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Student loses year, negligence by school authorities
alleged Chandigarh, March 15 The school authorities “forgot” to submit the examination form of the student on time with the Punjab School Education Board. A depressed Sidharth told Chandigarh Tribune that though he had been regularly attending classes, he had not been able to appear in any of the exams of the Punjab School Education Board, which began on March 10. A dropout of the Class X of the Central Board of Secondary Education, he had enrolled with the school to appear in the Punjab board. Mr Sanjay Sethi of Sanjay Public School, Sector 44, said the student was a private candidate and had failed to provide the necessary documents to be attached along with the examination form. Despite repeated reminders by the Principal of the school to the student and his father, they had failed to submit the documents, he said. “The school authorities have played with the career of my son. Till the last moment, they kept telling me that my son would get the roll number. When the school authorities told me that the examination form could not be submitted till the last date, I gave the late fee. But still my son was not issued the roll number”, said the father of the boy, Mr P.R.Luthra, a former Punjab Chief Architect. He claimed that there was no discrepancy for which the school could have withheld the examination form of his son. Showing the fee deposited from time to time with a Sector 44 branch of the school, Mr Luthra said the necessary documents, including photographs, were given to the school authorities. He said his son was weak in some subjects and he had been regularly going to the school to monitor his performance. He was never told about any discrepancy till the last moment, he claimed. Mr Luthra further stated that after admitting that the examination forms of Sidharth had not been submitted, the examination fee of Rs 6,300 had been refunded by the school authorities. They promised that the Sidharth would be allowed to sit in the supplementary examinations.  |
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More autonomy sought for business
schools Chandigarh, March 15 Mr Manjeet Narwan, General Manager of Hindustan Times,
Jaipur, said the business schools should be given a lot of latitude to operate to stand the changes in technological and managerial arena. The industry was changing fast and it is important to recognise the needs of the industry to ensure better placements, he adds. Talking to the students he rued that political intervention at various levels had adversely affected the functioning of these business schools and the prospects of the pass-outs during the past few years. Mr Narwan suggested that these business schools should function like a business house, where emphasis should be on case studies, theories, dealing with practical problems etc as was done by leading IIMs in the country. Mr Anil Gupta, Additional Commissioner, Income Tax, said the world today was facing an economic rennaissance, where the system was confronted not only with the problems of today but also with the challenges of future. He said even though institutes in Punjab produced a good number of management graduates, a majority of them were not able to get good placements and were doing average jobs in the salary structure of anything between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh per annum. Mr Gupta said more interaction with the representatives of the industry would help them have a better idea of organisations in the state of flux. Prof M.S. Bedi, Head of the Punjab School of Management Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, talked about the problems faced by the business schools in the absence of proper autonomy in the universities. He lamented that MBA passouts, who were working at meagre salaries of Rs 5,000 or Rs 10,000 were virtually competing with simple graduates working in similar jobs. Prof Bedi earlier thanked the alumni for taking time off their busy schedules to attend the meet and share their experiences with the students of the department. The alumni are well placed in banking sector, group of private companies and public sector undertakings. |
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Himachali culture
showcased at PU Chandigarh, March 15 Organised at the Law Auditorium, Panjab University, here today, the programme showcased the essence of Himachali culture. From the Kangra folk dance ‘jhankara’ to the Himachali version of the Punjabi ‘giddha’ and the ‘Solan natti’, the programme was a thorough entertainer. While songs from the various districts of Himachal Pradesh were presented by students, ‘guldasta’ marked the grand finale, wherein each of the 12 districts of the state were depicted through language and folk songs. All participating students came to the stage to present dances. The President of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, Ms Vidya Stokes, who was the chief guest, could not make it. The participants of various items were given away prizes by the Dean, Student Welfare (Women), Dr Meenakshi Malhotra. Seminar held: Stating that a new economic dimension was vivid in Sino-Indian relations, Prof V.P. Dutt, sociologist and former