Where boys outshine girls
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — While the number of girls among the Panjab University toppers has gone up steadily over the years, boys have outdone the girls in cheating and using unfair means in annual examinations.

The number of candidates who were listed for indulging in unfair means in first year of undergraduation classes in science and arts streams in 1999 was 144. Of these there were only 10 girls as compared to 134 boys from various colleges affiliated to the university.

Mr Kehar Singh of the Unfair Means Committee of the university while talking to TNS said stress was on timely disposal of the cases which allowed those proven innocent to appear in the coming examination in this year. In the earlier cases the delay often meant loss of one academic year for the candidate in question.

Only five cases out of the total number of cases, including undergraduate and postgraduate class candidates, attempted to prove their innocence through an alternative channel which included a representation to the Vice-Chancellor. Even the cases of these students had been rejected by the committee when these students re-appeared before the committee because of lack of evidence, Mr Kehar Singh added.

The list of accused on the list from second year included 42 boys and seven girls. In the final year 38 boys against eight boys against eight girls were among the accused. Only nine candidates were exonerated in the second year and third year.

The official pointed out that there were certain institutions where incidents of mass copying had been reported. In one of the cases as many as 54 students from one centre were put on the list of the accused.

The university committee handling cheating-related cases tries them under various provisions of the calendar. In one case a candidate found in possession of copying material or having easy access to it is debarred from passing. Candidates found in possession of notes and books under another provision of the calendar can be debarred for two years.

There are at least two more sections of the university calendar which debar the candidate from appearing for two years under different sections of copying or using other unfair means.

The undergraduate classes in science and arts registered far more cases of unfair means as compared to others. B.Com had five on the accused list; B.Com II had two; MA I (French) had two; MA I (History) had one.

There was only one candidate on the list of using unfair means from the department of Public Administration, History (II), BBA (I) and MA II (Sanskrit).

Mr Kehar Singh said each candidate was given the freedom to expression to prove his innocence. However, the average of those found innocent was very poor. In BA II and BA III only nine candidates could prove their innocence.

Certain institutions from Ludhiana, Abohar and other areas figured prominently among the examination centres where mass copying was "promoted", the official said. There was need to shortlist these institutions and candidates to have a thorough view of the functioning and educational system.

Envoy with strong Indian connections
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — The level of violence in Northern Ireland has been at the lowest level for a generation now . Hopefully in the near future, violence may come to an end, says Mr Philip McDonagh, Ambassador of Ireland to India.

Mr McDonagh, who presented his credentials to the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, in New Delhi only on Friday last, has strong Indian connections. His wife, Ana, was born in Mumbai. The McDonaghs have been to India several times before and have visited Goa, Varanasi, Kerala and other places.

"Appointment to India as Ambassador is like a great dream come true," admits the Irish Ambassador, whose two-day trip to Chandigarh has been his first official assignment outside the Union Capital. In the morning, he visited a village in Ropar district and was greatly impressed by the "openness" of the people. "They have remarkable objectivity," he said after a tour of the countryside.

He addressed the faculty of the CRRID before returning to New Delhi in the afternoon. Mr Salman Haider, India's High Commissioner to Great Britain, presided over the presentation.

Before his appointment in New Delhi, Mr McDonagh had worked for five years as Ireland's Deputy High Commissioner in Great Britain, and has been closely associated with the Anglo-Irish treaty.

Mr McDonagh said that Ireland was the first state to break away from British imperialism by getting freedom in the early 1920s. In the past 25 years, he said, there had been tremendous economic development in the country. "While in the early 70s, we were far below the Western European level of development but now we are at the same level," he said.

Talking about the problem of terrorist violence in Ireland, he said that paramilitary groups of both nationalists and unionists had announced the cessation of violence. Individual incidents have not been allowed to upset the peace though such incidents have been deplored.

Mr McDonagh referred to the 1985 Anglo-Irish treaty and said that " now effort is on to implement what is written down." There are three main points of the agreement of April,1998. The present major issue was disarmament of paramilitary groups of both nationalists and unionists. It was a very complex question, he said.

Talking about Indo-Irish relations, he said that his endeavour would be to help people of Ireland to understand the Indian point of view. Stressing the need for exploring both historic and cultural connections between the countries, he said that there was need for more exchanges on these fronts.

