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Alliance Resolves To Start A Grassroots Green Movement

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Alliance Resolves To Start A Grassroots Green Movement

The uncontrolled burning of crop residues, the dangerously falling water table and the lack of solid waste management facilities in the region are a cause for serious environmental concern to the population and the tardy pace of government action in this regard does not inspire much confidence. In this regard an environmental alliance involving NGOs, pollution control boards, state governments, and other stakeholders, including private and public sector undertakings, was announced in Chandigarh on Saturday by former National Green Tribunal (NGT) chairman and Supreme Court Judge Swatanter Kumar. The alliance, Global Platform for Environment (GPE), of which Justice Swatanter Kumar is the National convenor, will work to generate awareness and a mass movement right from the village level in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and UT Chandigarh.

As a first step towards the launch of a nationwide movement to address these and many other environmental issues head on, GPE is organising a first of its kind one day Regional Conference on Environment at Panjab University on Sunday to coincide with World Earth Day, It will witness participation by international representatives of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) besides several NGOs, pollution control boards, state governments and other stakeholders. “We have in our alliance 19 stakeholders,” Justice Swatanter Kumar said, adding that “we believe that the environment is the common inheritance of us all and the action to protect and conserve it for posterity has to be collective too.”

Photo By : Life In Chandigarh

On behalf of Serving in Organisations for Legal Initiatives (SIOLI), which will be directly overseeing and executing the various environmental awareness initiatives in the target states, Reeta Kohli, Senior Advocate, informed that apart from the inaugural and valedictory sessions, the conference, to be inaugurated by Haryana Governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki, will have three technical sessions, one each on the three fundamental subjects of the conference.

Among the star speakers will be Gram Vikas Navyuvak Mandal Convenor Laxman Singh Laporiya, environmentalist Sudhendra Sharma,  Alwar’s famous water man Rajendra Singh, Sumant Pandey from Yashwant Rao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YADA), Wing Commander Rommel Luke from Smart Education and Welfare Association (SEWA), Dr. Krishna Rao, Director Niper, and Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO, Namma Bengaluru Foundation. There will also be a motivational address by Dr. S.V. Subba Rao.

A galaxy of dignitaries participating in the conference include Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Hemant Gupta, Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar, Himachal Pradesh High Court Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol, Panjab University Vice Chancellor Prof. Arun Kumar Grover, Dr. T.P. Singh, Deputy Regional Director, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bangkok, NGT Acting Chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim, Airports Authority of India Chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra and Central Pollution Control Board Chairman SPS Parihar.

Accompanying Justice Swatanter Kumar and Reeta Kohli at the press conference on Saturday were Neelima Kamrah, Registrar, KIIT Group of Colleges who is actively involved with super cop Kiran Bedi’s NGO Navjyoti, and Sunita Sibal, social activist and a trustee of SIOLI.

On a jarring note, the biggest environmentalist of the region Baba Seechewal will be conspicuous by his absence at the conference.

Lifeinchadigarh.com hopes that the conference will come out with a well thought out and workable action plan for the region and that Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal will be actively involved in its implementation.

Conference starts 10 a.m. on Sunday and the venues are Law Auditorium and English Auditorium 1 & 2, Panjab University campus.

Ex-guard Had Planned Snatching Of Cash Bag

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Ex-guard Had Planned Snatching Of Cash Bag

A cash bag containing Rs 6.25 lakh was snatched from the owner of the famous sweets brand Gopal’s the other day in Sector 8. The crime could possibly have been added to the list of many similarly snatchings which have remained unsolved, but for discernible footage obtained from an area CCTV camera, which helped the Chandigarh police crack the case within 48 hours. It turned out to be another inside job with one of the three accused youths arrested being a former security guard with the Gopal’s who left the job in January this year.

The swift cracking of the case has once again brought to focus the urgent need for covering the entire city with a network of high resolution CCTV cameras monitored real time from zonal monitoring stations. The prompt solving of the case also gave much needed respite to the city police which has of late been the butt of public criticism over the deteriorating law and order situation, especially a spate of unabated snatching incidents.

Photo By : Life In Chandigarh

Senior Superintendent of Police Nilambari Vijay told media persons that Rs 4.43 lakh of the snatched cash had been recovered alongwith the getaway Honda Activa scooter used by the accused in the crime. The rest of the money was spent by the accused in paying off debt and in merry making, she added.

The cash bag was snatched from Sharanjit Singh, owner of Gopal’s, around 9:15 p.m. on April 17, after chilli powder was sprayed in the eyes of his guard Dalip. The two were nearing Sharanjit’s car in the parking opposite the shop when two youths pounced on them. The youths were chased but they got away on a scooter being driven by their accomplice who was waiting nearby.

The SSP said the youths had apparently been doing a recce of the area from a few days prior to the crime and the suspicious movement of two of them was captured in the CCTV footage, which helped the police immensely.

