Chandigarh, May 11
Schoolchildren, who are working on CloudSat Education Network for the past one year, will be directly contacted by NASA scientists. The scientists will be studying the interesting data, collected by the students, for a long time to come. They will be providing feedback to the students and other scientists as they progress, says Debra K. Krumm, director of education and public outreach, NASA CloudSat Mission, Colorado State University, USA, while answering some specific questions about the CloudSat programme.

NASA has launched the programme in schools. Eleven countries, including India, are part of the programme. Punjab is the only state in India where eight schools from Mohali and Jalandhar are working to collect basic atmospheric data like the types of clouds they see when the satellite flies over their location, the amount of rain, if any, and the temperature.

However, for collecting scientific data, NASA’s research satellites, CloudSat and CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations), are on the job.

The data provided by the ground-based observers will be compared by the scientists with the satellite radar data.

Debra says more than 50 schools have collected data and recorded more than 500 observations for the scientists

“The little investigators are very serious about collecting and submitting the data through e-mail. This is important because the data is valuable to NASA.

Indian students are very committed and enthusiastic about working with NASA. The Indian students seem to have a good understanding of the value of learning about science and the environment. They also understand the importance of accuracy and consistency in reporting the data,” she says.

According to her it would be wonderful to see these students continue their scientific research through other projects.

CloudSat is one of several projects conducted through the NASA GLOBE Programme, which has a large presence in India. The students will have other opportunities by working with GLOBE India. NASA will provide other opportunities similar to the CloudSat mission in the future too.

The students have already received some citations from NASA. “I am sure that there will be more to come! Students who are interested in careers with NASA should continually check the website (www.nasa.gov) for opportunities for internships and other training options”.

The scientists will ‘see’ inside the clouds through satellites, but the little eyes observe clouds from nearby areas of the school on a specified date and time.

Dr Neelima Jerath, joint director (environment), Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, says, “The council and Colorado State University are informing students when to collect data. This will depend upon when the CloudSat satellite passes over the school. The satellite passes approximately twice a month at 1.30pm.

Chandigarh, May 11
The acting Australian High Commissioner to India, David Holly, today announced the 2007 Australian Government scholarships for India.

The Australian Government offers a range of study and research awards available to candidates in the Asia-Pacific region, including India, under the Australian Scholarships Programme.

These awards include the Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) for long-term post-graduate study in Australia at masters or doctoral level and the Endeavour Scholarships for researchers, executives and students to undertake short or long-term study, research and professional development in a broad range of disciplines.

“Australian Leadership Awards are open to current and emerging leaders, offering an opportunity for high achievers in India to extend their education, strengthen their leadership skills, build networks and develop strategies,” said Holly.

Talking to TNS, Professor John Webb, counsellor, education and training at the commission, said the leadership awards are given for longer-term post-graduate study in Australia at masters or doctoral level. Preference is given to candidates who can demonstrate that they are in a leadership role or have the potential to assume a leadership role. “Initiative, ability and ambition is what we are looking for. The award is given for a period that can range between four months to four years,” said Webb.

Australian Studies Fellowships for Indian University Teaching Staff and Postgraduates Fellowships for the study of Australia are available in 2007 as part of the Australian studies programme of the Australia-India Council (AIC).

Webb added that these scholaships were highly prestigious and well funded. “The funds take care of the travel expenses, the course fee and the living expenses of the holder. Last year 138 students were awarded various scholarships,” he said. More information is available on www.australianscholarships.gov.au.

Mohali, May 11
With the aim of keeping up with technology, the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) here celebrated Technology Day today. The centre was opened to educate the public about the latest technologies in the field of IT.

J.S. Bhatia, director, C-DAC, talked about the role and use of IT in today’s environment. He also talked about the importance of science and technology and highlighted the technological activities of C-DAC for national development.

Bhatia said C-DAC was a national initiative to attain technological competency. Towards this drive, C-DAC has been actively involved in the design, development and deployment of electronics and advanced IT products and solutions since its establishment in March 1988.

Public relation officer Deepak Rana specially arranged demonstrations on cyber security, multilingual technologies, multimedia and animation and other technologies for students, teachers, professionals and entrepreneurs, from in and around Mohali. More than 400 students, teachers, professional and entrepreneurs visited C-DAC today.

