EDUCATION

VC accepts demands of MDU college teachers
Our Correspondent

Rohtak, September 4
The Haryana College Teachers’ Union has expressed happiness at the outcome of the meeting with the Maharshi Dayanand University Vice-Chancellor, Maj-Gen Bhim Singh Suhag (retd).

Dr J. N. Sharma, press secretary of the union, said a delegation of the union led by Prof K. S. Dhillon recently met the Vice-Chancellor in connection with their demands. He claimed that the Vice-Chancellor had accepted some of their demands and assured a sympathetic consideration to the rest of them.

Dr Sharma said the delegation requested the Vice-Chancellor to give the students of distance education the option to join colleges as regular students and the failed students to take admission as regular students. He claimed that Kurukshetra University had already accepted this demand of teachers.

Besides, the delegation sought representation of college teachers to various committees including that of unfair means, Board of Studies, VC’s nominee on the governing body etc.

The teachers’ representatives appealed to the Vice-Chancellor to ensure that only qualified teachers would be appointed to teach self-finance courses and adequate infrastructure was raised by the institutions running these courses. It was also discussed at the meeting that the provision of 10 per cent marks as internal assessment to the students by the college teachers be made on the pattern of Kurukshetra University. Dr Sharma said this demand was immediately accepted by the Vice-Chancellor.

100 MCD teachers to get awards today
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 4
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi will honour 100 teachers of its primary schools for excellence in different educational fields on the occasion of “The Teacher’s Day” tomorrow.

Till last year, the MCD was honouring 24 dedicated teachers/headmasters for the Municipal awards and 20 teachers/headmasters for the cash awards.

This year, the number of awardees has been increased to 100, keeping in view the growth in the number of teachers over the years.

Accordingly, 20 headmasters, 72 teachers, 5 nursery teachers, 1 physical training teacher, 1 music teacher and 1 craft teacher have been selected for the Nigam Awards. The Nigam Award consists of Rs 5,000, a merit certificate and insignia.

A number of factors are taken into consideration while selecting a teacher for the Municipal award. The criteria include the way of teaching, examination result, achievement of children and the ability of teacher to develop personality of students and community participation.

The Mayor of Delhi, Mr Ashok Kumar Jain, will distribute the awards tomorrow at Shah Auditorium on Raj Niwas Marg. Deputy Mayor, Mrs Varyam Kaur; Leader of the House and Chairman, Standing Committee, Mr Ram Babu Sharma; leader of the opposition, Mr Subhash Arya; Chairman, Education Committee, Mr Farhad Suri; Municipal Commissioner Rakesh Mehta will also grace the occasion.

Board attempts to convert anti-copying campaign into people’s movement
Shiv Sharma

Bhiwani, September 4
The government has sought the cooperation of all sections of the society, especially the teachers, in order to convert the ongoing anti-copying campaign launched by the Board of School Education Haryana into a people’s movement.

This was stated by Brigadier O. P. Chaudhary, (Retd), Chairman of Board of School Education Haryana, while addressing an anti-copying seminar held at the local Government Senior Secondary School here today.

The Vice-Chairman of the Board, Mr Dilbag Singh, officers of the Education Department, principals and headmasters of schools and teachers of the district were present on the occasion. Mr Chaudhary said that he had addressed anti-copying seminars at all the district headquarters of the state, organised with the cooperation of the district administration and district education officers.

He said the seminar at Bhiwani today was the last in the series of seminars in the state in order to create an opinion against using unfair means in examinations. Brigadier Chaudhary appealed to the teachers to work dedicatedly for the cause of education and help to maintain the sanctity of the examination system.

He said that the teachers should not consider themselves to be paid employees but were the builders of the nation as the “destiny of a nation is decided in a classroom”.

The chairman informed that the board was taking effective steps to maintain the reliability and sanctity of the examination system in the state. 

Concern over delay in implementing promotion policy
Our Correspondent

Rohtak, September 4
The Haryana State Medical Teachers’ Association has expressed serious concern over inordinate delay in implementing 100 per cent promotion policy and introduction of three- tier system of assistant professor, associate professor and professor.

