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Debate on youth’s vulnerability to AIDS
Chandigarh, September 22 The function began with “jyoti prajwalan” followed by Saraswati vandana by students of Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36. Mr Sampson David, Under Secretary, Association of Indian Universities (AIU), spoke about the holistic approach to education which was needed to combat the disease. He stressed that the disease was spreading at a fast rate. He spoke about various programmes undertaken by the AIU in association with NACO in this regard. Prof K.N. Pathak spoke about the potential of the youth. He stressed on the dissemination of knowledge to all, including those residing in remote areas. A Press journal was also released. Dr Jagjit Kaur, Deputy Director, State AIDS Control Society, said the youth was more vulnerable to the disease. The culture of silence and lack of correct information were responsible for it. Seminar: India and Iran have historically had a special relation in the field of education. In this context a symposium on the “Education system in India and Iran — It’s prospects” was organised by Iranian students of Panjab University and the Union of Iranian Students Islamic Associations here. It was held in collaboration with the Dean of Foreign Students, Panjab University, and sponsored by the Director of Science and Education Section of Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, New Delhi. Dr Mohammed Kafi the Director of Science and Education Section of the Embassy was the chief guest and the Dean of Foreign Students was also among those present. The main purpose of the symposium was to bring to light the education system in Iran and to emphasise the importance of educational interaction between India and Iran. Prof V.K. Bansal, DUI, spoke about the gas pipeline and the importance of the project for both countries. Dr Kafi compared the Indian and Iranian education system in his address and emphasised that India was number one in Asia for Iranian students, who were above 5,000 in India. He also mentioned the advantages of studying in India for Iranian students such as cost efficiency, short distance between the two countries, cultural similarities and credibility of Indian universities in the world and few disadvantage such as lack of facilities and bureaucratic barriers. Prof Jatinder Mohan said women were very active in the Iranian society. There were legalised protection and specific laws to take care of women rights. Reza Yavarian, a research scholar from Iran, provided an overview of the education system in Iran from its historical origins to its present structure. He also spoke about the history of the educational interaction between India and Iran. Prof Shashi Sharma, Dean Foreign Students, PU, said although the number of foreign students had reduced, the number of Iranian research scholars had doubled since 1997 and at present 24 research scholars from Iran were at the university. Mr Majid Reza Momeni, representative of the Science and Education Section of Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Chandigarh and a research scholar, summed up the deliberations by emphasising the need for more cooperation and interaction between India and Iran to help pave way for stability and peace in the region.
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Mixed response to proposed MBBS curriculum
Chandigarh, September 22 The management and faculty of Shri Dhanwantry Ayurvedic College and Dabur Dhanwantry Hospital, Chandigarh have welcomed the proposal. The Medical Advisor of the hospital, Dr J.L.N. Shastry said their institute was ready to offer its services for this long awaited integration. Principal of the college, Dr S.K. Thakur, also stressed on the integration of both modern medicine and traditional systems for the benefit of the masses. Dr Y.N. Sharma, a senior faculty member and Dean, Students Welfare, said the new syllabus would help in
providing effective and economical treatment to the needy and also because certain chronic ailments were better cured through Ayurveda. However, Dr Madan Gulati, Deputy Director Ayurveda, Chandigarh, feels that this kind of an initiative would only add to the decreasing popularity of classical Ayurveda and would only promote patented Ayurvedic medicines. According to Dr Rajan Chugh, vice president, Indian Medical Association, Chandigarh, although the proposal sounds promising as Ayurveda succeeds over other modern treatment in a lot of ways but its incorporation into the MBBS syllabus has to be very selective as the students are already burdened with the existing syllabus. He added that the committee should also consider the right percentage of traditional medicine system in the curriculum.
