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187 PTU students get degrees Mohali, June 9 Delivering the convocation address, Dr Chidambaram said in order to build India into an economically developed, scientifically advanced and militarily strong nation, the country requires people of character. “Politicians, administrators lawyers, soldiers, scientists, technologists, specialists and skilled people of numerous other disciplines, all with character,” he said. Quoting Albert Einstein, he said Einstein made a profound statement when he wrote, “Most people say that it is intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: It is the character.” Dr Chidambaran added that the definition of character is, however, not easy. “Character means integrity; it means pursuit of excellence within the individuals limitation; it means persevenrence in the face of adversity; it means commitment to national and social causes and it means also a commitment to justice and societal equity,” he said. Dr Chidambram outlined patterns of priorities in Indian research and development. He said there was no technology today that was not available to the Indian engineers. The availability of raw materials in the villages warrants economy at the domestic level. He asked the young graduates to concentrate on application of hi-tech to rural areas and develop rural technologies. Dr S.K. Salwan, Vice-Chancellor of the university, welcomed the guests and read out the annual report of the university. He said that the university had taken in its pursuit to provide technical education, create an environment of trust and solidarity in improving the curriculum to make staudents self employable. The university was starting new courses in the area of biotechnology, medical and lab technologies, total quality management, product design etc, he added. He informed the audience that the Punjab Chief Minister had sanctioned six schools of excellence during the first convocation of the PTU which were in the process of being established. The PTU had undertaken a universal digital library project in coordination with Carnegie Mellon University, USA, and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Among those who had topped the various courses include Manjit Singh Patterh, Harpreet Kaur, Amit Chopra, Jagdeep Singh, Monica Chawla, Ruchie Mago, Sukriti Khanna, Aman Sethi, Dhiraj Girdhar, Varsha, Samita Gairola, Ashu, Girish Chander Joshi, Dhiraj Gupta, Raman Sharma, Varundeep Kaur, Upkar Kaur, Gurbir Singh Kohli, Gaurav Sharma, Neha Bajaj, Shanker Sehgal, Ritesh Kumar Gupta, Raminderpreet Singh, Jasmine Kang, Pooja Arora and Rajan Sharma. Most of the students who received the degrees today were accompanied by their parents. Mr M.S. Grewal, Registrar of the university, said only the toppers were being given the degrees at the convocation. He added that one PhD and 23 postgraduates were among being awatrded the degrees today. While 25 students had earned gold medals, 21 had been given silver and bronze medals, on the occasion. |
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Now cellphones to operate gadgets Chandigarh, June 9 To prove his point, Vikrant has developed a prototype of mobile controlled Automation System (MCAS), which acts like a remote to turn on electrical gadgets from a distance. Based on the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) the system can be attached to a home PC to control the electronic or electrical devices. The system requires a landline phone to connect the call from a mobile to modem in a PC. Its prototype has been developed at a cost of Rs 1,500. Explaining the process, Vikrant said the IVRS allows the user to activate the software through telephone keys. The software plays a wave file (.wav) which contains the instructions. By pressing the telephone keys, the user can activate any function like on pressing 1, fan turns on, on pressing 2, AC turns on, pressing 3 and 4, the music system goes on. The software activates bits of parallel port and there the MCAS kit is attached to it to complete the circuit and the relay attached to your device would turn on or off the device, depending upon the bit value set. A number of Application Programme Interface (APIs) has been used in implementing the system calls. As many as 256 different devices can be attached to the MCAS kit. His diploma in Instrumental Engineering from CSIO helped in designing the system. He wants that companies should come forward to adopt his prototype for mass production. Vikrant’s future plans include incorporating home security system, which would alert you on your mobile about a trespasser in your home. |
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PU starts 24-hr students’ helpline Chandigarh, June 9 Students willing to find out any details about the procedure of admission or seeking any guidance can contact on phone No. 9872300421, 9872120124, 9872206432, 3111041, the PUSU president, Mr Rajwinder Singh Lucky, said after a brief inaugural ceremony. The organisation has also set up a guidance cell near the Administrative Block. This was inaugurated by a former PUSU President, Mr Malwinder Singh Kang, and Mr Rohit Sharma, actively associated with the PUSU. |
Films and fortune…all in the game
