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ETT students walk out of examination centre
Chandigarh, March 17 Claiming that their paper of “teaching
English skills” was out of the syllabus, the 50 students came out of the hall within 10 minutes of the distribution of the paper. They were even given the option of a mediator who could address their problem, alternative questions for those they claimed to be out-of-syllabus as well as the option of grace marks. However, agitated students walked out of the school unmindful of the offers being made to redress their
grievances. Most of them had not even signed the attendance sheet circulated among them. Heading straight for the office of the DPI (Schools), Mr D.S. Mangat, students urged him to help. However, he expressed his helplessness in the matter.
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Dharna by NSUI activists
Chandigarh, March 17 The lecturer has been accused of vitiating the atmosphere of the college by having an affair with a student and showing undue favours to her. The NSUI activists led by Nitin Goyal, president, NSUI, Chandigarh and Harpreet Singh Harry met Mr Vivek
Attrey, Director, IT, and apprised him of the situation. Mr Attray informed the NSUI delegation that disciplinary proceedings had already been initiated against the lecturer and assured that strict action would be taken against him very soon.
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Participants ‘not’ serious about refresher courses
Chandigarh, March 17 He rued over “the non-cooperative’’ attitude of the participants in such courses, which were meant to update the knowledge of the teachers about the new
methodologies.
“In my vast experience as a convener and a co-convener of such courses, I have seen that 80 to 90 per cent of the participants are non-serious and some are hostile too. They are constantly trying to reduce the time of the session from 90 minutes to 60 minutes,” said Prof Surinder Singh at the meeting, where many principals of the affiliated colleges nodded their heads in agreement. He also lambasted the participants for writing bad summary reports, which are replete with spelling and grammatical mistakes while addressing the gathering in the presence of the Director, ASC, Prof S.C. Sobti and the Dean, College Development Council, B.D. Budhiraja. He also said that the lax attitude of the organising departments is also defeating the purpose of the refresher courses. “There should be a strong inbuilt system so that strict action should be taken against such elements,” he added. Defending the refresher courses and the participants, Prof Sobti, however, said much depended upon the manner in which the refresher courses were conducted to ensure positive participation. “There could be a few instances where non-serious participants attend the course, but my experience has been that many a times the participants are punctual and positive,” he said. Senator and lecturer, Dr R.P.S. Josh, said due to acute shortage of staff, the UGC, which has made the refresher courses compulsory, should exempt the teachers from attending courses. “The minimum strength required for holding the course is 40 teachers. The colleges are short of staff and principals do not spare the lecturers to attend the course,” he said.
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‘Faculty should chip in to enhance PU resources’
Chandigarh, March 17 Contributing a minuscule amount of Rs 48 lakh in the annual income of around Rs 48 crore this year, the faculty, through the Centre for Industry Institute partnership Programme
(CIIPP) needs to enhance the earnings, which the Director of the CIIP says can be notched up to Rs 1 crore if more members chip in.
“Most of the faculty is not aware about the opportunities of earning through consultancy. That is why we are conducting various awareness drives and workshops that can break this mindset that a faculty members’ job is only to teach in the classrooms,’’ says CIIPP Director, Prof A.K. Sehajpal. If he is to be believed, the earning of Rs 48 lakh through 23 projects undertaken by the faculty this year can easily cross Rs 1 crore mark with members willing to contribute. The projection seems feasible, as the Centre, set up in 1998, which showed consistent earnings between Rs 20 to Rs 30 lakh in last four years has seen a jump of Rs 18 lakhs this year alone, thanks to the first-time projects like conducting recruitment exams for the Uttaranchal Peyjal Sansthan, which generated over Rs 11 lakh. However, the other potential area for faculty to generate additional income through patenting the original research work has nothing much to offer at present. Of its 55 departments, just one research work of Prof S.K. Taneja of the department of zoology for making low-calorie eggs is in the process of getting patented. “The conventional logic among the faculty is to produce original research and get it published in journals. This leaves no scope of applying for patents,’’ says Prof Sahejpal. To open this avenue, the Centre from this session has also given the option to the faculty of applying for the patents through Centre, which would incur all the expenses — right from its application till the time the research is actually patented. “Patents would surely add to the university’s income,” adds the director. Only a few departments, especially professional ones, are coming forward to become consultant for both the private and the public sector. The university business school, law, chemical engineering, botany, geology, pharmaceutical sciences, computer sciences and biotechnology departments have substantial chunk of projects, whil3cy work in these departments, but more innovative thinking is required. ``The languages departments, especially foreign languages, are getting translation work from companies, which we see is a good beginning,’’ adds the professor.
