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How international, are ‘international’ schools? Chandigarh, January 17 “Acquiring basic education in upmarket schools is a costly affair and these tags are being used by these schools in order to add glamour to their names. We still don’t know whether they will be qualitatively different to the extent that they can justify the huge fee structure,” remarked Dr V.P. Paul, Principal of DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 11, Panchkula. However, each school has its own way of fulfilling the wishlist that the parents have for their children. Some schools claim that their every student will have the opportunity to ‘realise his full potential’, while others boast that their students will be groomed to be future leaders of the global community. They claim they are redefining the concept of education, something that has never been done before in this part of the country. However, the price for being part of the ‘redefinition of education’ is sky-high. An average ‘international’ upmarket school will leave the parents poorer by about Rs 1 lakh per year. To justify the fee structure and set new benchmarks, some of the reputed names in education are in the process of associating themselves with the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme. It is an application-based learning programme developed in Geneva and recognised the world over. “Getting enrolled in the international course would be a costly affair for students, but the international association would give a truly international character to a school,” said the in charge of one of the new schools in the city. According to the Regional Officer of the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE), Mr P.I. Sabu, there is no recognition officially for using the prefix ‘international’ to the name of a school. “It is similar to the earlier trend when schools used words like convent and saint (St). Tomorrow, schools will be freely using the words ‘universal’ or ‘continental’ with their names. The CBSE has nothing to do with names, but it can check syllabus or student-teacher ratio and teaching parameters in the schools affiliated to it,” he added. But this game of offering attractive packaging has left the parents confused. “A plethora of advertisements in newspapers and the packages the schools offer has confused me. I wonder where to go for my daughter’s education,” said Mr Ravinder Sharma, an employee with a pharmaceutical unit. “How can one find out whose claim of providing ‘international education’ is genuine?” Mr Atul Khanna of Strawberry Fields World School said quality education was taking a child into a world of intellectual, ethical and spiritual learning and inspiring the child to become a good citizen. He said associating with the International Baccalaureate programme was an expensive affair. However, he said the world school was in the process of associating itself with the IB programme for class 10+2 . He said the parents should look for content, credibility of an institution and not go by the name alone. “Parents need to probe a little more and analyse the ground reality to know whether the package was a genuine one or a gimmick,” he said. Ms Komal Anand, Principal of the Ananda International School, also confirmed that her school was also going in for IB programme for Classes XI and XII, “But it would take another two years. It is a long process and the representatives of the IB visit to inspect the facilities being offered”, she said. According to Ms Anand, “Students want to go abroad for further education and the IB programme provided the right foundation. A heavy fee will not be a deterrent for those who plan to go abroad for further studies,” she said. On using the ‘international tag’, a spokesman for Ryan International School said, “We take students abroad for cultural exchange programmes and produce global citizens. Students get exposure at both national and international levels”.
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Indian
lawyers need to hone skills: Surana Mohali, January 17 In the township, to represent his firm at the ongoing rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competitions being held at the Army Institute of Law here, Mr Surana said Indian lawyers should enhance their skills in order to match international standards. ‘‘Once the service sector opens up under GATS from January 2005, it is just a matter of time before foreign law firms flood the Indian scene. To ride this competition and also to establish themselves at the international level, Indian lawyers will have to change their attitude and come together,’’ he said. Talking about the importance of establishing law firms in India, Mr Surana said the top law firms in the World were employing as many as 2,000 lawyers. ‘‘The biggest law firm in the world is the UK-based Clifford Chance and it employed 3,000 lawyers. How do you expect Indian lawyers, who work individually, to compete with such giants?’’ Other than the size what would matter in future was specialization in the profession of law, said Mr Surana. ‘‘About 98 per cent of Indian lawyers are general practitioners. They take every kind of case that comes to them. However, in most countries lawyers are specialising in a field or more and reach the top on that field.’’ ‘‘Other than these what is most required in India for the legal profession is to start at the national level a continuous legal education (CLE) programme being followed by other countries.’’he said. Like medical profession, legal profession too was evolving and thus updation was essential for the success and survival of any lawyer. Having graduated from Chennai, Mr Surana did his LLM from Cornwell Law School, USA, followed by a diploma from the London School of Economics and another course from Harvard Law School. Mr Surana also pointed out that lawyers in India needed to come together and create firms if they had to survive the onslaught of international law firms. ‘‘How will you match the resources of a foreign law firm till you put your resources together?’’ Currently the secretary of the Bar Association of India of the Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry Centre, Mr Surana was elected as the president of 45-year-old ILSA in 1999. The first ever non-America to be elected to the post, being in ILSA was an enlightening experience for Mr Surana. ‘‘Jessup competition is the flagship venture of ILSA and other than this, ILSA is also handling international internship projects among other things,’’he said.
