Decks cleared for setting up of Adarsh Schools in Punjab

CHANDIGARH, Feb 26: The Punjab Education Development Board under the chairmanship of Chief Minster Parkash Singh Badal decided in principle to provide quality education to the economically poor and intelligent students free of cost in the ‘Adarsh Schools’ to be affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in the state.

Presiding over the first meeting of the Board held late last evening at Kapurthala House, New Delhi after the amendment to the Punjab Education Development Act, 1998, Mr Badal said, "now the decks have finally been cleared for the major expansion of modernised school education infrastructure in the state". He directed the school education department to immediately invite expression of interest in this regard.

It was also decided in the meeting that initially these schools would be set up in the rural areas in close proximity of the block headquarters to attract highly qualified and talented teachers. Mr Badal also said the teaching of Punjabi subject would be made compulsory up to class-X for the students of Adarsh Schools.

It was also informed in the meeting that the Central Government had already sanctioned a sum of Rs 75 crore as Additional Central Assistance for the setting up the Adarsh schools. Mr Badal directed the state Finance department to immediately release this amount to the Board for speedy implementation of the project.

The Chief Minister also conceded the demand of the members of the Board for direct transfer of the cess of Rs 37 crore levied and collected by the state Excise and Taxation Department in a separate head of Education Development Fund.

In the meeting, the members from the corporate sector and companies impressed upon Mr Badal to allow them to run short-term vocational courses in the premises of Adarsh schools in the evening to impart skilled training to the students and other interested unemployed youth to improve their chances of gainful employment.

The Punjab Education Development Board also decided to allow the group/company/individual having a net worth of Rs 50 crore to be eligible for setting up Adarsh school. Likewise, the Board also allowed the education groups having five years of experience in the educational institutions for the same. These groups should have been running at least 10 educational institutions (colleges and schools) with proper affiliation with not less that 1,000 students for the last two years.

The Chief Minister mentioned in the meeting that the concept of Adarsh schools had been widely appreciated by the Planning Commission of India and the Centre had also replicated the same by establishing Adarsh school in each block of the country.

He said the novel scheme had evoked encouraging response from the top captains of business and industry in the country to set up 100 Adarsh Schools in various parts of the state.

The Chief Minister assured the industrialists of support and cooperation with a congenial atmosphere to work with utmost dedication and commitment to make this dream project a grand success.

The Board also decided to constitute an executive committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary to take decision from time to time with the approval of the Chief Minister. The other members of the board would be Secretary School Education, Vice Chancellor Punjabi University Patiala, Special Secretary School Education and a member from the corporate/business group. (UNI)

Affordability of houses in Mumbai down
50 pc in 3 yrs: Study

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Rising real estate prices and increased interest rates, coupled with demand-supply mismatch, has brought down the affordability of residential property in Mumbai by over 50 per cent in the last three years, a recent study shows.

The report "Housing ‘un’affordability in Mumbai" by rating agency Crisil said the city has seen nearly four-fold jump in residential real estate prices in certain areas over the last four years, while growth in income of an average household has been in the range of 15-25 per cent annually.

"The residential real estate price increases in Mumbai have been of the order of 50 per cent and 300 per cent over the last three years, varying area-wise. Housing finance rates have increased by more than 300 basis points over the same period. Even after adjusting for the increase in urban salaries, affordability has lowered by half over the last three years," the report said.

It added that most of the supply is targeted towards higher-income household, rendering it largely unaffordable for 56 per cent people living in the city with an annual household income below Rs 2 lakh.

"Though most households in this category aspire to buy a house, residential real estate for this category is largely unavailable. Only three per cent of total households have annual incomes above Rs 20 lakh, which is the target segment for premium properties," Crisil said.

The report said residential property priced between Rs 40-80 lakh is witnessing a dip in demand and believes that if the existing supply is not absorbed by March, prices would see a correction of 5-15 per cent in select areas as the additional supply gets announced.

On tightening of interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India through its monetary policies, the rating agency said: "If income growth is not taken into consideration, equated monthly instalments (EMI) have increased with increasing interest rates. Thus, affordable house prices at the same income level have fallen."

Repeal of Urban Land Ceiling (Regulation) Act has freed about 25,000 acres of land, though only 40 per cent of these would be in developable zones, it said, adding "Landowners will now be able to sell or develop their properties without having to go through the Government rigmarole. They will also not have to hand over excess land to the Government."

Crisil opined that the immediate benefit that buyers would get from the repeal is that they would no longer have to buy houses in different names in projects constructed on ULCRA lands.

Earlier, on projects covered under ULCRA, there were restrictions on the size of flats that could be constructed and a single person was not allowed to buy multiple units.

The report also estimated that about three million houses would be added annually areas by 2011 in urban across the country. Mumbai accounts for about 6.5 per cent of total households of urban India. (PTI)

President gives away Sangeet Natak Akademi awards

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: President Pratibha Patil today gave away the Sangeet Natak Akademi awards for 2007 to 33 eminent artistes, including noted music director Khayyam, in recognition of the excellence they have achieved in their respective fields.

The Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowship was conferred on S K Saxena for his writings on music.

Other awardees included vocalists Govardhan Mishra, Vidhyadhar Vyas, V Krishnamurthy, instrumentalists Nandan Misra, Ramu Prasad Shastri, dancers Ranajana Gauhar and Sadanand Kutty.

Music Director Khayyam was also among those presented with the award.

Harimadhav Mukhopadhyay, Ramesh Mehta and N C Thakur were awarded in the field of theatre.

Congratulating the awardees, Patil said music and dance should be spread to all sections of society.

Patil said that modern means of communication like the internet and multi-media should be used to promote performing arts.

