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Emphasis laid on school safety
Mohali, July 16 July 16 has been declared as National School Safety Day as on this day two years ago a major fire accident had occurred in a school in Tamil Nadu that had led to the death of many students. The lectures were held at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Phase 3B1 here. The Principal, Ms Baswinder Kaur, welcomed the delegates. Mr S.K.Suri, Chairman, Institute of EHS Studies, discussed the means to avoid accidents on the school premises. He said major cause of fire accidents was unsafe usage of electricity like loose connections, overloading etc. He said if a raging fire was kept confined to a particular area for some period, it would be easy for the Fire Department to control it. He also emphasised on installing adequate fire-fighting equipment. The other type of accidents which were discussed in detail included road accidents caused by students and school transport i.e. buses, vans, autos and rickshaws. He said students and all these operators must be well trained on road safety. He also discussed the causes and remedial actions of laboratory accidents, falls and electric shocks. Teachers were explained about the safety procedures to be followed during an earthquake. Literature on the topic was also distributed. He further suggested that every school should train teachers and students on giving first aid. Mr D.S Dhaliwal, DEO (Elementary) and Mr. B.S.Sidhu, DEO (Secondary) also spoke. To pay tribute to those children who were killed in accidents in schools , a two-minute silence was observed.
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Mask making contest held
Mohali, July 16 For the dictionary quiz, four teams – Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Pluto - comprising students from classes VI to X participated. In the dictionary quiz, various rounds based on spell-bee, synonyms, phonetics and cross-word were played. The students enriched their vocabulary. Sabiha Asmat of Class V and Tarandeep Singh of Class III got the first and the second positions, respectively, in the mask making competition. Teams Pluto and Jupiter bagged first and second places in the quiz, respectively. At the end of the event all winners were awarded by the Principal, Mrs Kiran Bhandari. She encouraged the students to use and carry a dictionary.
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Rumours about next VC resented
Chandigarh, July 16 Prof Manjit Singh, Mr Rabinder K. Sharma, Mr Akshaya Kumar and Mr G.S. Brar, in a press note, have demanded that the Chancellor put all rumours to rest at the earliest. The manner in which various names of aspirants are being floated sends the message that the post of Vice-Chancellor is up for grabs, they have written. A section of the campus community feels that the selection of the Vice-Chancellor has been thrown open to unnecessary speculation, according to them. The private sector has taken away a lot of good teachers by giving them huge pay packets, they have added. If the university head is selected on a basis other than merit, its brand value will go down, they have claimed.
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Polio patient clears PMET
Mohali, July 16 A resident of Phase VII here, Hitesh has also topped in category 17 of the test, reserved for handicapped students. Polio-struck since three months of age, Hitesh has never allowed problems to come in the way of his studies. “Hitesh had topped Mohali in the Class XII CBSE examination and had been one of the best students of the school”, points out Ms Amrit, a teacher at the school. Determined to achieve his parents’ dreams, Hitesh has decided to become a doctor. “I want to get into cardiology and nothing can stop me now”, says Hitesh. He is planning to join the Government Medical College and Hospital at Patiala. Always in high spirits, Hitesh’s parents are his biggest support systems. His father Hanuman Prasad, an accounts officer in the Swaraj Combine, and mother, a housewife, have been constantly encouraging him. “Our family is closely knit and no one thinks of the problem Hitesh has”, she says. “My love for my parents has inspired me to fulfil their dream”, says Hitesh. He had toiled for between 10 and 12 hours each day preparing for the test.
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Orientation programme for B.Tech batch
Mohali, July 16 As many as 135 working diploma holders from 66 organisations in the north-west region, with experience ranging from two to 25 years, have enrolled in the second Batch of this distance learning programme. Addressing the participants, Dr M.S. Grewal, Registrar, Punjab Technical University, said tremendous response for this innovative programme was vindication of the dream of dedicating the university’s first School of Excellence to the field of TQM and entrepreneurship. With world-class quality and global competitiveness becoming increasingly critical for Indian industry and business, this was the best time to launch the programme, said Mr Chandra Mohan, chairman of the governing council of the school. The school, which aims to raise global competitiveness of Indian business through TQM has been successful in spreading TQM culture in the North-west region, within two years of inception, he added. CEO of the school, Manish Trehan in the welcome address called upon the participants to make quality a life-long habit as they begin a journey of transformation through this innovative programme, developed by the best of practicing managers and experts, which aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice. He highlighted the wholesome combination of TQM, industrial engineering and general management in the curriculum of this innovative programme, which multiplies its utility and gives it a universal appeal. This is reflected in the registration of more than 100 students in each of the first two batches from diverse industries, different functional areas and various levels of responsibility, he added.