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Series of road shows held
Chandigarh, September 22 The road show was designed to be a reliable source of information for students aspiring to study in the UK and would provide students easy and authentic answers. The road show addressed important questions like “Why study in the UK? prospects for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, scholarships and online prospects for the MBA which are popular queries amongst prospective students”. Ms Ruchika Castelino, Head, Education UK India said: “This is an opportunity to find authentic and the latest information about studying in the UK virtually at your doorstep. At each venue students are informed about various benefits and the ‘how, when and where’ of studying in the UK” At DAV Public School, Sector 8, senior students were given information about “Study U.K.”, a programme brought to the students by the British Council for those aspiring to study in the U.K, here today. The accompanying delegates, Ms Ruchika, Head, Education U.K. (North India), Ms Ritika Kochhar, Manager, Public Diplomacy Initiative, British High Commission, New Delhi, and Mr. Sushant Banerjee, Manager British Library, were accorded a warm welcome by the students. Later, the students were exposed to various educational aspects and institutions of the U.K. through some games like jigsaw puzzles, memory games, sequencing. Through this activity, the queries like why study in the U.K., prospects for undergraduates and post graduate programmes , scholarships were satiated . During their interaction they shared that Education in U.K. was internationally recognised for its high quality standards. While thanking the delegates and the British Council, the Principal of the school, Ms. Sarita Manuja, said: “International courses of the study have become order of the day for the student community. The British Council’s endeavor to confront students with various possibilities of study in the U.K. is a tremendous effort and bringing such endeavor at the gate of school is a lot of support to school systems.” Similarly, the road show also went to St Kabir’s, St Stephen’s, Hansraj School, Vivek High, DAV College among other places all through the day.
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New Zealand woos Indian students
Chandigarh, September 22 He said New Zealand was a low-cost economy which made education relatively cheap in his country. “We have not marketed our country so far. We are here because we realise India has a lot of potential. Of a total of 85,000 students, we have only 5,000 Indians studying in our colleges. The idea is to increase their number by at least 25 per cent this year,” Mr Vaughan said. He said the easing of immigration laws would only facilitate intake of more students. “We were primarily getting our students from China. Now, there are students coming in from the UK, Canada and the US. The low fee and quality education is a big attraction for them,” he maintained. Also, New Zealand has relaxed the condition of levying international fee from PhD scholars. “There are immense job opportunities and as far as immigration is concerned, we regard students as the ideal choice. Other fields greatly in demand are engineering and IT,” Mr Vaughan maintained. An education fair to admit students to various courses being offered by educational institutions of New Zealand and guiding them about admission procedures was also held at the hotel.
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Board officials join stir by non-teaching staff
Mohali, September 22 Officials of the rank of Deputy Directors, Deputy Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, apart from the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Librarian and others, sat on a dharna along with the employees who had been protesting against the amendments carried out by the government in the Act of the board. Mr Amarinder Singh Kang, Joint Secretary, said the Punjab Government had taken the lead by taking away the right of printing books from the board. Throughout the country the work of getting books printed was done by boards and corporations. He said through a package from the Stationery Department, the government had given the work of getting the books printed to the board along with 500 employees. Major Charanjit Mellu, president of the officers’
association of the board, said most of the officials felt that the amendments carried out in the Act were uncalled for. He said the board had taken no financial help from the government. From its own
recourses it was able to acquire property worth about Rs 100 crore, apart from imparting cheap education to the students in the state. Addressing a rally, Mr Gurdeep Singh Dhillon and Mr Bhagwant Singh Bedi, president and general secretary, respectively, of the association, said the agitation would go on till the government cancelled the amendments. If the government kept sticking to its rigid stand, the employees would be boycotting the examinations to be conducted by the board in March 2006. They would also go to the constituencies of the Chief Minister and Education Minister to expose the government. Mr Sukhdev Singh Libra, MP, came to the board today in support of the protesting employees. He said he would oppose the amendments.
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Vivek students to attend Round Square Conference
Chandigarh, September 22 The students of class VIII are Aaarushi Ahluwalia, Aslesha Dhillon, Deepika Nadha, Japreet Kaur and Yasneen Chahal. They are to be accompanied by teacher Ms. Mala Bedi.
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High court Our High Court Correspondent
Chandigarh, September 22 As for the remaining 31, their identity as Pakistan citizens is still to be established and efforts are on in this regard, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Mr Justice D.K. Jain was informed today. The Bench was hearing a PIL filed by the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) through its president, Mr Ujjal Singh Sahni, seeking directions to the Union Government and the Punjab Government to release 50-odd Pakistani prisoners languishing in Central Jail, Amritsar. The petitioner had also sought directions to the Punjab Government to submit a status report about the prisoners’ detention in prison. This includes the date on which these persons were taken into custody, the offences they were charged with and the sentence imposed upon them. Saying that even foreigners were entitled to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, the petitioner had also submitted media reports in support of his contentions. Most of these prisoners, he had pointed out, were not involved in any serious offences but had only strayed into Indian territory. Also, they had already served their sentence period. Today, the Punjab Government also submitted a report in this connection, following which the Bench disposed of the writ.
