, besides the Home Secretary, the Finance Secretary, the Deputy Commissioner and the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, the Bench, comprising Chief Justice Mr Justice B.K. Roy and Mr Justice Viney Mittal, also fixed September 1 as the next date of hearing.

In its petition, the committee had also sought directions to the respondents for ensuring that the residents of the surrounding areas enjoyed the right to life in a pollution-free environment as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Directions to the respondents for removing heaps of solid waste from the site and getting the area levelled were also sought. They had also claimed that the dumping of the waste at the site was contrary to the guidelines issued by the authorities in this regard.

Counsel for the petitioners added on the committee’s behalf that a memorandum in this regard was submitted to the local MP, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal. In the memorandum, he was requested to provide funds for development work, including the cleaning of the dumping ground and carpeting of the lanes.

This was not all. A memorandum was also submitted to the Administration requesting the authorities to redress their grievance, but nothing was done, counsel added.

DISTRICT COURTS
SI gets clean chit
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 27
The Central Bureau of Investigation had given a clean chit to Mr Janak Raj, a Sub-Inspector (SI) with the UT police, who was booked by the CBI in a corruption case. The bureau had moved a cancellation report before the UT CBI Special Judge stating that nothing had been found against him during the course of investigation.

The SI was caught red-handed by the CBI, while allegedly accepting Rs 1,200 from complainant Rajinder Singh Basin. Thereafter, he remained in the Model Burail jail for about one and a half months. He was later released on bail by the High Court.

Two get RI in assault case

Two city residents, Joginder Singh and Narinder Singh, were on Wednesday sentenced to two and a half year’s rigorous imprisonment by a local court for assaulting a public servant with an intent to deter him from discharging his duty. The two were also fined 300 each by the UT Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr J.S. Klar.

According to prosecution, the complainant, Bahadur, had lodged a complaint with the police that the accused, along with his other associates, gathered outside his house and started threatening him. Thereafter, two police personnel Raghbir Singh and Khusi Ram went to the spot. The accused who were armed with sticks, had assaulted the police constable Raghbir Singh and the complainant.

HIGH COURT
Ex-traffic SP asked to be present in court
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27
Chandigarh’s former Superintendent of Police, in charge of the traffic, Balbir Singh, was today asked by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to be present in the court tomorrow in a case pertaining to the challaning of a high court vehicle.

Taking up the case, a Division Bench, headed by Chief Justice Mr Justice B.K. Roy, also directed the inspectors concerned to be present in the court. The case pertains to the challaning of a vehicle with a red light atop in July 1997.

The High court had taken a serious note of the act and had issued notices to the authorities concerned.

Children throw up interesting tales through theatre
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27
The concluding day of the fifth Children’s Community Theatre Festival saw children from an urban and a rural school coming together on a common platform to enthral and amuse the audiences with their creative zeal.

In command, at the “Theatre of Joy” festival organised at Sector 17 Plaza by the Centre for Education and Voluntary Action (CEVA), were the kids from Tribune School on the one hand and students of Green Shivalik School from Khuda Alisher village on the other.

The first in the line of presentation was “Ek aur din”, a production that was set purely on mythological themes, made humorous by the ever-zealous kids, ready to experiment with gods and their tales. Sharda, Pawan, Rahul, Anu and Shubham of the Green Shivalik School enacted funny sequences that showcased anxious Vishnu frantically searching for his lost Sudershan Chakra. The God is so anxious to get his weapon back that he decides to visit the earth. As if the impact of a lost ‘chakra’ was not strong enough to send the audience into splits, the kids shifted focus on Yamraj’s wife, yearning to attend a “mela”. Then there were parties, the most significant being the birthday party of Yamaraj, who comes into picture again and again.

The presentation was all about vibrant kids swinging together some tales created earlier during the three-week-long theatre workshop. The interesting part of the show was that it did not present any story as such. It just featured a juxtaposition of mythological tales, analysed by kids from their own perspective. The audience remained glued to the play, despite the fact that the storyline was missing.

Following the presentation by Green Shivalik School kids was the play titled “Mera kamaal dekho”. Presented by Tribune School students, aged between five and 10 years, the play belonged to the genre of humour. Fresh in concept, the production depicted day-to-day experiences of kids, whose minds seem to be occupied with the morning schedule of getting ready for school and then reaching there in time.

The play featured isolated sequences from children’s lives — school life, angry neighbourhood, low score in school examination, consequent trouble at home and school and many more interesting sequences.

The resource persons, who helped kids put together six plays, included Harleen Kohli, Munna Dhiman, Anuradha Bhasin, Ravi, Vijay Machal, Shashi, Shaheen and Jaswinder.