The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Quizzing important part of education, says Derek
Parbina Rashid

Chandigarh, September 13
Derek O’ Brien has all attributes of a top quiz master — good personality, quick wit and a ready humour, but ask him what is the secret behind the sustainability of his Bournvita Quiz Contest, and he humbly puts the success to its good content and the ability to make knowledge interesting.

Taking a break from television, Derek is trying his hand at popularising quizzing for children in the tender age from 7 to 9 through ING Vysya Creating Life SkQill Olympics.

Inaugurating their show at Ludhiana yesterday, Derek and his associates conducted the second show at Carmel Convent School here today in which about 1500 students from 25 different schools took part.

What motivated him to choose a line which his brother Barry O’ Brien’s domain? “Variety is the spice of life”, says Derek and “working with young children out in the open is a lot more interesting than working with children of a mature level on the TV”.

Derek, who inherited the legacy of quizzing from his famous father Neil O’ Brien, who is considered the pioneer quiz master in India, is happy the way quizzing has become an important part of education. Derek says popular series like “Kaun Banega Crorepati” did help in popularising and glamourising the concept of quiz among all strata of people. “If I am to make a quiz series, I will make it open for people of all age groups and backgrounds,” he says.

Besides SkQill Olympics series which is a live affair involving young children into the art of quizzing, Derek is working on a tele-quiz series called “Bharat Ek Aath” based on eight states of the North East.

“We are shooting for this new series at Barapani Lake Resort from October. This series is to bring children of North Eastern states on a par with the rest of India as far as quiz is concerned,” he says. The other series he is working on is none other than the Bournvita Quiz Contest. “This time we are shooting in the foothills of the Himalayas for this series,” he says.

In the ING Vysya Creating Life SkQill Olympics, Derek was just a bystander and watched out as his associates carried out the exercise, with parents and participants having equal fun.

The contest was won by Vanchasa Duggal of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School. Sidhant Baggi of Little Flower Convent School was declared the first runner-up and Manpreet Khara of Carmel Convent was the second runner-up.

Vanchana will be given a scholarship for one year’s school fees while the first and second runners-up will be given scholarships for six months and three months scholarships from Vyasya Life Insurance.

3 PU employees absolved in unfair means case
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 13
Panjab University has decided to absolve at least three staff members of an affiliated college who were held guilty by the university’s unfair means committee earlier for having manipulated answer-sheets of students to their benefit. The case pertained to the staff posted at Guru Nanak College, Moga, in the annual examination of 2002. During investigations it was held that the staff on duty had aided certain students in the conduct of the examination. On a re-examination of the case, it was pointed out that something “shady” might have occurred after the answer-sheets were dispatched from the examination centre.

The committee has suggested that the university should look into the possibility of registering a criminal case against the students under question to get to the root of matter. The aid of the handwriting experts has also been sought.

The university Syndicate will consider giving 10 per cent weightage in the annual examination results to the classroom attendance of students. The university has already implemented 10 per cent weightage in the internal examination to the final result. The university felt that classroom attendance had suffered massively in the recent past and needed immediate attention.

One of the issues pertains to equivalence of the published work to the PhD degree during selection. This has earlier been made by the university in the context of the selection of principals.

The Syndicate will look into appointments in the departments of pharmaceutical sciences, microbiology, geography, biophysics, mathematics and education, besides others.

The university Syndicate will decide on the appointment of inspection committees of at least 30 affiliated colleges. AS College, Khanna, has sought the university to disaffiliate the course of postgraduate diploma in international trade because the college has not witnessed even a single admission this year.

Debate on environment draws 22 schools
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 13
Over 40 students from 22 city schools, both private and public, participated in a debate competition held at the CII Northern Region Headquarters here today. The competition was second in the series of inter-school competitions being held under the Green School Project, a joint project of the CII and the Chandigarh Administration to sensitise young people towards the environment.

The competition required the students to debate on “Development without ecological destruction is possible”. The project is being sponsored by Citizen Watches (India) Ltd.