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17 teams take part in law moot competition Mohali, January 17 Five members each from a top law institutes of the country represented their cases before a panel of judges in three courtrooms of the institute. While two members of each team were reporters of the case, three others were the researchers. While one reporter argued in favour of the case, the other argued against it. ‘‘Jessup is the toughest of all moot court competitions in the world. and winning it means something. For this we have been preparing for months,’’said the team of Kartik, Suruchi, Ranjit, Nishant and Payal from Nagpur. ‘‘We have participated in moot court competitions elsewhere but this time five best students of the college were chosen. In cases where a university has more than one law college affiliated to it, we organised internal competitions and then were sent for these
rounds, 'explained Amit Shetye of ILS Law College, Pune. The judges of various courts were Mr Justice Hemant Gupta and Mr Justice M.M. Kumar and Mr Justice S.S. Kumar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Senior advocates and law professors on the panel were Mr M.L. Sarin, Mr Ajay Gulati, Mr B.L. Gulati, Prof. V.K. Bansal, Mr Harpreet S. Giani, Mr P.S. Cheema, Mr P.S. Patwalia Dr H.Khera, Mr. Akshay Bhan and Prof S
Nalwa. |
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12 rural school kids participate in cultural contest Mohali, January 17 More than 12 schools from the surrounding rural areas took part in the competition for group songs, group dances, shabad gayan and one-act plays. Students from Guru Nanak Public School, Jagatpura, gave two performances. While one group danced to the tune of “Radha kaise na jale”, second group presented bhangra dancing to the tune of “Aja sikh lai sohniyen mohabattan de wal ni”. Students of Greenfield Public School, Nadiali, presented a shabad “Deh siva bar mohe eh”. This was followed by a bhangra item by students of Government Senior Secondary School, Daulat Singh Wala, who danced to the tune of “Zindgi cheez begani, mela do ghariyan”. Students of Government High School, Kandala, presented a play in which they tried to show that a balanced diet was necessary to stay away from diseases. The students of this school also presented a dance item. Little ones from National Public School gave an impressive performance in an item “mere desh ki dharti”. Mr H.S. Dilgir, founder secretary general of the centre, said that the cultural festival had been divided into three parts. On November 22 last year an on-the-spot painting competition was organised while a fancy dress and turban-tying competition was held on December 20. He said the aim of holding the contests was to encourage rural students who had a lot of talent. He said he would be setting up a rural children’s theatre at Nadiali. The judges for today’s function were Mr R.K. Taneja, a retired IAS officer, Ms Rani Balbir, a theatre personality, and Ms Navneet Kaur, who is doing PhD in theatre. Following are the prize winners: Group Song: A.C. National Public School, Zirakpur, (I); Government Senior Secondary School, Dayalpura, (II). Shabad gayan: A.C. National Public School, Zirakpur, (I); Government Senior Secondary School, Dayalpura (II); Green Fields Public School, Nadiali, (III). Group dance: A.C. National Public School, Zirakpur, (I); Government High School, Kandala, (II); Bright Star Public School, Zirakpur, (III). |
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200 get PG diplomas Chandigarh, January 17 The retired bureaucrat, a known figure in the corporate world, said the youths must have a strong commitment to the value system. Mr Khanna was in the town to confer diplomas on students of College of Communication and Management, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Sector 27, here. As many as 200 students were awarded postgraduate diplomas in various courses. In his address, Mr Khanna said the uniqueness of Indian tradition was due to its historical evolution. But he expressed unhappiness over the low ranking of the country in terms of the degree of perceived honesty in public transaction. In the Indian society the general perception was that there was departure from honesty and integrity. He said, “For a country to become great one must be ethical. Every worker in the country has to be utilised to his potential”. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was an outstanding institution, he added. Earlier, Mr R.K. Saboo, chairman of the Chandigarh centre of the bhavan, said the institution was first to start evening courses in management. The objective of the institution was to advance education. Col P.K. Vasudeva(retd), Principal of the college, welcomed the guests and spoke about the achievements of the college. Mr Chandra Mohan, vice-chairman and Mr P.R. Aggarwal, secretary of the Chandigarh chapter of the institution, were also present on the occasion. |