"Social organisations and the corporate world should also promote performing arts," she said.

Patil said India occupies an important place in the cultural map of the world and this has been possible due to our ability to incorporate change.

Observing that some of the country’s traditional dances and forms of theatre were fast disappearing, she said: "it is the duty of each and every citizen of India to preserve our culture." (PTI)

Committee for reviewing programme
and AD codes constituted

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Government has constituted a committee for reviewing the programme and advertising codes under Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995, Lok Sabha was informed today.

This committee has prepared a draft content code, which lays down the guidelines for broadcasters regarding the kind of content they can broadcast.

In a written reply to a question on reported cases of violation of general broadcast code, Minister for Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said the committee will review programmes and advertising codes.

"The draft of the content code has been placed at the website of the ministry," Dasmunsi said.

He said the ministry has received several reports of broadcast violation by TV channels and action against the concerned broadcasters has been taken as per rules. (PTI)

Lalu says ‘Chak De Railways’

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Adding a garnish of some Bollywood masala to the 2008-09 Railway Budget, Lalu Prasad likened the "historic" success of the rail network to the megahit movie ‘Chak De India’.

"In the proud history of independent India, it is for the first time that the returns on the capital investment in the Railways will reach 21 per cent," the Railway Minister announced as he presented his fifth Rail Budget.

Prasad, drawing a parallel with the Shahrukh Khan starrer, which was based on the game of hockey, said: "We are scoring goal after goal in every match. Every child in the country will now say ‘Chak De Railway’."

The Railway Minister, whose inimitable sense of humour was well in place as he presented the Budget, launched himself into verse in Urdu to describe the much-talked-about turnaround of the railways.

"Sab Kah Rahe Hain Hum Ne Gazab Kiya Hai. Karodon Ka Munafa Har Ek Sham Diya Hai. Phal Salon Mein Ab Dega Paudha Jo Lagaya Hai. Seva Ka Smaran Ka Hamne Farz Nibhaya Hai," he said as the House burst into laughter and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was also seen laughing away.

The poetry was about the Railways doing wonders and earning crores as profits. "The sapling we planted will bear fruit now," Lalu said in the poem.

At the request of some members, he translated the poetry into his accented English, which again had the House in rapture.

"They are saying that Lalu Yadav has planted a fruit tree and every year it is a duty of mine to grow fruit trees," he said in the translation.

Chatterjee then said in Hindi that there would be no problems in the Railways.

The Budget speech was peppered with such humorous asides and poetry, not allowing the interest of the House to wane. (PTI)

Sanskrit classics brought alive by former diplomat Haksar

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: "On arrival in the city, I learnt from local gossip that it is a city full of misery and rich people...So I decided to enter the profession of crime."

This thought of a professional thief is part of a rich insight into life thousands of years ago through the eyes of the writers of those times, made available for the current generation by famous translator of Sanskrit classics A N D Haksar.

Instead of Kalidasa, Bana and Jayadeva, Haksar chose the works of the writers Bhasa and Dandin because of their crisp narration and rapid action.

The ‘Dasa Kumara Charitam’ of Dandin available as ‘Tales of Ten Princes’ and Bhasa’s ‘Mahabharata’ are Haksar’s fifth attempt at translating Sanskrit classics.

One of the main reasons for translating the works was "The nearness of the ancient works to the idioms of today," said Haksar, a former diplomat.

"You worthless blot on the house of kurus! Are we discussing blades of Grass,"- This is one line from the heated argument between Duryodhana and Krishna projected in the play ‘The Envoy’ from ‘Mahabharata’.

The special feature of the compositions by Bhasa and Dandin, argues Haksar, "Is their brevity with soft spoken lines and fast paced action which gives them a remarkable resonance despite their antiquity. They are about 2,000 years old. And present day experts have considered them actable."

Giving more details, Haksar said: "Bhasa in his play has focused on the losing side of the great epic. In four of them, the hero is actually the epic’s villain. And Bhasa’s revolutionary contribution to Sanskrit drama comes from ‘Urubhangam’ in the play ‘The Shattered Thighs’."

Regarding the attractions of ‘The Ten Princes’, sourced from Dandin, he said it provides a detailed and completely uninhibited description of contemporary life and manners.

"He has mentioned places like Varanasi and Mathura, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, which reflect a sense of cultural identity," said Haksar, who has been Ambassador of India to various countries in Europe and Africa.

He has been writing on foreign affairs and has translated several Sanskrit classics. (PTI)

Justice Khanna cremated

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: The mortal remains of former Supreme Court judge Justice Hans Raj Khanna were consigned to flames here today.

A large number of his friends and admirers besides family members were present at the Lodhi crematorium, where his son lit the funeral pyre amidst chanting of vedic hymns.

Those present included senior BJP leader L K Advani, Justice (retd) J S Verma, Justice (retd) Rajinder Sachar and veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayyar.

Wreaths were also laid on behalf Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former prime minister A B Vajpayee.

Justice Khanna, who won international acclaim for his judgement during Emergency that courts cannot shut the doors for citizens against illegal detention, passed away in his sleep yesterday. He was 95.

He is survived by three sons and a daughter.

Justice Khanna, who served as the judge of the apex court from 1971 to 1977, was for a long time the Member of the PTI Board of which he became the Chairman.

He was the lone dissenter in a five-member Bench which heard the habeas corpus case (ADM Jabalpur vs Shivkant Shukla) during emergency rule.

In the 4-1 judgement of April 1976, the majority accepted the contention that if a person is tortured or his wife spirited away and other family members detained without legal authority, there was no remedy and the court’s doors were closed, a view opposed by Khanna.

Khanna held that the state has no power to deprive a person of his life or personal liberty without the authority of law. (PTI)