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Teachers resent deduction from arrears of salary
Chandigarh, November 15 The arrears were paid to the teachers on the orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). After paying the arrears the heads of the schools were asked to deduct the money from the salary account of the teachers. It is learnt that the arrear amount was withdrawn after the Education Department went to the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the CAT order. Earlier, the department has passed the orders after the teachers, who had opted for the central pay scales, had gone to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) last year against the administration for not fully implementing the revised pay scales. The arrears of pay and allowances, running in thousands of rupees, was paid to around 80 teachers along with nine per cent interest per annum, said sources in the Education Department. The revised pay scales are Rs 5500-Rs 9000 (entry grade), Rs 6500- Rs 10,500 (Senior Scale) and Rs 75,00 -Rs 12,000 (Selection Grade) with effect from January 1, 1996. The beneficiaries would be teachers working as work experience instructors, drawing teachers, Librarians and table instructors, said a member of the Experience Instructors Association. In 2003, the education department paid arrears on unified pay scale of Rs 5,000-Rs 8,000. Then the department had suffered a financial loss of around Rs 40 lakh in paying the arrears along with 12 per cent interest. But the teachers have filed a case against the administration in the CAT. Against the order of the CAT, the department filed a Civil Writ Petition in the High Court and the case is scheduled to be heard next week. The members of the association said in the order passed by the office of the Director Public Instructions (Schools), it has been said that the payment of arrears would have to be refunded if the decision of the high court was against the petitioners. The department had said that the beneficiaries would not use the arrear amount till the court decided the case. But it has gone a step further by withdrawing the amount from our accounts, said a teacher.
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Students have done us proud
BDPS has been a cynosure of all eyes. The school received accolades from NASA Space Center, Florida, where some children won the global competition to the Athens wrestling arena. Palwinder Cheema was part of the Indian wrestling team.
Scores of students have done the institution proud. The CBSE results, 2004, bears a testimony to this. Simaranjeet Singh notched the top position in the Patiala district Class XII examination held by the CBSE. He secured 91 per cent followed by Tanveer Kaur with 89 per cent and Shelly secured 88.4 per cent Simranjit Singh brought laurels to his alma mater and came out with flying colours in the prestigious IIT mains. Tanveer, Shelly, Charanpreet, Sukhtej Pal Singh and Yadvinder Singh also notched top spots in the prestigious AIEEE and CET entrance exams. Kanwarpreet Singh another alumni of BDPS topped in the AIIMS entrance exam. Sumeet Tiwana, an NTSE scholar, bagged the top spot in Class X CBSE examination by scoring 95.2 per cent with distinction in all subjects. Navneet Kaur and Mamta Goyal came a close second with 94.8 per cent. Anmol Singh was placed third by scoring 94.6 per cent. Finally 12 students of the school have scored an aggregate of over 90 and 46 students have scored above 80 per cent. The school is engaged in upgrading its infrastructure. An entire new floor in the senior wing, a new building for junior wing bears testimony to these efforts. The school has also recently upgraded all its labs, including IT workstations. BDPS has emerged and a ‘centre of excellence’ for the education in Patiala and Punjab.
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Warrant officer raids police post, secures release of illegal detainee
Panchkula, November 15 Warrant officer, Subhash Malik, reportedly found Surinder Singh in the police post and secured his release. The warrant officer asked the Sector 19 police post in-charge to present himself before the High Court tomorrow, and explain why Surinder Singh was detained illegally. Surinder Singh’s brother, Manjit Singh, had moved the High Court, alleging that his brother, a resident of Sector 15 here, was called to the Sector 19 police post here on November 13, and detained illegally. He alleged that a person had been hit by a car, now owned by his brother, and his brother had recached a compromise between the victim and the accused. The police had called him on the pretext to sort out the Mr Manjit Singh said that when they reached the Sector 19 police post, the police had somehow received the information about the raid. “No police officer was present in the police post, or the special staff cell. Only the MHC’s were present in the police post. Though Surinder was found in the Police post, the Alto car, which had caused the accident, and was also in the custody of the police could not be recovered,” he said. Meanwhile, the police say that they had not detained Surinder Singh. “He was never in our custody. He tried to barge in the police post, about 10 minutes before the warrant officer arrived, “ police said.