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Repair work in govt schools begins
Panchkula, July 16 Disclosing this, Mr Brijendra Singh, Deputy Commissioner, informed that the repair work at 16 schools in Barwala division, 16 schools in Raipur Rani division, 19 schools in Pinjore division and 22 schools in Morni division has been going on at a fast pace. He said a sum of Rs 44.50 lakh has been incurred during June on the repair work. To provide high quality education to the youth an ambitious programme — EDUSAT — would shortly be introduced. Under the programme, all 60 government colleges would be connected through a satellite so that the experts could teach the students intricacies of tough subjects. A studio would also be set up in Panchkula for this purpose, he disclosed. The government has also decided to launch Soft Skills Training Programme in which the communication skills of children would be improved besides imparting them education on information technology. In the first phase of the programme 80 schools of eight districts falling under the national capital region and Panchkula, Ambala Cantt, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Government Womens’ College, Rohtak, would be covered. Information technology would be promoted in educational institutions here so that the children can excel in this era of intense competition. Emphasis has also been laid on modifying the syllabi of the technical education to meet the specific needs of the industrial sector, the DC claimed. Mr Brijendra said the government had initiated new syllabi in the schools and the colleges matching with the needs of the newly coming up industries. It was for the first time that budget of education has been enhanced 50 per cent to bring qualitative reforms. The government has also planned to set up Rajiv Gandhi Education City, on the pattern of Oxford University, in which 25 seats would be reserved for the youth of Haryana. To bring quality in the educational system, one teacher would impart education to 40 students. Earlier the teacher-student ratio was 1: 60. A model senior secondary school would be opened in each district. The educational qualification of JBT teachers has been enhanced from 10+2 to BA, B.Sc. He said to stimulate educational interest in the youth, the state government had started a new scheme — Rajiv Gandhi Scholarship — under which 50,000 meritorious students would be awarded. The aim of this unique scheme was to increase the rate of admissions, to attract the talented students to government schools and to prevent girl students dropout and to encourage them to continue their studies and become self-dependent, he disclosed. Under the scheme, an annual scholarship would be given to the boy and girl securing first position in the class. The students of primary and middle classes would be given annual scholarship of Rs 750 while students of high and higher secondary levels would get Rs 1000. He said girl students of rural areas securing first, second and third positions in the matric examinations of Haryana School Education Board would be awarded with an amount of Rs 2000, Rs 1500 and Rs 1000, respectively.
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CAT’s directive for MES promotions
Chandigarh, July 16 Moving their application before the tribunal, the employees stated they had joined the MES as Superintendent ( E/M) Grade II. At the time of joining they were diploma holders. About 70 employees of MES had been made respondents. The applicants were granted time-bound higher pay scale which was being paid to Junior Engineers in CPWD. However, they were not promoted as the department maintained that the promotions would be subject to availability of regular vacancies in the grade of Assistant Engineer. Then the provisions for promotion from grade II to grade I were eliminated by the department but ex-servicemen were recruited to fill the seats. The department issued an all-India seniority list of JEs (E/M) in which names of the respondents did not appear. However, in the seniority list of the JE (E/M) for the year 2004-05, the name of the respondents appeared above their names. Following the release of the seniority list, the employees moved the tribunal seeking promotion to grade I. After hearing the arguments of both sides, the tribunal comprising Mr L.M. Goyal, Vice-Chairman, and Mr Jasbir S. Dhaliwal, member (Judicial), observed that the applicants had a valid grievance that from 1995-96 no person from the category of Superintendent grade II had been either considered or promoted to grade I. This had resulted in double loss to the applicants.
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NK Jain case: more witnesses turn hostile
Chandigarh, July 16 After the CBI Special Judge framed charges against the former Home Secretary in the second week of January last, the case is at the stage of trial. Yesterday, another witness, Mr Harpal Singh, serving as a junior assistant in the Home Department, also retracted from his pervious statement. Harpal had earlier stated that Baljit, an SDO in Engineering Department, had offered Rs 4 lakh bribe to Mr K.B. Goel for his appointment and he had gone to the house of Dr Ramesh Garg. But yesterday Harpal retracted from his earlier statement recorded by the CBI. Earlier, Gurmail Singh and Surjit Singh, both witnesses had turned hostile. The CBI had registered a case under Prevention of Corruption Act against Mr Jain. One of the key witnesses, Baljeet Singh, a former assistant secretary in the State Transport Authority (STA), has retracted from his earlier statement. Two drivers of the CTU, Mr Amarjit Singh and Mr Balbir Singh, also denied having paid money. Another witness, Mr Karam Singh, has also retracted from his earlier statements. Sources said denial by the persons would mean dropping of four charges against the former Home Secretary. It may be mentioned here that the special cell of the Central Bureau of Investigation had registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against him on the basis of a confessional statement made by the UT Office Superintendent K.B. Goel before a former Sub divisional Magistrate, Mr Ashish Kundra.
