The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

Imparting education to poor children
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23
The government may be working towards the 'Education for all' goal for the last few years but unless communities pitch in and individuals also do their bit in strengthening what is otherwise an extremely arduous and onerous task, the goal will remain just on paper.

The Durga Das Foundation has in its own unique way been taking steps in this direction. Along with running two of the city's most prestigious schools, it has on the side been consistently doing philanthropic work involving children from underprivileged sections of society, working with the infants of the labour community, slum dwellers and also running crèches, night schools and nurseries in the peripheral colonies of the city.

This time round, they have got together a motley collection of children in the age group of 3-7 years to undertake basic reading and writing lessons, with a lot of guided activity thrown in, interactive play and story telling on value building and conceptual learning.

The venue is the Strawberry Fields World School in Sector 26, where the second phase of construction is under way.

Resultantly, there are about 50 families which have set up house in temporary hutments allocated specially to them. The children and women, who often are seen helping with work as well are given inputs on personal hygiene.

Over the last two months daily three-hour sessions have become a much looked forward to event in the children's lives.

The children have picked up the basics fast and are on their way to applying what they have learned to their daily lives.

For little Abhay, "yeh school gaon wale school se acha hai. Yahan par teacher madam hame bahut pyar karti hain." Mr Atul Khanna, Director of the Foundation, says: "We did not embark on this initiative in a planned sort of a way. Seeing the children aimlessly wander around, we thought we should do something that would be productive and also gratifying.''

From Schools and Colleges
Blood donors honoured
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23
A blood donation camp was organised by the Government College for Girls, Sector 42, here under the aegis of the Rotary Blood Bank Society today. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Rajan Kashyap, Chief Information Commissioner, Punjab, and presided over by the college Principal, Ms Inderjit Kaur.

About 200 units of blood were collected. On the occasion Ms Hardeep Kaur, Ms Gurnider Kaur, Ms Neelam Sharma, Mr D.K. Pandey and Mr Jagan Nath from the teaching staff and Ms Shipra of B.Sc III were honoured for donating blood for more than five times. Earlier, a blood donation awareness workshop was organised by the AIDS Control Society of Chandigarh.

Adolescence education

A three-day long seminar on “Adolescence Education Programme” concluded at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, here today. The seminar attended by over 50 teachers from different schools was organised by the CBSE. Inaugurating the seminar, Mr D.R. Yadav, Regional Officer, CBSE, emphasised the need to provide a conducive environment for the all round development of students. The concluding day of the seminar was devoted to practical implementation of suggestions given during the seminar.

Teachers attend the CBSE seminar at DAV Senior Secondary School in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

Non-teaching staff protest

Members of the executive committee of the Non-teaching Employees Federation Aided Colleges today decided to intensify their agitation for the grant of appropriate remunerations for practical examinations. The federation has approached the Panjab University authorities through a number of memorandums. Recently Dr P.S. Gill, a syndic, also moved a resolution to restore parity between lab staff in practical and clerical staff but no decision has been taken.

Dharna organised

The teachers of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, here staged a dharna in front of the Principal’s office today. The teachers were protesting against the termination of services of computer science teacher, Ms Gurpreet Kaur. The dharna was staged following a meeting of the college unit of the Punjab and the Chandigarh College Teachers Union.

Paper-reading contest

The Chemistry Association of the Government College for Girls, Sector 11, organised a paper reading contest. The Principal, Dr Upinder Mehra, while giving away the prizes to winners emphasised the need for students to participate in similar events. The winners include Manisha, Vibhuti and Amneet.

The Literary and Debating Society of the Government College for Girls, Sector 11, organised a talent hunt competition for the first year students of the college. The winners include: Amrita, Kriti, Gazal, Vandana, Aman, Nisha, Vikas, Bhavneet, Khushboo, Urvashi, Swati, Gurpreet, Pooja, Vrinda Ruchika, Jaskiran, Priya, Sakhsi, Suganlata, Priyanka, Shilpa, Manjot, Amanpreet, Prabhdeep, Sharanjit, Rupinder, Priya, Nishi, Supriya, Pradeep and Nishi.

St John’s win quiz contest

The team from Saint Johns High School won the quiz competition organised by Kandhari Beverages Private limited. Over 20 schools had participated in the competition. The winners include Gursheel and Balvinder, Varun Sood and Divij Sood and Aasnchal and Deepinder.

Finalists for science seminar

The Institute of English, Sector 32, has chose the following ten finalists for the final presentation on bio diversity: Karan Kumar, Shayer Majumdar, Karanveer Kaushyal, Eshita Malik, Tarun Sharma, Shagun Singh, Shruti Rao, Tanya, Garimanegio and Lubna Soni. Today was the second and the concluding day of the preliminary selection rounds for entries to the state science seminar. The final presentation will made by these ten students on August 29.

Vande Mataram to be sung in schools, colleges on Sept 7
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23
To give a befitting finale to the year long commemoration of hundred years of adoption of ''Vande Mataram'' as the National Song which started on September 7, 2005, and will be coming to a close, the Administration has decided that the first two stanzas of the Song will be sung simultaneously in all schools, colleges and other educational institutions at 11 am on September 7 this year.

A National Committee under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister has been constituted for commemoration of events which, among others, include the centenary of adoption of ''Vande Mataram'' as the National Song.

‘Vande Mataram’ was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1876 and Ravinder Nath Tagore recited it for the first time during the Congress session in Bombay in 1896. It was during the movement against the partition of Bengal (Bang Bhang Andolan) in 1905 that ''Vande Mataram'' became the battle song in the fight against imperialism. It was adopted as the National Song at Varanasi on September 7, 1905.

