EDUCATION

CAMPUS NOTES
Appointments controversy continues at PU
Sanjeev Singh Bariana

THE controversy over certain appointments made during the tenure of Prof M.M. Puri, a former Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, continues unabated in the academic and administrative circles on the campus. The meeting of the Senate recently (October 12) witnessed exchange of hot tempers between those supporting and those against 14 appointments under question.

The matter ended with the constitution of a three-membered committee comprising Principal A.C. Marriya, Dr Anmol Rattan Sidhu and Dr S.S. Gill. As many as 14 appointments made during the tenure of Professor Puri were rejected by the university’s Board of Finance earlier.

Of the total, as many as four candidates, including Mr Devinder Marwaha, Dr Paramjit Singh Kang, Mr Ved Prakash Jhingan and Dr Swean had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court asked the university to apply its mind.

The university constituted a committee to go through details of the matter. All the members were not regular with the meeting. As many as five meetings were held and were not attended by two or three at a time. The committee decided that all appointments be cancelled.

Since all the members of the committee had not attended the meetings it was argued that the decision was not unanimous and the university needed to re-look into the matter.

A close look at the matter reflects it as a clear case of group differences in the university senate. Hardly at any point of time was there any mention about the merit of the candidates involved.

The group differences were evident from casting of aspersions against each other in the house.

Mr G.K. Chatrath alleged of a bias in dealing with the case by the committee and said candidates in question were being harassed not because of any flaw in their merit but because of personal differences. Prof Charanjit Chawla said the level of argument reflected that the matter needed a close perusal. He suggested a committee. Mr Satish Sharma asked for a secret voting on the issue. He also asked the house on more than two occasions to raise their hands and show their decision.

The story involves a long story of group leaning to individual cases. “There were also instances of settling personal scores and defending cases of personal interest”, which led to the acrimonious scenes.

Invited

Dr Vijay Nagpal, Department of Laws, PU, has been invited by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to attend a meeting convened to consider and finalise the draft proposal from India for preparation of the International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.

The general assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution in 2001 regarding a comprehensive international convention on the issue. Dr Nagpal is the only academician from the North zone likely to attend the meeting. Dr Nagpal is a faculty member on the campus from the past two decades.

Commendable

Dr V.K. Walia, Department of Zoology, is working on geometrid, which is a group of moths, for the last 25 years. He has made an extensive survey of North-West Himalayas and collected about 5000 specimens belonging to more than 200 species to ascertain the present bio-diversity status of geometrid group.

Considering the significant contributions made by Dr Walia, the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, which is the biggest repository of insect fauna in India, has appreciated his efforts to upgrade and update sub-families, generic species and sub-species names as well as nomenclature in British Museum (Natural History), London.

‘Role of the media’

The Department of Adult and Continuing Education and Extension, Panjab University, in collaboration with the Traders Union organised a seminar on the “Role of Media in nation building” at Kisan Bhavan last Thursday, a press note said. A number of mediapersons, teachers, students, social workers and community leaders were present on the occasion.

Dr C.L. Narang, Department of Adult Education, while opening the discussion said “it is a matter of great concern that the media is not playing a responsible role for nation building. Subjects like population, eradication of illiteracy, environmental degradation and status of women were inadequately handled.”

The lecture was followed by an interactive session.

Kids say no to crackers
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, October 20
About 1,500 children and teachers, besides 200 doctors, participated at a public awareness rally — ‘say no to fireworks’ — organised by the National Integrated Medical Association’s local branch. It was held in association with Sector 22 Market Welfare Association and private schools located at Chandigarh and SAS Nagar. The participants swore against the use fire crackers on Divali.

The rally was flagged off by Senior Superintendent of Chandigarh Police Gaurav Yadav from Sector 22-D market. He appreciated the association’s efforts and their concern for the society.

The schools participating in the rally included: St Annes School in Sector 32, Shivalik Pubic School in Sector 41, Bhavan Vidyalaya School in Sector 27, Mount Carmel School in Sector 47 and St Stephen School in Sector 45.

Other schools included SD Public School in Sector 32, Shishu Niketan Public School in Sector 22, DAV Public School in Sector 8, Guru Harkrishan School in sector 40 and Yadavindra Public School in SAS Nagar. The rally passed through Sector 22 and concluded in Sector 17 plaza.

The association president, Dr T.M. Aggarwal, apprised the children and public about the dangerous and hazardous effects of crackers, including skin diseases, asthma, even eye loss. He also highlighted the child labour misuse in cracker factories and loss of crores of rupees to the Indian economy. The president of Sector22-D Market, Mr Arvind Jain, appreciated the children and the association for their concern for society.

Seminar on early childhood education
Our Correspondent

Zirakpur, October 20
A seminar on ‘New concepts in early childhood education’ was organised by Guardian Angles Public School, Zirakpur, in collaboration with the Ekta Mahila Shikshan Prashikshan Sansthan, here today.

In her inaugural address, Ms Roza Khamboj, Principal of British Co-ed School, Patiala, stressed on the need to change the traditional methods of teachings with playful and child centred methods.

Ms Avneet Bajwa, Principal of the school, suggested a two way communication between the parents of students and their teachers to make reading a pleasure not a burden for the children.