The Citizen Eco Drive first prize went to Aditya from Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, while the second prize went to Mehak Dhande from Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, followed by Ramita Vig of Saint Kabir Public School, Sector 26, in third position.

The winners of the essay-writing competition held on August 23 are: Shubhi Aggarwal from Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary School in first position, Harshit Aggarwal from Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School in second position. The third position was shared by Arpit Bedi from Government Model High School, Sector 29, and Ramandeep K. Sidhu from Govt Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46.

FROM SCHOOLS
Kids get a glimpse of Japan
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 13
Children of Hansraj Public School got a glimpse of Japan during a film and music show presented by the International Institute of Perfect Arts in association with the Embassy of Japan and Japan Foundation.

The First Secretary, Embassy of Japan, Kane Nobuchi, and Mr V.K. Sood, councillor from Ward No 4, and a film producer, were the chief guests. The show began with the screening of a films “Kikujiro No Natsu”, which was followed by the screening of another movie, “Nabie’s Love.”

Interaction

The Society for Human Relations organised a seminar on police, public and press corelations at Satluj Public School this morning. Inspector General of Police Punjab, R.C. Prasad, and Superintendent of Police, Panchkula, Ranbir S. Sharma participated in the seminar.

Mr Prasad stressed the need for youth mobilisation in constructive work, while Mr Sharma welcomed the initiative taken by the organisation to promote police, public welfare and coordination and stressed upon the people to come forward and help the police by understanding their responsibilities.

Seminar

The Arya Mahila Sangathan organised a seminar at DAV Senior Secondary Model School, Sector 8, on the topic “Bade Bhag Manush Tan Pava”. The purpose of the seminar was to give a new direction to the youth of today. Ms Ishwari Devi told the students to learn to face adversity with strength. The aim of the seminar was to inculcate the feeling of confidence and self-dependence. Ms Sneh Mahajan was the chief guest on this occasion.

Quiz contest

An inter-house general knowledge quiz contest was organised at St Soldier Divine Public School for the students of classes from VI to X.

The quiz was held in two sessions — one for students of Classes VI to VIII and other for Classes IX to X. Children were quizzed on topics from history, geography, science, sports, festivals of India etc. Everest House and Nilgiri House emerged as winners in the quiz.

COURTS

DISTRICT COURTS
Pak national moves court against Jail Superintendent
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 13
A Pakistan-national, Abid Mehmood alias Nihal Chouhan, who is lodged in the Model Burail jail on spying charges, today moved a contempt petition against the jail Superintendent in a local court.

Mehmood had claimed that a local court had passed an order on September 5, allowing him to talk to his relative in Pakistan, but till date he had not been allowed to do so. When contacted, the jail Superintendent, Mr D.S. Rana, said the court had directed him to take necessary action as per the jail manual, but there was no provision in the manual to allow the Pakistani national to talk his relative over phone.

Abid Mehmood, along with Abdul Wahid and Mohammad Arif, both Indian nationals, was arrested under provisions of the Official Secret Acts, the Foreign Acts and cheating and forgery charges on February 23.

Highly sensitive information, pertaining to military deployment and battle formations in the country, was being possessed by the Pakistan national and two others, arrested by the Chandigarh police earlier this year. It was alleged that Abid Mehmood was in the possession of Orders of Battle of the Western Command, the Northern Command, the Southern Command and the Eastern Command.

Besides, a list of as many as 30 infantry battalions, armoured units, artillery regiments, air defence regiments, rocket and missile units, as well as allied and support units located in Chandi Mandir and Ambala, along with the names of their commanding officers, was also seized from him.

The police further alleged that Mehmood had drawn several charts, listing out various units and formations under the jurisdiction of different headquarters. Besides English, a number of notings in Urdu had also been made. He had also made out drawings of several formation insignias.

Statement recorded

The statement of two witnesses was recorded in a criminal complaint filed against the President of All-India Congress Committee (AICC), Ms Sonia Gandhi, in a local court by a Akali leader, Mr Gurmeet Singh Matharu.