All three accused, Nitish Singh alias Niki (28), Janak Singh alias Lucky (32) and Deepak alias Deepu (21), had been living in village Kaimbwala in the Union Territory for many years but were originally from neighbouring states like Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. Nitish was the brain behind the crime as he aware about the movement of cash of his former employers. He had been recruited through a security agency and had left the job by his own volition in January this year.

The SSP informed that Nitish and Deepak had previous history of petty crimes like drinking in public and involvement in a brawl. All three were addicted to alcohol and drugs, she claimed.

Nilambari Vijay informed that personnel from the police stations and PCR vehicles were especially focussing on the markets while patrolling their respective areas in view of the vulnerability of these places. 

Hitachi Markets Itself Aggressively

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Hitachi Markets Itself Aggressively

Hitachi has this summer season resorted to more competitive pricing and brought new products to the table, like a first time 5-star rated inverter hot and cold split AC and one with an expandable inverter allowing a one ton AC to convert to a 1.7 tonner, to cater to the mass market. These, and many other white goods, with new innovations and new features, are the star attractions at the CII Coolex 2018 which opened to public viewing at Himachal Bhawan in Sector 28 on Friday. A wide range of the long forgotten coolers, which made a comeback in a new avatar, are also on display. The four-day exhibition is on till Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Monday it will remain open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Fujitsu General has on display for the first time a commercial 3-ton inverter split AC which can work on a single phase power supply. Consuming only 14 amperes of current on the single phase, the AC is touted as a more cost effective alternative to other commercial AC options like cassette, pillar and ductable ACs.

Photos By : Life In Chandigarh

Other Japanese brands Daikin, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Electric along with other brands like Blue Star, LG, Lloyd and Haier have also displayed their entire range of air conditioners. Samsung again is conspicuous by its absence at this year’s Coolex.

In the refrigerator vertical again, Hitachi is aggressively marketing itself, bringing in sub 350 litres capacity models for the first time aimed at the mass market. It had earlier been concentrating on the premium segment (350 litres plus). Its wide range includes refrigerators from 2-door to 8-door in attractive metallic colours. A three-door bottom mounted refrigerator has been designed to give the looks of a premium side by side refrigerator but the top two doors open to a single refrigerator compartment. In certain models, a user need not physically open every door. A simple touch on relevant display on a digital panel opens up the doors. Every inverter refrigerator comes with 10 years compressor warranty.

World leader Haier too has come out with its superior technology at most competitive prices. A normal refrigerator is claimed to consume just 0.78 unit of power over 24 hours. The refrigerators come with unbreakable and scratch proof mirror glass doors for that super finish. The below 350 litres range starts from 250 litres and goes up to 345 litres. The premium range starts from 555 litres and goes up to 712 litres, which is its No. 1 selling model. The insides of the refrigerator are most brightly lit with LED panels lighting up every nook and corner with brilliance.

Haier also has on display a 8-in-1 convertible which, as per requirements, can be converted from a Normal refrigerator mode to Vegetable mode (for storing a large number of vegetables and fruits), Home Alone mode (disconnects freezer), Surprise Party mode (100 percent faster freezing of ice), Freezer mode (disconnects refrigerator), Vacation mode (disconnects freezer), Turbo mode (entire refrigerator cools faster) and Summer mode (cooling in the chiller tray gets enhanced).

A separate section in CII Coolex 2018 has been dedicated to good old coolers. The top brands on display are Symphony, which has a patented wall mounted cooler akin to the inner unit of a split AC, Usha and HIL. The capacity of the coolers range from as little as nine litres to 100 litres and the price varies from around Rs 4,000 to Rs 19,000. The coolers industry is growing at a fast clip after it reinvented itself with aesthetically designed ABS plastic bodies, more durable and long lasting honeycomb fibre pads, better portability of the unit with improved wheels, enhanced energy efficiency because of lower weight and superior air delivery. Another advantage of coolers over ACs is that they can continue to work on inverters in case of disruption in electricity supply.

On at Himachal Bhawan-28 Saturday & Sunday : 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Monday : 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Come May, Get Set To Showcase Your Inner Beauty

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Come May, Get Set To Showcase Your Inner Beauty

All the married women out there, including widows and divorcees, who aspire to stand out and get noticed, here comes an opportunity to live your dream, right here in Chandigarh. The first ever Mrs India Punjab 2018 pageant, a gateway to the national and Asian pageants, will be held in the month of May this year. And the organisers are not seeking just your outward beauty, which is skin deep, but a beautiful soul within you – love, compassion, sense of sacrifice and service, mental strength, sincerity of purpose, conviction, et al. The contest is open to women from Punjab and Chandigarh. There is no bar on upper age limit for participation. You just need to be a married woman above 18 years of age. The contest is open to three different age categories 18-40, 40-60 and 60-plus.