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Ex-servicemen seek parity
in pension Chandigarh, November 15 Ex-servicemen had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court a few weeks ago, pleading that ex-servicemen be entitled to pension after 10 years of service as is the case with civilian government employees. During subsequent arguments, the court directed that it was the department concerned that should find remedies to the issue and allowed the petition to be withdrawn. “Civilian employees are entitled to pro rate pension after completing 10 years of service whereas the service personnel require to put in at least 15 years of service,” president of the Ex-servicemen’s Grievance Cell, Lieut-Col S.S. Sohi, said here today. “We have now written to the Defence Ministry as well as the Army Chief to initiate steps to end this discrimination,” he added. While Central Civil Services (Pension) rules allow pension to employees, even temporary appointees and those retired compulsorily, after 10 years of service, there is no such provision in the defence pension rules. Another bone of contention is the requirement of 33 years of service to be eligible for full pension. Since majority of armed forces personnel are retired compulsorily at an early age to maintain a youthful profile of the services, they per force have to go home with low pensions.
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City wakes up to thrill of night life
It was in 1991 that the cable TV invaded homes of peace-loving people. Many serials and programmes for youth began. Hence started the introduction to disco and late night parties. The first discotheque to open in the city was Las Vegas in 1996. But it was not considered a respectable idea for women to socialise at disco parties. Lovers meeting points were fetes in schools and colleges or roadside’ milan’. But with introduction of discotheques and the pub culture things began changing. Now attending late night parties for women are no big deal. Not only youngsters but many middle-aged persons revel in the bright glare of disco parties. A lot of middle-class parents are allowing their daughters to enjoy this new found freedom. The serene city is waking up to the glitz of night life. Psychedelic lights, rocking music, fine blends, rings of cigarette smoke and sipping of beer and dancing on the floor till the wee hours packs enough passion in the late night parties. People forget their busy schedules and shake a leg to dissolve stress with DJ playing the musical numbers . Now the trend of theme parties is also in. A bubble and foam party held recently at the Industrial Area Phase-I for the first time drew more than warm response. For the youngsters it was a much needed change. The white foam surcharged the mood and the crowd danced with gay abandon. They didn’t mind getting drenched. The foamy liquid seemed to wash away their worries. City-based Ritu Rana said, “I have just completed my graduation and want to pursue career in modelling. I think that more and more girls should join in. These kind of parties can change the narrow attitude of people too”. Safal, a student of DAV College said,” I am basically a party animal. I am a salesman for a leading fashion brand of the city. I like to dance at a party to unwind myself. This is the only way to enjoy and freak out. One wishes that these late night parties spread their wings and change the ambience of the city.” OC
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Magic is illusion, says Samraj
Known the world over for his tricks, magician Samraj performed at the Bassi theatre here this evening. Presenting a thematic show—Manthirikam majority of Samraj’s tricks focused on horror.
‘‘I have the distinction of performing horror magic, a first in the history of magic,’’ said Samraj whose real name is Samuel George. 48-year-old Samraj gave his first stage performance at his home town in Kerala at the age of 17 ‘‘I saw a magic show one day when I was just a child and could not sleep the whole night wondering how it had been done. The next day I worked on it and realised that I too could do it. Magic is like any other skill, you have to be perfect in it to be able to do it well,’’ he pointed out. Conducting shows involving great risks and incredible feats of escape acts has entitled him to the honour of The Indian Houdini. Samraj was awarded the best magician award by the International Magic Convention, Dubai and the German Magic Circle, Colon, Germany in 1992. Some of his outdoor marvels include the unique illusion staged at Poojappura Central Jail, Thiruvanthapuram where he was chained, locked in a steel box and placed in a strong cell. Within no time the magician appeared among the spectators. In yet another similar act, with thousands watching, Samraj was handcuffed and placed in a coffin and nailed. Then the coffin was buried and a huge haystack was lit over the graveyard. The audience were shocked to find that Samraj came out in a police’s uniform in a few seconds. ‘‘Magic is all an illusion. It could be either the result of a fast movement of hands, scientific principals, hypnotism or a sleek performance. But magic performance is a talent that is inborn.’’ he said. Samraj’s most daring trick was to vanish with his wife from a blazing fire. ‘‘My wife, Mary, was not even scared. She had complete faith in my ability to come out of the act unscathed. Sadly another magician who tried the same trick a few days after I did, died in the fire,’’ said Samraj. Working towards his dream trick of vanishing while hanging in chain from a moving helicoptor, Samraj said he was waiting to get the requisite permission from the Punjab government to allow him to perform the feat over the PCA stadium here on January 26, 2005. ‘‘The other project that I will undertake immediately after I go back to Kerala is to start magic therapy. Our tricks not just entertain but also have the capacity to distract people from the pains that they suffer,” he said. A showman to the core, Samraj says that how you present your skill matters a lot. ‘‘I change my costume and the entire troupes every three minutes. We use laptops to design sets using the latest instruments to create music. The coordination of our 30 member troupe is done by Mary while my elder son Jojee works on the music. Its dedication and team work combined.’’ he said. TNS
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Parikshat Sahni keen to do
good films
Noted film and television star Parikshat Sahni will soon be seen in a bi-lingual movie.