Mr McDonagh said that there was a budgetary provision for a professor from Ireland to visit India each year to deliver lectures here. But this money had not been utilised for the past five years. Perhaps, no one applied. He also hoped that more visits of people from both countries would strengthen bilateral relations besides promoting tourism.

Mr McDonagh admitted that at present the trade between the two countries was much lower than what it should be as Ireland had been trading more in Europe. Only in July this year, the Irish Government made an announcement for increasing its trade with Asian countries, he concluded.

Nadia, the prodigy,blossoms
By Arvind Katyal

CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — Many have heard of Nadia, the famous Romanian gymnast of yesteryears. By now, many in Chandigarh have also come to know a young table tennis sensation called Nadia Saini. There is no newspaper in this region, specially city-based, which has not given prominent place in their sport columns to nine-years-and-a-half-old Nadia who has stormed the regional table tennis scene.

A Class V student of DAV Public School, Sector 8, Nadia gives the credit of her success to her father, Narinder Saini, himself a senior table tennis player and her coach-cum-mentor.

Nadia took to this game which requires agility and patience in May 1998. She has the distinction of winning almost all titles in her age-group in the tournaments she has took part in. She has surprised her seniors with upset wins in sub-juniors and juniors sections also.

In the beginning, it appeared Nadia would not improve at this pace, said Narinder Saini. Thanks to the Chandigarh Table Tennis Association which has hosted many tournaments this year, she has been able to show her talent. Even yesterday, she walked away with a title each in under-12, under-14 and under-17 singles sections of a tournament. Contrary to the expectations, she also reached the semi-finals of the women's section of the tournament.

Nadia who weighs 23 kg, is good at studies also. Her father said teachers had always helped Nadia in covering up the syllabus.

He said a Chinese coach who was coaching at the Petroleum Sports Control Board Academy at Indore had advised her to pick up the pace at this age. He had said by the age of 14, a player should be at her peak. This is why Nadia has been asked to play as much she can.

She gets exhausted after playing so many tournaments and her health needs greater attention. Her father looks after her diet also.

This year, there has been no tournament where Nadia has not been a winner. Her rich haul of titles have astonished all.

Nadia answers questions about her success modestly and shyly. Her father said at this age, a player has no egoistic and manipulative tendencies. This attitude has helped her win many titles.

Her success has surely made others jealous. Her eight-year-old brother too has taken to this game. He won the cadet boys' title in the recently concluded Chandigarh State Table Tennis Championship.

Nadia plans to join the PSCB Acedemy shortly and her father said it all depended on her performance in the coming years. Her present aim is to do well in the forthcoming under-12, sub-junior and junior national championships to be held in November here.

'Safety in X-rays most important'
By Sonoo Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — "Our aim is health and regularisation of radiation protection in radio-diagnosis and radiotherapy. Certainly not to scare people from getting their X-rays done," said Dr K.S. Parthasarthy, Secretary, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. The board, which was formed in 1983, lays down directives for ensuring radioactive safety in the fields of medical, industrial and research.

Dr Parthasarthy was in the city today to speak at the sixth National Conference of Indian Association of Radiological Technologists, being held at the PGI.

Talking about the violations in radio-diagnosis and radiotherapy, he said that one of the main violations was the recruitment of untrained personnel in these areas. "In fact, it can lead to a dangerous situation, especially in the case of industrial fields, where our board sometimes not only cancels registrations of such employees but also seize their instruments", Dr Parthasarthy added.

In the field of medical sciences, the board is currently funding 10 institutions for safety research programmes. They are paid about Rs 3 lakh per year to buy essential equipment and recruit people. Only one institute in Punjab — at Ludhiana is being funded under this programme.

"Most of the radio-activity safety can be had at very little cost. In fact, 45 per cent of safety in this field is inexpensive and can be done by simply changing the lay-out or re-orientation", said Dr Parthasarthy, while contending that 4 per cent of the X-ray machines tested by the board, were found to be not in proper position.

The board has plans to regularise all those private clinics which would implement the directives regarding safety in the field of radio-diagnosis. Such clinics would later be registered with the board.

The board has "type-approved" about 400 types of X-ray tubes, generators and couches, which according to Dr Parthasarthy, are the "legal equipment" to be bought by those in this field. And message for those who go in for cheaper indigenous equipment? "Such clinics would be acquiring cheap equipment at their own risk."