Announcing the first ever Punjab pageant, Chennai based Deepali Phadnis, Managing Director, Mrs India Pageants and Productions Pvt Ltd, said last year aspirants from this region had to contest in Northern Region pageant held in New Delhi. Deepali, who herself is a trained Odissi dancer and winner of the Mrs Asia International title in 2012, said considering that the national pageant was attracting the largest number of participants from North, predominantly from Delhi and Punjab and Chandigarh, last year we held the Northern India pageant in New Delhi and this year we decided to extend it to Punjab and Chandigarh to enable more women from here to participate.

Photos By : Life In Chandigarh

Another reason was that Jyoti Rupaal, winner of the Mrs Asia International Popularity Queen 2017 title in China, took on the responsibility of holding the first edition of the pageant for Punjab and Chandigarh. Jyoti, wife of an Army officer who has been posted to Chandigarh, is a hospitality industry professional, an etiquette trainer and educationist. She has been appointed Director, Mrs India Punjab pageant.

Jyoti told media persons that the auditions for the Mrs India Punjab pageant will be organised on May 19, 2018 and the grand finale on June 9, both in Chandigarh. The venue is in the process of being finalised. Queries have already started coming in and aspirants are being asked to register online on the website for the pageant www.mrsindiapunjab.com till the day of the auditions, she added.

Deepali and Jyoti expressed confidence that the response from Punjab and Chandigarh to the pageant is going to be very good considering that the women from the region are renowned for their well rounded personality which includes beauty, grace, poise, dignity, strength, courage, conviction and pride. “We are here to give women of substance visibility and an opportunity to showcase their inherent strengths, besides creating space for intermingling of ideas and thoughts between them. We are sure that women in large numbers will grab this opportunity with both hands,” they added.

Dr. Manmohan Singh Roots For Equality To Save Democracy

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Dr. Manmohan Singh Roots For Equality To Save Democracy

Celebrating the success of Indian democracy as a befitting reply by the common people of the country to the world giving it no chance 70 years ago, Dr. Manmohan Singh on Wednesday made an impassioned appeal for ensuring equality for the traditionally deprived sections of the society for the Indian democracy to survive and thrive. Steering clear of direct references to the ruling political dispensation, which his party, the Congress, has been steadfastly manoeuvring to pull down, the noted economist and former Prime Minister, nevertheless warned that efforts being made to turn from democracy to “more authoritarian alternatives” may end up “destroying our country” and all the achievements of the last seventy years.

Delivering the 1st Prof. S.B. Rangnekar Memorial Oration in memory of his onetime teacher and mentor in his alma mater, the Panjab University, in Chandigarh, on the subject “The Seventieth Anniversary of our Independence – Strengthening the Roots of Our Democracy”, Dr. Manmohan Singh said “I need not dwell long on the current deep concern that attempts are being made to divide the Indian people on the basis of religion and caste, language and culture.  Atrocities against minorities and dalits are increasing. If unchecked, these tendencies can only harm our democracy. As a people, we must strongly reject divisive policies and politics.”

 

Photos By : Life In Chandigarh

Another growing concern, he spelled out, was that while economic growth remained a high priority for the country, “the concomitant commitment to ensuring that disparities and inequality do not grow is weakening.  This can be a serious potential threat to our democracy. Economists and development experts worldwide, including in India, are today emphasizing the grave danger to sustained growth from growing inequality. They point out that economic inequality and exclusion are threats not only to economic and social wellbeing, but also to a cohesive functioning of the polity as a whole.”

Suggesting a roadmap for the future, Dr. Manmohan Singh said, “It is vitally important for us in India to maintain strong focus on containing the growth of economic inequality, and work actively to reduce it. A range of economic and social policy measures are available to us.  What is required is stronger social and political reawakening to the principle of equality – social, economic and political – for the sake of equality and as a mark of our commitment to democracy.  In the short term, pro-equality policies may make growth more expensive, but the growing inequality is, in the long term, a far greater danger to economic well being and sustained growth.”

Falling back profusely on Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru during the course of his lecture, the former Prime Minister recounted Ambedkar, while addressing the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949, expressing his concerns on the challenge of transforming India into a society based on equality, and quoted Ambedkar “[In our Republic], in politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In Politics we will be recognizing the principle of one-man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one-man one value. How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions? How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life?  If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril.  We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which this Assembly has so laboriously built up.”

Dr. Manmohan Singh said then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru had also warned in 1952 in one of his letters to his Chief Ministers, and he quoted “If poverty and low standards continue then democracy for all its fine institutions and ideals, ceases to be a liberating force.” 

Dwelling on electoral reforms, while acknowledging that the country should be proud of its democratic electoral system, which has opened up opportunities for the aam aadmi without any social, economic or political privilege whatsoever by birth to occupy the highest positions of power, Dr. Manmohan Singh said steps needed to be taken urgently to cleanse elections of money and muscle power.

Expressing optimism over the future of India as a nation and its democracy, Dr Manmohan Singh asked the people to imbibe Pandit Nehru’s words : “I hope that we shall look into the future with a stout heart and with confidence in ourselves”. 