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Attack on ex-SSP: charges to be framed
on Sept 29
Chandigarh, September 22 Bhullar, who has been exempted from personal appearance, is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, New Delhi. He has been awarded death penalty by the Supreme Court in a case related to an attack on former Indian Youth Congress chief M.S. Bitta. Bhullar had alleged here on January 18 that the Delhi police had forced him to own responsibility for the attack on Mr Bitta outside the IYC office in New Delhi on September 11,1993. The confession was later used to build a “fabricated” case against him in a TADA court, Bhullar had alleged.
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City set to have special CBI court
Chandigarh, September 22 The Punjab and Haryana High Court had approved the setting up of the court and a special CBI Judge would be appointed soon following a notification by the Chandigarh Administration, according to sources. Meanwhile, lobbying has intensified among the judicial officials of Punjab and Haryana for the coveted post. A number of politicians and bureaucrats of both states, besides the Union Territory of Chandigarh, are facing trial in the local courts on account of alleged financial irregularities. The need for setting up the special court had been felt in view of the pendency of the high-profile cases in the local
courts. Currently, the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr M.M. Sharma, also holds the charge of the Special CBI Judge. Apart from handling routine cases, registered by the CBI against politicians and bureaucrats, Mr Sharma is also holding day-to-day hearings in the high-profile Beant Singh assassination case. At present several high-profile persons, including Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Punjab bureaucrats Bikramjit Singh and B.R. Bajaj, former UT Chief Engineer K.K. Jerath, and suspended judges R.M. Gupta and S.S. Bhardwaj are facing trial in the local courts.
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Judicial custody for 4 in rape case
Mohali, September 22 The four accused, Surinder Mohan, a property dealer from Nayagaon, Satpal Singh, a resident of Kansal, Ram Singh, resident of Mullanpur Garibdass and Rajwinder Singh, resident of Dehlon, Ludhiana, were arrested on September 19 for allegedly conspiring
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New Release Actor Romesh Sharma makes a comeback to production and direction with “Dil Jo Bhi Kahe” after hibernating for more than a decade. Produced by Entertainment One in association with Romesh Films, it is the first Indian film that has been shot in Sweden at expensive shooting locations like Royal Palace, Stockholm and the City Hall. It will be released today at Kiran, Chandigarh and Fun Republic, Manimajra. Another star son Karan Sharma (Romesh Sharma’s son) makes his debut in Bollywood. He is paired opposite British actress Anabelle Wallace and Bhumika Chawla. Touted as a feel-good romantic love story, the film stars Amitabh Bachchan in an interesting role of a Mauritian of Indian origin. Revathy plays Karan’s mother’s role. Malcolm Stoddard and Claire Oberman are in supporting roles. The film has some Swedish actors and technicians supplementing the cast and crew. Trade pundits predict it is a perfect love story. Shimit Amin (director of “Ab Tak Chhappan”) has edited Manmohan Shetty’s Entertainment One project. Shankar-Ehsaan - Loy, the musical trio has come up with peppy and pulsating music. Javed Akhtar has penned the lyrics. Annabelle Wallace has big footage and viewers expect a good chemistry with Karan Sharma. — D.P.
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Shiv Singh’s ‘Tantra’
Sublime with a harmonious luminosity depicted in myriad colours; each work signifying the beginning of the cosmic universe, that single point of creation, which then explodes with life both inward and outward, is what marks sculptor and painter Shiv Singh’s latest water-colour painting exhibition — ‘The Art of Tantra’.
The inspiration behind the exhibition is Shiv Singh’s earlier dabbled with the concept of “the Bindu — the beginning of life which goes on and on and then vanishes. “It is the experience you have in-between is what my paintings are all about. It is all about the experience you carry, you live through.” The Bindu, as the starting point of all creation, that comes with the union of the male and female forces of the universe is the focal point of this exhibition. The circular paintings, start from that single point moving outward in a burst of life whose stages are depicted through brilliant colours. The shapes below hold the life within the circle signifying the yoni or the shakti, giving it protection forming a powerful symbol of creation. The paintings depicting the lingam or Shiva, in conjunction with shakti or the female spirit are bold and defined yet there is a continuity and fluidity about the paintings conforming to this union between man and woman forming the basis for the beginning of life form. Lingam and yoni in the worshipping format, the sun reflected off water as a symbol of life, the evolution and stages of life depicted through multitude colours and patterns are all works depicting life as this painter sees it. “It is all about balancing and playing with space. The visual impact is not complete if the balance is not there, even the empty spaces signify the process of life,” says Shiv Singh explaining his works. The patterns are “a system of rhythm and life and the distance travelled between the various colours which are not static but flexible like life is,” each rich colour signifying a meaning in the painting. Playing with colours and mixing them directly on the paper, the process is a happy one for him. “I finish a painting in 45 minutes because for me there are no second thoughts.” Instinct is the basis of his work as he derives his creativity from his own experiences. There are no boundaries in my paintings for there is life inward and outwards and that is what is depicted here.” Literature and books hold no meaning for this accomplished artist, “because I have lived and felt and experienced tantra”. It is these visual and physical textures that play upon his senses and “communicate” to him that find their way into these structured yet free-flowing works of art. 24 works of art spanning two or three years of work are on display till September 23 at the Exhibition Hall, Government Museum and Art Gallery after which it will be exhibited in Germany.
