Chandigarh, July 4
Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, proved to be the most preferred government school in the city. Students seeking admissions to Class XI lined up for the first counselling at the 28 senior secondary government schools in the city today. Students in the reserved categories were admitted.

Out of the total number of 1,312 applications, which were received in the various reserved categories, 1,078 students were admitted today.

As many as 1,025 students belonging to the SCs had applied. The cut-off percentage in science for SC students in GMSSS-35 was as high as 72.2 per cent and in GMSSS, Sector 16, it went up to 62.4 per cent. The cut-off percentage in commerce for SC students in GMSSS-35 was as high as 47.2 per cent and in GMSSS Sector 16 it went up to only 48 per cent.

The cut-off percentage in science for defence students in GMSSS-35 was as high as 79 per cent and in GMSSS, Sector 16, it went up to only 77 per cent. The cut-off percentage in commerce for defence students in GMSSS-35 was as high as 62.6 per cent and in GMSSS Sector 16 it went up to only 70.8 per cent. In arts for defence students in GMSSS-35 it was as high as 70.6 per cent and in GMSSS Sector 16 it went up to only 55.2 per cent.

As many as 61 seats in science in Government Model Senior Secondary School 35 were filled while 59 seats in science were filled in GMSSS-16 and 55 seats were filled in GMSSS-37 and another 50 science seats were filled in GMSSS-33. As many as 24 seats were filled in GMSSS-35 and another 25 seats were filled in GMSSS-16.

Admission schedule of various departments for the academic session 2006-2007 is as under:

Department of Fine Arts: the aptitude test-cum-interview for admission to MA Part-I (History of Art) will be conducted on July 7 at 8 am in the department.

National Centre for Human Genome Studies and Research: Interview for admission in MSc (Human Genomics) 1st Year will be held on July 10 at 9.30 am. Interview letters were dispatched on July 4, according to Dr Tapas Mukhopadhyay, Director of the Centre.

Department of Geography: Interviews for admission to MA Part-I (Geography) will be held on July 6 at 9 am in the department. All applicants are advised to bring their certificates/testimonials/documents in original for verification etc, said Dr Surya Kant, Chairperson of the Department.

Department of Political Science: Interview for admission to MA Part-I Semester (Political Science) will be held on July 7 at 9.30 am. The candidates are advised to submit detailed marks cards of BA Part-III by 5 pm on July 5, according to the Chairperson of the department. TNS

Chandigarh, July 4
Prof Jhankarji Jha, Department of Sanskrit, Panjab University, has been invited to attend the 13th World Sanskrit Conference in Edinburgh (Scotland) from July 10. He will present his paper on “Variety of implications of Sanskrit case endings” at the conference being organised by the University of Edinburgh under the auspices of the International Sanskrit Association.

Professor Jha will also visit the academic institutions, especially Oriental Institutes at the University of Oxford, and London to inspect the Sanskrit manuscripts there. A communication to this effect has been received from Mr John Brockington (Chair), School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, University of Edinburgh.

Chandigarh, July 4
The CBI Special Judge, Mr Jagdeep Jain, today deferred the bail application of an intelligence officer of the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB), Chandigarh zone, Ravikant Pawar, who was arrested on June 21 while accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000 from the brother of an accused booked in a narcotics case. The CBI had opposed the bail application.

The investigating officer of the CBI said the complainant was receiving threats from the contacts of the accused and it could hamper the investigations into the case.

Ravikant was caught red-handed while allegedly demanding and accepting bribe from Mr Devinder Kumar, a Kullu resident. He was nabbed from a confectionary shop in Sector 15, where he had called the complainant to hand over the money.

Chandigarh, July 4
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice of motion for July 10 on a petition filed by two candidates challenging the validity of the result of the Common Entrance Test (CET)-2006 conducted by the Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh.

The test was held on June 12 at various centres.

In their petition, Ms Niharika Kharbanda and another candidate have stated that the answer-choices for some of the questions that were part of the physics, chemistry and biology group were wrong.

However, many candidates, who did not attempt these questions, were given negative marks and hence could not make it to the select list.

They have prayed that directions be issued to the PU to prepare a fresh merit list taking into consideration the faux pas.

The petitioners have also sought that the counselling for the seats should not be held on July 10-11 as planned by the PU.

Earlier, the counselling had been scheduled for July 17 but it was preponed to June 10-11. Hearing will now resume on June 10.

Chandigarh, July 4
“Riptide” by Capt Rajesh Sakhuja is a bold book by all standards. Inspired by preciousness of life and by the wonderfulness its countless manifestations spell, it makes a brand new point.

Not only does it enter a realm where mundane storylines are a strict exception, it triggers a thought process that is unlikely to end at any debate that surrounds euthanasia – a principle that lies at the heart of “Riptide”.

For a mariner that Sakhuja is, selection of title for the maiden book was not so much of a challenge as steering his thoughts in the right direction was. For long, he had been reading about euthanasia and about the well-argued ethics around permitting people to die under the wings of law. The arguments spawned several distressing images in the sailor’s mind and he finally decided to wield the pen lest his thoughts lose their steam.

“All creative pursuits begin with a thought. Often while lazing around on the ship, I used to read up on mercy killings or euthanasia or whatever you call it. But never could I get down to convincing myself about the process that leads to such a thing. I still hold human life in the highest esteem and believe it is a gift from God.”

“Even technically speaking, we are resources/properties of our state. Too much has been invested in us for us to simply give away our lives. Moreover, mercy killings, if permitted, can become easy tools for forced suicides,” argues Sakhuja, who builds on his thoughts in the book published by Unistar. The book was released at Chandigarh Press Club today by Nirupama Dutt, a feature writer with The Tribune.

The book is pure fiction, which seeks to mirror real life problems and issues that arise from them. The plot follows the life of Mohan Deshmukh, the weak protagonist of the book, who finds himself battling a suicidal urge.

Torn between the conflicting feelings of filial love and self destruction, he is caught in a riptide of emotions that threaten to consume him and all he holds dear.

The argument against euthanasia is sown in the soil of loveliness of life. What goes around comes around finally, so the reader of “Riptide” hopes.

Chandigarh, July 4
Film “Air Force One” was shown to celebrate American Independence Day today at American Corner at the Central State Library.

A large number of people gathered to watch the movie. After the movie a discussion on “the dreamers and the doers, who made the American history” was held.

A poster exhibition depicting glimpses of American history was put up.