EDUCATION

Big day for teachers at Tagore Theatre
19 teachers, 32 NGOs and 12 non-formal teachers honoured
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 5
The Chandigarh Education Department presented state awards and commendation certificates to teachers (formal and non-formal) and NGOs, for their contribution in the field of education, at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, to celebrate Teachers’ Day, today.

As many as 19 teachers, 32 NGOs and 12 non-formal teachers were honoured on the occasion, which was celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of scholar president (late) Dr S. Radhakrishan.

Besides this, two National Awardees of 2005-06, seven State Awardees of 2006-07, three commendation certificates of 2005-06, five commendation certificates of 2006-07, were also presented by the administrator of Chandigarh, Gen SF Rodrigues.

J.S. Basota, principal, GMSSS, Sector 47, has been conferred upon State Award from the Urban group of schools while Sham Lal, principal of GSSS-45 and Suman Malik, headmistress, GHS, Dadumajra, got the award under the rural /colony category.

Four others- Parvinder Kaur, lecturer, GMSSS-35, Madhu Kanwar, music teacher, GMSSS-10, KC Rahi, lecturer of Punjabi GMSSS-44 and Raksha Sharma, JBT, GPS, Mauli Complex - were conferred with the prestigious award for their indispensable contribution in the field education.

Besides this, five teachers Kuldevi Yadav, principal, GGMSSS-8, Dr Priti Garg, lecturer, GMSSS-40, Ram Kumar, science teacher, GMSSS-35, Pushpa Rani, music lecturer, GHS-24 and Narender Shastri, Sanskrit Master, GHS, Mauli, have been presented with commendation certificates.

Under the non-formal/voluntary teachers’ category, Bhupinder Singh, principal (retd.) Government College of Commerce-19, Gaurav Gaur, lecturer in PU, Manjeet Jauhar, computer coordinator, Vivek High School, Kiran Kumari, a visually challenged teacher, P Cheema, principal (retd) St John’s School, Jatinder Kahlon, Gyan Uday Organisation, Gurbachan Singh, SSA teacher at GHS-25, Dr Deepti, member Sai Sewa Trust, Priyanka Arora, Head Cultural Affairs, ITFT-17, Ajay Kumar Barik, a youth technical training teacher, Renu Gandhi, senior project officer, PU, Dr (Brig) M.L. Kataria (retd), a volunteer and Jaswinder Kaur, Child Development Project Officer.

General Rodrigues, in his speech emphasised that the significance of the day would be maintained if we could achieve 100 per cent literacy in the city by the next year.

Among those present on the occasion were Krishna Mohan, home secretary, R.K. Rao, deputy commissioner and large number of distinguished personalities from the field of education and social service.

S.K. Setia, DPI (School) later highlighted the activities and achievements of the Education Department.

Teacher’s Day
Students make their teachers smile
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 5
Teacher’s Day was celebrated with zest and vigour in the city’s schools and colleges. Tributes were paid to former President late S. Radhakrishnan on the occasion. The old students of St John’s School facilitated their former teachers by holding a function at Moti Mahal, Sector 17, here today. The meeting was attended by school principal Kavita Das and the teaching and non-teaching staff of the school. St John’s Old Boys’ Association (SJOBA) was represented by Sanjeev Sharma (vice-president), Munish Kapur (honorary secretary), Pritpal Singh, Dr Rahul Dutta and Rajesh Bansal.

Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36: The celebrations, here, started with a shabad. This was followed by a cultural programme presented up by the students. Principal Jasminder S. Singh presented bouquets to the teachers as a mark of appreciation for their dedication and sincere efforts.

Divya Public School, Sector 44: The day was celebrated with great fervour on the school’s premises. A speech was delivered by vice-principal Rajesh Kamal. A fancy dress competition was held by the students of pre-primary classes and the senior students presented colourful programme. There were games for the teachers also.

Mount Carmel School, Sector 47-B: The school celebrated the day with a programme held at ‘Nirman Theatre’, Sector 32, here. The students of classes V to X participated enthusiastically in various competitions. The cultural programme started with a welcome speech by Ankita Naithani, the head girl of the school. Gifts were also presented to the teachers.

KV High Grounds: The celebration began with the choir, comprising of staff members, conducting the assembly. Principal S.K. Bhatia honoured Anita Pathak, headmistress of the primary section, with a bouquet. Thereafter, Shikha Singh of Class XI-A enlightened the students on Dr Radhakrishnan’s life.

DAV College, Sector 10: The department of professional studies, DAV College, Sector 10, organised a function to celebrate Teacher’s Day. Principal S. Marriya, while addressing the students and faculty members, appreciated the enthusiasm with which they worked as a team in making the day a success. The students presented various items like a salsa, a skit, and songs. The students also gave the titles of ‘management queen’ and ‘IT queen’ to two of their faculty members and made the day colourful by their mimicry skills.

Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector 45: The students and faculty members of Dev Samaj College for Women celebrated Teacher’s Day with lots of exuberance and euphoria, here today. The local branch of ICFAI University had displayed a message board on the college premises, wherein students expressed their best wishes and messages for their teachers.

From Colleges
200 students honoured at NSS camp
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 5
About two hundred students took part in one-day NSS camp organised at Government College of Education, Sector 20, here on Wednesday. As part of their first NSS activity students enthusiastically took part in a cleanliness drive in the college campus. The office bearers of NSS were also elected. Dr Harsh Batra, principal of the college congratulated the elected office bearer and highlighted the importance of social role of the future teachers.

PLACEMENT: The placement cell at Government College, Sector 46, invited Col Anil Khanna CEO and MD, Seasia Bansal to interact with the students on the topic “ What is needed in a candidate to get a job in the Industry” on Wednesday. Col Khanna who an experience of 28 years as an officer in Indian Army and more than 15 years as an entrepreneur advised the students to develop additional skills which will differentiate them from others and to work hard to improve. Earlier, principal Dr K S Saluja welcomed the chief guest and also shared his views with students.

MEETING: Executive meeting of Indian Association of Biology Teachers (colleges) was held at Government College for Girls, Sector 42 on Wednesday. The members of the IABT from the adjoining states and Chandigarh participated in the deliberations. The association will also organise a special function to honour Prof R.C. Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, for his extraordinary contribution in the field of Biological Sciences. Dr Dalip Kumar, president, of the association elaborated that Prof Sobti will be awarded Honorary Life Membership on the occasion. The association will also conduct National Olympiad in the field of Biology. Such national activities will add new dimension to the association both at the regional and national level, he added. It has also been decided that the 12th Annual Conference of the association will be organized at Chandigarh during next year.

PU Notes
B.Ed counselling

Survey to improve standards of education

The weekly seminar of the department of Sociology of Panjab University served as a platform to celebrate Teachers’ Day on Wednesday with its seminar on ‘Student-Teacher Relationship in the Contemporary Scenario’. Dr Archana R Singh, department of Mass Communication spoke about her responsibilities as a teacher. A team comprising of Vishal Sharma, Navdeep Sandhu, Mehak Uppal, Rinita Singh and Neha Walia carried out a survey to assess “Students perception of University Education”. They analysed the results and put forth suggestions to improve on the present educational structure. Another team comprising Amit, Neha and Diksha gave a presentation on relevance on communication theories vis-à-vis the teacher-student relationship.

Global warming

An interactive slide-cum-film show and talk on global warming was organised today at the 75th orientation course of Panjab University at the Academic Staff College on Wednesday. 30 teachers from various universities and colleges in North India participated in it. Apart from environment films, two presentations on preserving and cleaning our environment were also shown. — TNS

Institute for the challenged opened

Panchkula, September 4
The National Handicapped Welfare Council, Haryana, declared opened the National Institute for Disabled in Sector 12 A here by performing a yajna on its premises yesterday. K.C. Wadhawan, a national awardee journalist, was appointed the honorary director of the institute. Wadhawan said job-oriented vocational and technical training courses for all categories of physically challenged students would be taken up by the institute in 22 selected trades. He said admissions to two trades of computer and book binding courses had started.

Raj Arora, a businessman and social worker, announced to meet out expenses up to Rs 1.5 lakh for the purchase of machinery and tools for the book binding project. — TNS

Panchkula residents demand university
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 5
The Panchkula residents Welfare Federation, Sector 16, has demanded the setting up of a university in Panchkula district.

The schools and colleges of U.T. Chandigarh are affiliated to the CBSE, Delhi and Punjab University, Chandigarh respectively. 85 per cent seats in these schools and colleges are reserved for the residents of U.T. Chandigarh. Therefore, the residents of the district have to compete for remaining 15 per cent seats meant for non-residents of Chandigarh, which includes Punjab, Haryana and Himachal among other states for admission to these schools and colleges.

Papneja reasoned that because of this condition, very few students get admission to the schools and colleges of Panjab University, Chandigarh. Others have to depend on the Kurukshetra University and other universities of the state. He said setting up of a University in the Panchkula district where I.T. Park has also been planned would benefit the residents.

COURTS

Custodial Death: HC seeks details of investigation
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 5
Taking up the Manimajra custodial death case, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today asked senior advocate representing UT, R.S Cheema, to apprise the court about the exact procedure being followed in such matters.

The directions were issued after the Bench, comprising Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice Rajive Bhalla, took note of an assertion made by Sanjeeva Gupta, counsel for the victim's mother. He had contended that under the new provisions, inquiry into the matter should have been conducted by a Judicial Magistrate.

The Bench also asked Cheema to apprise how the new provisions, cited by the petitioner's counsel, were to be followed. He was also directed Cheema to apprise the court about compensation to be paid to the kith and kin of deceased.

The Bench also raised serious questions over certain observations made by experts in the CFSL and post mortem reports. Seeking a clarification on the issue, the Bench fixed Thursday as the next date of hearing in the case.

