Chandigarh, June 19
For those seeking admission to city colleges, there seem to be no end to their troubles. Close on the heels of the chaos regarding unavailability of the prospectus, students are now faced with another uphill task - filling the form.

Visits to various government colleges in the city reveal that parents and their wards are facing difficulties in filling and submitting these forms.

The common prospectus for the colleges indicates that there is a helpdesk in each college. Surprisingly, not even one of the helpdesks is working. Even the offices are divided on the issue as to when exactly these help desks are supposed to work. When enquired from the office, the clerk said the helpdesk would function from July 2 i.e from the date of admissions and the principal said it would function from June 23 i.e the last day for submission of forms.

In front of each course and subject, name of a teacher is marked along with the room number where she/he will be available. But all departments in the colleges are closed. So, practically there is no one to help the students, who are in dilemma regarding which course they should pick up. “I want to know what this course offers, but there is no one to guide me on this,” rues a resident of Patiala, who came to fill the form for the postgraduate diploma in fashion designing at GCG 42.

Though there is an option for the students to download the admission forms and prospectus from a common website and also from individual websites of the college, it seems even that process is as cumbersome as it can get. “I tried downloading the prospectus, but found out that the entire file is in pdf format which cannot be copied easily. One needs to wait for hours together till its downloaded. After downloading, one has to print the entire copy. Even after going through this long process, we have to come and deposit the fee personally. The internet facility does not serve the purpose at all,” claims Prem Jyoti, a resident of Shimla, who came for the admission of his daughter in biotech honours.

Moreover, there is no one to guide the applicants where the forms are sold since each college is selling the form from the place most convenient to them. “There is no notice board here, indicating where the forms are available. After much sweat and toil, we found out the forms are available at the library on the second floor. Also, as we do not belong to this place, we had to scout for a photostat shop to get the certificates photocopied and wasted a lot of time as we also had to go to other colleges to submit forms,” rues one of the hassled parents Pawan Singla, who came with his daughter from Kaithal at Government College for Girls, Sector 42.

Not only this, the form, which requires one to fill in the choice of subjects, leaves many students confused. “There is nobody to guide us. I am clueless about the elective and compulsory subjects. Also the person, who is sitting here for assistance, is of no help, he doesn’t know anything about the subjects,” says hapless Simmy from Haryana seeking admission to BCA - I.

Chandigarh, June 19
The Government College for Girls, Sector 42, is virtually falling apart if ill-maintained toilets, dark and dingy corridors, faded blackboards and discarded furniture lying in the corridors is any indication.

However, the college has its own plus points. Probably, it is the only disabled-friendly college in the city with ramps leading to all floors for easy movement of the physically-challenged. The playground at the college has also been cleared of the wild growth ahead of the monsoons.

Corridors, that should have otherwise been used for free movement of teachers and students, are virtually being used as a dumping ground for discarded furniture. Broken chairs, tables and desks lie dumped in the corridors. Though the college boasts of a spacious building, yet the corridors have hardly any source of natural light.

With new session round the corner, the college is yet to get a fresh coat of paint. A substantial number of tubelights are also non-functional here bringing the maintenance of the building and provision of basic amenities on the campus under sharp focus.

Even the blackboards painted on the walls have faded with the passage of time causing inconvenience to the backbenchers.

Toilets situated on the first floor are in a pathetic condition. The doors are completely broken and have chipped off from their hooks. Moreover, there is no provision of water.

When contacted, principal of the college Inderjit Kaur said, “The toilets will be renovated soon, we have already written to the engineering department and a rough draft has already been formulated. The file will be cleared in a day or two from the office of the DPI (colleges).” About the corridors, she maintained that the design of the building was such that the paint was not permitted. “But we have spoken to the chief architect in this regard so that at least a coat of white paint can be applied for light reflection. Blackboards, water coolers and even lecture stands would be ready before the new session commences,” she stated

Panchkula, June 19
The Haryana Sahitya Akademi Awards 2006-07 will be bestowed on five selected Hindi litterateurs for their contribution in their respective realms. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, akademi director Radheshyam Sharma disclosed that the awards had been delayed this time due to some technical reasons and would be presented by the Chief Minister of Haryana at a function to be held shortly.