Chandigarh, June 9 The quintessential theatre man, however, wishes away our theory as he says, “The success of these films has more to do with the genius of their makers than the weight of my fortune. I have been lucky to have chosen the best fare available.” The latest feather in Suneel cap is his historic role of N.G Swami in Shyam Benegal’s film, “Netaji — The Last Hero”. The film features Suneel as Swami who headed INA’s Secret Service. On his arrival in Chandigarh where he, along with his wife Amala Rai, will conduct children’s theatre workshop at Kalagram, Suneel spoke to the Tribune about his 50 plays of prominence, his roles in the best TV serials ever made, including Mirza Ghalib and Bharat ek Khoj, besides his association with personalities like Govind Nihalani, Girish Karnad and B.V Karanth. Attached with Nadira Babbar’s “Ek Jut” these days, Suneel says, “Theatre is my first love. It is the most comfortable medium and the most effective too. I have also worked with legendary theatre people like Fritz Benewitz from Germany, Leon Augusta from Indonesia and Egil Kipste from Australia. Among my most successful plays have been “Main Zinda Hoon” and Sher-Afghan (Henry IV). I also direct plays, apart from holding workshops for children and adults.” The most significant contribution of Suneel has been post Gujarat riots. With his vast experience in handling groups and taming them with the discipline of theatre, Suneel went ahead to work with the victims of communal riots, housed in the various relief camps in Gujarat. He says, “Theatre is not meant for the drawing rooms. It has a larger purpose. It is linked closely to lives of people, and it is the most cathartic discipline that I know of. I simply tried to use the elements of theatre to help a distressed, dismayed lot. We also produced some plays.” Associated with all three leading professional theatre companies in India — Rangmandal, Bhopal, Sriram Centre’s Theatre Repertory and NSD Repertory, Suneel has a vast canvas, rich with experience. No wonder he has been roped in by a Dubai-based theatre promotion company to design a theatre module for children. He may shortly head for Dubai to give the course a final shape, besides appointing the faculty members. Rooted in theatre, Suneel says, “I choose my films with great caution because I want to devote time to theatre. Ever since I picked up finer nuances of theatre at NSD, I have been continuously inspired to work in this direction. I am most pained to see people acting without getting to the basics of the discipline. I believe there can be no fine actor without fine training. Institutes like the NSD are vital and essential. Not many aspiring actors know 20 Indian universities have full fledged theatre departments. I wish new age directors had stressed talent. We would only have got richer that way.” For his part, Suneel is imparting training whenever, where ever possible. His annual schedule is also packed - two to three theatre productions, three to four theatre workshops and one odd film …that too of “Netaji’s” order. |
Eating Out An outing to Funcity, Panchkula, on the Nadha Sahib Gurdwara highway, is fun all the way. The water sports hold a special appeal in the scorching months. So much so that the place is packed with revellers right from noon when it opens, through the blistering afternoon hours and to the cooler evening. In fact, it’s only when your tummy starts rumbling that you realise for how long you have been frolicking around in the pools that you splash into through the dangerously exciting roller coaster slides. The bhangra on the rain dance floor also serves to whet your appetite. With your costumes and hair still dripping with water, you take a break at the little snack shop. In keeping with the mood of the water amusement park, the eatery is an open one. Sit on the plastic garden chairs and tables, unmindful of the state you are in. That’s because everyone else is sailing in the same boat after that ride on the sea waves or a shower under the bucket upturned by the weight of water. A small trot in bare feet, necessitated by the burning hot pavement, leads to the shop that is a self-service counter. The menu is as functional as the decor: A plate of noodles or the sandwiches complemented with a Coke. These are enough to get one going for another bout in the refreshingly addictive pools of water that reverberate with peals of laughter and screams of merry-making kids, youngsters and the not-so-young. It is only when there is a another bigger tumble in the belly that you are forced to abandon the water kingdom, deposit your costume back and head for the ‘dry’ amusement area that has a proper snack shop. It would be wise if you first had a ride on the roller-coaster rides on swings and trains that leaving you spinning in the head and with butterflies in the pit of your stomach. That’s because, otherwise, you will be left with no appetite to use the giddy giant wheels that goes up to dizzying heights or the comparatively tame thumak thumak. Then there’s that added danger of the food being regurgigated. By the end of it you are famished though a bit not up to it for a proper seven-course meal due to the slight queasiness. In that context, the small round glass-walled eatery serves the purpose amply. With a nice view of the automatic swings going up and down amid the greenery, you settle down for a pick of the basic north Indian, Chinese and Continental fare: some noodles, fried rice, burgers, pizzas, spring rolls, mixed veggies, dal makhni and chicken with rotis, naan, parathas and rice along with cold drinks. There is also an open stall that offers typical kulfi, flavoured ice gola, lachha and other coolants, reminiscent of a village fair. For those opting for a longer stay at the place are the beautiful cottages built on a hilly landscape. The guests, mostly long-distance travellers, who stop by for a break, are provided air-conditioned rooms fitted with TV and fridge. A buffet is laid for breakfast. “We are in the process of providing more facilities to the guests,” informs Mr Dheeraj Punj, manager, Funcity.