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‘Morality in personal life reflected in public sphere’
Chandigarh, March 17 Prof S.L. Sharma, Director ICA, Swarai Brahmeshanand of Ramkrishna Mission, Mr Girish Mishra, Editor, Dainik Bhaskar, Ms Amrit Brar, AIG (Police) and Ms Aruti Nayar of The Tribune spoke on the occasion. Prof S.L. Sharma, in his inaugural speech, focussed on today’s market-oriented society and the role of religion, media and morality in resurrecting public morality. Swami Brahmeshanand highlighted the significance of morality in personal life which, he said, would automatically show in public sphere. Mr Girish Mishra said there could be good media and bad media, and it was unfair to single out the media for bashing. “The media, however, should know its limits”, he conceded. Ms Amrit Brar, demolished the hypocrisy of morality in day-to-day life. She asserted that we need to empathise with ordinary policemen on the street, as they are victims of our over expectations. Aruti Nayar brought out the gender dimension to the subject and stressed on the need for responsible and ethically correct journalism. Earlier, Ms Iqbal Judge of Fact read out the report of the activities of the discussion forum. Former DG Police A.P. Bhatnagar and faculty members of other colleges in the city also attended the seminar.
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Consequences of globalisation discussed
Chandigarh, March 17 Prof N. N. Wig, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychiatry, PGI, spoke about the positive impact of globalisation in terms of increase in literacy rates, health, freedom, medical facilities and longevity. He also observed that bridging inequality could be a panacea to overcome consequences of globalisation. However, Dr Sagar Sharma, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, termed globalisation as an onslaught by the vested interests to exploit cheap labour. According to him, globalisation has left us personally fragmented and socially disconnected. Prof Rajesh Gill observed that consequences of globalisation were both positive and negative. Prof Anil Malhotra, Department of Psychiatry, PGI talked about drug abuse, its ground realities and consequences. He emphasised on the availability and commercialisation of drugs in a globalised world and discussed some of the risk factors and protective factors in drug abuse. Dr Anuradha Bhandari, Department of Psychology, Panjab University, elaborated upon the affects of globalisation for the woman and youth.
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PEC employees’ absorption subject to outcome of case :CAT
Chandigarh, March 17 Around 200 engineering college employees had in cases filed before the tribunal challenged the Chandigarh Administration’s plan to seek their options regarding permanent absorption in the deemed university or reverting them to the Administration. The last date for exercising their options was extended from January 31 to February 10. The Administration had stated that employees, who failed to exercise their option by January 31, would automatically be absorbed to the Punjab Engineering College Society. A draft notification has already been prepared by the administration in this regard. The applicants in their plea before the tribunal had expressed reservations over the protection of their service conditions once they opted for permanent absorption in the deemed university. While hearing the applications, Mr L.M. Goyal and Mr Jasbir S. Dhaliwal, Vice- Chairman and Member, respectively, of the tribunal, came down heavily on the Union Government for not replying to its notice. The tribunal said if the respondent did not file its reply before the next date of hearing it would be constrained to call the Secretary concerned in the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The next date of hearing has been fixed for March 28. The applicants had filed the case in November 2004. The respondent had twice sought time to file its reply.
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NHRC moved over hike in PU fee
Chandigarh, March 17 Terming the hike as “arbitrary”, the LHRI general secretary, Mr Arvind Thakur, in a complaint to the NHRC, alleged that the hike would adversely hit the poor students. While wards of employees of the university get a fee concession, other students would be at the receiving end of the hike. The logic given for the hike, the payment of the pension to the university employees, was also not logical.
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CAT Bar poll
Chandigarh, March 17 The nomination would be accepted by May 4, scrutiny and withdrawal would be done by May 6. In the meeting, Mr G. S. Sathi proposed the name of Mr A. L. Vohra for the Election Commissioner and Mr C. L. Gupta seconded it.
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New Release A Meghna Naidu (of “Hawas” fame) film always creates excitement and her new movie, “Classic Dance Of Love” should be no exception. shot widely in Mauritius, this film is produced and directed by B. Subhash. The maker of “Disco Dancer”, “Dance Dance”, “Pyar Ke Naam qurbaan”, “Tarzan” and “Divine Lovers” promises entertainment for the audience. New find Vikas Bhardwaj plays the romantic lead in the film with Mithun Chakraborty in a pivotal role supported by Himani Shivpuri, Shashi Kiran and Navin Nischal. “Classic Dance of Love” opens today at Batra, Chandigarh. The return of B. Subhash, Mithun Chakraborty and music director Bappi Lahiri brings back the memories of super-duper hit “Disco Dancer”. Hip swingers and some good tracks are expected and with glam doll Meghna Naidu around, a lot of heat too. Producer - director B. Subhash attempts to recreate the magic with this romantic bold film. “Classic Dance of Love’” has music by Bappi Lahiri and Sukhwinder Singh, lyrics by Sameer, cinematography by Manoj Gupta, story, screenplay, dialogue by Shweta and Malvika, art by Maruti Rao Kale and choreography by Jay Borade and Kamal Naath. Watch Meghna Naidu in another bold role. — D.P.