The president of the association, Dr M.S. Gupta, revealed that Health Minister, Haryana, Secretary, Health Department and the Director, PGIMS, the only state government-owned medical college in Haryana, have recommended the case of 100 per cent promotion to teachers at all levels. He said that even though the proposal was sent to the Chief Minister, it was sent back for some small quarry and the matter was still pending.

Dr M S Gupta was re-elected president of the association for the current term. Dr K. N. Rattan, Dr Rajeev Sen, Dr R. B. Jain and Dr Sanjay Kumar were elected vice-president, secretary, joint- secretary and treasure respectively. Dr Nitya Nand, Dr N. K. Maggu, Dr A. K. Khurana and Dr Surekha have been elected members of executive committee.

The new executive committee has demanded the payment of 25 per cent of basic pay as non-practicing allowance (NPA), permission for private practice or pay-clinic, functional autonomy to various consultants and appointment of medical superintendent and deputy medical superintendent from amongst its own cadres.

‘Lakshman Rekha’ irks students
Our Correspondent

Meerut, September 4
The students living in the Durga Bhabhi women hostel on the Chaudhry Charan Singh University Campus are an agitated lot. The reason? Several restrictions have been imposed on them in the name of maintaining discipline inside the campus.

The girls are protesting against the curbs on meeting guests after the closure of hostel gate at 7 pm.

They are unhappy as the boys do not face such restrictions.

The CCS University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Ram Pal Singh, visited the women hostel recently and reviewed the arrangements there. Thereafter, the authorities imposed the restrictions to maintain discipline. 

Judge for punishing hostile witnesses in
dowry death cases
Our Correspondent

Bhiwani, September 4
In a significant observation, District Judge R. C. Bansal said here on Wednesday that the witnesses who turned hostile in dowry death cases should be punished for giving false statements.

In one such case, on the basis of false evidences given by two such witnesses, four accused had to be acquitted.

The two witnesses of the prosecution, Nar Singh, the complainant, and Kishan Lal, had turned hostile and stated that the deceased, Suresh, was never harassed in connection with the demand of dowry, whereas previously they had come forward to the court with the plea that the husband and other in-laws had harassed and maltreated her for more dowry.

According to the prosecution, Suresh was married to accused, Inderjeet, on May 20, 1995. She died in her husband’s house on October 1, 1999.

Her brother, Nar Singh, lodged a complaint with the police stating that his sister was killed by the accused and she had been harassed and maltreated on account of dowry demand.

The police had registered a case against the husband, brother-in-law, mother-in-law and father-in-law of the woman.

The complainant and his father, Kishan Lal, had appeared before the court and given evidence that Mrs Suresh was killed on account of harassment and maltreatment. However, later on they turned hostile and retracted their story.

CULTURE

MUSIC ZONE
Shiv Kumar Sharma unravels ‘Virasat’ of ragas
Ravi Bhatia

WITH lilting and haunting notes of the santoor making the audience plead for encores repeatedly, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma launched ‘VIRASAT 2003’, the annual cultural festival of SPIC MACAY, here on Monday night.

One could not have asked for a better opening to a festival that over the past two decades has become the cultural pulse of the city with Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma giving the inaugural concert on his santoor. “He has been associated with SPIC MACAY for a long time and we are thankful that he agreed to come here,” said Anshuman Pandey, a representative of SPIC MACAY.

The three-month long annual festival this year, organised under the aegis of the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Among Youth (SPIC MACAY), is dedicated to noted writer Bhishma Sahani and South African freedom fighter Walter Sisulu, both of whom died earlier this year.

The concert started with Shiv ji, as he is popularly known, playing raga Puriya Kalyan. “There is a specific time for every raga when it can be played. Puriya Kalyan is an evening raga,” he explained to the rapt audience.

He started off with the Aalap. “This is the introductory part. It is played without any rhythm. It elaborates the musical ideas in a raga,” he said. The audience, majority of whom were students, was starting to get into the groove.

After the Aalap, he went on to play three compositions of the same raga. The first composition was based on Rupak Taal (7 beats) whereas the next two were in the Teen Taal (16 beats).

Shiv ji’s treatment of his chosen raga was so pure that it was amazing to see him playing the Aalap in the traditional Dhrupad style. Even during the intricate layakari, the tonal purity always remained the same.