pro-Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University, said trade between the two countries was gradually rising. He was delivering the Tarachand Memorial Lecture organised by the India-China Friendship Association at the ICSSR Complex, Panjab University. He pointed out that Chinese foreign policy experts considered and acknowledged India as a big power. Professor Dutt maintained that both countries faced similar challenges from one power domination. These, he added, came from the hegemony of the United States of America, which he termed as liberal imperialism. Holding that the mistrust between China and India still existed, he said bilateral relations had improved significantly. He also referred to the close cooperation between China and Pakistan on the issue of nuclear weapons. Suggesting that both countries should have closer coordination and cooperation, he claimed that accumulated wisdom of the two great civilisations could help remove distrust between them. The Dean, University Instruction, Prof S.K. Sharma, spoke on the role played by the India-China Friendship Association towards improving relations between the two countries. Earlier, Maj Jiwan Tewari (retd), welcomed the guests. |
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Paper theft: police asked to lodge FIR Mohali, March 15 Board officials said that following the publishing of a part of the question paper in a vernacular newspaper daily this morning, a check was conducted at all centres but there was no sign of question paper leak. However, some question papers were found missing at the Dehlon Centre. The newspaper report had mentioned that the question paper was being sold for Rs 1000 to Rs 10000 at
Dehlon. The Controller of Examination, PSEB, Ms Narinder Kaur, said action against the supervisory staff responsible for causing disturbances at various centres was also being initiated. Meanwhile, the board has decided to hold Class X music instrumental paper of blind students again on March 20. These students had received Class XII question papers on March 13. |
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B. Braun foundation to offer scholarships Chandigarh, March 15 A candidate must be a second year postgraduate student, must pursue and complete their degree course and have history of an uninterrupted course of study. The scholarship will be awarded to the students from the field of anaesthesia, medicine, cardiology, nephrology, orthopaedic surgery, neuro surgery, cardiac surgery, general surgery & gastro surgery. A panel of doctors will choose the scholars. According to Dr Basant Pawar, Professor and Head, Department of nephrology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, “the initiative taken by B. Braun had also been recognised by the Minister of State for Health ‘and family welfare. |
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From Schools & Colleges Chandigarh, March 15 Consumer rights: Government High School, Sector 40, celebrated World Consumer Rights Day on the premises of the school. As many as 800 students and 70 teachers participated. Ms Asha Lata, Headmistress of the school, urged the students to create awareness about consumer rights. The day was also celebrated at Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 27. Winners various contests were: junior category: essay writing: Jasmeet Singh 1, Vinod Kumar 2; slogan-writing: Ram Kumar 1, Jasmeet Singh 2; senior category essay writing: Komal Kumar 1, Snehil Sharma 2; slogan-writing: Kuljeet Kaur 1, Ratna Verma 2. Entrepreneurship programme: The Food and Craft Institute of Chandigarh organised an entrepreneurship awareness programme for students in collaboration with the Corporate Training and Development Institute. Mr S.K. Saluja, Principal of the institute, inaugurated the programme. He emphasised that entrepreneurship was a futuristic concept. Dr G.S. Bhalla, director of CTDI, conducted the programme. Coaching classes: The Chandigarh zone of the Sikh Missionary College, in association with the managing committee of the Sector 34 gurdwara, will start free coaching classes in CET/PMT for needy students. The last date for receiving applications is March 20. |
District Courts Chandigarh, March 15 The court has issued a notice for March 17 to Chandigarh Club Pvt. Ltd. The application has been moved by Mr C.M. Munjal, Dr Anmol Rattan Sidhu, Mr Gopal Gupta and Priya Bhushan. They have urged the court to restrain the defendants from appointing the returning officer of their own choice without bringing the matter into the notice of the executive body of the club. The elections to the club’s executive body has been announced for April 3. As per the plaintiffs, no returning officer has been appointed as yet. The plaintiffs have alleged that despite repeated requests (including a written request on March 8) to call the meeting of the executive body, the defendants are delaying the matter on one pretext or the other. They maintain that the returning officer could only be appointed by the executive body of club and the defendants have no authority to appoint the officer. As a relative of the acting president, Mr Sunil Khanna, is going to contest the elections, he wants to appoint the officer of his own choice to help his relative in the elections.