Mr Matharu had alleged that during the Himachal elections, Ms Gandhi had made speeches at public rallies in Nalagarh and Palampur in February 2003, claiming that every women of Himachal Pradesh will get a job if the Congress came to power. The statement of Mr Manjit Singh and Mr Ajmer Singh was recorded before the UT Judicial Magistrate (First Class).

Mr Matharu alleged that all assertion made by Ms Gandhi became false as not even a single woman had been provided job.

CULTURE

Gangani, Sumitra perform with grace
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 13
Rajendra Gangani is known for his power to carry the audience along single-handedly. Reflecting Jaipur kathak in its purest form, the celebrated exponent mesmerised the audience on the second day of the Pracheen Kala Kendra festival at SAS Nagar.

With grace resting on his feet, Rajendra Gangani exhibited techniques that have armed Jaipur kathak with a definite edge. His imposing stage presence and young and loaded performance created an aura that lasted for moments together. The presentation, scheduled after Kirana gharana exponent Sumitra Guha’s vocal recital, rolled with a piece by Rajendra Gangani’s disciples Swati Sinha and Monisha Nayak. It was followed by the guru assuming the charge of the stage and familiarising the audience with subtleties of Jaipur gharana. In his typical style, he presented techniques like ‘thaat’, ‘aamad’, ‘parans’, ‘chakradar parans’, ‘tode’ and ‘tukre’. The son and disciple of famed guru Kundan Lal Gangani reflected his worthy tutelage by almost embodying perfection in dance. His execution of technical portions of the Jaipur style was especially admirable.

Next in line came the Rajasthani maand, performed to perfection by Swati Sinha and Monisha Nayak, followed by a dance sequence by Afsar Mulla and Mahendra Parihar. Weaving in his solo performance with classic choreographic pieces presented by his disciples, Rajendra Gangani complete the cycle of rhythm. The programme concluded with an item called “Krishna Rang”, the ultimate presentation of the day, which began earlier with the vocal recital of Sumitra Guha.

A disciple of A. Kanan and Malvika Kanan, Sumitra first presented the evening raga “Shyam kalyan”. Beautifully extending her voice, she made a delightful presentation of Kirana gharana. Graduating, she executed fluent taans in all three octaves. Her delineation of the khayal bandish “Beet gaye sham syham na aaye’ evoked awe among listeners who attended to her mellifluous voice in rapt attention.

Then came the composition “Neend na aaye piya bin mohe”, in which the vocalist further exhibited her mastery over the medium. After presenting yet another khayal bandish, Sumitra Guha presented a melodious Meera bhajan “Main giridhar ke ghar jaaon” in raga Kanhara, Shivaranjani and Mishra Khamaj. She concluded the presentation with a shloka.

Tomorrow’s programme will feature kathak recital by Shovana Nayaran and Bharatnatyam recital by Saroja Vaidyanathan.

WESTERN FILM REVIEW
On the fast track
Rajiv Kaplish

CHANDIGARH: She talks fast. She runs fast. And she shoots fast. She is Lara Croft, a kind of female Indiana Jones in search of Pandora’s Box, the root of all evil, located at a place called the Cradle of Life.

Can we, then, do anything else except run with the lady described by some as a beauty with “bee-stung lips” in “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: the Cradle of Life” (Kiran)? Playing safe, we join Lara’s marathon which takes us to the 84th floor of a Hong Kong skyscraper, has us gliding across the city and then landing on the deck of a ship and finally skydiving from a plane to a jeep. All to prevent a devilish scientist, Dr Jonathan Reiss, from getting hold of the box of evil to destroy much, if not all, of mankind.

But we are not the only ones running along with Lara. She has an understudy in former boyfriend-cum-secret agent Terry Sheridan who is content to play a second fiddle to his ex-beloved. As the narrative flits from Hong Kong to Shanghai to Africa, we are transformed into a new community of runners which sees strange creatures and events unfold.

As in “Lara Croft Tomb Raider,” the sequel has a surfeit of death-defying stunts and special effects at denouement.

Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft is the only saving grace of this pedestrian fare which does not have much to offer to Ciaran Hinds and Gerard Butler, who play the roles of the scientist and the former boyfriend of Lara Croft, respectively.