Mohali
ACTIVITY DAY: Activity Day was organised at Shivalik Public School, here, on Friday, to celebrate Mother’s Day. Students of classes Nursery to II participated in various activities like clay modelling and card-making. They made cards by pasting photographs of their mothers and then decorated them, which they will present to their mothers at a parent-teacher meeting on Saturday.

FUNCTION: The pre-primary section of AKSIPS-65 celebrated Mother's Day on Friday. Mothers of the children were invited to spend the morning with their children. A clay modelling competition was held for the mothers. The children thanked their mothers with cards, appreciating their efforts. Prizes were also given to the mothers and the children.

Patiala
KIDS REMEMBER 1857: Blossoms Senior Secondary School observed 150th year of the uprising of 1857 on the school premises on Friday. Maj Gen M.S. Chahal was the chief guest. The function started with the lighting of a lamp by the chief guest. The whole event was centered on the revolt starting with Mangal Pandey, Rani Laxmi Bai and Kooka Movement. Along with these events, the students also presented the Indigo Movement in the form of dramas and puppet shows.

All demonstrations were given with the help of charts and models prepared by the students. Students and teachers from many prominent schools were also present. At last, students’ presentations of Bahadur Shah Zafar’s reign and bazaar of Chandni Chowk were highly appreciated by the audience.

Sant Chahal, trustee of the school, told the children to be more particular to read and know their country’s history and to learn faults and root cause of loosing the battle.— TNS

Fatehgarh Sahib
MOTHER’S DAY: Scholar Fields Public School celebrated Mother’s Day on the school premises on Friday. About 150 students of the school participated in cultural activities like speeches, songs and dances. Prof S.S. Chadha, chairman of the school, was the chief guest. Students paid tributes to the selfless services of their mothers. The programme commenced with 'Maa Vandana', 'I love my mom, Oh! Yes, I do...’ Kesar, a student of UKG, presented a dance on the song 'Maiya Yashodha, ye tera Kanhiya ........' which was highly applauded by the audience.

Principal S.S. Sodhi congratulated the mothers present on the occasion and urged them not to curse their daughters.

The school management decided to honour toppers of the annual examination, 2007. A musical chair for mothers of prize winners was also organised in which Ravinderpal Kaur, mother of Manveen Kaur of Class V, bagged the first position.

In the end, the chief guest Prof Chadha congratulated the meritorious students and gave away the prizes. — OC

Chandigarh
PROGRAMME: Mother’s Day was celebrated by pre-primary students of Saupin’s School, 32 - A, Chandigarh. A total of 150 students participated in various events and activities to make the day special for their mothers. The tiny tots and their mothers and teachers participated in a ‘Sandwich-making’ activity. This was followed by a cultural programme. Later the students and parents participated in games and the winning mother was crowned ‘Best Mom.’

INTERACTION: The tiny tots of Chitkara International School, Sector 25, visited the Senior Citizens Home in Sector 43. They presented flowers and cards to the senior citizens and asked for their blessings. The children also staged a small cultural show for them, played a number of games and listened to the inmates relate their childhood stories.

Meanwhile, the children of the junior kindergarten went to the General Post Office, Sector 17, dropped Mother's Day cards into the brightly painted letter box. — TNS 

Chandigarh, May 11
NCC cadets are now in for a special treat. Starting from this session, the Chandigarh administration has given its nod to the proposal send by the director, technical education, to give due recognition to the NCC cadets by granting them incentives for admission to various undergraduate and postgraduate courses in city colleges, including professional colleges, and also in Panjab University.

Under this proposal, the NCC students holding an ‘A’ certificate seeking admission to a first-year undergraduate course such as BSc, BCom, BBA, BSc (biotech) will be given five per cent weightage and those holding a ‘B’ certificate will be given seven per cent weightage.

Similarly, for admission to the first year in postgraduate courses, including MA, MSc, MCom, MBA etc, seven per cent weightage will be given to those holding a ‘B’ certificate and ten per cent to those having a ‘C’ certificate.

For taking admissions to professional colleges, including Government Medical College, Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology, Chandigarh Polytechnic, ITI and BEd colleges, all NCC cadets with ‘A’ certificate will be given three credit points which may be added to the candidate’s score in the entrance test or one seat will be reserved in each of these colleges for NCC ‘A’ certificate holders.