He was forced to play another composition (Dhun) based on Raga Mishr Khamaj when the audience said ‘encore’. ‘A mesmerising performance’ was the general verdict.

The High Commissioner of South Africa to India, Ms ME Nkoana-Mashabane, was the chief guest on the occasion.

The inaugural series of VIRASAT 2003 (September 1 to September 7) is being hosted by NSIT. The inaugural series also features the likes of Ustad Sultan Khan (sarangi), Dr Prabha Atre (vocal), Shubha Mudgal (vocal), Pandit Umashankar Mishra (sitar) and Raja and Radha Reddy (kuchipudi).

ARTSCAPE
Mega art complex in the heart of CP

IT is renowned as India’s oldest, perhaps even Asia’s oldest, art gallery. The Dhoomimal Gallery is all set to add yet another feather to its long list of milestones. On September 16, the gates of the Dhoomimal Gallery, Ravi Jain Centre for International Arts, spread over an impressive 5000 sq ft, will be thrown open for all art lovers of the city.

Visualised and designed under the young and able leadership of Uday Jain, grandson of Ram Babu, the founder of the historic Dhoomimal Gallery, the gallery promises to be a must-visit destination for art aficionados.

Located in G Block, Connaught Place, the new complex would house the main gallery on the ground floor, spread over an area of 2000 sq ft, which would showcase exhibitions of contemporary modern artists on a regular basis. To begin with, from September 16 to October 15, the gallery would showcase a group show of 110 artists that would include a spectrum of renowned old and young artists.

This month-long exhibition promises to wow the art world with big names like Jatin Das, Satish Gujral, Arpana Caur, Niren Sen Gupta, Jagdish Dey, Shamshad Hussain participating in it.

Uday Jain also promises to bring together a lot of foreign and Indian artists together at his gallery. One promising show that is slated in October is a joint show of German artist Michael and the Chennai-based Achutan Kudallur.

However, what promises to set the town abuzz is the first-of-its-kind art museum, situated on the first and second floor, that will have separate rooms dedicated to old masters like F. N. Souza, Gade, Jamini Roy, Sailoz Mukherjea, M. F. Husain, Raza and Ara. The second floor will also house the Cultural Exchange Section for both visual and performing arts.

That’s not all. A special library is on the anvil, which will house a reference section for both Indian and foreign artists. With an initial figure of over 1,000 books, the library guarantees to be a goldmine of art and culture.

However, Uday Jain’s love for fine arts is not limited to the mainstream forms alone, he is also promoting the oft-neglected forms like graphics and drawings by allotting an entire wing to separate shows on these forms. Similarly, the sculpture garden will witness an innovative competitive section for sculptors and painters in the age group of 20-30 years, from whom four winners would be awarded with the Ravi Jain Memorial Foundation fellowship awards.

Clearly, with so much happening under one roof, the Ravi Jain Centre for International Arts is bound to soon become the one-stop haven for art lovers.

A dance wonder called Payal

PAYAL Ramchandani is giving a Kuchipudi dance performance at Chinmaya Mission Auditorium, Lodi Road, on September 6 at 6.30 pm.

Poetry in motion, a dance critic has described Payal. And the creators of this beautiful poetry are the legendary maestros, Gurus Raja Radha Reddy and Kaushalya. They took Payal into their fold when she was just four. Now she is 15. Payal’s devotion and her Gurus’ dedication made her worthy of presentation of Rangapravesham but also the appreciation of experts in dance.

To quote yet another eminent critic, “Her faultless footwork, supple movements and lyrical elegance - in fact, the sheer poetry of her dance - were so irresistibly fetching.” Endowed with a charming face and an agile body, Payal has since then given several solo performances.

At the beginning of the millennium, she gave a dance performance at the Indian International Centre, titled `Towards a cultural millennium 2000’. That was her Gurus’ expression for the preservation of cultural heritage of India through classical dance.

She has participated in several festivals including the 32nd Annual Bhaskar Rao Nritya and Sangeet Sammelan at Chandigarh, Natya Tarangini and Raja Radha Reddy’s Festival & Parampara. Her performance sent the viewers into ecstasy. Payal enthralled the Dubai and Sharjah audiences when her Gurus presented her during her visit to the Jewels of Indian series to commemorate the fifty years of India’s Independence.

