Principal honoured for spreading Gandhian values
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 13
Mr Bahadur Singh, Principal, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 56, was honoured with the “Dr K.B.S. Dhillon Memorial Shantidoot Puruskar” by Mrs Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, at a function held at Sector 7 KB DAV Senior Secondary School, here today.

The function was part of the ongoing ‘Campaign for Peace-City, Chandigarh’, jointly organised by the peace club of KBDAV-7 and Yuvsatta, Chandigarh chapter.

Mr Singh was honoured for his commendable work in strengthening and spreading Gandhian values amongst youngsters. The award carried a commendation certificate, a shawl and Rs 5100 in cash.

Six other college and school principals and teachers were also awarded with special commendation awards: Subhash Marriya, Principal of DAV College; Madhu Bahl, Principal of KB DAV- 7B; Prof Anil Sarwal of DAV College, Sector 10; Richa Chibber, Peace Club in-charge of Dev Samaj College of Education; Vinod Sharma, Peace Club in-charge of Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary Model School, Sector 27A and Pushkar Wan Angrish, Peace Club in-charge of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 45, Chandigarh.

Mrs Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, who is also Vice-Chairperson, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, New Delhi and Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister of State for Finance, were the special guests on the occasion.

Dr Satinder Dhillon, convener of the programme said , “As many as 108 peace clubs are functioning under the guidance of their respective principals and teachers in various schools and colleges. They are doing commendable work in strengthening and spreading the virtues of peace and non-violence amongst students.”
Appreciating the concept of peace clubs, Mrs Tara Gandhi said, for the better future of mankind, the utmost importance needed is the education of children. A child has to be educated with love and kindness to become a responsible adult in the future. Peace clubs play a pivotal role in inculcating responsible behaviour and the virtues of love, compassion tolerance and forgiveness in young minds.

Later in the day, Mrs Tara enjoyed and took part in Lohri celebrations at the Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36. Mrs Vipul Thakur, MP, Himachal Pradesh, Mrs Jaivanti Sikand, Special Secretary, Department of Environment, Haryana, were among those present on the occasion. 

Interactive sessions at American Corner
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 13
The American Corner in the T.S. Central State Library here organised two interactive sessions for students of various professional and degree colleges of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali yesterday.

Ms Luna Das, an education adviser with the USEFI, during an interactive session, talked about the admission procedures, timings and various financial aids and assistances. Later, she answered queries of students.

Mr Parveen Khurana, Director of the American Corner, held an orientation session with the students. He informed the students about various services provided at the corner, which included free Internet service and a full text database of the EBSCO, besides other services.

‘High time to promote girl education’
Tribune News Service

Mohali, January 13
The Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Mohali, celebrated Lohri on its campus yesterday. The focus of the celebration was to promote the need and relevance of educating girl child. More than 300 students of various vocational courses participated in the celebrations.

Mr Dildar Khan, Director of the sansthan, said originally, Lohri was celebrated to mark the birth of a child in family. Unfortunately, the celebration has now become limited to the birth or marriage of a male member. He further said it was high time to promote the education of girl child so that she could contribute to the process of nation building.

Mr Anand Mohan Sharma, programme officer of the sansthan, stressed the need of vocational education of girls to make them self-dependent.

Tiny tots steal show: Staff and students of Gian Jyoti Public School here celebrated Lohri with enthusiasm. The Principal, Mrs Ranjeet Bedi, inaugurated the function by lighting the bonfire. She blessed the students on the occasion. Students presented a colourful cultural programme. Tiny tots stole the show with their dance item.

Message of brotherhood: Students of Swami Ram Tirath School here congregated to celebrate Lohri on the school premises where a huge bonfire was lit around which students performed giddha and bhangra. Students reiterated the message of oneness and brotherhood, while thanking Almighty for the bountiful life on the earth.

Lohri celebrated: Students and staff of Sri Sukhmani International School, Dera Bassi, celebrated Lohri on the school campus today. Director Kanwaljit Kaur lit the bonfire and the students danced around it. The function commenced with shabad gayan followed by a group dance competition, group folk dance and ended with bhangra.

Meanwhile, students of Golden Bells Public School, Sector 77, here danced to the drum beats around a bonfire to celebrate the festival. The principal, Mrs Gurjit Bawa, wished everyone on the occasion.

Celebrating Lohri, but with a difference
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 13
The Piya Sharma Charitable Trust Nonformal School celebrated Lohri at Rajiv Colony here, by gifting a blanket and a pair of socks, along with rewari and gachak, to each of its over 130 students, here today.