Commenting on the awareness levels of the people as regards the use of X-rays, he said, "It is actually a trade-off between both over-use and under-use. Yes, in certain situations there is over-use, especially because the element of money is also involved. But X-rays are highly important in medical sciences, and so I would like to highlight its under use as well".

1-night magic bloom of 'Bethlehem' flower
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — A rare bloom of the dainty Ephylium oxypetalum flower belonging to the cactus family and said to be near to the mythological "Bethlehem" flower linked with the birth of Lord Jesus Christ graced the Sector 19 Church last night.

The bloom of beautiful white flowers with a slight pinkish tinge on its petals, generated a great deal of curiosity among people, particularly the Christian community, as a number of them thronged the church to have a glance of 'holy' flowers. However, it proved to be a one-night "magic" as these flowers barely lasted for about 10 hours between dusk and dawn.

The species, with its original habitat in Mexico is not commonly found in the region, except for the upper Himalayan region. Its bloom is said to be a once-in-a-blue-moon affair due to the climactic conditions in the region. Though one is unlikely to come across the original species in the city and surrounding areas, as many as eight of its hybrids have been planted in the Cactus Garden, Panchkula. But all have been sans flowers owing to 'unsuitable' conditions at the place so far.

Besides having great ornamental value for its sheen, bright colour and delicate petals studded around a cluster of yellowish reproductive parts in different patterns, the flower is said to be symbolic to the birth of Lord Jesus Christ in a manger.

Mr Harold Carver, Principal of the local St Stephen's School said the flower was linked with the star of Bethlehem which heralded the birth of Christ. "It appeared and stood over the manger when the child was born. Moreover, it signalled to the three kings from the East to pay homage and announced to shepherds that the child had been born," he added.

According to Dr Satish Narula, the local representative of Punjab Agriculture University, the plant was planted by the church authorities about 20 years back. He said though flowering was a rarity, the plant can be grown with leaf segment. "The most interesting part is that flowers branch out of leaf margins in good numbers," he said. The church authorities maintained that it was after a long time that the plant has witnessed a bloom, which lasted till sunrise.

Mr J.S. Sarkaria, an authority on cacti, while identifying the flower as Ephylium oxypetalum, maintained that the delicate plant needed humid and dimly lit places.

Road repair work 'biased'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 1 — Even as the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) has resumed work on the recarpeting of roads, opposition councillors have alleged that areas represented by them were being given a step-motherly treatment.

They have alleged that despite repeated representations, the road recarpeting work had not been done, with the result that the condition of roads was going from bad to worse. The areas represented by councillors of the ruling alliance had been given preferential treatment in the road-recarpeting work, they alleged.

Congress councillor Raj Kumar Goyal alleged that roads of a majority of the localities represented by him, including parts of Mani Majra, Shivalik Enclave, Mauli Jagran had not be relaid despite repeated requests to the authorities concerned. this was in spite of the assurance given by several senior officials of the Chandigarh Administration and the MCC during their visits to Mani Majra.

Apart from the bad condition of roads, the condition of streets in the inner areas of Mani Majra was also bad, he alleged, adding that only the roads in Motor Market Complex had been recarpeted during the past over three years.

Ms Kamlesh, another Congress councillor, while accusing the corporation authorities of neglecting her area — Ram Darbar — said this had been done deliberately.

She alleged that though that 'bajri' had been lying in the area for the past over two years, the civic body had done little to recarpet the roads in the Industrial Area and Ram Darbar Colony.

In fact, opposition councillors had been alleging in almost every meeting of the corporation that the development works, including the recarpeting of the roads, had virtually come to a standstill since the formation of the civic body.

And chalking out priorities had always been a difficult task between the officials and the councillors, including those of the road committee. A majority of the councillors wanted that the recarpeting of the V-6 road should be taken up first as per the resolution of the House last year. However, the officials highlighted that other roads, some of which are more important than V-6 roads, could not be ignored.

It may be recalled that the during 1997-98, the civic body had recarpeted V-6 roads in 30 sub-sectors. While in 1998-99, 18 roads were recarpeted, till now 10 V-6 roads had been recarpeted.