Chandigarh, May 2
Students of government schools of the city are in for a surprise for the Chandigarh education department, supported by the department of tourism and the Chandigarh industrial and tourism development corporation (CITCO), is planning to engage special joy rides for school children which include fun trips to Fun Republic and much more.

This three-hour sight-seeing trip on the hop-on-hop-off open-roof double-decker bus will take the school children in and around the city to inculcate a deeper sense of pride in the city’s heritage and culture. Educative and informative, the trip will be arranged from the welfare fund as well as from the PTA and other miscellaneous funds.

While speaking about the scheme, DPI (Schools) S.K. Setia said, “We are thinking of arranging special excursion tour on the hop-on-hop-off bus trip run by CITCO along with picnics to Fun Republic and even a dekko at the Sound and Light Show at the Government Museum and Art Gallery.”

Stressing the importance of all-round development of students, Setia elaborated that this innovative idea was also meant to break the monotony of a daily school routine.

He also said they were trying to further subsidise the whole venture so as to bring more children into the fold.

At present this CITCO double-decker bus takes visitors to Rose Garden, Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake among other locations. However, the trip for the school children will be specially designed for them and will include the War Memorial in Sector 3 and even the upcoming Botanical Garden, near Sarangpur, apart from the city’s special Sound and Light Show.

When contacted, Vivek Atray, director, Tourism, said, “This comes under the jurisdiction of CITCO. Yes, we would definitely like to extend our full cooperation in this regard. Though we have not yet received the proposal, but definitely the concept is in the pipeline.”

He said they would plan the trip in such a way that every aspect of the student’s curiosity about Chandigarh would be satisfied.

Going a step further Atray said they would try and ensure that the trip would be free so that maximum children could avail of this opportunity.

Chandigarh, May 2
American poetess Erica Funkhouser discussed her much celebrated article on war poetry which first appeared in 2005 in ‘The Harvard Review’ during campaigning for peace-city Chandigarh at the Peace Club of Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36, in association with Yuvsatta and the American Centre today.

“Poems stemming from wars focus on human perceptions in a way that war journalism simply cannot. Poetry has come out of every single conflict in history. Even the Kashmir crisis in India will have its manifestations in verse,” she averred.

While admitting that she did not have enough knowledge of war poems from every region of the world, she said she was going to continue her research into this aspect of articulation.

From the earliest war epics of Gilgamesh to the agonising rhythms of World War-I to the more discordant, contemporary tones emanating from the Iraq war in the present, Erica read and discussed poems at the college in the morning and at the American Corner at T S Central State Library, Sector 17, later in the day.

Her focus is primarily based upon two ideas. “Almost always, war poetry is poetry of place, the landscape within which the soldiers fight. Also the language changes in response to each new war and this is evident in the diction, scale and structure,” she explained.

What made Erica’s talk different is that she has focussed on poets who actually fought the war, of what these young people brought back from such an intense, terrifying experience not the likes of celebrated poets W H Auden or Yeats.

What started as mere curiosity soon escalated into deeper research for her. “When the Iraq war began there was a lot of protest being published on-line and I found it almost universally inadequate and amateurish in writing but not in sentiment. This brought on more complex questions because there is so much we do not know about conflicts in our times.”

As far as war being poetic, Erica believes everything lends itself to poetry but poems contain all the horrors of war compressed into a single image, they speak eloquently about the harshness of war which people otherwise would not want to look at she explains.

Her own poems interestingly deal with nature, history (celebrated monologues in the voices of 19th century American women: Sacagawea, Louisa M. Alcott and Annie Oakley) and traditional subjects like love and family, she says.

This award-winning writer (she also won the Guggenheim Fellowship this year) teaches poetry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has already written four collections of poetry and her work, both fiction and articles, have appeared in various magazines.

As for her favourites, it is Keats when she “hungers for a certain kind of sensual experience in a poem” or John Donne who she first fell in love with when she started to read poetry. 

SESSION FOR LAWYERS: An interactive session was organised by the University Institute of Legal Studies, Panjab University with Baroness Ashton of Up Holland, Parliamentary under secretary of State, Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA) U.K., Alison Hook, Law Society of England and Wales, Sir Thomas Legg, Clifford Chance, Alexander Knapton DCA, Pattrick Bourke, DCA Sanchita Chatterjee, trade policy advisor, B.H.C. Tanisha Tharia, trade investment advisor, Prof Veer Singh, director, Rayat and Bahra, College of Law, Prof S.K. Kulkarni, dean University Instructions, PU, Prof Shashi K. Sharma, chairperson Department of Law PU at the university here this afternoon.

During the session, Ashton said it was her first visit to India and she had come to formulate Indo-U.K. partnership in legal field. She said India is growing by leaps and bounds in every sphere especially in legal field. Alison Hook, who represented the Law Society of England and Wales, said India should open its legal market to the world. Sir Thomas Legg, from Clifford Chance, said the firm is looking for young and dynamic lawyers especially from India, who can work for their firm which is planning to outsource legal work from U.K. to India. Prof. R.S. Grewal, director, UILS delivered vote of thanks.

COMPUTER LAB INAUGURATED: Computer Lab of the Academic Staff College, PU, was inaugurated by Prof R.C. Sobti, vice-chancellor, Panjab University, today. Prof Sobti congratulated Prof S.K. Sharma, director, Academic Staff College that a long pending demand of the participants was fulfilled and the lab will now be utilised by college and university lecturers coming to the Academic Staff College to attend different programmes. Prof. S.K. Sharma said the lab will also cater to the computer literacy needs of university faculty, research scholars, students, non-teaching and other groups. For this different short term courses will be conducted. Prof. B.S. Sohi, director, UIET, Prof. R.K. Singla, Prof. Tankeshwar Kumar, Prof. Nawal Kishore were present on the occasion. The lab has been fully funded by the UGC and is furnished with 24 terminals, subject specific software etc. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 2
he Bar Council of India has ordered the removal of city-based lawyer Naresh Batra’s name from the roll of advocates.

In a communication to the secretary, Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, the council has stated: “The reference made by the disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of India for the removal of the name of the respondent from the roll of advocates, is hereby accepted.”

The communiqué dated April 17 goes on to add that a reference has been made by the committee to treat the matter for removal of Naresh Batra’s name on the ground that “he has obtained enrolment as advocate by concealment of material facts to the effect that he was involved in active business as managing director of several companies….” It said upon perusal of the documentary evidence on record independently, “we agree with the findings accorded by the committee of the Bar Council of India.”