Chandigarh, September 28
Computer-aided learning in government schools is all set to spread its wings and fly. From being functional in a few schools under various schemes, it will now take all 112 government schools in its fold, courtesy the computer-aided learning project of the UT Education Department.

A brainchild of the UT Administrator and Punjab Governor, Gen S.F. Rodrigues, the programme will kick off from Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 33, shortly.

It will be extended to 15 senior secondary and 10 other schools, provided with computers, within the next month.

Schools that have no infrastructure will be covered gradually and all schools will be covered by the end of the year.

The programme has been designed for students from Class I to Class XII.

This ambitious programme, at no additional cost to students, is aimed at taking computer education beyond just a simple working knowledge of computers to making it more relevant to the needs of the market.

e-learning will give a complete makeover to the way computer-aided teaching is carried out in these schools.

By far the most exhaustive of computer programmes to be implemented in government schools, it also heralds the beginning of interactive teaching of all important topics through CDs provided by the Azim Premji Foundation.

“We watched a number of CDs before signing a pact with the foundation on material available in markets. We realised that most firms had put together text and pictures available in books with or without sound. A discussion with teachers only proved that after the first or second lesson, students lost interest in computer-aided teaching. Also, these CDs were reducing the creativity of teachers,” says DPI (Schools) D.S. Mangat.

The CDs from the foundation, in Hindi and English, are interactive and involve students in the learning process.

The foundation has already provided CDs on 45 “problem chapters” of Class I to VIII free of cost to the department.

While the UT Education Department works overtime to initiate it in as many schools as possible where infrastructure and computers are available, it has approached the Government of India to provide requisite infrastructure in other schools where computer education is yet to be initiated. Training of teachers for this project is already under way.

The UT Education Department is providing computer-aided education to model school students through Compucom, which will complete its contractual term. Under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and the state plan, schools in rural areas and colonies are being trained only to operate computers.

Chandigarh, September 28
No acrimonious scene, no walkouts — it was a Parliament session sans the usual ruckus and pandemonium usually associated with the House. “Leaders” deliberated issues of national interest in all seriousness, not taking the liberty of speaking out of turn and maintaining the dignity of the Chair all through the session.

All this happened here during the 18th Regional Youth Parliament that began at Lecma Hall, 3 BRD, here today. Let alone threatening the Members of Parliament, the Speaker didn’t even have to shout at the members during the three sessions held during the day.

Discipline was the hallmark of the sessions and none of the MPs came to the well of the House to emphasise their points.

While the Union Government still deliberates on 33 per cent reservation of seats for women in Parliament, this House gave ample representation, over 33 per cent, to the fairer sex.

Issues like the Gurgaon episode, National Curriculum Framework, increasing incidents of crime in the state, granting of property rights to women and women empowerment rocked the House in the three sessions.

Three of the five participating Kendriya Vidyalayas held a session yesterday while the remaining two schools held their sessions today after which the team of the host school, Kendriya Vidyalaya-31, was chosen to represent the region at zone level next month.

While KV-Shimla came second, the team from KV-Patiala was declared third.

The programme began with a welcome speech by the Principal of the host school, Dr S.P. Shergill. She expressed hope that the future parliamentarians from the participants would help India realise the dream of an ideal Parliament where business was carried out without interruptions.

Each team comprised 55 members who formed the Treasury and the Opposition Benches besides members of the press.

The chief guest, Mr Bhagwan Singh, former Additional Secretary, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, handed over prizes to best individual speakers.

The Education Officer of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Mr J.P. Gupta, was the guest of honour.

The Vice-Principal, Ms Sandhya Sharma, presented the vote of thanks.

Chandigarh, September 28
Chitkara Vanguardians, a partly funded initiative from the pocket money of students of Chitkara Institute, today announced its plans to hold “Telephonic Talk Show” with successful people from different walks of life.

The students have lined up a number of people for the series. “We intend to hold a ‘Telephonic Talk Show’ every 10 days or so,” says Talwinder.

The first show is being held tomorrow at 12 noon on the Chitkara campus near Rajpura. The “Telephonic Talk Show” will see two eminent personalities — Kiran Deohans and Aban Deohans.

Kiran Deohans is the director of photography of “Aks”, “Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam” and “Qyamat Se Qyamat Tak” and has made over 600 TV commercials.

Aban is from the advertising industry and is a theatre professional. Both have humble beginnings and have made it big in their respective fields.

The next show will be held on October 7 with Rajesh Jain, the IT whiz-kid, who sold his India World portal for Rs 500 crore to SIFY and started the Internet boom.

“Our original plan was to invite such eminent people here,” adds Suchita Thakur, another student, “and have a face-to-face interactions with them. Meeting and talking with a humble painter from Ludhiana, Ravinder Ravi, who reached such heights in ‘Indian Idol’ was a great experience.”

“While we will continue getting such people to Chandigarh once every fortnight, we also realise that there are time constraints for such busy, successful people. Also, we want that the funding for such activities should largely come from students and getting people to come here regularly from other parts of India costs a lot. Hence, we thought of this innovative way of being inspired by these people — through the mobile.”

Chandigarh, September 28
The British Library, Sector 9, yesterday launched “Discover UK”, a new section in the library. The launch coincided with the World Tourism Day celebrations.

According to Sushant Banerjee, manager of the library, this is an initiative by the library and the British tourism authority to focus on the UK as a popular tourist destination this year. “This is an initiative to strengthen the collaboration between India and the UK.”

According to the officials, it is for the first time that such a corner has been set up in any of the British Libraries. “We had been receiving many enquiries about travel to the UK. This corner should help answer all such queries. The library has stocked a whole lot of material pertaining to people visiting the UK in the form of brochures, handouts, directories and compact discs. Readers can even borrow books on this topic.”

To mark the event, the library also organised fun-filled activities like quiz and games to create awareness on the UK.

Students from Chitkara Institute of Hospitality, DAV Public School, Sector 8, and Gian Jyoti Institute of Management and Technology, Mohali, participated in the event.

Chandigarh, September 28
Coming to the rescue to a couple that married against the wishes of their parents, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the Chandigarh Police to provide security to the couple.

Acting on a petition filed by 25-year-old Mukesh Kumar and his 20-year-old wife, Noor Bano, both residents of Sector 25, Chandigarh, the high court issued orders to the IGP to provide security to the couple.

In their petition, the couple mentioned that theirs was an inter-caste marriage and the parents of the bride were against it.

Mukesh alleged Munna Din, father of his wife, got infuriated over their marriage.

He was threatening Mukesh and his parents of dire consequences. He alleged they were running from pillar to post for their lives as the family of Noor Bano was after their lives. He added they had also filed a complaint with the Dehra Dun police in that regard.

It all started when Mukesh went to Dehra Dun for work. He was employed by the brother-in-law of Noor Bano, where he came in contact with her.

Soon they were in love and decided to get married. When Noor Bano expressed her wish to marry Mukesh, her father objected to it and also warned her against seeing Mukesh ever in his life.

When she failed to convince her father, the couple decided to run away. They came to Chandigarh and got married at the Divya Anand Cultural Organisation in Phase I, Industrial Area, on August 19.