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Practising theatre for passion
Chandigarh, July 16 At the National School of Drama, he was not taught the skill of packaging his art. But he has picked it up along the way lest his survival as an activist of theatre suffers. In Chandigarh today with one of his experimental productions - "Naat Ghar" - Mishra did not hesitate in admitting, "I practice theatre for passion; I do films for a living. We have yet not reached a stage where actors can live off theatre. We need to market our talents if we want theatre to sell." Coming from a rooted practitioner of theatre, the statement attains a larger significance. To an extent, it bares the rot in the system which treats theatre casually, as "one of those genres that are there". Mishra and his wife Sagarika who is partnering him on the road to passion say, "It is high time we received money for
our productions. The NSD can give you the craft; it can't give you the recipe for turning craft into a culinary delight with a potential of tempting taste buds. Commerce and its dynamics is something you have to learn yourself, and we are trying to learn bit by bit." Pressure of survival apart, Vivek and Sagarika have long been associated with purposeful theatrical projects. Vivek has enriched the NSD repertory tremendously, both with his acting talent and his translation skills. He has translated 15 classics, including Ibson's "Doll House" and many others like "Waiting for Godo", "He who gets Slapped"
and "Three Sisters". An uncommon passion, translation requires utmost finesse but Mishra adds, "My translations are not academic. They are theatrical and suit the demands of performance space. Recently I treated the subject of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and I realised the novel cannot possible be translated word for word. So I retained English words and juxtaposed them
with Hindi ones to create a functional script that can communicate with the audience. The play was very well taken. Thinking back, it was quite a challenge because the subject was too alien to be treated in Hindi." Born into a family of Dr Ram Das Mishra, a celebrated Hindi writer and poet, Vivek has a special affection for Hindi. In the process of writing his first novel based on the life of a tailor who stitches flags, Mishra also plans to adapt his father's novels for theatre some day. Right now, however, "Naat Ghar" is topmost on his priority, as it is on Sagarika's. For his part, Vivek has other things to look forward to, including Amrit Sagar's latest film "1971" based on the Prisoners of Indo-Pak war, and another 45 day-long workshop with Pakistani actors in November. |
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French artistes present
music concert
Chandigarh, July 16 Armed with an exhaustive study both the musicologist performers who had already participated in major festivals of music in Spain, France, Italy, Ireland and other countries were in sync with each other and in rapport with the audience. The programme got off to a brilliant start with Telemann’s ‘Sonate en si mineur” followed by Mazart’s “The magic flute”. The rhythm and the energy of the theme, and the gradual development of the movement was brought out elegantly by both the artistes. The concert moved on to a rare treat of the brilliance of G. Rossini’s composition. The piece titled “The Barber of Seville” received thunderous applause from the listeners. The programme concluded with Mozart’s “the Figaro’s wedding”. Noted Indian flute maestro, G.S. Rajan, conducted the soiree |
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“No language can grow in isolation”
Chandigarh, July 16 Prof Rais stressed the inter-dependence of languages and said no language could grow and evolve in an atmosphere of isolation. He referred to historical and religious texts which had borrowed phrases and expressions from other existing languages, and said the time had come to realize that languages alter under the influence of social, political and economic factors. “They don’t change naturally, as some people contend,” said the famed author of about 60 Urdu books. Sharing his experience of Central Asian countries where English is being taught at a mass level, Prof Rais said English had established itself as the language of the global world. “Hindi can also grow but it will take a lot of time and a lot of conscious effort on our part,” he said, while stating that religion should be separated from languages for the latter to flourish. Dr Naresh, Chairman of Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, for his part, thanked the visiting experts who had shed light on the importance of languages and their convergence. He said the point had been made and it was upon people in general to take the debate farther. Earlier, Mr Radhe Shyam Sharma, Director, Haryana Sahitya Akademi, highlighted the position of Hindi in India and abroad. Dr Mira Gautam, Dean, Languages, Kurukshetra University stressed the need for better understanding between the communities speaking different languages. Dr S.S. Bhatti, former principal, Chandigarh College of Architecture traced the age-long relationship between Urdu and Punjabi, while Dr R.L Singhal, a former Principal projected Urdu’s past and present and stressed the need for its protection. |
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