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SK Sharma is DUI Chandigarh, January 24 The Syndicate authorised the Vice-Chancellor, Prof KN Pathak, to appoint members to various committees, including revising, standing, regulation and joint consultative committees, while Mr Akhtar Mehmood and Mr Dirender Tayal were chosen to represent the Syndicate on the Board of Finance. Mr Justice GS Singhvi was chosen as one of the jurists on the Research and Development Committee. Another committee, also to be constituted by the Vice-Chancellor, will look into ways of rehabilitating clerks reverted to Class IV employees by a court order while improvements and updating
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387 schools apply for affiliation Mohali, January 24 A team comprising an educationist, a municipal councillor of the area or a member of the Gram Panchayat and a representative from the board had inspected 187 schools to see whether the institutions fulfilled the necessary conditions. About 10 schools had been rejected after the inspection. The inspection of the remaining schools would be done soon and affiliation process completed by March 31. She said this year more schools from areas like Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ludhiana had applied for affiliation. Giving the data, she said 47 schools from Amritsar, 46 from Ludhiana, 43 from Gurdaspur, 37 from Ferozepore and 33 from Sangrur had applied for affiliation. She said that last year 257 schools had applied out of which 176 were granted affiliation. She said a middle school should run in minimum area of two kanals in urban areas and three kanals in rural areas. A high school should have at least six kanals in towns and 12 kanals in villages. It was essential that a senior secondary school had one acre land in urban areas and 1.5 acre in rural areas. It was also mendatory that the schools had a proper library, laboratory and playgrounds apart from having the required number of trained teachers. |
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St John’s School wins national quiz contest Chandigarh, January 24 The winning team would participate at the north zone finals to be held in Delhi on February 5. A spokesman for the organisers said the quiz was held on the issues relating to environment. In the final round, the winning team would vie for the national award. Health Week:
Prize distribution:
Republic Day
Workshop:
Check-up camp:
Education project:
Blood donation:
Conservation fortnight:
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60 models displayed at science exhibition Dera Bassi, January 24 A model showing the functioning of the circulatory and respiratory systems, an automatic indicator at a railway crossing and
auto control gas switch were exhibited by budding scientists. Students whose models were adjudged the best were also given prizes. Besides parents of the students and the staff members of the school, residents of nearby areas were also among those who visited the exhibition. |
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Students show the way in cleanliness Panchkula, January 24 According to the school principal, the drive was aimed at creating awareness on sanitation and community hygiene. Such activities helped develop leadership qualities among the children, he said. |
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IT seminar organised Chandigarh, January 24 The function was presided over by the Principal, Ms Geeta Mohan. The Head of the Computer Department, Ms Deep Shikha, welcomed Ms Mohan. Mr Dikshit, Head of Commerce Department, addressed the students. Prizes and certificate were given to students.—TNS
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Tiny tots celebrate Basant Zirakpur, January 24 |
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121 challan cases disposed of Panchkula, January 24 |
Basant Utsav opens on wings of colour Chandigarh, January 24 In the presence of 800 students from various government schools across Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula and Parwanoo, the Mayor planted the famous and the ceremonious “Triveni”. A combination of neem, peepal and banyan, the plantation of Triveni is considered auspicious and was, hence, included as the first event of the festival. Plantations having been done, it was time to perform yet another ritual — that of kite flying. Scores of kites suddenly sprung into the air with the gathered students trying to outshine each other in the fine art of kite flying. Present on the occasion was Jaswant Singh from Amritsar, who has won many awards for kite flying, besides attending various kite festivals organised worldwide. Decorative