Earlier beginning his lecture, Dr Manmohan Singh profusely acknowledged the contribution made by Dr. S.B. Rangnekar, who along with Dr. K.K. Dewett, was the founder of the Department of Economics of the Panjab University after the partition of India in 1947, for shaping his career path as an economist.  

“The Department of Economics in those days was located at Hoshiarpur along with many other university departments. I joined the Department of Economics as an M.A. student in 1952.  This was the first year of adoption of the new M.A. syllabus in whose preparation Dr. Rangnekar played pioneering role.  He was a great teacher who inspired me to go to Cambridge after my M.A. examination.  On return from Cambridge, I joined the Department of Economics as a Senior Lecturer. Soon thereafter the Department of Economics moved to Chandigarh and I had the privilege of working in the department with Dr. Rangnekar as its Head.  Dr. Rangnekar and his wife treated me and my wife as a member of their family.  That was the happiest period of my life and I recall it with gratitude to Rangnekars.  

After the oration lecture, Dr. Manmohan Singh visited the Department of Economics, where he now holds the Jawaharlal Nehru Chair. He interacted with the faculty, including current chairperson Dr. Upinder Sawhney, and students of the department and also obliged them by signing a framed poster carrying his picture and his quote.

Thereafter, he visited Guru Teg Bahadur Hall where facilities are to be created for housing the 3500 odd books to be donated by him from his personal library for the benefit of students.

Dr Manmohan Singh alongwith his wife Gursharan Kaur are also learnt to have visited the house of their family friends, the Chadhas, in Sector 36. They inquired about the health of former Ambassador I.S. Chadha’s wife who recently underwent a surgery.

About Prof. S.B. Rangnekar

Prof. S.B. Rangnekar, Dr.Manmohan Singh’s teacher and later his colleague at Panjab University, is credited with founding the Department of Economics of the university then located at Hoshiarpur after Partition. In 1951, Dr. Rangnekar was appointed a Reader in Economics and he took upon himself the task of establishing teaching and research in Economics. Besides heading the department, he also headed a Ford Foundation project. The department shifted to its present location in Chandigarh in 1958.

Prof. Rangnekar carried out several studies on Punjab Economy commissioned by the Planning Commission, UNESCO and other agencies. He was associated with the Working Group of the Fourth Five Year Plan. The department under Prof. Rangnekar made an impact on development and planning which was adequately manifested in Dr. Manmohan Singh’s work for India in the Kennedy Round of Tariff negotiations carried out at the request of the Central Ministry of Commerce. The department was also known for its studies on finances of the Central and State Governments.

Dr. Rangnekar restructured the courses of Economics in the 1960s and introduced the Honours School Programme in 1966. The department is carrying forward his initiatives of the Honours School Programme and tradition of research set by him. It has carried out several projects, including a study on state finances of Punjab for the 14th Finance Commission and is currently doing so for the 15th Finance Commission.

Will Politics Continue To Prevail, Or Will Learning Triumph ?

Sanjeev Kochhar
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Will Politics Continue To Prevail, Or Will Learning Triumph ?

The 4th oldest university of the country which holds the rare distinction of giving it three Chairpersons of University Grants Commission (UGC), and two Prime Ministers, is today at a crossroads, thanks to continuing neglect of its financial health and an archaic governing structure. Neither a central university nor a state university, its status as an inter-state body corporate has not helped its cause of achieving its full potential of being counted among the top global universities.

Tottering on the edge of bankruptcy, and barely being able to stay alive on life saving support, the university, which traces its roots to Lahore, now in Pakistan, faces two scenarios  – either to be counted among the other ailing universities and be left with no other option but shrink its expanse and size, or, considering its special status as an educational institution of national importance, it is deservedly provided adequate support by both the central government and the state of Punjab to raise it to the level of the world’s best universities.

Photos By : Life In Chandigarh

Despite its failings on the financial front, the university continues to maintain a reasonably good track record of being the breeding ground for industry ready research and innovation. Initiatives taken by the university at forging closer alliances with the industry and other national and international research and innovation driven institutions, and setting up platforms for specific industry clusters like medical devices manufacturing, Life Sciences and IT have been well received by the central government and sought to be replicated in the rest of the country.

Recent Positive Developments

Recent positive developments also appear to open up windows of opportunity for the university to overcome its financial woes in the not so distant future. With the UGC according greater autonomy to 60 higher education institutions, including Panjab University, which have maintained high standards, the university will be free to decide its admission procedure, fee structure and curriculum.

It will also have the freedom to start new courses, off campus centers, skill development courses, research parks and any other new academic programs, besides hiring foreign faculty, enrol foreign students, give incentive based emoluments to the faculty, enter into academic collaborations and run open distance learning programmes. This autonomy is expected to help the university generate more internal funds and possibly gradually reduce its dependency on the central government and state of Punjab.

