Chandigarh, September 3
A year after it was set up, Government College of Commerce and Business Administration, Sector 19, has already run into trouble. If the present state of affairs is considered, it seems that the college has been left to die its natural death.

The building that houses the college is crumbling and the infrastructure is pathetic. Worse, the contractual teachers have not been given salaries since the session began this year.

The college has two teachers of its own on contract for BBA, which is a self-financing course, and three additional posts were created for B.Com. However, since the college came into existence only about a year ago, the three teachers were recruited from Government College, Sector 46; Government College for Girls, Sector 11; and Government College for Girls, Sector 42.

As far as the BBA lecturers are concerned, the college was to pay the salaries from its own funds. But surprisingly, the college hasn’t even got the chequebook issued from the treasury to utilise the college finances.

This is not all. Even on the front of extra-curricular activities, the college offers no facilities. Till now, the college hasn’t even submitted the fees for its students to participate in the upcoming Panjab University youth festival, which implies that none of them would be able to participate.

Though funds for the NCC and NSS units were collected from each student at the time of admission, the college does not even have such a unit. Interestingly, the college had received an offer letter from the NSS department, but the principal refused it, sources said.

The college offers no sports facilities to its students and this is proven by the fact that there is no sports teacher in the college.

College principal A.S. Sethi said, “The college is yet to open a PLA account and the clearance is awaited in this matter from the AG office”. The matter would be resolved in a day or two, he added.

About the extra-curricular activities, he said the classes are held till 4.30 pm so the students are not left with much time to participate in these activities, adding that as there weren’t too many students, not many wanted to participate in them.

Expressing ignorance, director, higher education, Raji P. Shrivastava said, “The teachers will definitely be paid their dues by tomorrow. The principal and treasury will be issued directions regarding the other matters.” 

Chandigarh, September 3
With an aim to implement computer-aided learning in various government schools of the city, the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Chandigarh chapter, and Shiksha India Trust, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here today.

DPI (Schools) S.K. Setia said this joint venture is the outcome of CII-Shiksha India programme. “The selected teachers from various government schools will be trained in various aspects of e-teaching during the first phase of the programme. We are also introducing a special best e-teacher award for Chandigarh schools. This award will carry a cash component and a trophy,” he said.

The first phase training of teachers would be held in September and would introduce and expose teachers to various resources like readymade Shiksha content, pedagogy based e-tools and web-based tools.

Shiksha India Trust has also developed digital content based on school curriculum covering five subjects - physics, chemistry, biology, maths and geography for Classes VI-X. “It has also developed computer literacy content. Currently, the content is available in English, Hindi and Tamil and provided both in the CD format and as free download from www.eshikshaindia.in”, said Setia.

Shiksha India is a non-profit initiative launched by Confederation of Indian Industry and managed by an independent Shiksha India Trust. Shiksha India is working with over 800 schools across the country and helping them integrate technology effectively in their teaching-learning process.

Chandigarh, September 3
Two schools - St Kabir Public School (Chandigarh) and Sacred Heart Convent School (Ludhiana) have been selected from Chandigarh and Punjab, respectively, to participate in the Second National Aerospace Olympiad being organised by the Aeronautical Society of India in November.

Vice-chairman of the society’s Chandigarh chapter Wg Cdr D.P. Sabharwal (retd) said five schools each from Punjab and Chandigarh had participated in the selection round held today. The selection was on the basis of a project report submitted by teams on ‘Satellites of India’.

The teams made a 10-minute power-point presentation on the topic before a panel of three judges, followed by question-answer session to display the grasp of the subject.

In a similar competition held in Noida on September 1, the team from DAV Centenary Public School, Sector 12, Panipat emerged as winners from amongst five teams from Faridabad, Noida and Panipat.

The aforementioned three winning teams have qualified to participate in the national event to be held in Chandigarh from November 14-17, where they would join 13 other teams selected from across the country. 

Chandigarh, September 3
The Third International Conference on Systems, Computing Sciences and Software Engineering (SCSS 2007) would be held from December 3-12. The conference provides a virtual forum for presentation and discussion of the state-of the-art research on systems, computing sciences and software engineering. It is also one of the sub-conferences in the CISSE series of international joint e-conferences. Prospective authors are invited to submit full papers electronically through the website www.cisse2007online.org.

The topics covered include (but are not limited) to the following: grid computing, internet-based computing models, resource discovery, programming models and tools, e-science and virtual instrumentation, biometric authentication, computers for people of special needs, human computer interaction, information and knowledge engineering, algorithms, parallel and distributed processing.

Chandigarh, September 3
Janamashtami, the birth of Lord Krishna, was celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm by the kindergarten and primary blocks at St Joseph’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, here today. The tiny tots of KG enthralled everyone with their medley of bhajans and dances. The students of Class I performed a ‘dandiya’ on the ever popular ‘Woh Kisna Hai’. The students of the Primary Block presented a song and enacted a musical drama ‘Bal Leela’ wherein the birth and childhood of Lord Krishna was depicted through ‘jhankis’. The entire show was a visual treat giving everybody a taste of little Kanha’s life and the harmless, but humorous, pranks he played.

