Chandigarh, March 20
A few days ago, when the parents of a toddler studying in class I in a local government high school did not turn up at the designated time to pick him up, he left the school on his own without anyone’s notice, little knowing where to go.

A short while later, he was brought back to the school by an stranger who spotted him weeping by the roadside some distance away from the school. The child, little knowing about his home, could only point to his school when accosted by the stranger.

The school headmaster, on the condition on anonymity, said: “In the absence of a guard or gatekeeper, outsiders can have easy access to the school premises. “Without the guard, the safety of our students, especially younger ones, is at risk,” he added.

Sociologists said children, especially those belonging to the economically weaker strata of society, were more vulnerable to abduction, sexual assault and killings. Some schools have managed ad hoc arrangements by appointing temporary security guards through local resources, but it is not a long-term solution.

Principals and teachers said there was hardly any government high, middle or primary school where the administration had posted gatekeepers. Only senior secondary schools have authorised guards, they added. A visit to some of the schools revealed how children walked down deserted roads outside their schools without anyone to watch out for them.

Chandigarh, March 20
Boys from the Chandigarh NCC topped the Best Cadet competition in the directorate combined annual training camp, besides winning the boys’ basketball matches during the training year 2006. Girl cadets from this group were the first runners-up in girls’ basketball, national integration awareness presentation and group song.

Prizes were given to cadets for their performance at the group valedictory function 2007, held here today. Congratulating the cadets, special secretary finance-cum-director higher education Chandigarh Raji P. Srivastava, exhorted them to keep up their good work.

She said the cadets should capitalise on training they have received at NCC and also build upon the values they have imbibed. She also called upon the prize winners to come up with tangible suggestions to improve the quality of their stay at NCC camps.

Group Commander Col Manjit Singh said last year was a landmark year for the group. It was a result of concerted and dedicated efforts put in by all the cadets, associated NCC officers and staff of Chandigarh NCC, that the group moved up to the third position in the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh directorate.

Among the prize-winners were Kundan Singh, who had bagged the second position in the All-India Best Cadet category at the Republic Day Camp 2007 at New Delhi and Mayur Jamwal, who secured the third position in the All-India Best Cadet category in 2006 and had visited Vietnam, Bangkok and Hong Kong under the Youth Exchange Programme (YEP). Tripti Rawat and Rama Dulta were awarded for being outstanding cadets in the Chandigarh girls NCC battalion. 

Chandigarh, March 20
A “rendezvous with deaf and dumb children” was organised at the Desh Bhagat Institute of Management and Computer Sciences campus, here, today.

Gobindgarh Council chief Jagmeet Singh Sahota was the chief guest and the keynote speaker. Zora Singh, chairmen of Desh Bhagat Group of Institutes, and Shalini Gupta, director of DBIMCS, presided over the function. Dharam Raj, principal, Mahant Ganga Puri Badhir Vidyayla, spoke on the various problems faced by dumb and deaf students.

To mark the occasion, various competitions, including painting and quiz competitions were held. The winners are: Sukhdev Lalit Kumar, Krishan Gurwinder Singh, Amanpreet Singh, Goldy Singh and Davinder Singh. The children also performed dances and skits. A cartoon movie was also screened for the kids.

The chairman announced two schemes for the students, as part of which, the institute will provide free coaching in painting and computer education to the disabled children.

Chandigarh, March 20
Banit, Manisha and Perminder Singh secured the first, second and third prizes, respectively, in the “Medicinal Plants Competition,” held at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46, here, today.

The competition was organised in collaboration with the environment and forest department, Chandigarh. Manjit Singh Chauhan, deputy mayor of Chandigarh, was the chief guest. As many as 12 species of herbal plants were planted in the premises of the school.

“Under the plantation programme, we now have pather chatt, shatavari, ram tulsi, kapur tulsi, orange mint, spare mint, brahmi, ashwagandha, stevia, lemongrass, vasaka and sadabahar. All these medicinal plants have been raised with the help of the Sohanjana eco-club of our school”, said H.K. Bhatia, principal of the school.

Om Prakash, in-charge of the eco-club, described the ecological and ethno- medicinal status of under-utilised plants of the surrounding areas of the city.

However, S.K. Sharma, president of Environment Society of India, Chandigarh, while speaking on the occasion, stressed on preserving bio-diversity and natural vegetation with the help of creation of ponds.

Chandigarh, March 20
The two-week long Archo Fest, ended with a grand cultural finale, this evening. The annual festival of the College of Architecture, Sector 12, was marked with great enthusiasm and high spirits amongst the students. More than 250 students of the college, along with their families, were present to witness the cultural extravaganza.

The cultural show began with an instrumental fusion by the students of Maurya house. The students created a fusion of the Hindustani flute, sitar and tabla, on the tunes of Vande Mataram, mesmerising all present. Though a power cut for a few minutes disturbed the sequence of the events, the show continued after the power was restored.

Next was an instrumental presentation by the students of Kanishka house. The play, ‘Seva ke liye hazir hai’, created quite a laugh among the audience. A fashion show, based on the theme of the cultural heritage of East India, saw students of Maurya house dressed up in tribal attires complete with head gears and ornaments made of beads and shell, walk down the stage.

‘Rahat’, a play presented by the students of Kalinga house, impressed everyone. Other events included, vocal recital, a free-for-all, fashion round, etc.

A graffiti competition was also held later in the evening. The valedictory-cum-prize-distribution function will be held tomorrow.

Arvind Krishnan, former head of department, School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, will be the chief guest on the occasion.

Chandigarh, March 20
An engineer by profession, Kolkata based-performing musicologist, pandit Budhadev Das Gupta (74), envisions music as the highest manifestation of the mind. He learnt sarod from pandit Radhika Mohan Moitra for over 40 years. Credited with valuable research work at the Sangeet Research Akademi, Kolkata, he represented India at leading musical festivals worldwide. His disciple-sons Anirban Gupta and Bhavani Shanker are set to carry forward his sarod-playing legacy.

In the city to receive the third Koser award, the septuagenarian sarod maestro talked to the Tribune regarding his experiences and views on contemporary classical music in India.

Art historians say the style of any art form is never static but a dynamic phenomenon subjected to changes in different periods of cultural development. But in India, the attitude and loyalty of listeners has suffered substantial changes than changes in the art forms, says Dasgupta.

The pandit lamented that knowledge about the fundamentals of music is lacking among the audiences and media persons covering musical soirees. Quoting certain instances, the guru rued that sometimes parameters of the performing artists are formulated and judged by many naïve media reporters, who otherwise excel with their flowery language.

A proponent of the guru-shishya paramapara, Pt Dasgupta marvelled at the response and respect for Indian music by people abroad during his concerts: US (1985), Russia (1988), and lecture demonstrations in European countries.

He rues lack of patronage from the government for the promotion of the art and artistes.

Unlike many rich artists, Pt Dasgupta could not leave his job as a mechanical engineer to devote wholly to the musical arts, and calls his job a sheer wastage of 35 golden years.