The 'Sur Samman’ of Rs 1 lakh will be bestowed upon Dr Hem Raj Sharma, former professor and head of Hindi department. Credited with 25 publications, he had been on the panel of the Hindi Consultative Committee, Government of India. The 'Balmukand Gupt Puruskar' for literature carrying Rs 50,000 will be conferred upon Dr Yashpal Vaid from Ambala while Rohit Yadav of Mahendragarh will be awarded the same award for journalism. Noted playwright Bharat Bhushan of Rohtak has been selected for the 'Pandit

Lakhmi Chand' award of Rs 50,000 for Haryanavi literature whereas poet of humour Om Prakash Aditya of Gurgaon will be honoured with the ‘Haryana Guarav Samman', said the akademi director. OC

Chandigarh, June 19
Today was a day of protests in the city by unemployed teachers of various categories hailing from Punjab.

Protests were held in Sector 34 by unemployed substitute computer teachers, in Sector 17 by unemployed PTI teachers while disgruntled unemployed DPE teachers from Punjab held a march from outside the office of the DPI, Sector 17, to the rally venue in Sector 25 this afternoon. At the rally ground, the protesters tried to breach the barricades and were shooed away by cops.

Jatinder Singh, president of the Unemployed DPE (Diploma in Physical Education) Teachers Union, Punjab, said though they had several meetings with the chief minister, the education minister and the finance minister of the state, their demands had not been met till date.

Now, they had been forced to follow the “do-or-die” policy and had, from today, waged a battle against the callous attitude of the authorities. The struggle would continue until the government filled 5,000 vacant posts of DPE teacher and 500 posts of lecturer in the state.

Fed up with the “false assurances” of the state government, members of the Unemployed PTI Teachers Union, Punjab, took a novel way of protest and marked their resentment by “stripping themselves of their essentials”. They raised slogans against the state government and launched a relay fast from today. Rakesh Kumar, president of the union, alleged that the state government had miserably failed on all fronts during the first 100 days. It had failed to meet the promises it had made with the unemployed youth.

The previous government had approved 849 posts, of which 581 had already been filled and now the state government was dilly-dallying on filling the remaining 268 posts.

Rajbir Kaur, secretary of the union, threatened that if their demands were not met within 10 days, they would intensify their agitation.

The scene was the same in Sector 34, where members of Substitute Teachers Union, Punjab, held a protest march in the market complex this afternoon. They raised slogans against the state government. Narinder Singh Nabha and Sunil Sharma sat on hunger strike from today.

The Computer Teachers Union (Contract), Punjab, and the All-India Sikh Students Federation also came out in support of them today and condemned the state government for its callous attitude against the youth struggling for their right to jobs.

The agitating teachers threatened that they would be forced to intensify their struggle if their demands were not met.

Chandigarh, June 19
When yoga guru Navtej Johar chooses a mountain resort to combine the romance of bonfire dinners and mid-night treks with sound breathing techniques and fluid body movements amidst the chanting of mantras during a camp, transcending stress is not really an uphill task.

Johar himself says inhaling and meditation techniques during the five-day "body and heart yoga retreat" at Shimla will transform you completely into a stress-free being.

The retreat organised by his organisation Abhyas Trust is scheduled to begin on June 25 on 250 acres of "peaceful and enchanting luxury camping resort" located just on Shimla's outskirts. It promises to leave you "feeling good" and ready for the world not just physically, but also psychologically.

For, Johar says his techniques are different from the usual television stuff you are overdosed with. "Yoga requires time to relax, reflect and rejuvenate. You just cannot perform a series of asana for an hour or so daily after sitting in front of the small screen and stake your claim to well-being," he says.

"For complete body and mind healing, you need structured practice in asana, pranayama and meditation, besides chanting and study of patanjali yoga sutras".

As Johar talks, you realise yoga to him is a holistic practice that conjoins the body, breath and mind to enhance physical, mental and spiritual well-being. The fluidity of his art allows him to freely combine yoga asanas with Vedic chanting, along with sound and imagery, to bring about a sense of calm and inner quiet that allows the mind to rise above the "noise" and connect to the self.

A yoga exponent whose work has been enriched by his experiences as a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, Johar says he chose Camp Potters Hill at Shimla as the venue for the retreat as the serenity, the pristine environs, and the balmy weather, all combine together to give you perfect environment to meditate, reflect and relax.

He adds: Even simple yoga practices become all the more pleasurable and meaningful when sunrays peeing through the windows and tent flaps cajole you awake at 5.15 am each morning. The pleasure continues with post lunch session giving you time for listening to silence in the chirping of exotic birds amidst pine and apple trees.

By the end of the session, you pack in nearly 26 hours of yoga practice, interspersed by nature walks and treks to the remote parts of the leafy jungle. You have the option of staying in tents or in a lodge on a twin-share basis. Single occupancy rooms and tents are also available.

For the beginners, the retreat is a comprehensive introduction to the discipline, while those adept in yoga practice get new insights and learn better techniques to further refine their practice.