TNS
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“Jungle fun” at St Joseph’s
The tiny tots of the kindergarten block of the St. Joseph’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, presented an educative and entertaining show which highlighted the “animal kingdom” in its myriad forms here on Thursday.
Frolic and excitement marked the occasion and the students brought alive classroom teaching on stage. The students were dressed in colourful costumes and represented different animals like lion, elephants, leopards, foxes, horses, donkeys, cows etc. More importantly, they enjoyed themselves on stage as they pranced along. The young artists enacted out the habits and traits of various animals skillfully. Their evolution on the planet earth was brilliantly displayed. Nearly 175 students in the age group of four-and-a-half to five years participated in the show. The show ended with an important and relevant social message stressing on the importance of saving endangered species and showing compassion to Also, the show emphasised the need to respect all forms of life on the planet which is integral to the very survival of the human species. The students won the appreciation of the audience and the enlightening show was indeed a huge success. The Director of the Junior Wing, Ms Simar Grewal, said that such activities helped in building the child’s self-confidence, learn dramatic skills and having a positive impact on young minds.
TNS
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Play breaks “jinx” for Anant Mahadevan
For this man, who “forgot to get married” in his passion for the arts, the most difficult part of doing the play “Mujhe Rang De” was “actually doing this play”! After 25 years in theatre, this production marked actor, film director and writer Anant Mahadevan’s directorial debut for the stage and the breaking of a “jinx” for he comes back to theatre after a gap of four years, “too long for someone who wants to be in theatre for all one’s life.”
The play, staged yesterday at Tagore Theatre, met with “an overwhelming response” which caught actors by surprise. The script, an original, penned by Sanjay Shah, Anant Mahadevan and Ayesha Jhulka had, astonishingly, no sexual innuendos, double entendres and no over the top gestures except for Mahadevan’s character, which he disarmingly admits was to “fill the gaps because of the peals of laughter streaming in from the audience. Certainly not intentional!” Getting the production on board and working on a new script, especially in Hindi,” was a challenge. “Last month has been so hectic that short of collapsing I have done everything else!” He did not want to direct. He wanted to “enjoy his acting”. However, Ayesha Jhulka had other plans for him and cajoled him into this venture as the captain! “Actors are like limbs and the director the brain. If you want to control the body or several bodies you direct. It is like being a general and saying ‘fire’ or then being the soldier and firing.” His “sorties” into different mediums is not restricted to theatre alone. He has also directed a movie, which falls into the genre of alternative cinema, “for limited multiplex release and film festivals” which is a “black comedy, offbeat in its storyline and treatment.” “Staying Alive”, a story (conceived by Mahadevan) of a journalist who has had his third heart attack finds his bed in hospital next to an underworld don who has had his first attack and is petrified of dying. The film, very close to Mahadevan’s heart, “uplifts your spirit and shows you how lucky you are to be alive.” Gentle, articulate, interesting, funny and warm in his interactions, Mahadevan’s intensity for this craft comes through with elan. A veteran actor whose film, theatre and television career has spanned several decades, His foray into film direction has also met with a positive response. Commercial potboilers like “Dil Vil Pyar Vyar”, “Dil Maange More” and the yet unreleased “Aksar” starring Emraan Hashmi and Udita Goswami is just the beginning of the road. With the film also debuting his “direction” of an on-screen kiss between the two lead actors, Mahadevan is certain that at the end of it all he wants to be remembered for his meaningful contribution to the arts. “I do not want to pander to popular tastes and want to retain a certain sensibility making films as realistic as possible.” But sometimes you have to swim with sharks, he insists with a wide grin and feels lucky “to have not lost a limb as yet!”
TNS
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