EDUCATION

CBSE to monitor attendance in schools
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has taken serious note of certain local educational institutions allowing students to attend coaching classes for competitive examinations during school hours.

The practice is against the guidelines of the board as regards teaching hours. It will encourage other schools to follow suit, fear the board officials.

To take credit for producing top rankers, thus adding to the prestige of the school, it is ensured that the attendance of such students does not fall short as per the requirement of the board.

Sources in the board said after reports of top-ranking students admitting that they had been exempted from attending classes during school hours, the board was devising a mechanism to monitor the attendance of students in schools.

In an inquiry conducted by the board against DAV College, Sector 10, and SGGS Collegiate Public School, Sector 26, complaints of students being exempted from attending classes during schools hours had surfaced.

The board was inquiring into a complaint that certain government schools in city were also following the same practice.

A senior officer said in future the board would monitor the attendance on weekly basis and devise a mechanism of surprise checks.

Since the arrangement of coaching classes during school hours suited the school, students and their parents, none of the beneficiaries came forward to complaint about the illegal practice.

The board officials said the students should enroll themselves with the National Open School if they wanted to attend coaching classes.

Result gazettes made available to PUSU council
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21
Panjab University here today partially yielded to students’ demand by making result gazettes available to the Panjab University Campus Students (PUSU) Council, comprising members of the Panjab University Students Union. However, the decision has stirred a hornet’s nest since the gazette has been made available to only one organisation.

The Dean Student Welfare, following a protest by PUSU last week, provided them a copy of the result gazette to help unburden the enquiry counter. This decision came under fire with other students organisations raising objections over the “biased and partial” attitude of the authorities, here today.

“We have set up tents around the Administrative Block to help and guide students visiting the university just like PUSU. We are willing to attend to students trying to find out their results or seeking information on admission procedures but we can’t help. We have been deprived of the gazettes,” an activist of Students Organisation of Panjab University said.

“The Dean should either make gazettes available to all organisations or take back the gazette provided to PUSU. We will not take this lying down while we are helping out the university by providing assistance, the PU authorities have adopted an uncooperative attitude,” an office-bearer of the Haryana Students Association added.

B.Sc (I) result

Panjab University declared the result of B.Sc (I) examination here today. The examination was conducted in April. The result gazette will be available in the New Enquiry Office of the university and personal enquiry on all working days between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The results will also be available on the university website www: puchd.ac.in from 10 a.m. tomorrow. No telephonic enquiry will, however, be entertained.

Admission in GCG-42 from July 5
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21
Government College for Girls, Sector 42, Chandigarh, today announced that the last date for the submission of admission forms for new students is June 25 and the admission will begin from  July 5.

Stating this here today the Principal of the college, Ms Shashi Kanta said the college conducted courses in arts, science and commerce streams after 10+2.

The prospectus could be obtained from college library, she added. She said the college would also start a new course in B.Sc Biotechnology from this year for which the approval of the university was awaited.

Meanwhile, Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, Chandigarh College of Architecture and Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology have also announced July 13, as the last date for the submission of application form against all the state quota seats and the All-India quota seats for session 2004-05.

The joint admission brochure, containing separate application forms of the three colleges could be obtained from the counter of administrative block of Punjab Engineering College from June 23.

The counselling for both all-India quota and state quota seats shall be conducted by all three colleges jointly at their own level in the Punjab Engineering College premises.

‘Technology must reach student level’
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21
Ms Sarita Manuja, Principal, DAV Public School, Sector 8, here, gave a presentation on ‘Need for the implementation of technology in classroom for future’ at a three-day conference on ‘Promoting leadership for integrated Europe’ held recently at Parague.

On the invite of the Czech Republic and British Council, Ms Manuja represented Asia among the 55 participants from Russia, Brazil and different parts of Europe.

Speaking about her presentation, she said schools of future had to consider all other aspects of promoting and learning ways of effective learning. The use of technology by classroom teachers while imparting education in various subjects was of great importance.

Another important aspect was to filter down the technology to the level of students and working towords the concept of self-learning.

Dev Samaj College offers new course
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21
From the new academic session, the Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45, is introducing evening classes in event management, Cosmetology and community development. The new career-oriented programme would be open to outsiders also, said the Principal of the college, Ms V. Bhargava, here today.

The college has 140 seats in B.Com and also offers honours course in Business Finance and Accounting and e-commerce to the commerce students. The college also offers 40 seats in BCA. For the BA students, the college offers fashion designing as an elective subject.

Tenure extended

Dera Bassi, June 21
The Bar Association, Dera Bassi, at a general body meeting on Sunday under the presidentship of Mr Anmol Singh, unanimously resolved to extend the tenure of the executive committee of the association for six months.