kites were also displayed at a special stall put up at the valley. Although the event list for the day was strong, the organisation of events was not so proper. For most of the afternoon, there was hardly anything lively. Celebrations were more evident in the morning and again in the evening. Another attraction of the show was on the spot painting contest for students. The theme, “A scene of Spring Season” saw hundreds of children trying hands at creativity in four groups — below five years; five to eight years, eight to 12 years and above 12 years. Children from the Youth Technical Training Society (YTTS) also painted images of basant, but were judged in a separate category. Tired after a long painting session, the children were treated to special basant halwa. Many students later got busy getting their faces painted and bodies tattooed at the special corner put up by the first-year students of Government Art College, Sector 10. The evening of the opening day was all about folk presentations by local artistes like Kewal Manakpuri and Nirmal Manak who rendered Punjabi folk. There were a host of other traditional performances from dancers and singers based locally. |
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I am not the man framed, explains Mangal Dhillon In Chandigarh today, Dhillon said these reports had caused irreparable damage to his reputation abroad. Arguing that he was different from the man arrested, Mangal Dhillon produced documents and pictures to prove the point. Said Dhillon: “I have travelled abroad several times, but I have never even taken an assistant along. I have devoted all my years to the propagation of Sikh faith and philosophy through my films like “Khalsa”, but it pains to go through something like this. After reading the news reports about Mangal Singh Dhillon being arrested for alleged involvement in the case, people in America and Canada started doubting my intentions. I used to screen my films free of cost, but instead of empathising with my intentions people started speculating against me. Many refused cooperation.” Saying that he had no dirt up his sleeves, Dhillon informed he had already completed two of the films on Sikh history and that three were in the pipeline. Dhillon will shoot in Amritsar on January 28 and 29 for “Prakash Shri Guru Granth Sahib”. His forthcoming projects are, “Saaka-Sirhind”, “Parkaash...” and “An American Tribute to Sikhism.” Once the projects are completed, Dhillon plans to revert to commercial cinema. |
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Film Review Director Raj Kumar Santoshi’s latest offering “Khakee” is an out-and-out thriller. There are several sub-plots dexterously interwoven, with each having a riveting spin. Every actor in this jam-packed tale finds space for self-assertion and Santoshi has managed to extract good performances from the cast. Police officer Anant Srivastav (Amitabh Bachchan) is assigned the job of escorting dangerous terrorist Iqbal Ansari from Chandargadh to Mumbai. In his mission, Anant is aided by inspectors Shekhar Sachdev (Akshay Kumar) and Ashwini Gupte (Tusshar Kapoor). Shekhar is street smart. He knows how to make the most of every situation. He doesn’t want to be a part of the mission but is forced into it. On the other hand, dutiful Gupte is on his first serious assignment. Full of good intentions, he doesn’t realise that these would soon be shattered. As the escort journey progresses, Gupte learns there is a big difference between a training school and real-life police force. The journey is full of dangers. There is someone out there who will not let them reach their destination. The unseen enemy in the shadow is always a step ahead of them. Amitabh is simply superb. His expressions, voice and movement bring the character to life. Ajay Devgan has achieved another milestone in his career. His dialogue delivery is impressive and acting good. He has small eyes and one of it is wrinkled up. So when he removes his goggles, he does manage to give that real gangster-type look. It is thumbs-up for Akshay, who is the only one to inject a dose of wit in this tough action drama. Though pitted against powerful performers like Bachchan, he is overshadowed by none. Gorgeous Aishwarya Rai is the only enchantress on this journey. She does not display much oomph. The script also does not give her many lines. But she manages to give the viewers a real jolt in the second half. All three songs, including the titillating “Aisa jadoo...”, somehow look like a forced entry. These simply don’t blend into the high-paced narrative. It is heartening to see khakhi-clad cops fighting against the rotten politico-administrative system.
