In Brief

One dead,four injured in accidents
One person died and four women were injured in separate road accidents here. Kulwant Singh (55) of Jansua village on Hissar road died when his motorcycle was hit by a truck near Manav Chowk in Ambala City. He was rushed to the civil hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. The truck driver fled the spot leaving behind his vehicle. In the second accident,four women from Kangra were injured when their car collided with a heavy vehicle. Vimla,Laxmi,Sharda and Shayamlata and were admitted to the hospital.

Chandigarh Science Congress begins tomorrow
Energy security and environmental challenges will be the focal theme of the 4th Chandigarh Science Congress which will begin on Friday at Panjab University. Vice-Chancellor Professor R C Sobti will deliver the presidential address. The two-day Congress will see a range of plenary sessions and over 415 oral and poster presentations. The industry-academia interface will have eminent industrialists interact with faculty and the over 1,000 delegates.

Free eye camp at Dadumajra from March 23
The Democratic Youth Federation of India and Guru Gobind Singh Sports Club from Dadumajra village is organising the 15th Shahid Bhagat Singh memorial free eye checkup and operation camp from March 23 to 26 at the Government High School in Dadumajra. The inaugural function will be held at 10.30 am and former Chandigarh mayor Kamlesh will be guest of honour on the occasion.

Office-bearers of PUSU elected
In a general body meeting held on Wednesday,the Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU) announced the chief patron and chairman of the party. The post of the chairman was lying vacant after the previous elections. Simranjit Singh Dhillon is the new chief patron while Dhrupwinder (Cherry) Brar is the chairman.

‘Parents need to become new watchdogs’
Emphasising on the role of parents in the age of technology,Urvashi Gulati,chief secretary,Haryana,urged them to brace themselves as a watchdog. She was addressing delegates on the first-day of the workshop on strengthening human values and life skills in education at Hansraj Public School on Wednesday.

About 200 delegates from Punjab,Haryana,Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh are participating in the event which focuses on the newly introduced comprehensive and continuous evaluation and also the enhanced significance of life skills considering increasing competition among children. “Since technology has intruded in our lives,we also need to look at the flip side of our dependence on it. Instead of people,we are talking to machines. The joint family system too has witnessed a breakdown with higher rate of failed marriages. This is where teachers need to step in and teach life skills to students to help them cope with stress,” said the chief guest.

Social Science Congress ends at PU
The two-day social science congress concluded at Panjab University on Wednesday. Prof R C Sobti,Panjab University Vice-Chancellor,proposed the setting up of a Chandigarh Social Science Academy and also nominated 15 founder members of the proposed academy from different departments. The second day of the congress began with a flurry of activity with poster making,slogan writing and quiz competitions besides other events.

UT powermen press for their demands
The power department employees of the city under the banner of UT Powermen Union observed a symbolic pen down strike in all shifts against the non-implementation of their demands. All employees observed protest in their shifts and demonstration was held before all the offices by leaders concerned during the general shift from 9 am to 11 am. They will hold a dharna on March 23.

Kurukshetra University V-C favours opening of foreign colleges in country
Addressing the annual convocation of SD College in Ambala Cantonment on Wednesday,Kurukshetra University Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen (Retd) Dr D D S Sandhu asked students to analyse their strengths and weaknesses and then decide about their future. Earlier,while talking to the media,Dr Sandhu favoured the opening of foreign universities in India because it would help stop brain drain. He said that this would also slow down the “mad race to go abroad for studies”. The V-C also released a multi-disciplinary research journal ‘Purva Mimansa’ and a book ‘Socio-Economic Development in Punjab: A comparative Study of Border and non-Border Areas’ by Dr Kamini Khanna. A total of 629 graduates and post graduates were conferred degrees.

Dikshant schools to implement Multiple Intelligence Theory as part of curriculum
The Dikshant Group of schools has tied-up with Howard Gardner,a well-renowned Hobbs professor of cognition and education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to implement his Multiple Intelligence Theory as a part of the curriculum,at a recently held conference at Wellington College,UK. The curriculum at Dikshant schools would be based on ‘Project Zero’,an initiative of Howard Gardner and his team of researchers from Harvard Graduate School of Education,who have been working on the design of performance-based assessments,education for understanding and the use of the Multiple Intelligence theory to achieve a more personalised curriculum and mode of instruction and assessment.