The tenure was extended in view of the executive committee’s efforts for getting judicial courts established at Dera Bassi, Mr Anmol Singh, president of the Bar Association, Dera Bassi, said in a statement issued here today. TNS

LIFESTYLE

English theatre staging comeback
Parbina Rashid

Rahul Da Cunah’s group “Rage” — creating an audience for English theatre in the city.

If the number of audience is the yardstick to gauge the popularity of a play, then English theatre is certainly in vogue. The recent years have witnessed a rise in the attendance at English plays. Not only well-known playwright and director Rahul Da Cunah is making it a point to visit the city with his new productions, but also George Pulinkala, a renowned musical director, has been inundated with invitations from school principals for productions for their schools.

However, the fact remains that a few “imported” productions are all that have contributed to its growth. In spite of a growth in the number of audience for English plays, no local outfit has come up to cater to their taste.

“English theatre is rich but the few theatre groups we have in the city are afraid to experiment with it simply for the fact that our artistes are not very confident with the language, especially when it comes to mastering the right accent,” says Aditya Prakash, an architect and a theatre artiste, who acted and directed many plays for Abhinet, a theatre group that staged a few English plays in the early 70s.

“We had good actors during that time but most of them migrated from the city and we had no backup. Lack of patronage from the administration coupled with lack of confidence among actors proved fatal for the English theatre movement here,” says Prakash.

That may not be the only reason. “Mother tongue is always the best tool to sensitise contemporary issues, and when this realisation dawned in, we switched over to Hindi and Punjabi plays,” says Prof Virender Mehndiratta, former Head of Hindi Department, Panjab University, and one of the patrons of Abhinet.

He justifies his argument by saying: “In the past 50 years I have seen the National School of Drama stage only one English play — Alkazi’s ‘Look Back in Anger’.” They have no dearth of talent, he adds.

So the attempt made by pioneers like N.C. Thakur, Eulie Choudhury and Champa Mangat Rai soon became history when Choudhury’s Amateur Dramatic Society closed down due to lack of talent as well as patronage. Rai’s parallel outfit, which she operated from the Government College for Girls in Sector 11, met with a similar fate.

Though diehard English theatre fans swear that lack of audience had never been a cause for English theatre’s downfall, a few doubt the sincerity of the audience.

“English theatre is fashionable and has become a prestige symbol for the city’s elite. A majority of people who go to watch a play are more likely to be bothered about ‘being seen’ rather than the content of the show,” says Professor Mehndiratta with conviction.

“True”, says Neelam Mansingh, a well-known figure in Punjabi theatre. “When groups from outside perform in the city, too much hype is created and the whole thing becomes a social evening. So one cannot really say only the English theatre has an audience here,” she says, adding that a few local amateur groups that did a better job than commercial groups wilted due to the lack of patronage.

Neelam, who admits her natural inclination will be towards English theatre, says so far she has not dabbed her hand in it because of her commitment towards Punjabi theatre.

“Twenty-one years back, I made a promise to myself that I would make Punjabi theatre as viable as Bengali or Marathi theatre and this is what I have been doing till date,” she explains.

But why has the Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, been ignoring English theatre? “We have students from all four corners of the country and language is the main problem. Hindi is one language that is understood and spoken by a majority of them, hence, we stick to mainly Hindi productions,” she replies.

Men, too, visit beauty salons
Swarleen Kaur

Men undergo colouring on hair at Tress Lounge in Chandigarh. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

It is equally important for men to look good and pleasant as for women, says city-based scientist, Sudhir Sahni. He is of the opinion that to feel confident, you have to look pleasant. For this, he regularly goes for hair colouring, facial, head and body massage. He even goes for bleach, pedicure and manicure.

A few years ago men were reluctant to visit beauty saloons. Those who adopted beauty routines were still more unwilling to reveal this. But not now.

“Why should I be shy to admit this? “My job demands that I should look good. My appearance has a definite bearing on my performance, says Anurag Ahuja, a business executive in a multi- national company.

Boys and men in the city are waking up to the call of beauty. Apart from building their muscles, they now do spend their time and energy to have a glowing and wrinkle-free face.

According to beauty experts, a facial delays wrinkle and tone-up face muscles. It is recommended for those above 25 years.

The trend of hair colouring is catching up in the city. “Earlier men would do hair colouring to get rid of their grey hair. But now youngsters go for it to look different. Streaking the hair gives them a smart look. Brown, blonde, purple and red colours are being preferred. But the most popular is blonde streaks,” says an hair and beauty expert , Yousuf Khan.