For Arts and Science Colleges, where the admission is given on the basis of marks scored in Class XII, the Chandigarh administration can straightway give weightage to NCC ‘A’ and ‘B’ certificate holders.

Interestingly, this method of giving weightage to NCC cadets is being followed in a number of other states in the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Haryana.

Those NCC cadets seeking admission to various courses in Panjab University can approach the vice-chancellor for incentives.

In University College of Engineering and Technology, three credit points may be added to the score of the NCC cadet with ‘A’ certificate.

These credits may be added to his score in the entrance test.

Similar credits can also be given for admission to BSc (hons) courses, chemical engineering and cadets seeking admission to five years LLB course. In all postgraduate courses, the NCC ‘C’ certificate holder be given ten per cent weightage. For admission to different departments, the weightage for ‘A’ ‘B’ ‘C’ certificates holders should be five, seven and 10 per cent, respectively.

Chandigarh, May 11
Mohit Singla (Class VIII-A) of Bhavan Vidyalaya-27, Chandigarh, grabbed the first place in the junior category while Meenal (Class XII-C1), also from Bhavan Vidyalaya-27, emerged the winner in the senior category in the Tara Chand Saboo Inter-School Photography Competition and got a cash prize of Rs 5,000 each.

The running trophy, established in the memory of Late Yog Joy, a renowned photojournalist and photo editor of The Tribune, was awarded to Bhavan Vidyalaya for overall best performance. This first of its kind venture was organised by Bhavan Vidyalaya-27 on the school premises for students of the city schools. Diwan Manna, a renowned freelance photographer, and Vikram Joy, senior photographer with The Indian Express, judged the entries carrying catchy captions.

Sponsored by the Jan Seva Trust of the Saboo family in the memory of its patriarch, Late Tara Chand Saboo, this competition was open to the students of Classes VI to XII. As many as 250 photographs were received on the theme “Students and teachers - sharing a perfect bond” depicting myriad moods of the teacher-taught relationship.

H.K. Dua, editor-in-chief, The Tribune Group of Papers, was the chief guest. Vivek Atray, director tourism, Chandigarh, S.K. Setia, DPI(S) and R.K. Saboo, chairman, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Chandigarh, were among the dignitaries who attended the function.

Advocating that a good picture captures the decisive moment which leaves a deep impact on the mind, Dua talked about the famous picture of the Vietnamese war picture depicting a 13-14 year-old crying girl, who got burnt having hit by a bomb. Dua said this picture evoked immense human feel i.e. repulsion against war and it compelled the Americans to change their opinion about war. Remembering some old moments spent with Yog Joy, Dua appreciated his great works.

R.K. Saboo proposed to donate 10 digital cameras costing about Rs 3,500 to the government schools students. These cameras would be the property of the schools and would be given to students having a knack for the photography field.

Meanwhile, in junior category, Ahshay Singla (Class VIII, St John’s 26) came second and got Rs 2,500 as cash prize while Mayank of (Class VIII-A) BVB-27 got the third place and a cash prize of Rs 1,000. Achit Nain of Class VI, Holy Child School, Panchkula, and Mayank of BVB-27 got the consolation prizes of Rs 500 each.

In the senior category, Gursimran of Class XII-B, AKSIPS-40, was awarded the second prize and a cash prize of Rs 2,500 whereas the third prize went to Ishaan of Class XII-C1 of BVB-27 with a cash prize of Rs 1,000. The consolation prizes of Rs 500 each were given to Gursimran (XII-B, AKSIPS-40), Bhavna (XI-C2, BVB-27), Ishaan (XII-C1, BVB-27), Pushkin IX, St Kabir), Kashish (XII, Chaman Lal DAV-Panchkula) and Nitesh (XII, GMSSS-16).

The exhibition of photographs will be open for public from May 11 to 13 from 10 am to 5 pm. 

Chandigarh, May 11
R. P. Vajpayee, professor at the National Institute of Pharmacy Institute of Education and Research, Mohali, and former director, NISTADS, New Delhi, cautioned against the overuse of technology and called for remedial measures while speaking on “Technology, society and globalisation” at Panjab University, here, on Friday. The lecture was organised under the popular lecture series instituted by the university.