The students, all children of migrant labourers living in Rajiv Colony, impressed Chief Guest, Ms Urvashi Gulati, Principal Secretary, Health, Haryana, with their songs. Urging the children to make the best of the opportunity given to them, Mrs Gulati said children from this school were as well educated out as those from the best government schools.

Ms Pooja Sharma Passi, the Executive Director of the Trust, in her welcome address said, they teach children in the age group of four to 12 in accordance with the Haryana school curriculum. Half of the students are girls, she said, adding that the Trust, which was founded in memory of Piya Sharma who passed away at a very tender age, also imparts vocational training that includes tailoring and embroidery, besides conducting health programmes for adolescents in Indira Colony and Azad Colony in Panchkula. The Founder Trustee, Sudha Sharma, proposed the vote of thanks.

Schools dance to tunes of Lohri
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 13
Fervour and gaiety marked Lohri celebrations in city schools, here today. Children danced around bonfires as school authorities distributed traditional Lohri sweets. Folk dances and folk songs were an integral part of the celebrations.

Bal Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 37-A:

The festival was celebrated at the school grounds with great pump and show. All the students danced to exciting numbers and sang patriotic songs. Later, traditional refreshments were distributed to all.

Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36:

The festival was celebrated with great enthusiasm and gaiety in the junior wing of the school. A bonfire was lit. Children performed bhangra and giddha. Special Lohri delicacies comprising of gachak, peanuts, jaggery and popcorn were distributed among the children. The children enjoyed the celebration immensely.

MDAV High School, Sector 22:

The school celebrated Lohri with great zest and fervor. The colorful festival was celebrated by singing rural Punjabi couplets around the traditional bonfire. To mark the specialty of the occasion, a ‘havan’ competition was held, where students of the four different houses of the school took part. Children and teachers organised the bonfire and lit it to mark Lohri’s tradition. Small children danced around it and the school was lit by festivity.

Mrs Vasundhra Rehani, Reader, Dayanand Chair for Vedic Studies, PU, Chandigarh, was the chief guest, and Mr Rehani, retired Professor of Chemistry, PU, Chandigarh, and Krishan Aggarwal, a renowned businessman of Chandigarh, who were the honourable guests at the function, told the students about the importance of Lohri. The function joyfully ended with the distribution of pop-corns, gachchak and rewri to the students.

Stepping Stones Sr Sec School Sector 37-D:

A seminar for classes IX and X was organised by the Institute of Personality And Aptitude Testing(IPAT). This seminar laid stress on board exam preparations. The students were informed about STM, LTM, NTM and were given tips for time management and how to beat stress. The students were enlightened.

Sri Guru Harkrishan Model School, Sector 38:

The festival was celebrated with great enthusiasm at the school premises. Dressed in colourful attires, the students presented a wonderful cultural programme. The event started with a scintillating dance performance by the tiny tots of the junior wing of the school. This was followed by dances on famous Punjabi songs.

Swami Ram Tirtha Public High School, Mohali:

In the freezing cold weather with the temperature wobbling at 0-5 degree Celsius, the students congregated to celebrate Lohri at the school premises where a huge bonfire was lit. The students of classes I and II danced on songs based on Punjabi culture. Giddha and bhangra was energetically performed by the students of classes VIII and IX. It was a deserved break from the school’s busy schedule.

Doon Public School, Panchkula:

Lohri was celebrated in the school with students assembling on the grounds and the principal lighting the bonfire. The principal spoke about the importance of the day and distributed sweets to the students. A cultural programme was presented on the occasion. 

COURTS

Rule of law must in democracy: CJ
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 13
The Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Justice Vijender Jain, said today that the Indian democracy would be in peril if rule of law was not observed.

Justice Jain said people's faith in the Indian judicial system strengthened the resolve of the judiciary in dispensing justice. Justice Jain was speaking after laying the foundation stone of the state-of-the-art judicial complex here today.

Justice Jain underlined the need for the construction of such judicial complexes which provided basic amenities to the legal fraternity and the litigants.

The chairman of the building committee of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Justice MS Gill, highlighted various steps taken by the authorities concerned to build new judicial complexes in the state.

To be built at a cost of Rs 6.19 crore, the complex will have all modern amenities, including six courts and 100 chambers for the lawyers.

Prominent among those present were Mr Justice MM Kumar, Ms Anjali Bhanwra, Commissioner, Patiala Division, Mr Inderjit Singh, District and Sessions Judge, Patiala, Mr Rakesh Verma, DC, Patiala, Mr SK Asthana, SSP, Patiala, and Mr APS Virk, SDM, Rajpura. 