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Students structure a bright show Chandigarh, January 17 The seven girls, who participated in this item, compensated for gaps that featured in some of the earlier presentations by students. Structured hilariously, ‘Mushairi’ was all about silly couplets that quite justified the vague title of the parody show. Among the many humorous couplets recited during the show some were — “Woh aaye hamare dar pe...appan bua hi nai kholeya”, Barsat ki raaton mein aksar yeh sochten hain...ki asi manja kithe dhaiye.” Sending the audiences into splits, the girls managed a bright show, that remained the best during the hour long presentation. Among some of the earlier items which were well-presented was a group song, that was worded to sing praises of India — “Chandan hai is desh ki dharti...” Yet another presentation was a dance item on the song “kaahe ched ched mohe”.... Later the students also enacted “Heer Ranjha”, the age-old fable that epitomises love. The function was presided over by Chairman, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Mr Balbir Singh. |
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Inter-college speech contest held Chandigarh, January 17 Schools — Jaspreet Kaur 1, Nitin Pathania 2 and Parsahant 3 Colleges — Kurnar Sourav 1, Ahimpreet Jurry 2 and Anu Brar 3. The competition was part of a public symposium to be organised in the city on January 25 by
ARATI.
Inter-house competition An inter-house ‘well maintained room’ competition was organised for the residents students of Hrai Ram Hostel DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8. Mr Ravinder
Talwar, Principal of the school was the chief guest.
Prize distribution function The ninth annual day and prize distribution function of Century Public School,
Nayagaon, was held today. Mr Ujagar Singh Mahi, District Education Officer,
Ropar, was the chief guest. |
Surveyor remanded in CBI custody Chandigarh, January 17 Meanwhile, in a separate development, Avnish Sharma was today remanded in the custody of the CBI till January 19 by a local court. As per sources, Mr Brij Sayal and Mr P.K Sood, Regional Manger and Deputy Manager of United India Insurance Company, respectively, were today questioned in the matter by the sleuths of the CBI. However, they were later allowed to go. Mr Sharma, a charted accountant and also a surveyor of United India Insurance Company (and not New India Assurance as reported earlier), was allegedly caught red handed, while accepting the bribe for clearing an insurance claim of Rs 10 lakh of a Patiala-based yarn company. One of his employees was also detained by the CBI for questioning.
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Film Review Once again Urmila Matondkar has given another memorable performance after “Bhoot” and “Pinjar” in “Ek Haseena Thi”. She is beautiful. She is tender. She is innocent - till destiny intervenes. And yes, she is masterly while pursuing the bloody vendetta. Her face exudes freshness and maturity and her eyes pictures a cauldron of emotions. The story is about an ordinary girl, Sarika (Urmila), who works in a travel agency and lives alone in Mumbai. She falls for a handsome guy, Karan (Saif). Then something happens shatters her peaceful existence. She is arrested and jailed. There she encounters woman criminals, gangsters and killers who shape up her stark future. The sequence when a simple middle class girl, who is scared of rats, transmutes into other extreme character, full of rancour and bent on carrying out revenge, is executed with expertise. Saif , too, has delivered something different from his earlier fun-loving rules. He plays the wicked guy with aplomb, proving his acting skills. Seema Biswas as a tough cop leaves an impression. The movie has the Ramgopal Verma's flavour of freshness and debutante director Raghavan has shown his spark of brilliance. The movie barely loses its pace. It reaches a nail-biting crescendo and holds the viewers’ attention till the last scene. Background music by Amar Mohile enhances the impact of sequences, and the film has no songs. Good cinematography is another plus point of the film . The taut thriller is a gripping interplay of inverted love and passion. It portrays a sensitive girl whose innocence is scarred forever, done with near-perfection by Urmila. And it keeps you rankling. |
Have money, will be a snob KNOW the difference between a snob and a bigger snob? Both of them have Mercs which they have parked alongside in the Golf Club. Both have liveried chauffeurs and leather interiors. But between the two, the bigger snob is one who says first, “Oh, you’ve got yourself a nice car. But the tyres of the car need a change”. There are brands and brands of snobs and Chandigarh, perhaps, specialises in producing a large variety of them. It is said that behind every hari jhari and chitti dari here there lurks a hardcore snob, or at least an aspiring one. For the past five decades, ever since its inception, Chandigarh has been home to the babus, who have believed and professed snobbery as the ultimate outcome of success. Considering themselves to be the rulers, they have looked down with disdain and over the years, the snob value has held its charm over the hoi polloi of the city — transversing to the business class, and lately, the politicians. From social snobs to kiddie snobs, brand conscious ones to copycat snobs — here’s a lowdown on them. Social
