EDUCATION

Designers take to art of living
Shivani Bhakoo

Ludhiana, December 20
Contrary to the belief that people related to fashion world are too modern to be inclined towards spiritual aspects of human life, the National Institute of Fashion Design understood the importance of bringing about a positive change in the lives of budding designers studying at the institute. As a step towards this direction, students and members of the faculty took to the preaching of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the name of “Art of Living”.

The six-day extensive orientation programme is being organised by Dr Sadhna (ENT specialist) from Mumbai, who came under the influence of the Art of Living and left her medical profession and devoted her life to propagating the methodology to the masses so that the individuals could benefit.

“The Art of Living is all about leading a happy, prosperous and rewarding life in the truest sense”, said Dr Sadhna. One of the students undergoing preaching at the centre said: “Everyone wants happiness, love and peace of mind. What keeps us away from getting these is stress. We do not realise to what degree stress clouds our natural enthusiasm, saps our energy, interferes in our relationships and affects our health. Art of Living courses help release stress without effort. The course integrates modern methods with ancient spiritual heritage to bring you in touch with the silent core of your being”.

Dr Sadhna said: “Art of Living courses adapt ancient knowledge about the art of living to the needs of modern life. These courses enhance health on every level — mental, physical, emotional and spiritual — and provide practical tools to reduce the effects of stress.”

She said the main focus was on “sudershan kriya”. Students are taught the correct way of breathing. “‘Su’ means right and ‘darshan’ means vision. A crest jewel in the Art of Living is the ‘sudershan kriya’. Regular and right practice of the ‘kriya’ has shown tremendous improvements in cases of psychosomatic illnesses like migraine, peptic ulcers, arthritis, insomnia etc. One of the latest research findings reveal that ‘sudershan kriya’ is seen to significantly improve the beta wave activity in the brain. Beta wave patterns of all Art of Living subjects, without exception, show very high levels of well-being, creativity, confidence, concentration and memory,” maintained Dr Sadhna.

Closed gates greet teams!
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 20
Nineteen teams are expected to participate in the National Integration Camp beginning tomorrow at the Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women, Ludhiana. The camp will continue till December 27. However, teams that are arriving from as far as Bihar, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati get stumped at the entrance. The main entrance to the college is from a parking lot maintained by the municipal corporation.

According to the college authorities, the gates of the entrance are locked on every Saturday and Sunday to prevent people from parking their vehicles. The other entrance to the college is from the G T Road, but this road has been barricaded. The college sends its bus to receive teams at the station, but due to the closed entrance and the barricaded road, students, after a tiring journey, have to lug their bedding and suitcases to the camp inside the college.

Ms Madanjit Kaur Sahota, Principal of the college, says the college had requested the municipal corporation authorities to co-operate, but in vain. She sent her Superintendent to meet the Assistant Commissioner, but the latter refused to meet him.

She said her plea to the Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Prem Mittal, also did not yield any results.

She said the locking of gates during weekends caused problems to hostel inmates as in case of any emergency, it was not possible to take out their vehicles.

She has raised the issue with the Municipal Commissioner a number of times, but to no avail. She says,“The person who locks the gates goes away for two days.” Moreover, the gatekeeper says he would be suspended if he opens the gates.

Regarding the camp, Ms Sahota said the creation of a cultural village on the campus would help apprise 200 students attending the camp of the Punjabi culture. The camp will be inaugurated by Mr Harnam Dass Johar, Minister for Higher Education. Earlier, Mr Vijay Goyal, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, was to inaugurate the camp, but due to unavoidable reasons, he would not be able to come.

Teachers seek ouster of management chief
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 20
The Association of Teaching Staff, Lord Mahavira Homoeopathic Medical College (LMHMC), has demanded the resignation of Mr Hira Lal Jain, president of the college management.

The agitating teachers said the college was getting adequate funds but these were being misappropriated and bungled. They alleged that it was a “one-man show” in the college.

The protest dharna by the association continued for the sixth day today. The faculty members were addressed by Mr Parminder Singh, Mr V.K. Bhardwaj, Prof A.K. Malari and Mr Prem Walia. They expressed solidarity with the teachers. They said it was a matter of great humiliation that teaching doctors were being paid salaries less than that of clerks.

Meanwhile, the District Council of the PCCTU has also expressed its solidarity with the agitating teachers. Mr Parminder Singh said: “College teachers have been compelled to resort to agitation because they are being paid meagre salaries.”

Grandparents’ Day celebrated
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 20
It was a day with a difference at Firsteps Play School. The children came to the school accompanied by their grandparents and they spent the day with their loved ones in school. As a mark of respect for their elders and to inculcate family values, the staff and students celebrated Grandparents’ Day here today.

The day was filled with mirth and laughter. The teachers presented a puppet show titled ‘Gubbarre’ which was followed by a group song sung by students. The grandparents enjoyed to participate in various games organised for them. The programme ended with the jingle of Christmas bells. The children sang carols and Santa came distributing gifts and reminding them that Christmas was on its way.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Poonam Mahajan, Principal, said that the idea behind celebrating the day was to bridge the gap between the two generations. She said that it was an effort to involve the grandparents with the growth process of their grandchildren.

Pumpkin kids celebrate X’mas
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 20
Carol singing and dancing marked Christmas celebrations at Pumpkin Kindergarten, Gurdev Nagar, here today.