Earlier, during the hearing, the bench asked Cheema about the findings in reports regarding injuries to the victim. Referring specifically to CFSL finding indicating the possibility of an `attempt to fall', the bench asked him to explain how that specific observation was made by the expert.

The Bench was of the view that observation such as attempt to fall normally followed a specific query from the investigating agency on the issue, even though the UT counsel had stated that the same was not mentioned in the set of four questions sent to CFSL. During the hearing Justice Uma Nath Singh also asked if such medical reports should be examined by the CBI.

Cheema said investigations were being conducted into the matter and the investigating officials were open to view diferent angles, including the possibility of victim Anil Kumar jumping, being killed or even thrown.

Seeking an independent inquiry and registration of a criminal case, the petitioner had also demanded compensation for legal heirs of the deceased. The petitioner also demanded initiation of contempt proceedings against police personnel for violating the directions of the Supreme Court.

Couple gets police remand for murder

Panchkula, September 5
The couple accused of the murder of Indira Colony resident Ravinder Kumar was sent to one-day police remand after being produced in the district courts here today.

The couple, however, continued to maintain that they had only beaten up the thief who had broken into their house and had not murdered him. — TNS

CULTURE

20 artistes participate in musical soiree
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, September 5
As many as twenty amateur artists in the age-group of six to sixty rendered the compositions at a captivating music soiree titled as 'Swar Sandhya' held at the Punjab Kala Bhavan, here, today. The event was organised to mark the teachers’ day.

Lighting the sacred jyoti the chief guest, Rajpal Singh, secretary general, Punjab Arts Council lauded the role of a guru citing the references from holy epics and Aristotle- Alexander's relationship as a tutor and disciple.

The repertoire of musical items ranged from bhajans, ghazals, Rabindra Sangeet to Nazrul giti, all set to classical ragas.

The young artists like Vasundhara, Sudhbo, Utrishat, Payal, Ishita Sarkar, Mahima, Anandita Shatankita or Abhijit deserve special mention. Barely in their teens they amazed the audience with their smooth notes, sticking to the laya and tal articulated by Dr Pardeep Sarkar on tabla.

A ghazal 'Kisi ki yaad mein' by Col Harpreet Singh (retd) and a harmonica dhun 'Sunn ri pawan' by Dr Shubroto Roy and a composition by their guru Sangeeta Laha were enjoyed by the audience. A group song on national integration provided the grand finale. Vandana anchored the programme with admirable competence.

Pracheen Kala Kendra centre in Malaysia
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 5
Pracheen Kala Kendra will open its zonal office at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, under the supervision of bharatnatyam dancer Shangita Namasivayam. Madan Lal Koser and Shobha Koser of the kendra will open the branch. The kendra already has offices in the UK, Canada, the US, Singapore and Mauritius.

The new office will cater to the needs of students keen on learning Indian arts. Students who are willing to appear in various examinations of the kendra, from elementary to postgraduate, will be provided assistance and guidance to pursue their career in the field of Indian classical arts of music and dance, M.L. Koser said.

The inauguration ceremony will take place on September 9 at Kuala Lumpur. To mark the occasion, Shobha Koser will present a kathak recital.

On September 7, she will also conduct a lecture-cum-demonstration session on the nuances of kathak.

Doll up museum quick, says Raj Bhavan
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Sept 5
It’s a dream project gone awry. Inaugurated in 1985 and redone with much hype in 2003, the International Dolls Museum of Chandigarh could never quite live up to its name. But complacency of its caretakers, now, will be history, with Punjab Governor house eager on the museum’s immediate revamp.

The message from the Raj Bhavan is loud and clear - upgrade and renovate the museum to bring it to international standards.

The matter is being looked into by Jean Rodrigues, president of the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW), the agency responsible for museum’s management.

While on a visit to the museum, Jean Rodrigues suggested action to restore the value of the museum, which has been losing visitors due to neglect and poor maintenance.

Now, director, Government Museum, Sector 10 has been instructed to do the needful and propose ways of stemming the rot.

In a September 3 letter to V.N. Singh, director, Government Museum, director social welfare, Chandigarh, who is also honorary secretary, ICCW, has stated: “Ms Rodrigues has visited the Dolls Museum in Sector 23. It is desired that it be upgraded and revamped.

You should inspect the museum and send a proposal for its renovation at the earliest.”

Government Museum, it may be recalled, earlier handled the renovation of National Gallery of Portraits, which was equally messed up. V.N. Singh today said, “We will get the best experts to do the job for Dolls Museum as well.”

This is the first time the highest office of UT has expressed interest in fixing the dolls museum.

That will make a difference, art lovers feel.

Earlier in August 2003, CITCO had renovated the museum partially and had asked students of local art college to spruce up the museum’s dull ambience by redoing the glass painting on its door panels.

But despite its richness, the museum, in appeal and beauty, is nowhere near Shanker’s International Dolls Museum in New Delhi, a private museum with 6,500 costume dolls from 85 countries.