Chandigarh, December 1
Wish to learn the art of staying sane after having kids? The Butterfly Books in collaboration with British Library organised a book exhibition in Government Museum’s art gallery. It has some tips for mothers who want to know what good to eat. Also on display are rare books, including those that enhance learning among children through the use of colours, textures and sounds.

Parents can pick from the vast range of reference books many of which now fill the libraries of prestigious schools. There is a series of activity-based learning material, including the “hardly-available” pop-up books that teach children how to use images and sounds together. These books cover a whole range of topics, from animals to plants. Turn a leaf to see an elephant and hear its trumpet. For children of primary school there are books that give details of the butterflies, planet Earth, life cycle.

The adult section is equally well stocked with books on art, craft, architecture, healing and fiction. The book exhibition leads you through fascinating worlds of traditional beadwork, stenciling, glass painting, clay modeling and rubber stamping. Books on architecture answer all queries from tropical architecture tools and gardening techniques to furniture painting and storage solutions.

In fiction, there are gripping titles including Ian Wilson’s “Past Lives - Unlocking the Secrets of Our Ancestors” and many other biographical bestsellers. The healing section has books on almost all conceivable healing techniques like natural healing, meditation, colour healing and massage.

There is a lot of material on world history told in interesting ways, like in the title “Astrological History of the World”, “Powerful People”, Visual Encyclopedias.

Ms Alison Sriparam, in charge of English language teaching, British Council (India), is for inculcating the habit of reading among children. After having designed numerous English learning programme for primary schools across India, she feels the thrust is now not merely on English learning but on its functional use in day-to-day affairs.

She said one of the main reasons for job influx in India was its good knowledge of English which had emerged as the most powerful business languages across the world. “The trends in English learning are heartening. Teachers who attend our classes come as learners, ready to explore new techniques and use new ideas for enhancing classroom learning. The entire emphasis now is on how to be creative with the language and not just on how to learn it,” she added.

Chandigarh, December 1
Rallies, slogan-writing and poster-making contests and talk on AIDS marked World AIDS Day in schools and colleges of the city today.

Students of Vedic Girls Senior Secondary School, Mani Majra, held a rally. Carrying posters and banners, they highlighted the safety measures against AIDS and HIV. The Principal, Mrs Urmil Mittal, flagged off the rally. Slogan-writing and poster-making competitions were also held at the school.

As many as 200 NSS volunteers of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, participated in a rally against AIDS. Students carried posters with slogans like “Know AIDS for no AIDS”, “Let’s talk HIV AIDS and save lives”. Ms Indra Beniwal, Principal of the school, flagged off the rally. Paper-reading and poster-making competitions were also held.

At Sri Guru Harkrishan Model School, Sector 38, an interactive session on AIDS for students of classes IX -XII was held by Dr BT Rao, senior resident, Department of Community Medicine, PGI. Dr Rao started the session by introducing this year’s theme of “Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS”. He said for the past two decades, HIV and AIDS had become more prevalent in women. He also elaborated on the red ribbon, an international symbol of AIDS awareness, symbolising care and concern about HIV and AIDS. Dr J.S. Thakur, Assistant Professor of the same department, was the chief guest and gave away prizes to the winners.

Students of the GSSS, Sector 27, participated in a rally which went through Sector 27. It was flagged off by the Principal of the school, Mrs Indu Bala. An AIDS awareness quiz was organised at the GMHS-39. Ms Anupama Suri and Ms Renu (science teachers) clarified the myths and misconceptions among people regarding the killer disease.

At the GMHS, Sector 43, an AIDS awareness week was observed from November 25 to 30. The message for control of HIV/AIDS was given through speeches, debates and skits. Slogan-writing and poster-making competitions, were also held.

Students of GMHS-42 participated in a rally flagged off by the headmistress, Ms Usha Kiran, and Mr Shiv Kumar, President of Resident’s Welfare Society, Sector 42. Various competitions like essay writing and declamation were also organised.

Godwin Education Society, an NGO, organised an awareness rally on prevention and control of HIV/AIDS at Labour colony No 4. Children of Godwin Public School took part in the rally by holding banners and placards in their hands. Pamphlets and folders were also distributed.

World AIDS day was celebrated at Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22. A play was staged by senior students to make them aware about the myths and misconceptions regarding the disease and precautions to be taken to protect against this killer disease. The Principal, Ms Amita Khorana, elaborated on the after effects of the AIDS disease.

