Chandigarh, November 15
Minister of state (independent charge) for women and child development Renuka Chowdhury presented the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement to city girl Arushi Saksena in New Delhi, on Children’s Day yesterday.

Arushi, a student of Class X, Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, Chandigarh, was presented with the award for exceptional achievement in the field of arts and academics.

Arushi has won 103 prizes/awards out of which 14 prizes/awards are national/all India level, 35 regional/state-level, 45 inter-school level and nine special honours by different organisations such as the Artist of the Year Award 2005-06, Best Painter Award 2003-04, Saraswati Samman. Besides this, she was also awarded the State Award during the Independence Day function in 2006 by Punjab governor and UT administrator.

Chowdhury, Janardan Dwivedi, MP (Rajya Sabha) and chairman, Parlimentary Standing Committee on HRD, in a function held on November 14, 2007 conferred national awards on outstanding social workers, institutions and children with exceptional abilities.

The awardee children included young and aspiring kids in the field of academics, arts, sports, and cultural fields as also those with physical disabilities.

The minister congratulated the winners and released a booklet containing details of achievements of the awardees.

Chandigarh, November 15
Impressing upon the teaching community the need to create a harmonious academic environment in educational institutions to ensure emotional and physical growth of the students, Punjab governor and UT administrator Lieut-Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd) made a forceful plea for developing innovative strategies. The focus, he opined, should be on creative programmes and practices for imparting quality and value-based education.

Addressing a conclave of teachers on the theme “Zero Tolerance for Corporal Punishment in City Beautiful” organised under the Child Protection Programme, here today, Gen Rodrigues said the teachers had a formidable task in the intellectual and moral education of children and for helping them to be confident and good human beings. He said the administration had already launched a programme to reach out to the disadvantaged sections of the society and the teaching community had a crucial role to play as catalysts.

Adviser to the administrator Pradip Mehra said corporal punishment created an environment which was unproductive, nullifying, and punitive. Children who were subjected to corporal punishment became victims and developed personality complications and other complexes, he said.

Raji P. Srivastava, special secretary, finance and director, higher education, in her welcome address, said the objective of this programme was to generate awareness among the teachers to handle discipline issues in the classrooms and the make city schools more responsive and happy in their functioning. She said the practice of corporal punishment hampered the growth and development of children and there was a need of concerted efforts for creating an atmosphere in the schools that there was a mutual respect between the teachers and the taught.

Mayor Harjinder Kaur, R.K. Rao, deputy commissioner, S.K. Setia, DPI (S) and the principals and heads of various city colleges and schools, attended the day-long event.

Chandigarh, Nov 15
Controversy has erupted over the admission of a student in the department of laws allegedly in violation of rules. Even after the conclusion of the first semester, Brinder Dhillon’s admission was given admission on November 4, 2007 on the orders of the VC despite recommendations to the contrary by the board of control.

Dhillon, placed 159 on the merit list for LLB (Sem-I), didn’t turn up on the day of counselling, July 5 and sent his uncle to say he was away to Amritsar. It was found that he hadn’t submitted a gap-year certificate and character certificate. The admission committee told the uncle to get a medical certificate and also produce an affidavit as required.

Meanwhile, the authorities were informed that arrest warrants were issued against the candidate in an attempt to murder case. Hence, the board unanimously resolved to reject his application.

Later, the VC constituted a committee to look into the case after SOPU student leader Harpreet Multani gave a representation to the VC. On the basis of the recommendations of this committee, meeting for which was held on September 14, it was decided that an additional seat be created for Dhillon. The seat was approved by the syndicate at its meeting of October 25, despite the board’s disapproval.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court in its judgments in a similar case in 1993 had ruled that the board of control shall be the authority to admit students to the department concerned.

Dhillon’s fee was deposited at 7 pm on November 4, a day before the students elections. For the purpose, the staff members of the department were made to sit in the office till the time the candidate deposited his fee.

When contacted, the VC said: “ The matter was decided by the syndicate, which is the supreme body. The committee headed by Justice S.K. Jain strongly recommended the case as also the dean, faculty of law.” 

Mohali, November 15
“Three class XII-level schools from each constituency in Punjab will be selected for upgrade for teaching of science and mathematics to students, said technical education and industrial minister Swarna Ram here today.

A sum of Rs 50 lakh will be spent on each such school so that technical education can be made accessible to them, he added.

The minister was addressing students at the Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Landran, on the opening day of “Privartan-2k7”.

The two-day mega event has been organised by Phoenix club of research and development of the Chandigarh Engineering College, Landran.

In solo dance, Sapna of Lawrence School bagged the first prize, while in group dance, Kamal and group of Paragon school claimed top honours.

In extempore, Neha Sharma of SUSCET, Tangori, came first, while Kuldeep Singh of CEC Landran, finished second.

In brushless painting, Monika of Model School-35, Chandigarh, got the first prize.

In poster making, Preetjot of Lawrence school came first, while in face painting, the duo of Karan and Sachin of Model School-10, Chandigarh, won the first prize.

In volte-face, Harleen of Computer Science Engineering department of CEC, Landran, bagged top honours, while in collage making, Alka and Amritpreet of Lawrence School won the first prize.

Kharar, November 15
The agitating students of Guru Gobind Singh Modern Technology and Polytechnic College suspended their strike for two days today.

The strike is subject to college management’s decision on their demands. Students are demanding the transfer of director principal Baljeet Kapoor for being over-strict with students on the campus.

Meanwhile, neither the college management nor the police has been able to identify students who created ruckus on the highway on Wednesday.

Training and placement officer of college Gurcharan Singh said: “We will identify the erring students by tomorrow morning and take action against them for disturbing harmony of the campus.”

Chandigarh, November 15
The second five-day long Chandigarh Theatre Fest organised by the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademy, in association with the Punjab Arts Council, concluded here today with a Punjabi comedy play “Kujh Te Kaaro Yaaro” at Randhawa Auditorium.

The classical comedy, laced with didacticism and sculpted by master playwright Prof Pali Bhupinder, flourished under the direction of Anita Shabdeesh.

Though full of racy idioms, slang and nothing short of a stand-up comedy, the play generated laughter through every satirical dialogue but never drifted from its ideological stance to depict the deterioration of the moral and ethical values among the generation next.

Director Anita, herself a versatile actress, convincingly brought alive the playwright's intent by creating such sequences which exposed the psyche of the progeny of an ailing father, who indulge in futile debates instead of caring for their sick father unlike their servant Sidha.

The play invariably denounces the growing impact of globalisation and foreign culture, especially on the youth.

Artistes adhered to perfect timings while throwing witty and crisp dialogues, establishing an instant rapport with the audience.

Viewers were so involved that when the power failed for over 15 minutes, they lightened up the hall by switching on over 100 mobiles to ensure that the show goes on.

Harish Verma led the cast with Sunny Gill, Malkeet Rauni, Rajinder Raja, Jarnail Singh, Shenti Saini, Iqatar Sahota and the nagging sisters-in-law Baljinder Kaur and Aman Khahra.

Chief guest Dr Virender Mediratta honoured the artistes.

Akademy chairperson Kamal Tewari expressed gratitude to the participants and elite audience.