Parents of the kids were also invited to the function. They were welcomed by a song by kids,which was followed by a dance item on English remix pop numbers. Teachers also sung Christmas carols accompanied by kids who were dancing to their tunes. A puppet show was also arranged on the occasion.

COURTS

Goel group sweeps Bar poll
Rajneesh Lakhanpal

Ludhiana, December 20
Dissensions in the Bar that found an expression in the results of the District Bar Association(DBA) has confirmed that the group in power for the past several years no longer rules the roost in the Ludhiana courts.

Mr B.K.Goel and his group that fought Mr K.K.Bagai of the Harish Dhanda group virtually sweept the polls, whose results were declared in the evening. Mr Goel defeated his rival candidate Mr Bagai by a margin of 124 votes. Mr Goel got the support of 660 lawyers while his opponent Mr Bagai secured 536 votes. Out the total 1358 votes, 1201 votes were cast.

Supporters of Mr Goel started dancing after the declaration of the results by the Retuning Officer, Mr Jaspal Chugh. Except one incident in the morning, the elections were held peacefully.

An elated Mr Goel said that he will live upto the expectations of his supporters and would leave no stone unturned to fulfil all demands of the lawyers. He said his main focus would be to end factionalism in the bar and restore the dignity of Bar. Transparency would be ensured in the functioning of the DBA and decisions would be taken after taking into confidence the member of the Bar, added Mr Goel.

The chairman of Organisation of Young Lawyer(OYL), Mr Rana Harjasdeep Singh, convener, Mr Sandeep Kapoor staunch supporters of Mr Goel said that it is the victory of the their ideology and the efforts for deletion of bogus votes from the electoral roll. The former Bar presidents, Mr K.R.Sikri, Mr Hemant Kalia and Mr Virender Khara termed it to be the victory of democracy.

Mr Nagesh Gill was declared elected Vice President. He defeated Ms Kamal Jyoti by a margin of 13 votes, as he got 602 votes against 589 ballots in favour of his only opponent.

For the post of Secretary, Mr S.S.Cheema got elected by securing 832 votes. While other two candidates, Mr P.L.Anand got 187 and Mr G.S.Johar secured only 160 votes. Mr Cheema won the elections with the biggest margin of 645 votes.

The unanimously executive member are: Mr Rajesh Mouraya, Mr Wazir Singh, Mr Ravinder Arora, Mr Gurjinder Sahni, Mr Narinder Kumar Bansal and Mr Mukesh Karwal.

A number of political personalities cast their vote today adding to the attraction of the polls. The persons were, Cabinet Minister-Mr Harnam Dass Johar, Youth Shiromani Akali Dal's President, Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Former Speaker, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal. Apart from this, the member of District Consumer Forum, Ms Seema Diwan also cast her vote being the member of DBA.

Mr Sanjay Sharma was declared elected for the post of Joint Secretary. He secured 560 votes, whereas his opponent Mr Deep Jot Singh Ahluwalia got 340 votes and third candidate Mr Vikram Grover secured 280 votes.

For the post of finance secretary, Mr Amandeep Singh Rai was elected. He secured 596 votes. His opponent Mr Kewal Preet Singh got 334 votes and Mr Vivek Sharma got 257 votes and another contestant.

CULTURE

Kala Manch honours Jassal
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, December 20
The annual meeting of the Ludhiana Kala Manch was held at Punjabi Bhavan last evening. Ravinder Jassal, a former vice-president of the manch and now settled in Canada, was felicitated on the occasion.

He shared his experiences on theatre activities and film-making in Canada and urged members to work with devotion and commitment towards the promotion of Punjabi theatre.

Mr Ravinder Jassal extended an invitation to organisers and members of the Ludhiana Rang Manch to visit Canada.

The executive committee of the manch for the year 2004 was also elected. The office-bearers are: president — Ms Amrita Sewak; senior vice-president — Mr Gursharan Singh Narula; vice-president — Mr Navneet Soni; secretary — Ms Swapn Chanana; joint secretary — Ms Poonam Rawat; finance secretary — Mr Rajesh Gandhi; and press secretary — Mr Manjit Singh Mehram.

Satwinder gets Bindrakhia award
Our Correspondent

Sahnewal, December 20
The fourth Tapinder Gurmit Memorial Festival was organised at Bhaironmunna village yesterday.

The show continued till late at night and drew a huge crowd. It was organised in memory of the famous singer Tapinder and his companion Gurmit, both of whom died in an accident four years ago.

The function was presided over by Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, President, Youth Akali Dal, and Mr Inder Iqbal Atwal, MLA, Koom Kalan. The chief guest was Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal, a former minister and General Secretary of the Shromani Akali Dal.

The function was inaugurated by Mr Surinder Kooner and Mr Anoopraj Singh Gill, member of the zila parishad. The light was lit by Mr Santa Singh Umaidpuri and Mr Jagroop Singh.

The Surjit Bindrakhia Award was presented to Satwinder Bugga; the Tansen Memorial Award to Surinder Bachan; the Gulshan Kumar Award to Surinder Goyal; the Tapinder Gurmit Memorial Award to Inderjit Hassanpuri and the Gurmit Jaspalon Award to Master Telu Ram Kohara and Harjit Dhillon.