Punjab Commits More Fund

With the Punjab government also committing more funds to the Panjab University in the future as part of its share in meeting the maintenance deficit of the university, one of the biggest concerns which continues to rile the university authorities is the intransigent stand of the all powerful elected governing bodies of the university – Senate and Syndicate – against nominal annual increase in admission and examination fees. Till date these remain the only major sources of revenue for the university.

Another huge impending burden on the university’s finances is going to be the implementation of the recommendations of the 7th Central Finance Commission. The Rs 100 crore additional burden, including arrears, has the potential of further sinking the university into a financial mess unless the central government and Punjab government step in to share this burden over and above their regular annual commitments.

Embattled Vice Chancellor

Vice Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover

An embattled Vice Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover, who completes his two year extension in July and during whose tenure the university faced its worst financial crisis, feels that the university needs to continuously grow in stature along with its size to be counted among the world’s best universities. For this it needs to urgently recruit more regular teachers so that research and innovation gets a further leg up.

“We have put systems and platforms in place to improve industry-academia interface and forged alliances with research and innovation driven institutions both within the country and abroad in an effort to take the university to the next level. Our students need to the trained at the level which ensures their ready acceptability in respectable positions in the industry and elsewhere. All this is not going to happen without adequate finances. We have to ensure a steady increase in our internal earnings to expect more from our funding agencies. A reasonable annual hike in admission and examination fees in imperative,” the VC asserts.

Prof Grover, a strong votary of change in the current governing structure of the university, maintains : “The populist agenda of the elected governing bodies – the Senate and the Syndicate – should not cloud governance issues. How long can we keep postponing the inevitable ? This way we will stagnate and decay and the goal of realising the full potential of the university will fade away.”

Clamour For Change In Governing Structure

The university has been seeking constitution of a committee by the central government to review its governing structure adopted under the archaic Universities Act of 1904, which is now not applicable in any other university other than PU. A relook at the governing structure has also been recommended by the National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) team in its report.

The university argues that current system which does not impose any cap on terms of Senate and Syndicate members has bred monopolistic tendencies with certain well entrenched members or their groups continuing for decades, riding on a captive electorate. It wants a practical governing structure on the lines of that existing in equivalent universities of national import.

The system has effectively ensured that no Vice Chancellor has a free say in the running of the university and decisions taken in the larger interests of the university, such as efforts to increase its revenues, can be torpedoed by the governing bodies.

The deep rooted politics within the university is one of the biggest contributing factors to the 1,000 odd cases the university is having to contest in the courts of law, consuming valuable time of the university officials and effectively tying down the Vice Chancellor in petty issues.

At Loggerheads With Governing Bodies

The current Vice Chancellor Prof. Arun Kumar Grover, who besides being an alumnus of the university has also remained its faculty member before assuming the office of the Vice Chancellor in 2012 after retiring as senior faculty member from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai, has particularly been at loggerheads with the government bodies at he has steadfastly refused to back down on major decisions taken during his extended tenure, especially regular increase in admission and examination fees aimed at extricating the university from its financial mess.

The festering issues resulted in a massive agitation by the students which anti climaxed in unprecedented violence on the campus as students clashed with the police. Many protesters and bystanders and police personnel were injured in the mayhem and several key student agitators were put behind bars.

Prof. Grover has also been facing sexual harassment charges slapped on him by a faculty member, who was then member of the Syndicate, and the constitution of a regular enquiry committee by the Chancellor of the university and Vice President of India is embroiled in politics. The process has been hanging fire for long and the case stands still even as the extended tenure of the Vice Chancellor ends in July this year.

Reearch & Innovation

Meanwhile the university continues to move forward on its agenda of providing better training to students to make them gainfully employable. Alliances have been and are being forged with the industry and other national and international institutions focussed on research and innovation.

Starting with the establishment of Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in Panjab University by the Central Department of Science & Technology (DST) in December, 2013, with a mandate to strengthen Industry-Academia research and development ecosystem, the university also spearheaded the formation of a cluster christened Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC), which is a conglomerate of 27 premier institutes of the region covering the domains of medical, engineering, pharma, biotech, nanotechnology and management.

Both these platforms have received wide appreciation nationally and internationally.  Recently, DST-CPR created a web portal displaying the scientific strengths (patents, technologies, professional expertise of scientists, scientific infrastructure, etc.) of all the 27 institutes of CRIKC for the benefit of industries seeking solutions to their scientific problems. Appreciating the move, Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India has suggested such portals be created in other parts of the country as well.

The university has also been reaching out to its hundreds of alumni abroad, which has resulted in a MoU being signed with IC-IMPACTS, a conglomerate of high ranking universities in Canada and Canadian industries operating from University of British Columbia in Vancouver. IC-IMPACTS and DST have partnered to jointly fund projects of interest to India.

All these moves are targeted at providing additional resources and opportunities to faculties and researchers in PU to enhance their research output and improve their quality.

The university has also filed an application for support from ‘Institute of Excellence’ window recently created by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and it has been invited to make a presentation in this regard in New Delhi in the first week of April.

