From Colleges
Students apprised of contemporary art
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
The Fine Arts Department of Government College, Sector 46, in collaboration with Camlin organised a six-day creative workshop for students in different mediums like glass painting, fabric painting, ceramics using different techniques here. To familiarise students and staff of the college with contemporary Indian art, works of some renowned city artists were exhibited along the works of students done during the workshop.

The artists whose works were exhibited included Madan Lal, Sadhna Sangar, Mahesh Prajapati, Guneeta Chadha, Rakesh Bani, Anand Shinde, Rajesh Chadha, Kumadi Prajapati, Gauri, Anand Sharma and Varinder Kaur. The chief guest for the today’s exhibition was Mr Ravinder Sharma, Secretary, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi. He gave away prizes to best participants of the workshop, including Sarita, Indu and Dinesh.

Declamation contest: The Political Science Department of Government College for Girls, Sector 42, organised a declamation contest on the college premises here. The Principal of the college, Ms Inderjit Kaur, was the chief guest. Ms Poonam G. Singh said the contest was aimed at sensitising the participants about socio, political and economic aspects of our time. Ten students took part in the contest. Shobhna was the winner of the contest while Monika and Sukhpreet were declared the runners-up.

Blood donation camp: A blood donation camp was held by DAV College and the Innerwheel Club jointly on the college premises here. More than 343 units of blood were collected. Each donor was presented with a memento by the club. Dr Pushpa Bhargav was the guest of honour.

Prize distribution: The English Literary Society of Government College, Sector 46, held a prize-distribution function on the conclusion of a series of literary activities held over the past weeks here. The Principal of the college, Ms Usha Jindal, gave away prizes to Megha and Gurinder Sandhu.

Vanmahotsava: Haritama, an environment society of GGDSD College, Sector 32, in collaboration with the Botany Department celebrated Vanmahotsava here. Principal of the college A.C. Vaid inaugurated a newly constructed green house. As many as250 saplings of different varieties were planted on the campus.

Computer education at Mani Majra madarsa 
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 28
The Punjab Governor and the UT Administrator, Gen S.F. Rodrigues (Retd), today advocated the need for active partnership and involvement of every citizen in various human resource development programmes to contribute effectively to meet the changing needs of emerging India and to create a new society of our dreams.

Inaugurating a centre of excellence for computer education at a madarsa in Mani Majra here today, General Rodrigues said the Chandigarh Administration had made an offer of partnership to voluntary organisations engaged in the promotion of education and also individuals concerned for optimal utilisation of infrastructure available in 192 government schools in the Union Territory and also the Industrial Training Institute to ensure upgradation of academic and technical knowledge of children and to empower them for a better tomorrow .

He said this offer was still open and appealed to academicians and professionals to come forward with unbiased minds to avail of this offer to “develop the potential of our youth and give them confidence in their ability to take the nation forward, towards a bright future.”

General Rodrigues said with a view to combating the malnutrition problem among children, the Chandigarh Administration had implemented an ambitious programme of providing mid-day meal to 52,000 children in government schools.

He announced that the Administration had decided to extend this scheme to more privately managed education institutions, including the madrasa, Mani Majra.

General Rodrigues said he had already called a meeting of senior officers of the Administration, Chairperson of the Chandigarh Wakf Board, senior leaders of the Muslim Community and Mr Pramod Kumar of the IDC to discuss and chalk out an ambitious programme for upgrading education among children and to take forward the process of modernisation.

General secretary Maulana Shakeel Ahmed Qasmi, in his welcome address, lauded the role of Mujaddidi Education Society in the Independence struggle and said the management had now started vigorous reforms in the education system to enable our children to keep pace with the fast-changing world.Home Secretary Krishna Mohan was also present. 

KVS holds workshop for teachers
Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, August 29
In an effort to improve qualitative and quantitative results in the CBSE examinations, the regional office of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) organised a workshop for trained graduate teachers teaching communicative Sanskrit to Class X at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Air Force Station, High Grounds, here today.

