EDUCATION

Teachers rally against privatisation of education
Tribune News service

New Delhi, August 13
Teachers from universities, colleges and schools along with non-teaching employees gathered at Ram Lila Grounds in thousands today despite the pouring rain and marched to Parliament.

They were stopped by police barricades outside Parliament Street Police Station. A large number of teachers of Delhi University also participated in the march. The participants in the march came from all parts of the country and the slogans raised in different languages gave a sense of collective struggle uniting teachers and non-teaching employees. The participants carried placards and banners demanding an end to the policies of privatisation and commercialisation of higher education and increase in investment for both school and higher education.

The marchers held a meeting for more than two hours, which was addressed by the representatives of the AIFUCTO, FEDCUTA and representatives of schoolteachers and non-teaching employees associations. They condemned the government for disinvesting in education, contractualising the teachers and non-teaching staff, increasing workload in a completely anti-academic manner leading to decline in standards and reducing the staff strength.

They pointed out that with these policies, the government was opening the doors to the imposition of conditions under the GATS agreements of the WTO, which would allow the entry of the multi-trillion dollar knowledge industry and wipe out the independent knowledge base of the country.

The speakers drew attention to the backtracking by the government on agreements signed with teachers on the third promotion, the discrimination against teachers in denying them the promotional benefits from 1.1.96 and the downgrading of librarians. The treatment meted out to teachers was clearly aimed at driving away talent from the publicly funded institutions so that they could finally be declared sick and handed over to the private sector.

A delegation of the AIFUCTO and FEDCUTA met the Lok Sabha Speaker and presented him a memorandum. They expressed their anger that the HRD Minister had refused to meet the representatives of teachers for the last four years. The speaker assured the delegation that he would speak to the HRD Minister and urged him to meet the teacher representatives and give due consideration to their demands.

For the teachers of Delhi University, this was the second protest action this month and a longer agitation is on the cards. Next week, they will meet in a general body meeting to decide the proposal of the DUTA Executive for a week-long strike.

Dress code on campus raises hackles
Ravi S.Singh
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, August 13
The Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) is making overt moves to impose a dress code on the teachers in the National Law College here. This, in turn, has sent a stern message to the students of the institute who are clamouring for scrapping of their campus uniform.

According to sources, following a directive of the Vice Chancellor of the MDU, Major General (retd) B.S. Suhag, the pro tem Director of the college today convened a meeting of the teachers on the issue. The agenda was to explore the possibility of enforcing a dress code for the teachers, who are said to have strong reservations on the matter. In the meeting, the teachers reiterated their views, pointing out that there was no such precedent in other national colleges.

A source in the university said that the teachers were under the hammer as there was a strong possibility of the code being enforced. The Vice Chancellor will take the final decision on the issue. By bringing the teachers under a strict code of formal wear, the MDU authorities are sending a strong signal to the students of the college.

A few days ago, the students went on an en masse strike to press for acceptance of their demands, including the scrapping of the uniform. In fact, the flash point was reached when the then Director of the college allegedly pulled up a couple of students in the class with regard to their uniform. The students alleged that the Director acted with unseemly harshness and that his conduct did not behove a dignitary of the college.

COURTS

Centre gets 4 weeks on illegal colonies

New Delhi
The Delhi High Court today gave four weeks to the Centre for notifying the guidelines on regularisation of unauthorised colonies in the city under which it has to identify the localities to be regularised and those to be left out.

“It seems that all vested interests are involved. If the Government wanted to get itself out of the purview of the order, it should have informed the court about it. But you (Government) are sitting on it and not notifying the guidelines,” observed a Bench comprising Justice Anil Dev Singh and Justice Mukul Mudgal. TNS

CULTURE

GLITZ & GLAMOUR
All these magic men with their ‘Bo Derek’ workshops
Smriti Kak

The Lakme India Fashion Week is finally over. A seven-day frenzy, the LIFW had not just clothes horses trotting about, but also had a few ‘magicians’ who could transform you with a brush of colours and a snip of locks.

The Lakme beauty salon.

To say that the Lakme and Sunsilk enclosures drew a crowd, would be an understatement. Any time of the day you could see the place bursting at its seams; there were not just the ‘curious onlookers’ and the ‘tag with me please’ escorts, but men who came for a hairdo.

Girls would probably give the workshops a perfect 10. Where else do you get to make your own lipstick? Imagine a woman’s ultimate fancy — of owning and possessing a lip colour that no one else has — coming true. Trust Lakme to rise to the occasion, they offered the women a chance to make their own lip colour and take it home. There was plenty to choose from, ranging from `mera wala pink’ to `tere wala purple’.