Teachers from different schools in Zirakpur and Panchkula were also present on the occasion.

Academics seek quashing of case against Principal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20
Prominent academics and leaders of various teachers’ and principals’ associations have sought that the ‘false’ case registered by the State Vigilance Department under the Prevention of Corruption Act against B.S. Ghuman Principal of the SKLM College of Physical Education, Bhago Majra, Kharar, be quashed.

Prof H.S. Hundal, president of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union ( PCCTU), Principal Tarsem Bahia, convener of the Punjab Educationist Forum, Prof C. Chawla, a member of the Panjab University Senate, and Dr G.S. Walia, president of the Principal’s Association of Punjabi University, Patiala, have condemned the action of the department. In a joint statement issued here today, they said it was wrong to say that Dr B.S. Ghuman had admitted a student to BPEd course in 2002-2003 session for monetary consideration.

The fake certificate was detected by Dr Ghuman himself and it was sent to the Punjab School Education Board for verification, they added.

They said the admission made against the general category seat was cancelled when the certificate was found to be false.

The second admission of a student made against an NRI seat was made on the basis of a genuine certificate. The money collected from these students had been properly accounted for and deposited in the bank, hence the question of Dr Ghuman committing any fraud or cheating did not arise, they added.

They have appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter.

CULTURE

15 take part in ‘Seraiki mushaira’
Our Correspondent

Prominent among those who recited their couplets were Prof Uday B. Hans from Haryana, Prof Rana Pratap Ghanouri from Panipat, Dr J.C. Bhatia from Delhi, Munnawar Sirhadi from Delhi, Bhagwan Das Izaz from Delhi and Govind Rakesh from Chandigarh. Mr S.K. Sharma , president of the Federation of Migrant Group from North West India, presided over the function. OC

Rhythm on the canvas
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, October 20
Had it not been for the rhythmic force that artist Satwant Singh Sumail infused in his 13 works in mixed media, his “Symphony of Nature” series, the exhibition that opened at IndusInd Art Gallery in Sector 8, would have been just another nature series. But the rhythm and the movement which the artist has captured on each canvas, tells a tale of its own, arresting one’s attention and goading him to take a plunge into the depth of the artist’s creativity.

Satwant Singh Sumail, essentially known for his inclination towards spiritualism, has used his signature style in this series too, but only with subtlety. While the serenity which his paintings exude, bears an spiritual aura without the artist making a conscious effort to do so, others like a series of mountains set amid a interplay of light and darkness shows a human mind moving from darkness to light towards infinity.

“Except for God who is stationery, everything in this universe is moving, so in this series I have tried to capture the movement,” says Satwant Singh Sumail. So it was the artist’s state of mind experiencing different emotions of “rasas” that forced him to capture nature’s endless combination of hues and forms.

Satwant has used mixed media for his paintings, but most dominant technique in use is combination crayons mixed with oil pastel and acrylic for a textured effect.

The artist is liberal with the use of colour, using plenty of warn vibrant colours but blending it with just the right touch, careful not to disturb the essence of his creations.

Though painting is just a hobby for Satwant, he has achieved a position in the art circle which is enviable. Not only the artist has nine solo shows and an equal number of group shows to his credit, but a number of awards too his list of achievement — the Punjab Lalit Kala Academy Award in 1999, the All-India Award of the Indian Academy of Fine Arts in 2001, the All-India Avantika Award in ‘97 and ‘98 and the Kala Shree Award in 2001.

His current exhibition “Symphony of Nature” which was inaugurated by Mr. R.L. Kalsia, Additional Chief Administrator, PUDA, will conclude on October 29.

Using ‘Ram’ to create forms
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, October 20
When Pirat Pal Goel started writing “Ram” in miniature form about three years ago, little did he realised that his hobby would one day result in a full-fledged art exhibition.

The two-day exhibition by Pirat Pal at Punjab Kala Bhawan Art Gallery in Sector 16, showcased at least 70 paintings created by the artist using the same technique — fine lines drawn using the name of “Ram” to create different forms.

The subject varies from simple flowers to Qutub Minar and Red Fort in Delhi, but what dominates the show is his message on secularism. Using Ram in the background the artist has tried to assimilate essence of different religions in most of his creations.

In others, Pirat Pal has focussed on social issues. Using monochromatic lines of “Ram” written in Punjabi, the artist preaches about water conservation, afforestation and save environment.

Punjabi cassette released

Chandigarh, October 20
An upcoming singer Zoravar Chinia has offered a musical treat to Punjabi folk lovers with his debut album, “Joban”, which was released on Friday amidst fanfare.

The album released by Hitan Cassettes has some great foot-tapping numbers as well as soulful melodies. Well known music director Surinder Bachchan has composed music while Chinia himself and other renowned lyricist Babu Singh Mann, Shamsher Sandhu and Sukhchain Sandhu have written the lyrics. OC

Dara Studio refuses to provide venue for convention
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, October 20
In the wake of the controversy surrounding the holding of the World Sikh Convention, Dara Studio here has refused to give their venue for organising the convention on October 26.

According to a press note issued by the general manager of Dara Studios, Mr Gulzar Singh, they will not provide venue for the convention as it had become a matter of serious controversy. The note further states that the advance given to them by the organisers of the convention has also been returned.