Mr O.D. Sharma, education officer of the KVS, inaugurated the workshop. He stressed the need to utilise Sanskrit as a tool to improve aggregate score of the students and the overall result in the region.

It was necessary to set a common minimum programme of learning for all students to ensure good performance, he added.

Mr J.P. Gupta, another education officer, brought out the significance of Sanskrit as a language that was easy to learn. He emphasised upon the need to make specific efforts to remove weak areas after the question-wise analysis of the marks obtained by students in any test or assignment. The performance level of low as well as high achievers could be improved tremendously by providing sufficient practice to the students studying Sanskrit.

The workshop, which was co-coordinated by the Principal of the host school, Ms S.K. Bhatia, and Ms Nisha Yadav, Principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Baddowal, kept the participants absorbed in preparing question banks, question papers and understanding about evaluation techniques, besides discussion of prescribed books and other specific problems faced by them.

The Regional Office of the KVS has been conducting a series of one-day workshops over the past one month to improve the educational standards in the region.

Govt College to get library with Net facility
Our Correspondent

Mohali, August 29
A big, ultra-modern library will be set up at Government College here. The building will be air-conditioned and also have computer and Internet facilities for students. This was stated by Mr Bir Devinder Singh, Kharar MLA, here today after inaugurating a students’ centre constructed at a cost of Rs 45.50 lakh. He said the library would be associated with the British library.

He said about two years ago, a sum of Rs 30 lakh was spent on an old tubewell of the college, while another sum of Rs 23 lakh was spent on sinking a new tubewell for meeting water requirements. A generator set was also being provided to the college.

Mr Bir Devinder Singh said the Punjab Chief Minister had decided to give Rs 30 crore to all colleges in the state, out of which Rs 5 crore would be given to the local college.

The amount would be spent on completing the double-storeyed science block and also the remaining building of the college. The college would also be provided facilities like a gymnasium, an indoor sports stadium, an auditorium and a video centre.

From Schools
Saplings planted on vanamahotsava
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
The Sheesham Eco Club of Government Model High School, Sector 36-D, celebrated vanamahotsava on the school premises today. The function was presided over by the Director of the Environment Department, Mr S.K. Sharma. More than 50 saplings of medicinal and ornamental trees were planted. Various competitions like paper reading, kite making, quiz, slogan writing and tattoo making were held. A cultural bonanza was held in the school, which included group songs, speeches, dances, skit and bhangra. Ms Poonam Chopra, in charge of the eco club, read out a report on the club activities. The Principal of the school, Ms Rita Jauhar, made students aware of the importance of trees and tree plantation.

Herbal garden opened

A herbal garden was inaugurated at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, today by the president of the PTA, Ms Gurmeet Kaur. The garden consists of various medicinal plants, including tulsi, mint, henna, rose, neem, lemon, ashwagandha, aloe vera and sadabahar. These plants will be used in making various face packs, shampoo and other herbal cosmetics by students of healthcare and beauty culture in the school. The garden will be taken care of by the students. 

COURTS

Man gets Rs 10,000 as compensation
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
A household insurance policy can pay you dividend. This exactly has happened in case of Mr Ashwani Kumar Sharma, a resident of Sector 30. A holder of a household insurance policy, Mr Sharma has been awarded a compensation of Rs 10,000 by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, after the Oriental Insurance Company failed to award him compensation for the loss suffered by him when his clothes were accidentally damaged by a hot iron.

The policy holder has also been awarded Rs 5,000 as compensation for harassment, convenience and costs of litigation.

On May 7, 2003, Mr Sharma’s wife while ironing clothes went to answer a call at the door. While she was away, the hot iron accidentally fell and 10 clothes were damaged. On intimation by the policy holder, a surveyor was deputed to visit the spot. On June 14, 2002, the company informed the applicant that the loss was not covered under the fire section of the policy as there was not possibility of fire as stated in the incident. Consequent to it the claim was repudiated.

The company stuck to its stand despite repeated efforts by the policy holder. On December 30, 2004, a complaint was made before the Insurance Ombudsman against the repudiation of the claim. The Ombudsman upheld the stand of the insurance company. Then the policy holder moved the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum which dismissed the complaint on the ground of being devoid of merit.