Says Prof. Grover, “It is my personal assessment that PU has the potential to deliver to the national aspiration, that in a decade from now, there should be at least a few Indian institutions which would get into the bracket of top 200 institutions globally. Provided we can enlist adequate financial support and create proper work conditions for younger faculty and research scholars with the help of the central and Punjab governments and Chandigarh UT Administration, PU can be one amongst such institutions,” he asserts.     

A Natural Drift From Period Research To Period Fashion

Sanjeev Kochhar
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A Natural Drift From Period Research To Period Fashion

Her natural flair for painting and sketching and her Ph.D. research on ‘Personal Decorations as represented in Indian Sculptural Art’ unconsciously ushered her into the world of fashion designing, in which she had no formal training, and within a short span of time she has stamped her mastery in ‘Period Fashion’ with a contemporary touch. With both Bollywood and Pollywood cashing in on period films, Nimrat Kahlon appears to be seeing in it an opportunity to ride the wave to fame. Her label ‘Dhaagey Creations’, into its very first year of existence, has done rather well with Pollywood actresses Sonia Mann, who is the label’s brand ambassador, and Himanshi Khurana picking up her designs to boost their on screen presence.

“My expertise lies in recognizing the old forms of fashion that carry the legacy of the great Indian past,” Nimrat told Lifeinchandigarh.com during a select media interaction where she showcased her work and presented video shoots with her models. The model are not always professional models, and include women achievers from the region like National shooter Avneet Kaur Sidhu, social activist Tejinder Kaur Sonia, teen politician Navjot Kaur Lambi, and fitness expert Gagan Sidhu. 

Photos By : Life In Chandigarh

“Right from the dawn of civilization highly aesthetic and perfect clothes were wo in India. Both men and women wore similar clothes and it is only in the last few centuries that distinct clothes for both the sexes have come into use. ‘Dhotis’ took form of ‘patloons’ and ‘salwars’, respectively. What we wear today is definitely an extension from the past,” says Nimrat.

The period designer has worked on different concepts like introducing the true heritage of undivided Punjab through the period costumes. She has also tried to bring back some lost forms of Mughal fashion, which were characterized by their pomposity and grandeur, their flair and flow. “One of my collections has depicted the royal clothes during the period of the Nawabs of India, while another has recreated the true Marwari tradition of clothing and so on.”  

She stands committed to recapitulate the old technique of hand embroideries along with an acknowledgment of the rich culture of Indian provinces. The matchless beauty of the fine carvings at the famous Dilwara temples in Mount Abu inspired her for a short anarkali look. “I incorporated its 16 ‘vidhydevis’ (musical goddesses) motifs on the 16 ‘kalis’,” she says, adding that her outfits reflect a deep understanding of Indian tradition.

The focus is on bringing back the lost glory of Indian culture and its dressing habits. From elegant party suits, lehengas and anarkalis to royal angrakhas, achkans and pashtuns, she tries to bestow magnificence in every work she creates.

Nimrat soon plans to launch some grand designs for brides-to-be. She is also intending to do men’s wear which will include sherwanis and achkans.  

A Deep Sense Of Modernity Runs Through The Exhibits

Sanjeev Kochhar
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A Deep Sense Of Modernity Runs Through The Exhibits

A strong narrative of modernity pervades the 135 exhibits from across the country in the 7th edition of the annual 10-day Artscapes All India Women Artists’ Contemporary Art Exhibition 2018 which got underway in the galleries of the Fine Arts Museum of Panjab University on Monday. The exhibition was inaugurated by Punjab Education Minister Aruna Chaudhary, deputising for Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, who could not make it. The annual all India exhibition is organised by Artscapes, an NGO with Suraj Mukhi Sharma as the Principal Promoter.

According to Art Curator and Consultant Dr. Alka Pande this year more than 1,000 artists from different parts of the country – Kashmir, Punjab, Kerala, Guwahati, Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana – sent in their entries. These encompassed diverse mediums from painting, photography, woodcuts, etching, drawing (pencil and charcoal) and sculpture. Out of these 135 artists were shortlisted for exhibiting their works in the galleries.

Photos By : Life In Chandigarh

Four ladies in the professional category and an equal number in the students’ category were presented awards with a cash component of Rs 40,000 each in case of professional category and Rs 25,000 each in students’ category. A dozen others in both categories were awarded certificates of merit.

The exhibition is open for all from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on all days till March 28, except Sunday, when it will remain shut.

City Leg Of The Bonanza Starts Today

Sanjeev Kochhar
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City Leg Of The Bonanza Starts Today

A bonanza for theatre lovers in the region starts today (Tuesday) with the Chandigarh leg of the 8th edition of the world’s largest theatre festival, International Theatre Olympics, being hosted by India. The global event kicked off from New Delhi on February 17, and in its entirely is covering 17 cities with over 25,000 artists performing 450 shows, giving 600 ambience performances and conducting 250 youth shows. Chandigarh will have the privilege of hosting 15 performances as part of the Olympics at the Tagore Theatre from March 20 to April 3. Haryana Governor Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Marathi/Hindi play Mahna Batav directed by Navid lnamdar will be staged on the opening day. Among others resent will be Raghvendra Singh, Secretary, Union Ministry of Culture, and Ratan Thiyam, Artistic Director, 8th International Theatre Olympics. Entry is free.