The NSS and NCC (Air wing) units of GMSSS 20-D organised an AIDS awareness rally which was flagged off by the school principal, Mrs Kusum Gupta. Eighty volunteers and teachers of the institution took part in the rally.

The NSS unit of Government College, Sector 46, organised an AIDS awareness rally under the guidance of NSS programme officers, Mrs Harinder Kaur, Prof Sahib Singh, Prof Bikram Rana and Prof Harjinder Singh. More than 150 boys and girls of the college participated in the rally, which passed through the Sector 46, market and residential areas spreading the AIDS awareness message. Principal A.N. Garg flagged off the rally. Dr Ram Kumar, renowned health specialist and academician, delivered a talk on AIDS and equality of women.

At GGDSD College, Sector 32, the chief guest, Dr Gurmeet Singh, told the students today about an alarming rise in the statistics of infected people. He highlighted the ways to prevent AIDS and the precautions one must take to curb its rising incidence. Principal A.C. Vaid also spoke.

Chandigarh, December 1
A number of rallies and awareness camps were organised in the city by various organisations to mark World AIDS day today.

Over 600 students from different schools in the city and workers from various CII-member companies participated in an AIDS awareness rally organised by the CII, Chandigarh Council and the State AIDS Control Society (SACS), Chandigarh. The rally was flagged off jointly by the Secretary, Health and Finance Mr. S. K. Sandhu, and cricketer Dinesh Mongia from Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10.

At the GMCH, Sector 32, the nurses organised a health talk and lectures on AIDS under the chairmanship of the Nursing Superintendent, Ms Parkash Devi. Talks were given at the Community Health Centre at Khuda Alisher village with the help of the audio-visual aids. Pamphlets were also distributed for creating awareness.

Citizens Awareness Group along with SACS put up a stall at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10, to educate barbers and workers at the beauty parlours about the threat of the disease. The Chairman of the group, Mr Surinder Verma, explained the disease and modes of its prevention.

The Lions Club, Chandigarh, held a procession at the ISBT Sector 17, and distributed pamphlets to educate people about the disease. Around 20 persons from the club and 20 deaf and dumb persons participated.

The Ranbaxy Community Health Society also organised a rally to mark the day. The Piya Sharma Charitable Trust organised a blood testing camp under a World Health Organisation (WHO) project at Indira Colony in which 70 adolescents were examined for anaemia, vitamin A deficiency, lymph nodes and other nutritional diseases.

Mohali, December 1
The faculty of the University of Plymouth organised a seminar on career counselling at Chandigarh Engineering College, Landran, near here yesterday. The seminar was organised to explore the possibilities of the higher education for engineering and management students in the UK.

Prof Patricia D. Pearce, Associate Dean, University of Plymouth, and Mr Jasbir Singh delivered lectures on the occasion. Professor Patricia said postgraduate degree courses in the UK were of one year duration.

She stated that most of the masters’ courses start every year in the month of September or October while some of them in January. There was no centralised system of applications for postgraduate courses in the UK. Each institution had its own application form, she added.

While interacting with students and the college faculty at CEC, she said modalities for exchange of faculty for delivering lectures in specialised fields, sharing latest methods of teaching, carrying out research and consultancy work could also be worked out with the college in future.

Mr Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chairman of the college, said they were looking forward to such exchange programmes as students of both institutions would benefit from it. Mr Rashpal Singh Dhaliwal, General Secretary, also spoke on the occasion. 

Mohali, December 1
Even as the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Punjab Government to form a high powered committee inorder to formulate a policy regarding shifting of schools running in residential houses, over 10,000 students studying in such schools here have been told to shift by the end of the current session.

Sources added that other than the notices that the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) had given to these schools individually, a general direction to this effect was issued by the Chief Administrator PUDA, Mr A.S. Chattwal, to the General Secretary, SAS Nagar School Association, recently.

His letter dated November 8, 2004 clearly informs the General Secretary that no more extension to the schools running in residential places would be allowed as these schools had already run three academic sessions on extension.

Following the recent Punjab and Haryana High Court orders that all schools running in residential premises be closed down by the end of the current session, schools are now faced with a problem of making alternative arrangements for these students

According to a survey conducted by the Punjab Urban Planning and development Authority (PUDA), as many as 49 schools with a total strength of 9,511 students were running in unauthorised locations here. Another 9 schools had been closed down following action by the authority and resumption orders in 12 other cases had been given.