Beant assassination case
The special court hearing the Beant Singh’s assassination trial today ordered restoration of B-class facilities to an accused in the case, Navjot Singh. He is currently lodged in Burail Jail. The order was pronounced by the Special Judge, Mr Balbir Singh, in the special courtroom held on the premises of Burail Jail. The facilities to Navjot Singh were earlier withdrawn by jail authorities in the wake of the January 21
jail-break incident. Mr N.S. Minhas, counsel for Navjot Singh, said since he was a postgraduate and had undergone knee surgery twice, so it was pleaded that the facilities should be restored. Acting on the plea, Mr Balbir Singh ordered the Jail Superintendent to provide the facilities as per the Punjab Jail Manual. |
Panchkula cactus garden nowhere on tourism
map OFFICIAL apathy towards his unique contribution to the region has made Dr J.S. Sarkaria an angry man. For a man who brought Panchkula on the national eco-tourism map, his creation, National Cactus and Succulent Botanical Garden and Research Centre, does not figure on the tourism circuit of Chandigarh or Haryana. The 85-year-old curator of this unique garden says that he has given up any hope of recognition by the Tourism department, or of exhibiting his labour of love to the cactii and succulent plant lovers in the country and abroad. "At least two Chief Ministers, and three Chief Secretaries of Haryana, have asked the Haryana Tourism Department and Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation to include this only cactus botanical garden in Asia, in its tourist circuits, but to no avail," he rues. This garden in Sector 5, Panchkula, where almost all genus of the cactii family is represented, has seen over 55 per cent drop in tourists over the past decade, when the tourist buses began excluding the garden from its circuit, he says. This inspite of the fact that other than small it botanical garden at Panjab University, Chandigarh, there is hardly any other botanical garden, leave alone a cactus botanical garden, in North India. Says Dr Sarkaria, "The garden was set up in 1987, in order to protect the flora of the region. With the help of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), we have preserved exotic varieties of succulent and cactii, and exhibited over 3500 varieties of succulent plants found all over the world. Over population and urbanisation are taking their toll on these plants, and the garden has made efforts to preserve the plants". He says that since they are not on the net, a lot of succulent plant and cactii lovers visiting the city are not even aware of the gardens’ existence." Now that we have appointed a botanist, Dr Ram Prasad, we will launch our website, and create awareness about this unique garden," he informs. The garden is a sprawling seven-and-a-half acres expanse of greens, and was established while Dr Sarkaria, himself a connosieur of cactii, was trying to dispose off his personal collection owing to ill health. It was then that HUDA offered to allot him land for setting up the garden, and besides infrastructural support, is also providing monetary aid for maintenance of the garden. Other than the indigenous varieties of Caralluma Sarkariae and Caralluma Bhupindrian created by Dr Sarkaria, almost all known varieties of Caralluma, and over 70 percent of the varieties of Haworthias and Genus Mamammillaria are represented in this unique garden.
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Tabla player par
excellence WHEN a Panchkula-based tabla player wins the first prize at a national-level competition, it is a matter of pride for the region. Such an honour has come to Gautam Dhar, a familiar name in the music fraternity of the city. A music teacher at Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27, he won the first prize at the National Youth Festival in Jamshedpur recently. For the honour that he has brought for Haryana, he will be honoured with a cash award by the Haryana Government. A fast learner, Gautam started playing the tabla under the guidance of Bhuvan Bhattacharya in Assam when he was only a toddler. However, it was only after he came to Chandigarh that his skill was honed under the guidance of internationally-renowned tabla player late Pavan Kumar Verma. “Whatever I have achieved has been the result of the hardwork of my late guru,” the accomplished tabla player says. He practised for six or seven hours everyday to perfect his skill. A regular accompanist to top artistes like Ustad Sultan Khan, Parvez Mehndi and Vaani Jayaram, Gautam is an established name in the local music industry. He has been a musician for hundreds of cassettes. After the death of his guru, Gautam has been perfecting his skill under the tutelage of Ustad Sushil Kumar Jain. His ambition is to accompany top film and classical singers, the confident artiste says. This is not for the first time that Gautam has won a top award. In 1998, he won the first prize at the All-India Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan at Jalandhar. Since then, he had been giving solo performances at Jalandhar.
