NSS to build herbal gardens in Chandigarh schools, colleges

October 11th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Chandigarh will soon set up treetop meditation huts in the serene environs of the Botanical Garden - a unique place for relaxation away from the busy city life - in this union territory. These huts will be a part of Nature Interpretation Centre coming up at the Botanical Garden here in Sarangpur village.

September 26th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal Saturday expressed concern over the poor enrolment from schools to colleges in India, and observed that the national average was "just above" that in the sub-Sahara African countries. "The gross enrolment ratio - that is admission of students from high school to college - in the US is 50 to 70 students per 100 whereas in the Scandinavian countries it is above 70 percent," said Sibal here Saturday.

September 7th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Possible involvement of some education department officials with two touts arrested Saturday night for offering to get a woman a teacher's post for a bribe of Rs.400,000 is being investigated, officials said. Education secretary-cum-vigilance officer of Chandigarh Ram Niwas told IANS Monday: "Police investigation in this case is in progress.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Friday said the government is considering setting up autonomous colleges independent of universities. Addressing a meeting of principal secretaries and secretaries of higher education from various states here, Sibal said: "The government is thinking in terms of allowing the setting up of autonomous colleges." The minister's day-long interaction with the officials was his first initiative to evolve a consensus of the states for reforms in the education sector.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Friday said the government was considering allowing new autonomous colleges to be set up independent of universities but with stringent quality parameters. Addressing a meeting of principal secretaries and secretaries of higher education from various states here, Sibal said: "The government is thinking in terms of allowing the setting up of autonomous colleges." Elaborating on his idea, Sibal told IANS: "Right now, there is no institution that starts as an autonomous college.

July 17th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - In order to curb incidents of ragging in colleges, the administration of the union territory of Chandigarh has decided to come down hard on the guilty by strictly adhering to the guidelines of the Supreme Court and University Grants Commission (UGC). "Ragging in any form is a serious offence.

July 8th, 2009 PATNA - Polytechnic faculty members have been teaching in engineering colleges with the full knowledge of the Bihar government, a minister has admitted. Bihar Science and Technology Minister Shahid Ali Khan said in the state assembly Tuesday that faced with an acute shortage of teachers in engineering colleges, polytechnic faculty have been deputed as teachers for taking classes in four new engineering colleges.

June 27th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Residents of the union territory of Chandigarh and the states of Punjab and Haryana continued to reel under the scorching summer heat. However, weather officials promise some respite by Monday.

June 26th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Friday announced the setting up of a state-level teachers recruitment board to streamline the process of employing teachers. "This board will also help to introduce the semester system in colleges from the current academic session, except in the arts stream, and help to avoid any delay in the recruitment process of teachers," Hooda said while presiding over a review meeting of the education department.

March 4th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Teachers of government and non-government colleges in Punjab and the union territory of Chandigarh went on a 72-hour strike Tuesday demanding higher pay. The 72-hour 'Education Bandh' was called by the Punjab Federation of University and College Teachers' Organisation (PFUCTO) in support of their demand for implementation of the new notifications of the University Grants Commission (UGC) on pay scales for faculty.

February 21st, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The city's annual Rose Festival began at the Zakir Hussain Rose Garden here Friday though many of the rose beds looked shorn of flowers thanks to Cupid-struck youth who plucked roses during Valentine's Day last week. The Rose Festival attracts tens of thousands of visitors during the three-day event - many to see the roses in bloom but the majority to enjoy the festivities.

January 27th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Academic activity was completely paralysed in colleges and universities across Punjab and Chandigarh Wednesday following a mass casual leave protest by teachers in the region. The Punjab Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (PFUCTO) served a 10-day ultimatum to the Punjab government to notify the revised pay-scales for college and university teachers.

January 21st, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Over 10,000 teachers of various government and private colleges in Punjab and Chandigarh observed a strike for two hours Thursday to press for their pay hike demand. The teachers are demanding the Punjab government to implement the new by the University Grants Commission (UGC) pay scale approved by the government Dec 31 last year.

December 27th, 2008 CHANDIGARH - A park for the visually challenegd, which is said to be the first such initiative of its kind in the country, is to come up here, an official said Sunday. The foundation stone of this park for the visually challeneged people was laid here in Sector 26 Sunday.

December 24th, 2008 CHANDIGARH - Middle-level bureaucrats in the union territory of Chandigarh will now supervise the preparation of mid-day meals for government school children in the city. The Chandigarh administration has ordered that all civil servants from Haryana and Punjab cadre on deputation with the administration will visit the cooking institutes and schools to monitor the quality and hygiene of cooked meals under the mid-day meal scheme, an administration spokesman said here Thursday.