A Lakme hair care expert with a model.

Then, of course, there were the make up artists. Or should we say make over artists who worked hours at a stretch to make faces. No, they were far from rude, they just dabbled with colours to crate another face. A teenage girl wanted to look like Yana. The only problem, well…should we discuss that? So, the genies began work and within 15 minutes, to be precise, she was raring to go and give Yana a run for her money. A cosmetic wizard confessed, “In Delhi, everyone wants to look pretty and different (Really? Tell us where they don’t.). When I finish making their faces, they look into the mirror and are surprised”. Well, so are we.

Nail painting is the in thing.

For hair stylists, their scissors never stopped snipping. A queue waited patiently for the locks to be sheared. Touché! The hair as we know is a means of making your style statement. So, apart from watching the transformations (we are born spectators), we also got an insight into what is the look for the year. So, here goes, “disconnected, tousled, disarrayed, feminine and natural”. Whether all these looks are to be acquired one at a time or in one go is something we forgot to inquire.

Nail care expert Neera Aggarwal.

They also gave us tips on make up and style. We were told nail painting is in. No, not the same old nail enamel that comes in bottles and all you need to do is paint with the brush. This time it is nail art. Boring strokes are out, colourful designs, nail ornaments (ladies, diamonds are now also worn on the nails) and ceramics, maybe acrylics, are in. Need to join an art class though.

Now that we have rattled off the business of fashion for you, let us share the fashion mantra that almost all designers shared with us, “Fashion is all about being yourself, we should not follow fads and copy blindly”. Did anyone ever hear of verbal irony.

Face value

Blue Look: A high-tech facial.

Nature’s Essence has launched a hi-tech range of facials called the Nature’s Nitrogen Facial. These facials are Nature’s Nitrogen Facial, a blend of liquid nitrogen, aloevera, Nature’s metallic gold with the properties of metallic powder and gold dust and Nature’s magic pearl, which enhances fairness.

Based on these facial ranges, make up artist Pankaj Chopra created new looks — Blue, Diva and Flame. While Blue is for party occasions, it is suited for those wishing to go in for a touch of glamour..

Flame is for those who wish to go in for the touch of gold. Specially created for brides on their wedding day. Diva, meanwhile, is for the cool, calm and subtle looks.

A fit airlines

Beauty and fitness are complementary, and that they go on to create lasting impressions is something we have been given reason to believe. If you have missed out on the two, take a cue from the Indian Airlines.

The airline has tied up with Vandana Luthra for an image make over of its crew. VLCC will be running courses in grooming and fitness for the IA staff. Says Luthra, “VLCC will go beyond the initial steps of healthcare to a more rounded approach of offering a completely healthy lifestyle to help the crew cope better with the pressures of the high flying job. We at VLCC will be training the IA crew members on aspects of skin care, hair care, makeup, healthy eating habits, correct posture, poise and clothes under the supervision of specially trained professionals”.

As for the IA, the Managing Director, Sunil Arora, adds, “The holistic approach to health and fitness and beauty is not just about looking good, but also about how you feel. In this respect we wanted to emphasize fitness above everything and help our crew get trained and improve their image. These things are aimed at enhancing an individual’s personality as a whole. I strongly believe that the cabin crew are the face of the airline and can make the airline’s image or mar it”.

A face-saving exercise that!

Picture perfect

Think Tanjore paintings and it is hard not to think of vibrancy and glitter. And if this form of highly intricate art is grouped with stain glass the result is for all to see.

Prerna with her Tanjore paintings on satin glass.

An Economics graduate, Prerna Mittal uses her creativity to bring out the best of the Tanjore paintings on stain glass. Prerna, it is reported, infuses this ancient art with freshness that exudes modern day philosophies.

Says the artist, “Tanjore art has its vocabulary that is steeped in tradition. But the thrill is in keeping it in that mould and yet achieve poetic perfection”. She tries to capture the mystical beauty of the Indian gods and goddesses and images of her favourite Lord Mahavira. She traces the dance steps of the Ras Lila in the tones of her colour brush.

A self-trained artist, she is going to hold her first solo exhibition, ‘Prernakriti,’ from the 16th to the 18th of this month at the India Habitat Centre and will be inaugurated by super cop, Dr. Kiran Bedi.

“It is difficult to get expressions on a slippery glass surface, but the thrill of creating images is a challenge that leads me towards it,” says Prerna, whose experimentation with colours led her to discover the world of figurative art and designs.

Besides dabbling with Tanjore art, Prerna has innovatively harnessed colour and images on glass, she has created decorative artifacts like glass panel for doors, lampshades and illuminated pedestals.