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Sudanese, B’desh Sufi singers impress
Breathing beyond time and space, Sufiana melodies with striking notes of universal love and humanism pulsated through the hearts of the devout audience, as artistes from Sudan and Bangladesh enlivened the International Sufi Festival at Baba Makhan Shah Lobana Foundation auditorium today.
The concert, organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, presented the "Salah Ibn Elabdia Sufi group" from Sudan and the "Baul Singer group" from Bangladesh, who redefined Sufism — the tradition of mysticism in its true sense. Holding legacy of the most revered Sufi mystic Al Shaikh Gailee Abu Goroon, the leader of the Sudanese ensemble, opened up the programme with, 'Tyb o Tyb' an invocatory praising the Prophet. He moved on to the next item 'Al-sufia', praying to the almighty to induce the divine spell of Sufism to purify his soul. The Baul Singer group from Bangladesh, all attired as sadhus, took the centrestage to cast a spell with their melodious renditions of compositions by Lallan Faqir, the most revered wondering saint of Kushtiar District in Bangladesh. Born 235 years ago with a humanistic vision, he travelled throughout his life, propagating the philosophy of humanity. The group, led by Amir-ul-Islam, regaled the audience with melodius songs rendered by vocalist Safi Mondal, Sadan Khepa, Habbib-ur-Rehman and Sanchita Pal. The group presented Sufi songs starting 'Illehai alomin', elucidating that the 'Allah' is great. Chandergaitha was another soul searching experience captured in the song. They doled out more Sufiana numbers devoted to the God. Both Safimondal and Sanchita Pal enraptured the audience. Earlier talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Salah Ibn Elbadia said that Sufiism, which came to Sudan during the 15th century, was a quest for truth, love, beauty and spiritual purity through direct intimate experience of God. Indian singers like Mohamad Rafi, Lata and Asha Mangeshkar are the heart throbs of music lovers in Sudan. Due to geographical situation, our country is deeply influenced by African, Afro-Arab music, while the Indian films and music are a great hit there, he said.
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Vegetarian food good for heart: expert
Human beings getting smarter and technically savvy with the introduction of hi-tech equipment and technology in everyday life. Efficient means of communication and easy and faster availability of goods have their own ill side effects. In the backdrop that the business and executive class is one of the more affected stratum of heart patients, the Ludhiana Management Association (LMA) organised a talk on having a ‘smart heart’ by inviting a famous cardiac surgeon, Dr H.S. Bedi.
Mr V.K. Goyal, general secretary of the association, set the tone of the talk by stating that almost 50 million Indians were suffering from heart ailments which was roughly 5 per cent of the country’s population and the number was likely to double in five to seven years. Dr Bedi told the audience that the disease had assumed alarming proportions especially in the younger age group and every four minutes a person was dying in India due to this. He gave an interesting presentation on the subject with graphics and data. He said more and more younger people were coming for heart treatment to centers all over the world and this was due to a changing lifestyle and stress generated due to this. Dr Bedi asked people to make changes in their lifestyles to prevent the occurrence of the disease. He said with advancements in the means of communication and transportation, human beings had become very sedentary and did not have to exert much. This resulted in accumulation of fat in the arteries. To make matters worse, people were getting addicted to all kinds of junk food which was making teenagers obese and prone to heart diseases a young age. To fight this menace to human life, Dr Bedi reiterated the importance of balanced diet and physical exercise. He stressed the fact that to have a healthy heart, one should prefer vegetarian food with minimal oils as vegetarian food was best suited to the human anatomy. According to him, one must burn the extra calories which one may consume while indulging. He advised that in the present competitive era, it was not possible to avoid stress unless one became a saint or a hermit. Therefore, one should learn to cope with stress by controlling it. A positive attitude, good family values, a peaceful and an unhurried lifestyle combined with regular exercise were the factors by which one could prevent the menace. He asked people to cultivate a hobby and make friends, as these were great stress-busters. Meditation and travelling relieved one’s mind of stress. He said drinking and smoking, coupled with their factors explained, were the major causes of deaths due to heart ailments. He answered queries from many members of the LMA and stressed that regular check-ups were necessary after the age of 40.
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