The survey recorded that over 3,500 of these students were studying in pre-nursery to kindergarten and another 3,400 were studying in classes I to V. Over 1,400 students were in elementary classes from VI to VIII and another 780 students in Classes IX and X. Over 200 students were studying in Classes XI and XII.

While one of these schools, Nav Jyoti Public School, Phase II has been running since 1979, many other schools like Senior Sapling School, Phase 3B2, Le Corbusier Convent School, Phase 3B2, Sacred Dales Public School Phase V, Binny Publis School Phase, IV, Paragon Public School, Phase I, Rising Sun Public School Phase 11, Lawrence Public Senior Secondary School, Industrial Area, Manisha Niketan, Phase VII, Green Wood Public School, Phase VII and Paragon Senior Secondary School, Phase 10 were established in the 1980s. However, some schools like Kids Village, Phase II came up as late as March 2003, and the latest to open was Irving Hall Foundation School in Sector 11 this year.

The largest among these schools is Lawerance Public School with a student strength of 1,672 students while the next largest is Paragon Public School, Phase 1 with a strength of 600 students.

Mohali Public School, Phase 10 has 480 students while Yeoman Public School, Phase I has over 350 students. Navjyoti Public School, Phase 2 has over 320 students.

Schools with over 200 students include Senior Sapling School, Phase 3B2, Jeevan Jyoti Public School, Phase I, Mount Carmel School, Phase 11 and Paragon Senior Secondary School, Phase 10.

Chandigarh, December 1
Nothing has yet deterred Chandigarh's Kulraj Randhawa from pursuing her golden dreams. Starting off on a fairly humble scale, the city girl has made it big on the small screen where she is virtually shining with her well-chiseled character in Zee's primetime "Kareena Kareena."

Away from the glitz and glamour of stardust, this is a rather subtle role, much in tune with what Kulraj had always dreamed of enacting.

Kareena Sood bears strong resemblances with Kulraj Randhawa who practically comes from Chandigarh where the bondage of arranged marriage haunts her. So she decides to be the master of her own destiny. "Kareena leaves home in search of something more fulfilling, something more elevating. Bombay promises to answer many of her questions, but one -- traffic bottlenecks can be very frustrating at times," tells the actress who definitely languishes for sun and space and trees which Chandigarh offers in abandon.

The warmth of home notwithstanding, Kulraj is happy to discover new hopes from new challenges. Spotted for her acting talent by Kishore Namit Kapoor and already cast in a Bollywood flick that's awaiting release, Kulraj has almost everything going for her.

"Kareena Kareena" has been her big break and she is naturally under pressure to perform. Brushing aside comparisons to "Jassi…" Kulraj proudly tells The Tribune that "Kareena Kareena" has beaten the TRP ratings of "Jassi …" in North India.

While some may have objection to the claim, Kulraj is confident, "Ours is an out of the league serial where nothing would seem or sound trivial. The script hinges on novelty, which is missing in most TV soaps these days. It has no forced humour, no unnatural situation. The producers are taking utmost care to garnish the soap with rare ingredients like spontaneity and clean comedy."

"Kareena Kareena" may offer quality for now, but the question is whether it can sustain that quality. Kulraj takes on this one too, "We have fine directors working hard to ensure that the serial keeps gleaning the attention it deserves." News is that Rajan Shahi (earlier with "Jassi jaisi …") and Mohit Jha (earlier with "Lavanya") are now offering their directorial skills for "Kareena Kareena," a serial that draws a mass appeal from the familiarity of its characters, Kareena Sood designed to be the most adorable of all.

For now, the going has not been easy for Kulraj though she admits Kareena Sood is much in harmony with her own self. "She lies for bigger truths as do I and keeps at bay from vices. She is spirited and naïve and is perplexed at times. Hers is a story of any average girl who walks into the world with bare knowledge of it". But life in Mumbai has taught Kulraj, a defence officer's daughter a lot. Her most priceless lesson perhaps is "driving in hazardous conditions." Laughs the actress who is also considering modelling as several ad companies line up for her. "I will take up offers once the slated schedules of "Kareena Kareena" are over," says the committed worker.

And with golden dreams still visiting her in sleep, Kulraj may well garner her share of stardust. But not before "Kareena…" permits her to.