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FROM a person who got training in Indian classical music to running a music company and now directing music videos-Sagarika Bam’s journey has been long but she has managed to reach for the stars. In the city today, Sagarika, has recently shot to fame with her music video “Halu Halu Chal”, says that it feels great to be in a traditionally male bastion. Though this is the first video to be directed by Sagarika, it has got her a lot of rave reviews in the industry. Starting her career in the finance and administrative division of Sagarika Accoustronics — a company founded by her father — she was quick to learn the tricks of the music industry. The company manufactures CDs and cassettes and Sagarika has emerged as an astute businesswomen. The company earlier had a Bengali music division being run from Kolkata before Sagarika stepped in. Having a music background she decided to start a Marathi division as well. Being a Bengali, it was a bold decision. But she listened to Marathi music, learnt its nuances , its history, about its artistes, singers and composers, in order to get a feel of Marathi music and then successfully launched the Marathi division. “It took three years to establish the company in Marathi music and now artistes like Suresh Wadkar, Sadhana Sargam, Usha Mangeshkar, Ravindra Sathe and Anup Jalota feature in our Marathi division’s catalogue,” she adds. She started the classical music division in 2000 and today legendary musicians like Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Girja Devi feature on the company’s catalogue. It was then that she decided to step into the world of Hindi music. Her first couple of releases — ‘Dilbar Dil Se’ and ‘Pretty Lady Remix’ were hits. She now plans to expand her business further. She has already set her foot in the field of event and artiste management.
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Select clothes with caution BAGGY clothes can make you look fatter. This is not all. Too much of white will make you appear larger than you are. At least this is what young fashion designers in the city claim. Clothes, they insist, should be picked with caution. “You should always go in for the right size,” says fashion designer Neerja Prabhakar. “Just do not buy anything that will look fine after you lose those loathsome kilograms as tight clothes can accentuate ugly bulges”, she says. She adds, “Your aim should be to look good now. If the size tag bothers you more than the price, take steps to reduce. Exercise, diet, do anything, but please do not buy tight clothes. You can be sure that the size is right if you are able to sit down comfortably without struggling to breathe”. Also, avoid dressing up in too many colours. “You should not go in for three shades at the most. Too many hues will simply look odd and make you appear undecided,” she insists. Your clothes and shoes should also match. “A large number of people commit the mistake of wearing dark clothes and light shoes. The combination looks odd. Well, black shoes go with anything, but light-coloured shoes should be worn carefully,” she claims. You should also say no to too many prints. Patterns do not look good on everyone. Do not look silly by trying to appear too trendy. “You should essentially wear clothes that suit you and not just any dress that is in vogue,” says another fashion designer Reena Mahajan. Accessories, she says, also make a difference in your appearance. “Short chains make your neck appear larger. So you should choose the correct length necklace. Also, high heels can give you that elegant look, but can also hurt your hoofs the day after. High heels place pressure on your toes, arches and balls of your feet. That is why the ligaments in your knees take on extra strain and result in muscular pain,” she concludes. |
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Kaifi Azmi comes alive on stage WHAT Rani Balbir Kaur aspired to achieve through her musical "Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Hasin Sitam" was just to pay tribute to legendary poet Kaifi Azmi, not to make people laugh and certainly not to make them cry. But the moment his daughter Shabana Azmi recited the introductory couplet, "Azib admi tha woh", and broke down on stage, the mood was set — to know this man who enriched Urdu literature and Hindi cinema with his beautiful compositions. The play came as an innovation from Rani Balbir, who portrayed the life of Kaifi Azmi as she knew the man. We got to see Kaifi as a boy aspiring to be a great "shayar", a social reformer who did community service with the same passion as he wrote poetry, and the man who won hearts with his simplicity, intelligence and the ability to take life as it comes. Rani Balbir has used a narrative style to tell us all about Kaifi Azmi. The actor “playing” his wife Shaukat tells us about this great poet who was also a great family man. The beauty of the play is that actors do not really play any character. They remain actors who help build up the plot and familiarise the audience with Kaifi and the people close to him. So when the curtains go down what remains with you is his parting advice, "when you work for change, keep space for despair as you may not see your efforts to fruition in your lifetime — but the struggle must abide, endure and go on ...." The play was presented by Folk Theatre Workshop and Chandigarh Administration at Tagore Theatre. The cast included Akshay Maurya, Ajay Sharma, Balveer Singh, Kashif Siddique, Navneet Kaur, Ranjan Sehgal, Rajesh, Sandeep Saluja, Shivalli Chuhan, Shireen Zaman, Sachin Sharma, Vijay Kapoor and Wasiuzzaman. Rani Balbir besides directing the play, also designed the set. The choreography was done by Suchitra Mitra. |