He says it is essential that for this quality and branded products are used. Inferior colours can cause a lot of harm.

Rohan, a college student, says he had changed his looks recently by having a spike hair cut with blonde streaks. He also uses gel and glittered mascara on the hair to look stylish. “Now many girls stop to have a glance at me”, he said smilingly.

Threading, especially cheek threading to get rid of unwanted hair is also in.

Head massage and body massage are also getting popular. A massage increases blood circulation, keep stress at bay and must for a good health.

Anything which makes us look better is welcome, says 45-year-old bank manager, Vishal Gupta.

Harsha, Irani to host ‘Teacher’s Highnights’

STAGE and film artiste Boman Irani and cricket comentator Harsha Bhogle will host an event — ‘Teacher’s Highnights’ — which will include interaction with elite people of the city on June 23. It will target connoisseurs, from corporate, business and social circles. The event promises to be an interesting talk show.

Bhajji to bring Mumbai fashion to city
Monica Sharma

HARBHAJAN Singh doesn’t believe in make-up. Though he walked down the ramp with a pony tail during India Fashion Week held recently, the cricketer hates creams and blush-ons applied before the fashion shows.

“I am a desi guy,” he says, “who feels uncomfortable in a pony tail”. But the shining star of Indian cricket is all set to reduce the time taken by fashion bandwagon to reach Chandigarh from Mumbai. The fashion from there will be here instantly, he claims.

After six months of rest due to an injury, he is also excited about bowling rival teams out in the Asia Cup Cricket to be held in Sri Lanka next month. In fact, he is sweating it out for five hours daily to improve his spin.

In city for the inauguration of Sylvie’s beauty parlour in which he is a partner, Harbhajan Singh says, “Now, you too will be able to support hair style that people were in Mumbai without wasting time going there. We plan to bring the latest in fashion direct from the heart of style — Mumbai”. He was accompanied by captain of the Indian cricket team Sourav Ganguly and players Ashish Nehra and Yuvraj Singh.

But how will he manage? After all he is a cricketer, not a model or a beauty consultant. “Well, I have my friends in Bollywood,” he smiles. “We will be getting ideas from the film industry”. As far as the Indian team is concerned, Harbhajan Singh — with his immaculate white shirt unbuttoned almost till chest — believes Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj are jazzy.

That is okay, but how did the idea of opening a beauty parlour occur to him while most of the cricketers go in for hotels and restaurants? “Oh, well, Harbhajan Singh has always been different. I do things ‘hat kay’ from others. This is my style, without make-up,” he says, adding “I have been working on the project for four months now”.

Making himself comfortable at the Sector 9 residence of his partner’s relative, just before the inauguration ceremony, he says, “In any case it is a good business. I choose Chandigarh, instead of home place Jalandhar, because residents here are more aware of fashion”. “Right now, I am getting used to the role of an organiser instead of someone for whom things are organised”, he said.

Great, but what about allegations that the cricketers are paying more much attention to things other than the game like advertising? “It is never like this. The players can keep on doing whatever they like as long as their performance is not being affected”, he quips.

He said, “Look at me. I started playing when I was 13. At the age of 17, I was selected. But I have never taken things lightly. I still workout for five hours daily to keep fit. You can judge my involvement from the fact that I felt really frustrated because I could not play with the Pakistani team because of my injury”.

Regarding the secret of his success, he says, “It is all because of God’s grace and the wishes of my family. Also, I can never forget what all my coach Davinder Arora did for me”.

Aiming to take region by storm

She flashed her smile with semi-precious stones studded in her teeth. As she waited for the inauguration of her beauty salon in Sector 11 this afternoon, beautician-cum-hair stylist Sylvie said: “People have class in this part of the region, but are somehow left out in terms of fashion.”

Bengal tiger evades fans

Clad in a navy blue T-shirt over matching denims, Indian cricket team captain Saurav Ganguly left his fans high and dry. As he tried to push his way through the jostling crowd, Ganguly said: “Yuvraj is the choice for opening batsman in Test cricket.”

Waving at his fans, he said: “The team for the Test series has already been declared. We are presently focusing on one-day matches. Anyone can do the opening.”

As he disappeared within minutes of his arrival, his fans, especially little ones, were left wanting for more.

The most disappointed were the little ones who waited for their hero to show up in scorching heat.

Referring to comments made by Sachin and Sehwag, he said: “They are right as cricketers and can say anything. As a captain, I have my own perception. But I will seek advice from my teammates. Parthiv is a good wicketkeeper and he will continue till I get a better option.” — OC