Chandigarh, August 3
The NCERT is taking a cue from real and reel life to make things easier and more realistic for the students to understand and accept.

The latest in the line is the famous dialogue: “Mein fenkae hue paise nahi uthata!” from the 1975 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer ‘Deewar’ that has been added in the Class VII curriculum.

This session onwards, the Bollywood sequence depicting the message ‘human dignity’ has found a place in the textbook of Social Science and Political Life-II, prepared by the NCERT for Class VII students.

The sequence shows the young actor, who earns a living by polishing shoes on the footpath, refusing to accept money thrown on the ground by his clients. He insists that there is dignity in the work that he does and his fee be paid respectfully.

The NCERT, after seeking permission from Trimurthy Films for using this sequence, has also included three original picture stills of this particular scene.

Praising the move, counsellor, CBSE Helpline and principal, KB DAV, Sector 7, Madhu Behl, said, “It is an appreciable step to make teaching concepts more understandable and it would have a lasting impact on the students. These new concepts have made the chapter interesting not only for students, but for the teachers too”.

Principal, GMSSS-47, J.S. Basota said, “The NCERT books have now become more application based and are highly informative in the broader sense.”

To teach ‘Gender Sensitisation’ to the students of Class IV, the NCERT has picked up the inspirational true story of a Bihar-based scrap dealer Kiran, who was recently made the brand ambassador of UNICEF to promote female literacy in Bihar.

Similarly, the chapter on ‘Equality in Indian Democracy’ also gives the story of Dalit writer Omprakash Valmiki who faced discrimination during his schooldays.

Principal, GMSSS-44, Surinder Singh said, “The mindset of the general public has changed tremendously today. By including this chapter, the NCERT has endeavoured to infuse a sense of ‘self dignity’ and tried to associate the students with social values.”

Chandigarh, August 3
S.S. Bari, registrar, Panjab University, today informed a Division Bench comprising Justice A.K. Goel and Justice Ajai Lamba that the university had abolished the NRI-sponsored quota with immediate effect.

Importantly, the High Court had issued a contempt notice to the university authorities on July 27 asking as to why contempt proceedings not be initiated against them for continuing with NRI quota despite the apex court’s and its own recent directions striking down the quota.

The registrar told the Bench that the university was now following the pattern of the Punjab Government and the UT Administration and thus, had abolished the NRI-sponsored quota. The next hearing of the case is on August 10.

The matter of the quota came up when Puneet Sachdeva, a candidate for BDS seat in the Sector 25 Dental College run by PU, had sought directions from the High Court that she be allowed admission in the NRI-sponsored quota. She had averred that the PU authorities were not giving her admission despite her application.

Panjab University vice-chancellor R.C. Sobti while confirming the developments of the day said that the university would now send a detailed reply on the whole issue to the Bench since personal appearance has been exempt.

With respect to what would happen to those students who had been admitted under the quota for this academic session, Sobti said it was now up to the court to decide whatever it deemed fit. “We will request them to allow admissions for this session but we will abide by the court directives under all circumstances.” Keeping the proceedings in mind, counselling for NRI admissions to MA part-I (psychology) for the session 2007-08 scheduled to be held on August 7 in the Department of Psychology have also been cancelled.

As to how the university would tackle the loss in revenue accruing from these seats, Sobti again reiterated that while new development projects would be affected, “we are managing our funds and are quite sound.” With regard to salaries, he said that salaries for two months had already been deposited into the bank.

Chandigarh, August 3
A unique learning camp for undergraduate students was inaugurated yesterday at the department of physics, Punjab University.

The camp, a collaborative effort of the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology and PU, would be held from August 7 in which 45 students from various institutions and colleges around Punjab and Himachal Pradesh would participate.

The camp aims to build a scientific temper amongst the students.

Speaking on the occasion, prof Manmohan Gupta from the department said, “This camp will change some perceptions because students will realise that pure science is actually a very important part of the development of the human mind. This is because today’s science is tomorrow’s technology.” He further added that today’s world demanded a rational approach to problems, one that could be dealt with not through rote but by reasoning.

Vice-chancellor prof Sobti, who inaugurated the camp, said anything that followed the laws of physics and chemistry is a life and that is the definition that is accepted the world over today. For this reason alone, he elaborated, it was necessary to apply science in everyday life and learn from it.

The camp would comprise of lectures, face-to-face interactive sessions with experts from various scientific fields including physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. The students would also be taken to laboratories and shown films related to the subject. 