Talking to Chandigarh Tribune at the residence of his relative Mr Trehan in the Cantonment area, Mr Parikshat Sahni said that he was shooting for the film `Choodiyan’. “The movie is being shot simultaneously in Punjabi as well as in Hindi,” he said.
Mr Sahni said that the outdoor shooting of the movie is taking place at Patiala. “Choodiyan is a remake of a Marathi film ‘Aiye’, which means mother. The cast includes Vinod Khanna, Gracy Singh and Vikas Bhalla. The director and the cinematographer of the movie are doing an exceptional work,” he said. Mr Parikshat Sahni’s uncle well-known writer Bhisham Sahni used to teach at Gandhi Memorial National College, Ambala Cantonment after Partition. “I have myself studied for a while at the Army school in Ambala,” he recalled. Dressed in a jeans and a check-shirt, Mr Sahni said that he was playing the role of the head of the family. “In the movie, I am playing the role of a person who has been paralysed after being shot during war. Thereafter, he loses his son following which the family begins to disintegrate. It is a poignant movie,” he said. Mr Parikshat Sahni stated that he had just completed a film by Sai Paranjpye called ‘Chakachak’. The premier of the movie was held yesterday. “One of my recent movies `Senor’ in which Tom Alter is a co-star has been selected for screening at the India International Film Festival in Goa. Another movie `Ma, where are you’ has also been completed,” he said. Better known for his role in serials like ‘Gul, Gulshan, Gulfam’ and ‘Henna’, Mr Sahni said that he is currently playing a stellar role in a new serial called `Saarthi’. “The serial has shot to the top of the charts. It is shown in the afternoon slot,” he said. “Hindi films have considerably improved in the recent times with new type of movies being made by youngsters. I am considering certain proposals from the mainstream cinema. I am keen to do good films in which I can play versatile characters,” he said. “Simultaneously, I have continued with stage performances and the play `Hanush’ was staged recently,” he added. Mr Parkishat Sahni has joined the NCP, which is headed by Mr Sharad Pawar. “I decided to join the NCP as I was impressed with the party manifesto. The NCP has done well in the Maharashtra elections. I am also chairman of an environment group in Mumbai which lays stress on keeping the city clean,” he said.
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His mission is to promote Punjabi culture overseas
City-based Avtar Singh Chana is on a mission to promote the bhangra dance and Punjabi culture overseas. As a member of the International Dance Council (UNESCO) he has conducted many bhangra workshops in abroad.
In an interaction at the Punjab Arts Council, at Rose Garden, Sector 16 he revealed that the Bhangra Nation Multi-cultural Society (BNMS), Toronto (Canada), declared him ‘world bhangra judge’ and conferred ‘2004-Lifetime Achievement Award in Bhangra’ in January. He also had the opportunity to judge North America’s intervarsity bhangra championship. Recently in May, he judged ‘bruin bhangra-2004’, which was held by the University of California, Los Angeles. In September he judged ‘bayou bhangra’ held by the University of Houston-Texas in which the teams from USA, Canada, UK, Norway, Scotland, and Belgium participated. Besides bhangra, he is also working as PR official in the Punjab Financial Corporation, Chandigarh. “The plans are a foot to conduct a ‘world bhangra championship’ in Chandigarh next year. I am looking for the right supports and right time”, he said.
OC
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Chandigarh is no more a city of retired and tired people. The city which used to wear a dead look after 8.30 pm, eight years ago, is finally discovering its late night identity.