She has been dancing at the Lotus feet of Lord Ayyappa during Mandalam Festival every year. Her rendition of Leelas of Krishna and Ramayana has received rave appreciation. Payal gave a performance for the 9th Asian Pacific Congress of Clinical Biochemistry at the Convention Hall, Ashok Hotel.

Payal raised funds for special children of Tamana, a voluntary organisation working for the rehabilitation of children with mental impairment and autism, by giving an exclusive solo performance at Indian Habitat Centre. It was indeed as much a great day for these children as it was for Payal. Payal cherishes this as the best day of her performances and looks forward to such an opportunity to render help for a noble cause.

Though she has already been described as a dancing wonder and has been compared to the likes of legendary Shirley, she sees a long road ahead where she has to learn a lot from her gurus. She says her gurus have no parallel. They are the masters of the dance, very great teachers and benevolent in sharing the invaluable asset of their knowledge. Payal, a student of Convent of Jesus and Mary School, apart from being a good orator and debater, excels in academics too. A many-time gold medallist, she has also modelled on television for several reputed products.

Unique exhibition of Lotus Sutra manuscripts

Painted scrolls of the Lotus  Sutra at the Honko-Ji  monastery (AD 1335).

A four-day unique exhibition on the central text of Mahayana Buddhism popularly, known as Lotus Sutra, concluded at Hauz Khas Enclave-based Bharat Soka Gakkai’s (BSG) International Peace Centre (IPC) here recently. It was organised by the International Academy of Indian Culture and the Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP) and supported by the BSG. It was visited by thousands of art lovers across India and the world.

The exhibition was inaugurated by the renowned Buddhist Scholar and one of the foremost authorities on the Lotus Sutra in the world, Dr Lokesh Chandra, Director-General, BSG. Dr Yoichi Kawada, Director of IOP, Mr Jean Daniel, Ambassador to Lebanon, and former Solicitor-General of India Fali S. Nariman were also present on the occasion.

According to Dr Aakash Ouchi of the Institute of Oriental Philosophy, the exhibition had much more to offer than mere historical significance. Showcasing the many versions of this ancient manuscript was meant to underscore the deeply empowering message that Lotus Sutra articulated.

In his inaugural address, Dr Chandra highlighted the significance of the Lotus Sutra and referred to Ahimsa as ‘the software to human mind’. He said: “Had Mahatma Gandhi been alive, he would have been thrilled to see this sort of exhibition.”

He referred to this exhibition as a beautiful example of the sharing of the visual forms. He said that the exhibition was a good tryst to internalise and actualise the message of peace and coexistence. Like the lotus in a muddy pond, the ascendance of the mind, Dr Chandra pointed out, was crucial to the Lotus Sutra. Speaking of Mahatma Gandhi’s connection with the Lotus Sutra, Dr Chandra recalled how he came to know about it through a Japanese monk at his ashram in Wardha. The Mahatma was very moved by its message and regretted that India had lost this great sutra, where existence and transience live together.

The main four Soka Gakai reproductions of the Lotus Sutra displayed in the exhibition were – Sanskrit Lotus Sutra fragments from the Lusun Museum collection, Sanskrit Lotus Sutra manuscript from the National Archives of Nepal, Fragments of a manuscript of the Saddharmapundarikasutra from Khadaliq and Sanskrit Lotus Sutra manuscripts from Cambridge University Library. In addition to these, a reproduction of a Sanskrit Lotus Sutra of Nepalese-Tibetan origin that is the collection of the library of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities, Beijing, was also exhibited. There was a reproduction of the Petrovsky manuscript and another reproduction of the Gilgit manuscript. A Xixia language version of the Lotus Sutra from the Russian Academy of Science, St Petersburg, three Sanskrit versions of the Lotus Sutra of Nepalese origin from the Asiatic Society of India, Calcutta, original versions of the Lotus Sutra in Mongolian and Tibetan languages were also displayed in the exhibition.

The first exposition of these ancient manuscripts (reproductions and originals) was held in Japan in November 1998. After that Vienna, Australia and Japan got the rare opportunities. India, the first land of the Lotus Sutra, gave birth to Gandharan art and the rise of Mahayana Buddhism in the time of King Kanishka.

With input from Nalini Ranjan