snobs:- They can be found in the elite social do’s and make regular appearances at the Golf Club. It is important for them to be seen at the socially right places — private parties thrown in by the city’s cream, the elite weddings, and more importantly, at the functions sponsored by others of their ilk, for the good of the “less fortunate brethren,”— and then brag about their social work. Their snob value lies in their disdain for any expressionist attitude. Namesdropping
snobs:- This is the, “You know last night I was dining with Capt Amarinder Singh,” or, “I shook hands with Rattan Tata in Delhi at CII last week” — kinds. And the names dropping has to be done at a social gathering - in a slightly raised manner, or while playing golf, so that it is just heard by others in your peer group. The effort is to make a statement that they have arrived at the social scene, and no better way to announce it than by proving their “close links” to the political or industrial titans. Never mind that they have actually had dinner with the OSD to Capt Amarinder. Brand
snobs:- They sport Longines watches, Dockers, Gap and Buddy Davis clothes for men, and Vallaya outfits or Satya Paul sarees,and Tiffany jewellery for these well- heeled ladies. Their houses have leather or silver furniture, home theatre (only phoren brands) with plasma televisions, two to three pure breed labradors, and they travel executive class. Most of their personal accessories and their homes have to be stuffed with Swarovski crystal and other goldflaked crystalware picked up from their numerous trips abroad. To shop in Chandigarh is LS, though they frequently go to the chic watch showrooms, and making themselves audible to all in the shop, ask, “Do you have a Rolex”? Copycat
snobs:- The ones who walk in a party wearing a made-in-Ludhiana Buddy Davis jacket. Or the ones who like to flap their coats and jackets open to expose the Park Avenue or Jatin Kochchar tag. Or the ones who go to the umpteen boutiques being run by the wives of bureaucrats in the northern sectors, and order a copy of a Ritu Kumar or Tarun Tahiliani or Vallaya outfit. Kiddie
snobs:- They are the biggest snobs of all the species discussed earlier. Brand conscious, and always trying to outdo their peers in through their acquisitions of clothes, deodorants, and other personal accessories, besides having custom made furniture in their rooms. With city parents more than willing to indulge them, they travel in the biggest car at their house, when they go to any of the designer schools, or for shopping. By the age of 10, they shop on their own and their brand value is in the fact that unlike their parents, they never bargain or indulge in haggling. Intellectual
snobs:- These are found a dime a dozen in the city — comprising of bureaucrats, educationists and from the legal arena — both serving and retired. They love to brag about their recently published research papers, or their presentation at an international or national fora, and above all, they are always right.— TNS |
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Dressed to thrill! Pandering to this unstated craving are designers who use every trick in the book to produce outfits that are ‘different’ Sadly, their creations may not be terribly original. But with a bit of imagination, sharp styling and smart packaging, very often a ‘new look’ is achieved. The latest in this direction is what is understood as ‘version clothing’. So you can have some ornate, bejewelled T-shirts from the likes of Malini Ramani and Tarun Tahiliani, which look like body-hugging kurtis and are worn as such. The conventional churidar becomes a groovy churi-pant (resembling leotard tights) in the hands of Anamika Khanna, while salwars get converted to hip cargo trousers, complete with patch pockets and multiple zippers. Applique and kantha embroidery over delicate block prints provide added drama. Going a step further is Sonam Dubal who has “contemporised” (sic) the Tibetan bakhu skirt into a wrap sarong, to be worn with Nepalese angarkha tops or wrap blouses in shades of bright red and orange. Mandarin collars and kimono jackets in rich brocade with broad waistbands contribute to a pan-Asian look. “There’s a lot of Japanese styling this year which can be noticed in the sleeve detailing,” Dubal points out. “In fact, Orientalism is the latest fashion fad with almost every mainstream designer now working on soft silks in warm tones of burnt orange and burgundy.” Kolkata-based