— TNS |
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Home Decor
The plush house in Sector 8, Panchkula, is different from so many other houses in the neighbourhood as you stand in front of the gates looking at the great red bricks. Even before you push open the impressive door to enter the house, you realise that the occupants have a “taste”. As you step in the lobby of architect Arun Loomba’s house, abstract painting by artist Bridge greets you. There are other paintings and prints also — Mona Lisa with her classic smile included. The rooms, the decor, the arrangement and the lighting gives you the impression that the house is much bigger as compared to its actual 500 sq yard size. The reason behind the fantastic design is not hard to see. Mr Loomba was involved in the designing of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium in Mohali. His daughter Pallavi Loomba herself is an interior decorator and has worked hard to see her dreams materialise. The chairs in “antique white” — with a matching table bang opposite — add to the charm of the living room. Other chairs have also been placed wide apart, giving you enough room to breathe. As you move ahead, you see stairs with sleek wooden railing leading to the bedrooms on the first floor. The sight inside the rooms is breathtaking, not just because of the paintings, but also due its “unique design”. The beds are essentially low with electric lights next to them for enabling you to read novels and magazines before going off to sleep. This is not all. For going to the bathroom, you have to climb two steps fully carpeted. They gel nicely with the blue tiles. What makes the entire design matchless is that instead of placing a table in one corner of the room, you have low cupboards with a television set placed on it. Standing in one of the four bedrooms, you can see the backyard with nicely pruned plants through a glass window without grills. For reaching the backyard with a path cutting across, you can descend the spiral staircase. As you stand on the carpet grass, you can see a pond with stones bordering it. Over all, the house is fuss free and easy to maintain enabling sunlight to penetrate.
— OC |
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Theatre as a tool for
social change Amala Rai has always defied norms to create something purposeful with theatre, her best tool for social change. Nine years ago when she was hand picked by Kiran Bedi and the India Vision Foundation to work with jail inmates in Shimla, Amala had no idea where she was heading. But three and a half year slater, she knew exactly what she had earned out of an assignment that had casually landed in her lap. Today Amala virtually leads the movement of motivational theatre from the front. While Abhivyakti, her theatre group in Shimla,continues to hold theatre sessions for the undertrials in the two jails at Shimla, she, for her part, works extensively with the street children in Mumbai. On her arrival in Chandigarh today, the National School of Drama graduate talked about her transition from the world of glamour to the world of crude reality where basics are all that matter. "The world is not as beautiful as it appears to be. There is a lot of bitterness all around and we, as theatre professionals, owe a lot to the society. My experience at Kaithu Jail in Shimla was very memorable. It was more of a test than a reward. For the first time in life, I felt the need to reach out to people who were literally suffering. They were good people, caught in bad situations. Through theatre, I helped them relocate their good selves by channelising energy." Amala held countless sessions in the jail. By the end of the schedule, the inmates had become her friends. She recalls, "They started respecting authority, besides accepting responsibility for having done something wrong. My achievement was their faith in me. They would literally cry while seeing me off every day." Soon after, Amala began working with slum kids and street children in Mumbai. She also conducted an intensive NSD theatre workshop for destitute women in Bhuntar in Himachal, besides holding production oriented sessions with street children in Mumbai. Challenging as the task of integrating street kids into a group was, Amala devised her own ways to help them feel at ease. She has conducted hundreds of workshops for children in the schools of Shimla, Jaipur and Mumbai. She has also worked frequently with slum kids. But working with street kids has been her greatest learning experience. She says, "These kids are very bitter. They go about lives desultorily, holding everything against everybody. My attempt is to help them unwind by sharing their most painful memories. They are so ruthlessly exposed to life that most often they break down while enacting sequences. That is the very idea. They must feel they have the right to cry and that their tears do matter. We use their experiences to weave our stories. Many street kids are a part of theatre sessions which I hold with Young Men's Christian Association in Mumbai." The themes of plays invariably centre on awareness about alcoholism, hygiene, population control, dignity of labour and importance of literacy.