Then the complainant moved the State Commission. While hearing arguments of both sides, the commission observed that in the instant case, even the surveyor appointed by the insurance company had not expressed any doubt on the occurrence or damage. The claim was damaged on technical grounds which did not exist in the policy in question.

The commission further observed that the District Forum had not appreciated the facts of the case and had erroneously dismissed the complaint.

Special episode of ‘Woh Rehne Wali...’

Chandigarh, August 29
Sahara One’s show “Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki” will complete 300 episodes this Wednesday (August 30). On the occasion the show will be airing the special episode of Reena Kapoor (Pari), daughter of Rani and Raj getting engaged to Saumya Parashar played by Amir Ali. “Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki” is Rajshri Productions first daily soap on the television. TNS

HEALTH

Lifestyle diseases on rise
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh August 29
World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that by 2010 as much as 60 per cent of the cardiac patients in world will be Indians. By 2020, more than 40 million people will suffer from osteo-arthritis and by 2025 Asia is expected to have 190 million diabetic cases and more than half of them will be in India and China. About 67 per cent of Americans are overweight and a staggering 29 per cent are clinically obese. Obesity is also a growing concern in Indian.

This was stated by Dr Suresh Sharma, Head, Department of Statistics, Panjab University, here yesterday. He is a renowned statistician working in the area of cancer, ophthalmology, forensic science, air pollution and nutrition.

He added that statistical estimates said that the percentage of overweight/obese people in India was on rise from 9 per cent in 1995 to 24 per cent by 2020. UN report said that more than 500,000 premature deaths in India were caused by air pollution each year (respiratory disorders). “All these health hazards are mainly due to high-risk life style factors such as stress, smoking, pollution, alcohol, fast and processed food, negative thinking and also due to deficiency of essential vitamins, minerals and proteins,” he said.

Pointing out that an Indian on an average ate 111 gm of fruits/vegetables everyday, out of which 42 per cent was pesticides so an average Indian consumed 100 to 6,000 times more pesticides than normal, Dr Sharma said. He added the WHO report on diet and disease said that poor diet and lack of exercise were the leading causes of many diseases.

“Foundation of good health lies in the basic nutrients such as good quality vitamins, minerals and proteins. Human body requires a daily intake of 13 essential vitamins ( Vitamins A, C, D, E, K, B1, B2, B6, B12, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin and Pantothenic Acid) and 11 minerals ( calcium, iron, phosphorous, iodine, magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper, manganese, chromium and molybdenum), he said, adding that in the next 10 to 15 years, the health industry would be more or less replaced by wellness industry.

GMCH to host hand surgeons’ conference
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
The 30th annual conference of the Indian Society for Surgery of Hand will be held at Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, from September 1 to 3. Around 200 delegates from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and the UK are participating in the conference. Ten eminent hand surgeons from the USA, Australia, Germany, Japan, Austria, Netherlands and Hong Kong are participating as faculty.

Prof R.C. Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh, will inaugurate the conference.

Dr Ravi Gupta, a hand surgeon at the GMCH and organising secretary of the conference, informed that the conference would be preceded by two workshops. Dr Robert J. Medoff from Hawaii, USA, would conduct one workshop on the treatment of distal radius fractures. Reimer Hoffmann of Germany would conduct the other workshop on the endoscopic surgery (Key Hole Surgery) of the cubital tunnel decompression at the elbow. Both surgeries would be conducted on cadavers and would be telecast live for the delegates by video transmission.

Dr Gupta further said Dr Markus Gabl from Austria, Dr H Gotani from Japan, Dr Edward T. Tah from Australia, Dr H.K. Wong from Hong Kong, Mr Thieu du Bois from Netherlands and Ms Suzzane Caragianis from Australia would speak about their experiences.

The conference would be marked by the launch of Indian Society of Therapists. Talking on the specialized area of hand surgery, Dr Sudhir Kumar, Head Department of Orthopaedics, GMCH, informed that hand surgery needed to be developed in our country. 