Among the other plays being staged in Chandigarh are Ratan Thiyam’s ‘Macbeth’, Pranjal Saikia’s ‘Indipity’, and Saurabh Anant’s ‘Hasyachuramari’, Littette Dubey’s ‘Kanyadaan’, Feisal Alkazi’s ‘Kartik ?!3’, S.M. Azahar Alam’s ‘Lohar’, Sonal Mansingh’s ‘Pancha-Kanyaa’ and Atul Kumar’s ‘Khawab Sa’.

 

Photos By Life In Chandigarh

Apart from the plays in the evenings, there will be allied activities in the mornings like Master Class, Living Legend, Conversation, Interface and a couple of seminars. Sculpture workshops will also be organised.

A Master Class is slated on March 22 with C.S. Krishna Shetty, Living Legend on March 22 with Dr. Attamjit Singh and Conversation with Dr. Satish. On March 24, there will be a Living Legend with Mohan Maharishi and Conversation with Shantanu Bose. Another Master Class has been slotted for March 26 with Nalini Kamalini. An Interface with Dr Varinder Mehandiratta and a Conversation with Vijay Kapoor will take place on March 31. Seminars will be held April 1 and 2.

The Chandigarh leg of International Theatre Olympics 2018 is being organised by the National School of Drama (NSD) under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, in collaboration with Department of Cultural Affair, UT Chandigarh /Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Academy. 

About Theatre Olympics 

The Theatre Olympics was established at Delphi, Greece in 1993. The Theatre Olympics presents some of the greatest theatre practitioners from around the world. It is a platform for theatrical exchange for students and masters, where a dialogue despite ideological, culture and language differences is encouraged. Apart from Delphi, the Theatre Olympics has been held in the following countries: Japan (1999), Russia (2001), Turkey (2006), South Korea (2010), China (2014), Poland (2016).

Details of some of the plays

BANDISH 20-20000HZ

Director: Purva Naresh 

Group: Aarambh Mumbai Productions LLP, Mumbai

Playwright: Purva Naresh

Duration Of The Play: 2 hrs 15 mins

Language: Hindi,

The Play

In a green room four artists come face to face with each other. Two are yester-years’ divas and the other two are young heart-throbs of the nation. They are all set to participate in an event celebrating 70 years of Independence in a small town of India. Soon crisis begins to emerge. The male heart throb of the nation is banned… There is a power failure… Beni Bai refuses to sing. As the event team tries to cope with these issues, we get a glimpse into the history of bans on artists and their artistic journeys. In the end the artists leave the green room. Will they still be worthy of the stage?

DZIADY – NOC DRUGA

Director: Piotr Tomaszuk 

Group: Teatr Wierszalin, Poland

Playwright: Piotr Tomaszuk

Duration Of The Play: 2hrs

Language: Polish

The Play

1820’s – Poland and Lithuania are under Russian occupation. Poles and Lithuanians are deprived of civil rights. They are oppressed, imprisoned or sentenced to forced labour deep into Russia and Siberia. GuÅ›larz begins the ‘Dziady’ feast under the sacred tree. Ghosts conjured up by GuÅ›larz appear for the feast. Ghosts gather in the cosmos. A young man’s ghost seems to be stuck between the sky and the earth. It is the ghost of a poet. The other ghosts reveal their divine plan to him. The young man’s ghost writes an inscription: ‘Gustaw Died, Konrad was Born’. Then he falls to the floor, fainting. The ghost wakes up. He recognizes the cell of a tsarist prison in Vilnius. He starts writing a poem about his imprisonment, inventing his fellow prisoners who are played by other ghosts.

The prisoners of Vilnius tsarist prison tell their stories. Konrad himself fights with God. Evil spirits appear in the cell. They flee as a priest comes after being called by the nearby monastery. Konrad has a vision of future events. Konrad receives the gift of prophecy. The prophecy foretells the triumph of the oppressed and the failure of the tyrants. Under the sacred tree the ritual comes to an end.

GuÅ›larz walks away along with his ‘Dziady’ ritual.

KHAWB SA

Director:Atul Kumar 

Group: The Company Theatre, Mumbai

Playwright: William Shakespeare

Duration Of The Play: 2 hr 30 mins

Language: Hindi

The Play

We  cannot  know  whose  dream  this  is……….Perhaps  Quince  dreamt  of  Titania  and

Titania imagined lovers while lovers dreamt of Puck and Puck conjured up a donkey.

 In dreams there are no anchors; images and sounds waft in and out of the mind. Often becoming so real, so under the skin that a dreamer could fall or fly or even remain suspended mid-air, all the while cocooned in a the warmth of a blanket.