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Viagra works in 40 pc cases, says expert VIAGRA or the blue pill works in only 40 per cent of the cases though it is termed as super drug and is the second most recognised medicine in the world after Lipitor, says Prof Ajay Nehra from Mayo Clinic in the USA. Commenting on the popularity of the “magic pill”, he claims that approximately $ 1.4 billion are spent on Viagra by people worldwide. He adds that the pill’s fame was affected within three or four months of its launch in 1998 as the people wrongly blamed it for causing cardiac deaths. Removing misconceptions regarding its use, Dr Nehra claims that Viagra does not increase heart attack rates. Its use by patients already suffering from coronary artery diseases can, however, cause stress. It can further lead to aggravation of cardiac symptoms due to rise in excitement levels and physical activity, he reveals. In Chandigarh to perform live surgery on a patient suffering from urinary leak, he adds that Viagra, in a large number of cases, is used for removing mental blocks in patients unable to perform due to psychological reasons. “After consuming the drug, they become sure of their ability to perform. The dosage is reduced after successful attempts. The medicine is withdrawn once self-esteem is restored,” the doctor adds. He asserts that impotence or erectile dysfunction is partly due to psychological reasons. It is mostly because of organic causes, including lack of blood supply and damage to nerves. Lifestyle diseases, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension and alcohol, besides smoking, are also responsible for the disorder to a large extent. In some cases, it is sudden. Regarding treatment, he adds that the patients can safely go in for penile prosthesis when indicated. The procedure takes approximately 90 minutes and costs between Rs 35,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh. Artificial implants, which are not that sophisticated, are also available in the country for Rs 5,000. For patients suffering from dysfunction, the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research holds a clinic once a week. According to institute Director Dr S.K. Sharma, the clinic is popular with patients suffering from the problem in this part of the region. “The demand is fairly high. About 15 or 20 new patients with problems of infertility and erectile dysfunction come to the institute every week, he adds. Urinary leak treated Patients suffering from incontinence in men (urinary leak) urinary incontinence in men can now get well at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. For the first time in the institute’s history, Dr Ajay Nehra from Mayo Clinic in the USA today operated upon one such patient from the region. The live surgery was attended by about 35 delegates from Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Shimla. The patient, whose identity was not revealed, was suffering from incontinence or involuntary loss of urine. According to doctors, incontinence had a great impact on the patient’s psychology. “It makes him secluded and a non-sociable human being”, they said. The treatment included implanting an artificial urinary sphincter. Dr Nehra had conducted two such operations at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, two in Ahmedabad and one in Chandigarh.
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God on her canvas, in vibrant colours SALVATION for Seema Jaitly means riddance from sorrow and finding comfort through unhindered contact with God. She has tried to achieve it through paintings. The theme she has chosen this time is ‘Om’ and the artist has come out with a series of 24 paintings in mixed media which are being displayed at IndusInd Art Gallery. Using colours like red and orange in the backdrop to highlight the basic symbol of life, the artist has done a good job in giving variety to her single source of inspiration. Her ‘Om’ becomes a colourful maze of semi-abstract forms in some while in others it is combination of religious and folk symbols in realistic forms. While bright vibrant colours are in abundance in Seema’s creations, the artist has struck a fine balance in linking her forms with fine pen work, a technique she has adopted as her signature style for giving clarity and perfection to her paintings. A photographer by hobby, Seema has an eye for details that reflects in her paintings too. With a master’s degree in painting from Panjab University, Seema is at present teaching painting at the Government College of Home Science in Sector 10. This is her third solo exhibition in the city. Her first exhibition was on photography on various social themes while her second solo exhibition on Lord Krishna included a series of ‘haldi’, pen and ink drawings in 2002. Today’s exhibition was inaugurated by Dr Sukhversha Narula, Principal of the college. It will conclude on March 19.
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