Chandigarh, August 3
Simran Sidhu of Akanksha house bagged first place while Divya (Prerna House) got second place in the inter-house maths quiz conducted at The Banyan Tree School, Sector 48, here, today. Meanwhile, tiny tots of pre-primary section celebrated ‘Green Day’ today.

competition: Nearly 100 students of classes III - V of Ryan International School, participated in a creative fancy dress competition based on the theme of ‘Save Earth, Save Life’, representing the endangered monuments, forests, animals, glaciers etc. The function concluded with the students taking an oath to save their environment and pledged to plant a tree every year.

Health programme: The Centre for Adult, Continuing Education and Extension (CACEE) organised one-day training programme on ‘Adolescent Health - A commitment towards social cause’ today at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16. Almost 80 students and teachers attended the training programme.

Prakash utsav: The prakash utsav of Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji was celebrated with great enthusiasm and religious fervour in Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary Public School, Sector 40. Pawan Kumar Bansal, union minister of state for finance joined the students and the staff for the celebrations.

Vanmahotsav: The students, staff and NSS volunteers of Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 38 (West), celebrated vanmahotsav week in the school premises.

Exhibition: An exhibition of science projects and models was held at BMD Public School, Sector 63. Models on different themes - fruits and vegetables, seeds, water cycle, digestive system etc were showcased.

Mohali

Environment week: Golden Bells Public School, Sector 77, celebrated ‘Environment Week’ here yesterday.

Green Day: ‘Saplings’, the annual initiative of the DAV Public School, Phase-X, Mohali, to protect Mother Earth from further degradation was started in the school on Friday.

Prize distribution: Annual prize distribution function was held at Saint Soldier’s, Mohali here today. About 150 students were awarded for their achievements in academics and sports on the occasion.

Teej: Teej was celebrated by the students and staff of Spring Valley Public School, phase XI, here today. School president Inderjit Kaur Butter also participated in the celebrations.

Chandigarh, August 3
A two-day UGC sponsored national seminar on “Managing College Libraries in the Digital Environment: Opportunities and Challenges” began today at Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45, Chandigarh.

Inaugurating the session, chief guest Manpreet Singh Badal, minister for planning and finance, Punjab said, “Libraries cannot be built with money but with enduring passion.”

On the occasion, advising the librarians from various parts of the country to encourage children to take up reading, Badal recalled his days at Doon School, Dehradun. “ I was introduced to books at a very early age by one of my teachers and since then I have been hooked to reading”, he remarked.

He announced a donation of Rs 50,000 and some of the rare books from his own collection to the Dev Samaj College Library. He also inaugurated the students’ centre of the college.

Keynote speaker of the two-day seminar, Kalpana Dasgupta, chairperson, Libraries Working Group, National Knowledge Commission, said, “The concept of libraries is changing. From just being information collectors, they have now donned a new role of knowledge disseminators and facilitators in the changing scenario”.

As many as 110 delegates from all over the country including Bangalore, Mangalore, Raipur, Meerut, Jammu and Amritsar, in addition to several local delegates, attended the seminar.

Chandigarh, August 3
The 42nd convocation of Indo-Swiss Training Centre (ISTC) of CSIO was held here today. Prof R. C. Sobti, vice-chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Sixty-three students, after passing in their respective diplomas, including instrument technology, dye and mould making, mechatronics and industrial automation, received their certificates and medals.

Exhorting the students to be a role model in every field including family, society and their career, prof Sobti called upon them to share the knowledge with their fellow colleagues, especially with the young generation.

Earlier, Dr Pawan Kapur, director, CSIO, highlighting the activities of ISTC, said ISTC catered to the need of the national industry by producing highly skilled professionals.

R.K. Jain, principal, ISTC, while presenting the annual report of the centre, informed that all the 63 passing out graduates had already been picked up for employment by various industries of repute and have been offered starting salary between Rs 7,500 and Rs 40,000. He informed that the centre had produced over.

The winners of gold and silver medals in various courses included Arindam Bhattacharya and Jaspreet Singh who got director gold and principal silver medal respectively in 3 year diploma in instrument technology. Similarly, Kushagra Sharma and Param Pal Singh got director gold and principal silver medal respectively in 4 year advanced diploma in dye and mould making. Avinash Kaur Mann and Ferry received medals in 4 year advanced diploma in mechatronics and industrial automation.