200 examined at medical camp

Chandigarh, August 29
More than 200 destitute were examined in a medical check-up camp organised by HelpAge India at Atawa Chowk Gurdwara to mark the 300th year of the completion of Guru Granth Sahib, here on Sundayday. According to Mr Rewa Singh, president of the gurdwara management, free medicines were also distributed among the needy patients. TNS

Lecture on living with cancer

Chandigarh, August 29
More than 75 members of the Servants Of The People Society, Chandigarh, attended a lecture on “Living with Cancer” organised by the Fortis Hospital, Mohali, at Lajpat Rai Bhavan, Sector 15, here yesterday. Dr Rajeev Bedi, DM, Senior Consultant, Medical Oncology, addressed the members and informed them about various techniques and drugs being used for treating cancer. TNS

SPORTS

SD College lift Samuel Banerjee Trophy
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
The SD College, Sector 32, team won the top honours in the inter-college tournament for the Samuel Banerjee Trophy after beating DAV College, Jalandhar, by 68 runs at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, here today.

Batting first, SD College piled up 153 runs in 39 overs. Vipul was the highest scorer with his unbeaten 48-run innings. Tanwar Kohli restricted the SD College batsmen by snapping four wickets.

Chasing the target of 154, the DAV College innings wrapped up on just 85 in 32 overs. Displaying good bowling, Varun Khanna and Akashdeep of SD College claimed four wickets each, followed by spinner Karanveer, who took two wickets.

Brief score:

SD College: 153 all out in 39 overs.

DAV College: 85 all out in 32 overs.

Table tennis meet

Amanpreet Kaur won the top position in singles in the inter-class table tennis tournament at Government College for Girls, Sector 11, here today. The tournament was organised to celebrate National Sports Day.

The results:

Singles- 1 Amanpreet Kaur, 2 Kiran;

Doubles- 1 Kiran and Mahima, 2 Amanpreet and Rupa.

Indo-Pak tennis match on Nov 10
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
The national tennis teams of Pakistan and India will play a test match in Chandigarh on November 10. Announcing this here yesterday, following the annual general meeting of the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association, Mr Rajan Kashyap, Chairman, CLTA, said CLTA was making elaborate arrangements for this important international event.

The tie would consist of three matches- two singles and one doubles, featuring top players of both countries, to be played on the synthetic hard centre court of the CLTA Tennis Stadium, Sector 10, Chandigarh.

The stadium, with a seating capacity for 7000, had five air-conditioned commentators’ boxes and all facilities for live telecast on national and international television networks. Mr. Kashyap further stated that the All-India Tennis Association and the Pakistan Tennis Association had agreed to play four tennis tests, including one in Chandigarh. The others were scheduled for Islamabad (November 6), Lahore (November 8) and Delhi (November 12).

General S.F. Rodrigues, Governor of Punjab, had agreed to be chairman of the organising committee, and had assured all support in making the event a success. Elaborate arrangements had been made for the players and officials of both teams.

Mr M. Ramsekhar, Honorary Secretary, CLTA, said the calendar of other major international events to be conducted by the CLTA in the coming season included ITF Men’s Futures $ 10,000 prize money tournament in February and the ITF Juniors Grade 2 in January, 2007.

Mr Ramsekhar said with a view to encouraging Chandigarh’s junior players, the CLTA was giving financial support for top-ranked deserving players to play abroad and also incentives for outstanding performance in matches within India.

The CLTA announced tennis colours for Chandigarh’s top juniors in the age group of 16 and 18 years, including six boys and one girl, ranked among the top 20 players in their respective age groups in India.

Mr Ramsekhar also announced a performance-incentive scheme offered to the CLTA’s nine coaches, 15 assistant coaches and six physical, gym and yoga trainers. All coaches and trainers would now be eligible for special performance-based cash awards.

The meeting was attended by 11 units affiliated to the CLTA, including colleges, schools and clubs. CLTA President Justice Mr S. S. Sodhi (Retd.) and vice-presidents Sarabjit Singh, former DGP, Punjab, and Mr Jai Singh Gill, former Chief Secretary, Punjab, were also present.