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Dance contest awards Chandigarh, January 24 The CIPA’s Award of Honour, presented to the best female dancer of the year, was given to Renu Walia, the best male dancer to Amarinder Singh, the best dance duet to Amit Walia and Renu Walia and the best dance group to GPW Dance Group. Mr Shyam Juneja, Director of CIPA, said in the A category (5 to 10 years the winners were Neha 1, Kritika 2 and Pragiti Trikha and Preeti Chandha; B category (11 to 15 years) Manveen Kaur 1, Ishant Sachdeva and Radhika 2 and Varun Chadha 3 and C category (16 to 25 years) Chunna and Babita Gulhotra 1, Drishti 2 and Gurjeet Kaur 3. In the deut category the winners were Manveen Kaur and Gurpreet Kaur 1, Tanvi and Devash 2 and Neha and Preeti 3. |
Sale season is here for the taking From woollens and garments to fabrics, shoes to bags, furniture and home accessories to modular kitchens-umpteen retailers in the city are wooing customers by offering hefty discounts. It is, perhaps, for this reason, that the country’s first branded jeweller, Tanishq, too, has launched a “free gold for diamonds” offer, where they are offering gold coins to customers buying jewellery over Rs 5000. Others like Ebony and Buyer’s Den have come up with a special Republic Day discount offer- 54 percent off on the occasion. Because of the psychological influence on people’s buying power, if some discounts are being offered, almost everyone is jumping on the sale bandwagon. Says Mr Ajay Gupta, Manager of The Home Store, which has launched its first ever sale in three years since it opened shop here, “Our customers would often ask us to include a sale period, when discounts would be offered. And going by the trend, when the retailers in the city do roaring business with sales volumes increasing during the sale season, we have decided to make the sale season an annual affair”. So, beige woven trousers and knee length coats that Preity Zinta wore in “Kal Ho Naa Ho” , which you were eyeing at Ebony, or the string shoes and stiletoes at Bags and Shoes, or Pringle pullover at Jain Sons —everything is now available at rates 25 to 50 per cent lower than last month. It is also the right time to strike a bargain and stock up foot wear for the spring- summer season; or planning to re-do your kitchen and instal a modular kitchen, now is the time. After two successive short winters, this year brought the chill for a longer
duration. Thus the phenomenon of sales in woollens, which had started in last week of December for two previous years and continued right till February, is picking up only in the third week of January this year. With the city being a favourite shopping destination of people from other parts of Punjab, the sale season - at the end of summers and winters alike- has always attracted people. It is thus that the sale season often stretches on for a month. Says Kanika Jain, a 21- year-old resident of Sector 18,” I plan to stock my wardrobe for next winter as well as for the spring- summer season. Ever since the sale season began, I’ve picked up two sweaters and now plan to pick up a few pairs of corduroy pants - which are very much in fashion these days.” Her friend, Diljot Kaur, a student of Panjab University,too, says that she has been waiting for the sale season, when she could buy the trendiest stuff at almost half the price. But this certainly is not that the retailers in the city are cutting down on their profit margins, or offering hefty discounts as a stock clearance measure. Gone are the days when end-of-the-season sales were the only way to clear your stocks, the retailers now keep the latest wares and add fresh stocks during these sale seasons. A garment retailer in Sector 17-E says that the manufacturers themselves offer garments and wares at heavily discounted prices. “Most retailers keep their same percentage of profit margin, and then offer discounts to the customers. In fact business is much better in sale period, as the total volume of sales increases”.
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Saying it with imported chocolates
You have been saying it with chocolates ever since dad started giving you pocket money. So many times you have presented “fruit and nut” to friends on Chocolate Day. You have also made amends with white chocolates. Gifted them to close ones on their weddings. But you have always been buying the usual stuff — either milk or dark chocolate, sometimes white chocolate. For special friends, you have been pulling out money to buy ones with creamy centres, or full of almonds, nuts and raisins. The reason behind your “customary choice” is not hard to see. The Indian manufacturers were offering little more than this. Swiss milk chocolates with honey and almond nougat were available, but you had to “spend a fortune” for these. No wonder, for savouring chocolates covered ginger and espresso beans, besides caramel, you had to request friends coming from across the seven seas. But now the things are fast changing. Uncustomary chocolates are here. You can simply drive down to the arcade and pick up ones with rum and raisins — something you had been savouring in cakes and ice-creams. Chocolates full of blueberry, caramel, cherry, coconut, coffee, ginger, lemon, maple, orange, peach, peppermint, raspberry, rum, strawberry and vanilla creams are also readily available. There is still more to choose from. On display are champagne chocolates in heart shaped boxes with transparent lids tied with nice red alluring ribbons. Of course, all of them are not “made-in-India”. But are not very expensive either. You can pick them up for as less as Rs 15 from some of the stores. Then there are dealers selling imported in Chandigarh after getting them from abroad. They go from office to office, house to house, selling the products. “There are no middlemen,” says Raman, one such dealer, “We go to countries like England and America for buying the chocolates before selling them here. That is why you get them cheap”. In case you love eating chocolates, do not feel guilty. As per available information, people living in the UK alone spent over £ 3 billion ($ 4.5 billion) on the product last year. Consumers in the USA spent more than $7 billion. An average US citizen eats 5.45kg of chocolate annually. A Swiss consumes 11kg annually. But before you buy chocolates, look at the ingredients. In some “not so good” imported chocolates, the principle ingredient is not chocolate or cocoa. Rather, the average cocoa content is generally less than 20 per cent by volume. It can be as low as seven per cent. Such chocolates are rich in sugar, saturated and vegetable fats, besides powder milk and other additives, many of them artificial. These are responsible for chocolate’s undeserved reputation of being fattening, tooth-decaying and generally unhealthy.