Drug abusers throng PU Student Centre
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh August 23
Student Centre of Panjab University is becoming a haven for drug and substance abusers. A team of Chandigarh Tribune found that its bathrooms were being used to consume cough syrups and other drugs by students.

The dustbins outside the bathrooms were full of empties of a popular brand of a cough syrup. While this was the case outside the men’s bathroom next to the employment office, attendants working in the building added that youngsters mostly outsiders also use the bathroom outside the building for the purpose.

Mr Bhrigu Chand a peon at the Employment office, added that there was no way to check students as no one could be stopped from going to the bathroom. “Moreover how can we make out that a person using the bathroom is taking drugs there?” He said.

PU students’ body election on Sept 15
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh August 23
Elections to the Panjab University Campus Students Council and various college students unions would be held on September 15. The Chandigarh Administration today approved the proposal of Panjab University and other colleges to hold the elections.

The PU Dean Students Welfare, Prof Naval Kishore Goel, had met the UT Home Secretary this morning along with the DSW (Women), Ms Meenakshi Malhotra, following which the date was issued.

The main contest is between PUSU and SOPU. Other bodies like the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the Student Federation of India and the National Students Union of India also have their units on the campus but have never won elections independently.

Both PUSU and SOPU have announced the name of their presidential candidates. Rupinder Mann of PUSU would be fighting for the post of president of the council against Dalveer Singh Khangura of SOPU.

Stating that they would release the party’s manifesto in the coming days, PUSU president Rupinder Mann said they intended to sweep the elections.

The other main posts for which the elections would be held include vice-president, general secretary and joint secretary.

CULTURE

Mongoose hunting to feature today
Vishal Gulati
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23
“A Brush with Death”, the 16-minute documentary on rampant poaching of the common mongoose, reveals the shocking illegal trade of animal fur. The film shows how nomadic communities hunt the animal with the help of trained hounds.

The documentary, along with 13 other award-winning works, will be screened at the Environment and Wildlife Travelling Film Festival at Tagore Theatre from 9 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. on Thursday. The festival is being organised by the Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi. The entry to the festival is free.

“Let art not wipe out the mongoose” is the theme of Sayed Fayaz’s documentary. The mongoose is a fairly widespread species and listed under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, but sadly hunted for its hair. Its hair is used to make drawing and paint brushes.

Gurmeet Sapal’s “Chasing Butterflies” is shot in the western Himalayas. The documentary throws light on the life cycle of the butterfly — from laying of eggs to emergence of larvae to modes of feeding and to chasing a mate.

Mike H. Pandey’s “Shores of Silence” showcases the massive slaughter of the whale shark. The film not only tries to create awareness and gather support to protect this marine species but also aims to find out sustainable alternatives for the fishing community.

Pandey is an internationally renowned wildlife filmmaker and conservationist. In 1994, he won the Wild Screen Panda Award, better known as Green Oscars, for his film “The Last Migration”. In 2000, “Shores of Silence” won the Green Oscars for the second time.

“Birds Through my Window” is a documentary on birds that live near human habitation. The film tries to explain the relationship between the man and the aves.

But in reality, bigger cities are no longer a favourite habitat of the birds, especially the house sparrow. Their chirping is fading away, may be due to the lack of nesting sites, use of pesticides and non-availability of food.

Most of the cities, including Chandigarh, are facing the problem of monkey menace. While Ajay and Vijay Bedi’s documentary, “The Policing Langur”, showcases how the menace can be checked by taking the help of the langur, Romulus Earl Whitaker’s “Spunky Monkey” is the story of two young bonnet macaques, who learn to adapt themselves to the city life.

Ramesh Menon’s “The Slow Poisoning of India” is a story on the massive use of pesticides. The film travels to Punjab, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra where indiscriminate use of pesticides has poisoned the land, water, air, and food. Nutan Manmohan’s “A Secondhand Life” brings to light the problems while handling e-waste.

Environment film fest opens
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 23
Veneration for ecological conservation had been amply enshrined in our old epics, emphasising the importance of trees for a healthy environment. We must follow the same today, opined chief guest Romila Dubey, Principal Secretary to Government of Punjab. She was saying this at the inauguration of the Chandigarh CMS Vatavaran Festival at the Tagore Theatre here today.

She said no government or organisation could address the issue of environmental conservation alone without the support of the general public and the ongoing awareness festival would certainly generate awakening.

The festival opened with the screening of Sanjay Barnela’s documentary film “Hunting Down Waters”

The Punjab State Council for Science and Technology and Environment and Non-Conventional Energy had teamed up with the Centre for Media Studies and Chandigarh Administration to organise the three-day festival from August 23 at the Tagore Theatre. Apart from general interaction and a photographs exhibition, there would be a special screening of films on environment for over 4,000 students from local schools and 1,200 from colleges in the morning and for the general public in the evenings, P.N. Vasanti, Director CMS, said. Dr N.S. Tiwana, Executive Director, PSCST, lauded the contribution of certain NGO’s in this regard.

Mr Ishwar Singh, Director Environment Department, stressed that necessary awakening for saving the environment and measures for pollution control in the city was of paramount importance.

A photo exhibition capturing wildlife and nature by Jeesu Jaskiran, Charan Kamal, R.S. Kwatra , Navteaj Singh and Parbhat Bhatti is an added attraction.