CULTURE

Bengali play on moral values
S.D. Sharma

Chandigarh, January 13
The two-day Theatre Lab. Drama Festival concluded with the staging of a Bengali play ‘Murkir Handi’ at Tagore Theatre here today. Written and directed by Dr Soumitra Basu for the leading Kolkatta ensemble ‘Sandarbha’, the comedy play had all the ingredients of living theatre such as music, dances, action, curiosity and technical excellence.

The story is based on a folktale and developed by Dr Basu with other influences borrowing the themes of mythology and instructed into pastoral ambience. The folk play which made generous use of the supernatural endeared itself to the scant audience because of lively and uninhibited acting spells.

A poor Brahmin ‘Basudev’ in despair, while roaming in a jungle comes across goddess Durga, in the guise of an ordinary woman. He treats her casually till the family of Durga, including Ganesh, Kartik, Saraswati, Lakshmi and the Lion ‘Pesho,’ appear. The goddess Durga blesses poor Basudev with the ‘Murkir Handi’ a special pot of sweetened puffed rice-which never finishs. After a series of sequences in which Basudev faces severe problems from his village affluents, the scene is shifted to the jungle again where the ‘Murki Handi’ is broken.

The play designed especially for children is aimed at creating awareness about moral values in life. The music, lighting effects and natural acting spells by Soumya Majumdar, Ms Ellora Mukhopadhya, Dr Soumitra Basu, Amal Basu, and Shymal Bhattacharjee won applause.

Subrata, Rajahri, Sima Dey, Satrupa, Roy, Sutapa Sengupta, Sukesh Moitra, Ashok Basu and Gourab Goswami played other roles.

HEALTH

Docs deliberate on diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal infections
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 13
The national symposium on diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal infections was inaugurated by Prof RC Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab University, at the PGI, here yesterday.

Talking about the beneficial effects of micro-organisms, Prof Rama Chaudhary, Microbiologist, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, said that probiotics and live microbial supplements are emerging as important therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of various gastrointestinal infectious diseases, including diarrhoea, enterocolitis, and post-operative infectious complications.

A talk on diagnostic approaches for antibiotic-associated diarrhoea was also given by Dr Chetana Vaishnavi, Additional Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, PGI.

Dr J.S. Thakur, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, PGI, spoke on acute bacterial diarrhoea among infants and children.

Talking about viral diarrhoea, Dr Anita Chakravarti, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, insisted on the need of vaccines for its prevention, in the wake of 100,000 annual deaths of children in India due to the deadly virus.

SAI selection trials

Chandigarh, January 13
Selection trials for induction of inmates (girls) in the Sports Authority of India Training Centre, Sector 18, for the year 2007-08 in regular as well as day-boarding scheme will be held from January 22 to 24 at the centre here. — TNS

ADMINISTRATION

Close schools in residential areas by March 30, MC told
Amrita Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 13
The Chandigarh Administration has issued a notice to the Municipal Corporation to close the schools running from residential buildings in the city by March 30. It has also asked the MC to annul its resolution passed at the MC House meeting of August 2006 permitting such schools to function beyond March 31 this year.

According to sources, the action has been taken after a letter was written by the MC Commissioner to the Administration last month. The letter states that the MC, at its House meeting in August 2006, had resolved to allow private schools, whether recognised or not, to run after March 31 in unplanned urban and rural areas of the city, including areas of villages falling within the municipal limits of the city. The letter had suggested that this resolution should be annulled at the earliest, as it amounts to contempt of court.

The letter further states that as the resolution passed by the House is in excess of the powers conferred on it under the Act, it is proposed that resolution as passed may be suspended by invoking the provisions of Sections 422 and 423 of the Punjab MC Act, 1976, as extended to the UT, which states that if the government is of the opinion that the execution of any resolution or order of the corporation is in contravention of or in excess of the power conferred by the Act or any other law for the time being enforce or is likely to lead to breach of peace or cause injury or annoyance to the public, may suspend such resolution or order or prohibit the doing of any such act.

The letter further states that on the recommendation of the high-powered committee constituted by the high court, final notices have been issued to the principals and managements of all schools running from residential buildings of Mani Majra/ Mauli Jagran to stop running schools from residential buildings by March 30 positively.

The schools running from houses in the city have already been given extension twice. First time during 2005-2006 when Anu Chatarth was the Mayor, the proposal was kept forward in the House and was cleared. In August last year too, the issue was once again raised at the meeting of the House and the schools were allowed to function till March 2007.

The reasoning given was that first the Administration should upgrade the infrastructure of the existing government schools in the area or should provide alternative sites for the schools. According to officials, as of now 16,000 children are studying in these residential schools, while 600 teachers are employed here.