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Festive spirit ahead of Republic Day I’m proud to be an Indian- how many of the city residents echo this sentiment on the occasion of Republic Day? Well, quite a few of them actually celebrate Republic Day with as much gusto as they would celebrate any religious festival. And why not, they ask? Religion has been considered over and above nationalism, but we choose to bring them on a par. Local businessman Sandeep Ahlawat has invited several of his friends home for a flag hoisting ceremony at 8.30 am on January 26. “ My uncle will hoist the Tricolour. We will sing the National Anthem, which will be followed by a small tea party where laddoos will be served. If Holi and Divali can be celebrated with gusto, why not Republic Day or Independence Day?,” he says. His views are echoed by Mrs Rita Kapoor, a home maker and an executive member of the Thursday Ladies Club, says that though the Republic Day celebrations will be at home on January 26, but their club is celebrating Republic Day with gusto and much fanfare on January 27. Though most of residents look upon Republic Day as a holiday, to laze and relax, nationalists like Ahlawat are not extinct. Considering the fact that the sale of Tricolours from Khadi Ashrams in Sector 17 around Independence Day and Republic Day last year was anything between Rs 5,000 to Rs 14,000 a day, proves that the nationalist attitude prevails in the city. Mr Brij Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Khadi Ashram, says that the sale of flags this year has been much less, probably because the flags bought last year will be used again. — TNS
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Unique MP handicrafts on display The unique heritage of handlooms and handicrafts from Madhya Pradesh are up for grabs at Mrignaynee exhibition at Lajpat Rai Bhavan. A unit of Madhya Pradesh Hastshilp Evam Hathkargha Vikas Nigam, Mrignaynee, has facilitated the creations of master craftsmen from the central state to reach the art lovers in the city here. The exhibition was inaugurated yesterday and has come to the city for the 10th consecutive year. From paper mache wares to metal craft, chanderi sarees and dress material to beaded and zari work purses and paintings- the exhibition is a treat for the arty crowd. Mr R.P. Mehta, exhibition in charge, said since Madhya Pradesh had been the veritable melting pot of cultures and traditions of several centuries, Mrignaynee endeavours to bring the master craftsmen from all parts of the state and their wares to all parts of the country. Paper mache products like all eight forms of Ganesha, the irresistible Mrignaynee, Buddha busts, pots, lamps and the Computer Ganesha wall panels are also on display. The various silk fabrics- cotton silk, tussar silk, kosa silk, khadi silk and silk in hand woven patterns are also available. The exhibition is on till February 1. — TNS
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It’s my life You must have seen me on the small screen. Yes, I am the one who has acted in so many Punjabi music videos. I am not a professional actor. And as of now, I do not have any plans to take up acting as a career. I act because I love performing. I succeeded because I was determined to win. Ever since I was in school, I used to dance to the thumping beats of reverberating music after switching on the radio set. I guess rhythm was in my body. My parents were also very encouraging. While parents of other children were always after them, coaxing them to study, my father never used to object to my extra-curricular activities. Rather, he went along with me for my first stage performance. Since then, people all over the region have appreciated my performance. As told to Monica Sharma |
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Chandigarh January 24
The season of loot is on. For all yuppies, who’ve been waiting for the end- of- the- season sales, to stock Preity Zinta’s coats and Rani Mukherjee’s asymmetrical skirts a la Chalte- Chalte, the sale season is on at full swing.