Tender Heart School: The Sector 33-school wore a festive look with earthen pots, flowers and paper buntings put over the premises. The stage was the centre of attraction for the students as an elaborate tableau depicting the various stages of Lord Krishna’s life was put up there by the students of Classes V and VI. The cultural show saw a rendition of ‘shlokas’ from Bhagwad Gita followed by Bal Leela and Raas Leela.

Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary: The day was celebrated with great joy and enthusiasm in the Nursery wing of Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School- 22. The kids wore colourful dresses to mark the festival. A cultural programme was also organised on the occasion. The item showing Yashodhra scolding and trying to beat Lord Krishna after He stole butter from the houses of ‘gopies’ was much appreciated.

KV High Grounds: Janamashtami was celebrated at KV High Grounds, here, with great fanfare and fervour. The students of the Primary Section put up a colourful cultural programme. Attired as Radha and Krishna, they enacted various scenes depicting ‘Raas Leela’. The headmistress, Anita Pathak, along with primary teachers Shashi Gupta, Mukta Bhasin and Namita, enthralled everyone by their melodious ‘bhajans’.

Sri Guru Harkrishan Model School: The students and teachers of Little Hearts, the pre-primary wing of Sri Guru Harkrishan Model School, Sector 38, celebrated the festival at school premises. The little ones came attired in vibrant colours as Krishna, Radha, Sudama and Meera. The tiny tots of Play Class presented a show ‘Yashomati Maiyaa’. A group of students from LKG and UKG presented various incidents from the life of Lord Krishna like ‘Kãliya Mardan’, ‘Kansha Vadha’ and lifting the ‘Govardhan Parvat’.

Evergreen Academy Preparatory: The occasion was celebrated at the school temple. Principal Kuljit Suri alongwith the staff and students performed a puja and arti along with reciting the ‘Gayatri Mantra’.

MOHALI
Ashmah International School: Gaiety and fervour marked Janamashtami celebrations at Ashmah International School here today as enthusiastic tiny tots put up an entertaining show to celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna. Events from Lord Krishna’s life were depicted by the tiny tots who looked charming in colourful dresses designed for the occasion. The highlight of the show was a dance sequence based on the popular number ‘Govinda Ala Re’. This was followed by the traditional ‘Matki Phod’ ceremony with hundreds forming the traditional human pyramid.

Shivalik Public School: Students of Shivalik Public School celebrated Janamashtami with great enthusiasm and devotion. Students of Classes III, IV and V sang devotional bhajans in praise of Lord Krishna. Students of Classes V to VIII dressed up in colorful costumes befitting their roles and presented glimpses of Lord Krishna’s life in the form of a short skit. Students were also dressed up as ‘gopikas’, Radhas and Krishnas. Shivani Bhardwaj of Class II sang a beautiful bhajan ‘Madhuban Ki Lataoon Mein…’ ‘jhankis’ depicting the scenes related to Lord Krishna’s childhood were presented.

Gian Jyoti Public School: The campus was tastefully decorated on the occasion of Janamashtami celebrations today. The school echoed with the tunes of traditional songs sung by the tiny tots. Students danced to the tunes of ‘Maiya Yashoda’ and ‘jhankis’ depicting the childhood of Lord Krishna were also presented. The celebrations ended with the distribution of sweets to the teachers and students.

PANCHKULA
Bhavan Vidyalaya: Janamashtami was celebrated with fervour at Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 15, today. The students of Classes LKG to II of the school came dressed up as Radha, Krishna, ‘gopies’ and ‘gawalas’. The students gave speeches on Lord Krishna’s life. A mythological quiz was also conducted to test the students’ awareness levels.

New India Senior Secondary School, Sector 15: The students presented a cultural programme. Students of Nursery and KG came dressed up as Radha and Krishna and ‘jhankis’ were also staged on the occasion. The senior students presented an oratorio to mark Lord Krishna’s birth anniversary. School principal Sharda Gupta presided over the function. She talked about Indian mythology, tradition and culture, while laying stress on devotion and prayers.

Chandigarh, September 3
“Music, as a pure art form, is both individual and universal because it has an expression that has the same sublime impact on the artists, listeners or connoisseurs,” feels Rotarian Sangeet Sharma, an author and architect by profession but a gifted vocalist, guitarist, poet and Santoor player by passion.

Driven by an urge to serve mankind, he chose to make music for a noble cause of raising funds for the Rotary welfare projects. Inspired by his president Rtn Arvind Mohan and under the musical guidance and direction of his mentor Atul Sharma, he has come out with his maiden music album ‘Melody With Me’. The album, comprising six golden film melodies, was released at a simple function at Hotel Aroma today.

All the six compositions are a wonderful blend of the old melody further enriched by improvised ‘tal’ patterns.

With his deep sensitivity of singing and involvement with music, the versatile singer is all set to produce an emotive response in the listeners’ mind. Moreover, the prospective buyers of the album would definitely appreciate the spirit behind the project, says Rtn Arvind Mehan.

Sangeet’s gesture of dedicating the music album and its entire sale proceeds to Rotary service projects has been appreciated, he added.

Talking to TNS, the singer said though his tryst with music dates back to his childhood, the systematic learning and riyaz followed only after the blessed tutelage of renowned music director Atul Sharma.

While maintaining the rich legacy and professional excellence in architecture, Sangeet Sharma has authored two books ‘Architectural Aesthetics’ and ‘Architecture, Life and Me’, besides a book of poems, ‘The Touch of Moon’.