R. P. Vajpayee noted that while a large part of the world’s population had not even received elementary benefits from modern technology and its excessive use in the hands of a few was creating problems for the planet as a whole.

In the larger interest of human kind, technology must advance in some areas and retreat in others. At the same time, basic fruits of technology should become available to all.

Mr Vajpayee lamented that “basti ki pathshala was being sacrificed at the altar of masti ki pathshala…”. Children of the present upper classes had got used to an easy lifestyle because of their family background. They could maintain and improve on this lifestyle only by working for big companies, no matter how intellectually sterile the work was.

Earlier, Prof S.K. Kulkarni, dean, university instruction, PU, in his welcome address informed that the popular lecture series had been started with a view to create awareness. The lecture was presided over by Dr R.P. Bajpai, vice-chancellor, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, and former director, CSIO, Chandigarh. 

Interview: A walk-in interview will be held on May 18 for the appointment of one physical trainer and coaches of various games recognised by the AIU.

The coaches will be appointed for maximum 21 days at the rate of Rs 100 per day fixed purely on temporary basis.

Candidates must come for interview at the office of deputy director, physical education, Campus Sports, at Jawaharlal Nehru Complex (Gymnasium Building), Ground Floor, Panjab University, Chandigarh, with all their original testimonials.

No TA/DA will be paid to the candidates.

Ex-councillor gets interim bail

Chandigarh, May 11
A former nominated councillor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, P.C. Sanghi, was today granted interim bail by a local court. The police had lodged a case after a safai karamchari, Anarkali, had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that the former councillor had made casteist remarks against her.

She had reportedly been hired for Rs 4,500 to clean the backlanes. However, she was allegedly given only Rs 2,000. The police had recently lodge a DDR. Following this, the former councillor had moved a bail application in the court. He has, however, alleged that another nominated councillor was behind the false complaint made against him. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 11
Yet again, the Chandigarh Police is in a spot. This time a crucial witness in the six-month-old murder of a Sector 32 resident, Malkiat Kaur, by her son Ajit Pal Singh has retracted his statement in the court of district and sessions judge B.S. Mehandiratta.

Surinder Singh, a taxi driver, a complainant in the case, has told the court that he did not report to the police about the murder and accused Ajit Pal Singh never confessed his crime to him.

The police had claimed that the FIR was registered on the basis of statement by the taxi driver. Surinder Singh told the court that he had gone to the police station only to complain about the theft of his documents.

It may be recalled that on November 15, 2006, the 23 year-old engineer, frustrated at the “constant insult” allegedly heaped on his father, Nirmal Singh Rana, by his mother following his failure “to give” her another son, had allegedly hacked his mother to death with a sickle. Nirmal Singh is a haemophilia patient.

CULTURE

Kathak dancer casts spell
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, May 11
Unlike the south Indian dances, which are purely steeped into religious traditions, kathak is a hybrid offspring of vastly different cultures characterised by lyrical romanticism, delicacy and grace. Young danseuse Monisa Nayak brought alive these salient features of this dance form in her romance-filled recital here at the Pracheen Kala Kendra today. The Delhi-based danseuse and a foremost disciple of Guru Rajendra Gangani of the Jaipur gharana had performed in many countries like Poland, Spain, Norway, Australia and Switzerland. But her fund-raising concerts for Tsunami at the international venues were highly appreciated. Her choreographic classics 'Spectrum' and 'Kabir' are a genuine blend of tradition and modernity which is a testimony to her adroit mastery over the art.

Monisa commenced the concert with Shiva stotra before delineating the technical aspects of pure kathak like tode, tukde, upaj, thaat, uthaans with nimble footwork.

Romance remained the main motif in the subsequent gestures segment as she depicted the myths woven around the life Lord Krishna through Kavits. This was followed by an Abhinya-based scintillating thumri 'Aiso hathilo chhail'. The concluding piece ‘Sargam’ was a musical and rhythmical treat. Kishore Gangani on tabla, Vinod Gangani on vocals and Ravi Sharma on sitar provided the matching melodic support. Kathak gurus Shobha Koser and M.L. Koser honoured the artistes.