Chandigarh, May 31
Staff of DAV Model School, Sector 15A, here, bid farewell to two of its seniormost teachers Aruna Bagga and Chanchal Bajaj. Both of them served the institution for nearly 37 years. During their tenure in the school, they were very popular amongst the children.

Teachers of DAV Model School, Sector 15, at the farewell of two teachers in Chandigarh on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

To honour them, teachers presented various cultural activities. The teachers performed dances on popular and old songs. Skits were also presented. Their parting moments were made unforgettable by the rest of the staff.

Principal Rakesh Sachdeva in her farewell words said that both of them had set examples for others to follow. She also said that every teacher should make hard work her religion.

The event was followed by interesting titles to the outgoing teachers.

Chandigarh, May 31
As a judge of the constitutional court of South Africa, Zakeria Mohammad Yacoob is involved in writing groundbreaking judgments to reshape laws for the better. The challenge is huge, given the rather recent enactment of the country’s new constitution, which guarantees equality in all respects.

Justice Yacoob is himself a fine example of how equality has come to stay in South Africa. Blinded at 16 months of age due to meningitis, he has risen to the highest echelons of judiciary by making it to the Benches of constitutional court, which, like India’s Supreme Court, is the court of last instance. At present, he holds three charges - judge of the constitutional court, chancellor of the University of Durban-Westville and chairperson of the South African National Council for the Blind.

At heart, however, Yacoob is a man of justice. That’s why he is in India to meet chief justices and judges of courts and discuss challenges before India’s judiciary. Delhi-based Human Rights Law Network has arranged his visits here.

In Chandigarh today, Yacoob met Chief Justice Vijender Jain of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and four other judges to discuss the role of judiciary.

“It was a formal meeting in which the chief justice shared his impressions of South Africa. We discussed the burden Indian judiciary faces. The high court here has only 35 judges when there is a compliment of 53. The case backlog, I was told, is 300,000. The pressure is evident,” Yacoob told The Tribune today.

Comparing the Indian situation with South African, he said an average criminal trial back home would be over in two years; accept in complicated cases of fraud. “It’s not so here and the burden on judiciary is a formidable cause,” he said, making strong references to why judges should be accountable.

South Africa is currently making laws to hold judges accountable. The constitutional court has already made it clear that robust criticism of the judiciary is vibrant. The country will shortly have a public complaints mechanism against judges in place and a system whereby judges would have to declare their assets annually.

“These details would go down for public consumption. We are also trying to reconstruct our judiciary to represent the majority of our people so that they can work towards a truly democratic South Africa,” said Yacoob, who rose from the ranks of senior lawyers to become a judge. He represented the accused in the political trial, which came to be known as the “Vula Trial” involving high-ranking members of the African National Congress during 1990 until 1991.

“We even have university lecturers elevated as judges if they fit the criteria. As judges we are involved in analysing the laws and reshaping them to make our constitution brighter. The new constitution came up in 1994 and it needs constant revision to uphold democracy,” Yacoob said, showing disapproval for the term “judicial activism”.

“As judges, we are supposed to be active. It’s our duty. It’s not something that deserves a special phrasing,” he said. 

Chandigarh, May 31
The neighbourhood of the proposed film acting institute - Actor Prepares - coming up at the Government Central Crafts Institute for Women, Sector 11, does not gel with the stature of the coveted project which will be inaugurated by Punjab Governor and UT administrator Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd) on June 5.

The project is being undertaken by actor Anupam Kher. "I am very sure actors, actresses and other professionals from Bollywood will not be impressed to see the filth in the neighbourhood of such a prestigious venture," in charge of the project said.

The principal of the college in separate letters to the concerned executive engineers of the administration and municipal corporation has sought immediate attention towards landscaping of the entire area to make the project more attractive and cleaner.

He said, "The area adjoining the YMCA wall is totally neglected at present. Residents staying around the area under question have made the venue a permanent dumping ground for waste." It has also been pointed out that "no one from the horticulture department of the MC has visited the site where congress grass and bushes grow unchecked". — TNS

Chandigarh, May 31
Art and architecture stay together. Seen in this backdrop, the frames on display at Chandigarh College of Architecture’s Foyer Gallery make more sense than they would if viewed in isolation of the synergy the disciplines share.

The exhibition is a fine attempt by Isha Sharma, a final year student, to make good her academic trip to Australia. The frames offer a virtual insight into the beauty of Australia, a country that has dared to experiment, irrespective of consequences. It is this experimentation in styles that stares you in the face as you view the moments captured in Isha’s camera. These are ordinary moments, captured well.

Each frame tells the story of spaces that bring cities alive and of silences that narrate their history. At the heart of the photo show are three cities - Sydney, Australia’s commercial capital, Melbourne, its cultural capital and Canberra its political capital. The eye is of a student, on internment to a country she finds fascinating in detail and description.

The good thing about the exhibition is its unpredictability. Free from the fetters of theme, it moves on its own, creating marked impressions and surprising the watchers now and again. One moment you are in the company of marine marvels of Melbourne, next moment you are with a string of casually parked scooters that make you wonder what’s special about the frame.

A closer look gives away the magic - it’s not about scooters as much as it’s about the smart parking lot that casts a spell. In the backdrop are slick roads that make you want to walk them.

And then there are cultural hallmarks like the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, Melbourne’s Parliament House, High Court of Australia and other brilliant specimens of Victorian architecture that reveal Australia’s “colonial past”.

Finally, the show is about art and architecture and about the beauty that flows from one idiom to another.