On the occasion, the CLTA presented an award to Mr Kailash Nath, former general manager, CLTA, for his lifetime contribution to sports, especially to the game of tennis.

Trials for Santosh Trophy on September 2 
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
The Chandigarh Football Association will conduct selection trials on September 2 to pick up probables for the coming 61st National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy to be played at Gurgaon and Faridabad from September 14 to October 25, according to association secretary Rakesh Bakshi.

The trials will be held at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, at 4.30 p.m. The selection committee will select 30 probables for the coaching camp which will begin on September 4. Sports Authority of India coach Narinder Singh Thapa will be in charge of the coaching camp.

Chandigarh has been placed in Cluster IV in the preliminary qualifying league. Chandigarh play their first match on September 15. Their next matches are against Assam (September 17) and Sikkim (September 19). The Cluster IV match will be played at Faridabad.

New Public School in basketball final
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
The New Public School-18 sailed into the final round of seventh Pandit Mohan Lal Memorial Basket Ball Tournament-2006 in both girls’ and boys’ groups defeating their respective opponents in the semifinal rounds at SD Public School-32, here today.

In boys’ section, the NPS team beat St Xavier’s-44 by 51-34. Ganimat (18), Pinky (15) were the main contributors for the winners. Andrela and Prinkpreet scored 15 and 12 points respectively, for the loser’s side.

The other team, which made it to the final, is DAV Senior Secondary School-8, which thrashed Guru Nanak Khalsa School-30 by 41-10

In girls’ category, New Public girls outclassed DAV Model School-15 with a score of 59-56. Gurparkash was the highest scorer with 26 points in the match while Pulkit (21) and Rohan (21) scored for DAV.

The other match in the same section, played between IS Dev Samaj School-21 and Carmel Convent-9, was won by the former by 39-23. 

Sandeep out of ICU

Chandigarh, August 29
After remaining in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the PGI for a week, “drag flicker” of the Indian hockey team Sandeep Singh was shifted to a private ward in Block D this morning.

Despite losing weight after the firing incident in which he sustained sever injuries, including damage to the pelvis in front of the sacrum and a fracture on anterolateral border of L2 vertebra, Sandeep is in high spirits and hoping to play for the nation after recovery.

He has been on liquid diet. He communicates with his attendants — parents and brother — at the hospital. His condition is said to be “much better”, but the doctors refused to make any guess as to how soon he would be able to start playing again.

Taking strict precautionary measures against infection, the hospital staff has advised the family members not to allow visitors into Sandeep’s room. — TNS

Harjit to play in Delhi
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
Harjit Singh, a city based goalkeeper and a product of the Chandigarh Hockey Academy, has been selected to participate in the U-18 Major Dhyan Chand Birth Anniversary Exhibition match scheduled to be held at MDC National Stadium, New Delhi, on August 29. The u-18 team will take on SAI STC Team on August 29. Earlier, three hockey players, Dharmvir Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh and Simranjeet Singh, were called for the match by the Indian Hockey Federation.

ADMINISTRATION

215 vehicles challaned
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29
The police today challaned 22 underage youngsters for driving without a valid driving licence, reliable sources said here. As many as 215 challans were issued out of which 15 were for overloaded buses, 23 for bus divers and conductors not wearing uniforms, 43 for driving without licence, and 105 on the charges of not possessing the relevant documents.

Meanwhile, car drivers on the list of drivers honoured by the police yesterday include Mr Harjinder Singh, a resident of Khuda Ali Sher village, Lieut-Col Baldev Singh Dhillon, a resident of Sector 8-A, Mr Devinder Singh, a resident of Sector 20, and Mr V.J. Dhar, a resident of Sector 45-C.

Mr Inderjit Singh (DMC), Mr Manwinder Singh Brar (Phase 3B2, Mohali) and Rupinder Singh (Sector 33-A) were honoured under the drivers of two-wheelers’ category. Mr Parshotam Singh (truck driver) and Mr Randhir Singh (bus driver) were also hounoured.