— TNS |
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The story of compulsive shoppers They feel powerful when they exercise their will and pick up things of their choice. However, the habit can acquire extreme proportion and women can end up buying things or accessories which they or their family members do not need. “When I am shopping, I feel very good and powerful. But when I get back home, I realise that I will never wear the clothes I have bought. I am addicted to the pleasure of buying. Last year, I bought 40 pairs of shoes and 70 sarees and I never wear sarees,” says Meena Sachdeva, a business executive with a multi-national
company.
According to medical experts, Meena has a problem.They say most of the women believe that a good spending spree will help ease the most pressing crisis, whether domestic, personal or romantic. For some shopping is an escape route. Sanjana, a student of B A final year and hosteler, said “I love to buy new clothes. On a holiday, I just love to do window shopping with my friends. We keep trying new clothes in different shops and sometimes we come out without buying anything.” Experts believe that shopping addiction points at deeper problems. The primary problem is depression and anxiety. It can be a disturbed relationship with one’s parents or spouse. Cold and unemotional parents lavish presents on children to make them happy. “They see these as substitutes for emotional closeness and fulfillment,” says Vidhu Mohan, a retired professor of psychology from Panjab University. She says when women are deprived of love, they try to fill the gap with substitutes and shopping is one of them. Raman Singh, city-based lawyer, says that whenever his wife gets upset with him, he takes her out for shopping. “Though I have to pay heavy bills, it is a better option than to fight with her,” he adds.
— OC |
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According to information released here, the tourism graduate from Delhi “has a lot of experience in anchoring”. In fact, he has anchored premier shows in Delhi for movies, including ‘Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi’, ‘Pyar Tune Kya kiya’, ‘Lagaan’, ‘Ajnabi’, ‘Lajja’, ‘Nayak’, ‘Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe’ and ‘Bend It Like Beckham’. This is not all. He has also hosted Oscar nights and Sukhbir night in Delhi. He loves listening to latest English and Bollywood numbers. His all time favourites are Bryan Adams and Kishore Kumar.
— OC |
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Incense sticks in special packs ITC Ltd has launched ‘Mangal Deep’, a new brand of incense sticks (agarbattis), in “fragrance - locked’” packs. “Mangal Deep” offers a choice of three pack sizes — Rs 2 for 10 sticks, Rs.10/- for twenty sticks and Rs.30/- for 100 sticks. Initially, the incense sticks will be available in “3-in-1” (sandal, bouquet and rose) fragrances, along with individual packs of bouquet and sandal. As a trial offer customers will be offered sample packs, which they can experience and then chose the fragrance of their choice, according to Mr R Srinivasan, member, Corporate Management Committee ITC Limited.
Nature Care Dabur has launched Nature Care, a solution for constipation and gas. According to Mr Dilip Bhujbal, Senior General Manager, Dabur India Limited, the product has three herbal laxatives, isabgol, trifla and venna and four herbal ingredients. Ajwain, provides relief from gas which 95 per cent of constipation patients suffer from.
— TNS |
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SHOPPING is the first love of many women. Apart from giving respite from the dull daily routine, it also gives them a sort of high.
FROM road shows to fashion shows, movie premieres to music videos — Manish has indulged in all. He is now all set to entertain you in his new role of Zee music’s Video Jockey.