Kirant Uttam Ghosh seems to agree as she converts the humble Indian lungi (cut straight and long) into a sexy sarong in rich hues of wine, fuschia, orange and rust with tribal motifs inspired from Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The sarong can be worn with almost everything — from T-shirts and drape tops to waistcoats and wrap tops. Ashima and Leena Singh’s latest collection is almost on the same lines with the Oriental influence showing up in a profusion of Indonesian orchid prints on their ensembles. But there are exceptions. For instance, Lina Tipnis’s collection of dusty, sombre pastel trousers and free-flowing skirts teamed with softly coloured brocade shirts, camis and kurtis, revive the concept of soulful clothing. “The laidback lounge look is hot,” she reasons. Tahiliani describes his lycra T-shirts bearing Mughal prints — predominantly in Jodhpur blues, lights tans and creams — as “Indi-chic”. In the same category are Anita Dongre’s T-shirts with digital prints and Monisha Jaisingh’s sequined Maharani and Goddess range. In Sabyasachi Mukherji’s much-publicised Kora collection, the T-shirt takes the shape of off-shoulder tops, body-hugging sleeveless vests, camisoles with smocked sleeves and loose, long-knit cardigans worn with multi-tiered skirts. “The focus is on loose, limp and unstructured clothing to create a feminine look and feel,” explains the designer from Kolkata. “This is best expressed in knits with understated shades like cream, ivory, ecru and off-white being your best bets.” White tones like ivory, vanilla and ecru also dominate J.J. Valaya’s palette as he ‘reinvents’ the classic Indian choli into a leather blouse, teaming it with fine silk lehngas and shararas with gold zardosi work. Stoles and warps with delicate tonal embroidery complete the picture. Even in men’s wear, the concerns are the same. “The Indian male is far more adventurous today than his predecessors,” says the Delhi-based designer, justifying his corduroy sherwanis and bandhgalas in pristine white, embellished with elegant tone-on-tone detailing like embroidery and buttons. The same detailing is evident in Aki Narula’s camouflage combat look’ as he departs from his famous kurtas (he was once known as ‘kurta king’) and joins the designers engaged in producing military chic. Multiple zippers are additions for effect. Among other designers of military chic, there’s Ramani who has teamed glitzy gold corsets with olive green combat pants. On a more adventurous note, Manish Arora combines capris with neon-coloured velvet jeerseys, balloons skirts worn over lycra slacks and kimono blouses with broad waist belts. Ritu Kumar has converted the normal Indian petticoat into a crinkled peasant skirt. Deepika Govind transforms it further into voluminous balloon skirts, while georgette pyjamas become tie-’n’-dyed wrap-over trousers. And with countless variations of cargo trousers and low crotch harem pants hitting the ramps, Indian designers aren’t really short on ideas.
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Simple treatment for ironing out wrinkles You certainly can’t defy age. But when it comes to wrinkles, it is now possible to set the biological clock back by several years. A simple injection can now wipe off those crow feet near your eyes or the smoke lines above the lips. Introduced in India almost two years back, the glamour struck and those in the show business are the ones who are seeking refuge in botox. It is injected into the affected area. “Certain facial expressions like frowning, laughing or even smoking tend to cause folding of the skin, which finally leads to wrinkle formation”, remarks Dr Gurinderjit Singh, Chief Dermatologist of Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Treatment Research Foundation, Ludhiana. Botox is a natural purified protein, which relaxes muscles by blocking nerve impulses. “I get nearly 15 patients a month but only one out of them actually comes back due to high cost of treatment,” says Dr Gurinderjit Singh. He says the number of men seeking botox treatment is small but women above the age of 35 come in large numbers. Ironing out the wrinkles is rather simple. The diluted form of botox is injected with minimal pain and the entire procedure takes barely 15 minutes. A few drops of botox are injected into the muscle that creates the wrinkles. The botox blocks the nerve impulse from reaching that area, resulting in the weakening of the muscle. The results start becoming visible within three to seven days and last for more than six months.
— TNS |
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Fashion means many things to many people. To some, it is about looking hot and sexy. To others, it means looking elegant and classy. To many others, it is all about attitude. And to quite a few, it is about romancing the body — to be looking good and feeling good. But deep inside, everybody nurses a secret desire: of being able to stand out in a crowd.