Inspired by the bizarre and extraordinary quality of a human dream, The Company Theatre presents an ensemble of 16 dancers, actors, singers and musicians, all weaving together a landscape of Shakespeare’s fantastical vision, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Bodies and voices drift from real to unreal, moving like a daze or even a possession might move. Sometimes slowly and sometimes suddenly, the performers create and attempt to transport the audience into other realms of experience, led by song, words, music and dance

MACBETH

Director: Ratan Thiyam 

Group: Chorus Repertory Theatre, Imphal

Playwright: William Shakespeare

Duration Of The Play: 1 hr 40 min

Language: Manipuri,

The Play

Scene One: While returning after victory Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches on their way back. Witches prophesy Macbeth’s becoming the next King.

Scene Two: Captain bringing the news of victory to King Duncan.  Duncan declares Macbeth as the Chief of Cawdor.

Scene Three: Letter from Macbeth delivered to Lady Macbeth. Macbeth returns home and informs Duncan’s arrival. Lady Macbeth takes the decision of killing Duncan.

Scene Four: Arrival of Duncan and welcome gesture of

High On Inspiration & Deep On Introspection, Sports Litt Fest Wows All

Sanjeev Kochhar
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High On Inspiration & Deep On Introspection, Sports Litt Fest Wows All

The opening day of the first ever two-day Sports Literature Festival, Playwrite 2018, an initiative by Vibrant Networking Forum, showed just how important it is to share inspirational stories of gritty achievements against odds and discuss the issues that are holding us back from becoming a great sporting nation. While participants like the legendary hockey captain Balbir Singh Sr., centenarian marathoner Fauja Singh and Minerva Punjab Football Club founder Ranjit Bajaj held the select audience in awe with their accounts and experiences of struggle and success, the sports administrators and writers enumerated how sports other than cricket also had the potential to make it big in the world arena through better management and marketing. The success of the event could be gauged from the fact that the deliberations appeared to even inspire those among the audience who were not very wired up to sports. They too actively participate in the discussions.

Three time Olympic team gold medallist Balbir Singh Sr. (95), while inaugurating the event, traced his innings in hockey which he started as a goalkeeper and full back. A chance opportunity to play centre forward resulted in a flurry of goals coming from his stick. He went on to play for the country and captain its team to glory. His feats at the London, Helsinki and Melbourne Olympics became folklore.

Photos By : Life In Chandigarh

He reminisced the proud moment when after independence the Indian flag was hoisted for the first time at the 1948 London Olympics with Britain losing to its former colony 0-4 in the final of the hockey event. Till today, Balbir Singh Sr. holds the world record of maximum number of goals scored by an individual hockey player in an Olympic. He scored five goals in India’s 6-1 win over the Netherlands in the final of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. In the semi-final, he had also scored a hat-trick, all of the three goals India scored against Britain, which lost 1-3. 

The session on “Tests, ODIs, T20s – What’s Next For Cricket” while concentrating on the purist value of Test cricket and the entertaining aspects of limited overs cricket, veered around to the step motherly treatment meted out to sports other than cricket in India. Participating in the discussion and in subsequent Q&A with the audience, cricket writers Vijay Lokapally and G. Rajaraman and Kings XI Punjab Operations Head Anant Sarkaria felt that with innovative thinking, better management and marketing all other sports had the potential to do equally well.

This had been demonstrated by the managements of sports like badminton, tennis, football, wrestling, boxing and even kabaddi. They have been able to sell their exciting new properties to the international television sports channels and have started generating neat amounts to ply back into their respective sports disciplines. So can other sports, the panellists added.

There was also a suggestion that as and when champions have emerged, the sport which they have represented has automatically received greater focus and boost. So we need to have more champions in our midst to do well in sports, it was felt.

The panel discussion on “The World At Your Feet” was perhaps the most engaging with noted football expert and commentator Novy Kapadia, celebrated coach Sukhwinder Singh and Minerva Punjab FC founder Ranjit Bajaj coming up with inspiring stories and trying to get to the root of the malaise dogging the sport in which India has in the past done quite well.

Kapadia and Sukhwinder Singh, who besides playing for India also coached the crack club team JCT for several years, while dwelling on the greatness of Punjab players like Jarnail Singh and Inder Singh, who were quite invincible in Asian football, highlighted the need for nurturing indigenous talent.

The younger participant, Ranjit Bajaj, whose team Minerva Punjab FC in a sensational run won the I-league recently, was convinced that for Indian sports to get a kick start, children had to start playing the sports they love at a much younger age than they are doing currently. “They need to seriously start dabbling in these sports at 5, whereas in India they are starting at 11-12, which is too late for preparing for highly competitive world of sports.”

He vowed to start doing that in football in right earnest. “Already our under-15 and under-17 teams are national champions for the last three years running. Focus on raising women’s teams is also very high on the agenda of my club,” he asserted.

Day-2 of Playwrite 2018 starts 9:30 a.m. at hotel The Lalit 

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