Husain’s film dropped from public show

PANAJI: After a day of flip-flops, M.F. Husain has lost again. After struggling to exhibit his paintings in the country, the legendary artist now finds that he cannot screen his film at the ongoing International Film Festival of India here. As the authorities have taken refuge in technicalities, Husain has again been banished from a public show.

The short film, Through the Eyes of a Painter, is a 40-year-old venture that has won international awards.

With activists of the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti mounting pressure for its withdrawal, it was finally decided that Husain’s film, originally scheduled for screening this Tuesday as part of the Film Divisions’ Framing Time section, would not be shown. The browbeating tactics of the radical Hindu outfit that has sought a total boycott of Husain have worked, as earlier in the day the officials claimed that the film would be shown.

The Samiti activists, in a representation to CEO of the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) Manoj Srivastava, said: “M.F. Husain has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus with his nude paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses. There are 1,250 cases pending before various police stations across the country, of which 900 are in Goa.”

Besides writing to the ESG and the Chief Minister, the activists are said to have staged a protest in Mumbai too. Buckling under the demand, the authorities decided to withdraw the film and go on with the rest of the screenings “in a peaceful manner.”

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat refused to acknowledge the presence of the film or its cancellation at the last hour. Claiming that the film was not at all scheduled for screening, he said, “I don’t have the details. I have not seen the film or any such schedule where it is marked for a show.”

The late evening decision comes on the heels of the assurance by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) that the film would go on.

A senior official had stated Husain’s “beautiful film,” which presents his view on Rajasthan, would be shown and there “will be no problem in screening it.”

The directorate was apparently in favour of screening the film but had to submit to the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring of the ‘samiti.’

DFF director S.M. Khan said, “It was decided not to show the film. Technically speaking, it was not part of IFFI. It was a part of the Framing Time section of the Films Division.”

Ace filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan came out in support of Mr. Husain and said, “By all means the film should be shown. If anybody has any objection it is due to interpretation which is a personal matter. Artists should not suffer because of politics.”

Husain’s short film, made way back in 1967, was part of a larger bouquet on illustrious artists, writers and poets like Raja Ravi Varma, Amrita Shergil, Picasso, Rabindranath Tagore, Mohammed Iqbal and Mirza Ghalib.


Source: hindu.com

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Nursery admission may be less stressful

NEW DELHI: After NCR, the city schools have finally started their nursery admission procedure for the coming academic season. While some schools
have already started giving out forms, most schools in the city are expected to open the admission procedure after November 15 and the forms may be available till December end. While the number of seats may be the same as previous year, schools claim the whole exercise of nursery admissions may not be as exhaustive as in the previous years. Becoming web-friendly too would help parents have an easy time in applying to schools, say principals.

"Earlier, age limit caused a lot of confusion. Now things have settled down and people are comfortable with the idea of going for an interaction with the schools and taking the admission criteria into account in place of interviews. In fact, they do not need to run around much as the entire procedure these days is online,'' said Bharti Sharma, principal, Amity International School, Saket.

She added the school will bring out an advertisement announcing the admission procedure in the first week of November and the criteria will be almost same as last year. "We go by the directives of the directorate of education (DoE) in deciding the admission criteria. Any change here and there has to be approved by DoE. Sibling in our school and distance from the school were the most important factors last year. We will not change much this time,'' Sharma said.

Post Diwali vacation, schools have started working out their schedule. While DPS R K Puram will open the admission procedure towards the end of December, Tagore International in Vasant Vihar may start in the third week of November. Modern School, Barakhamba Road, will finalise the schedule only after November 15 while Apeejay School in Pitampura may also begin around the same time. "We are in no hurry to start. Also, we have been carrying out the admission procedure online for the past five years and there hasn't been any problem,'' said Shyama Chona, principal, DPS R K Puram, which has a total of 160 seats in the nursery section.

According to the principals, the best way to keep a tab on the admission updates is to keep checking the school websites. "Most schools put their schedule online at least two to three weeks in advance. Besides, we also advertise and make our admission criteria and age limit clear. Parents should organise themselves properly and there will be no scope of confusion,'' said Madhulika Sen, principal, Tagore International School. She added parents should understand looking at 20 different sites might not help. "Just make a list of most preferred schools and write down the things you would want to know about each school. Then look for the answers on the websites. Schools make sure nothing is left as confusing,'' Sen said.


Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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KG confusion haunts parents

NEW DELHI: The nursery admission confusion has advanced a
year.

It is now KG confusion and the worst sufferers are 4-year-olds who missed out on nursery admission last year. With schools forced to take double the usual number of students in nursery last year, many of them have either opted not to make any KG admissions this year or to limit it to less than 10%. There is no space for the hapless kids who bore the brunt of the last year's age confusion when both three and four-year-old's were admitted in nursery.

"My son could not get admission in the school of our choice last year because school authorities found him to be underage. So he did his nursery from a play school. But now I am not clear if I should send him to nursery or KG," said Nisha Chaudhry, whose son is aged 4+ now. The minimum age required for nursery this year is 3+ while for KG, it's 4+ with no upper limit given by the government.

"If parents of four-year-olds want to send their child to nursery, the school cannot say no to them. The vacancies for KG are usually negligible and depend on withdrawal of students later in the session. So it's probably easier for four-year-olds to get admission in nursery," said Vinay Kumar, principal, DPS, Vasant Kunj. The school is expected to open admissions for nursery and KG from the second week of December. There are around 120 seats in nursery and only 15 seats in KG. Among the schools which have not opened KG admissions at all are Tagore International, Bal Bharati, Modern School and Amity International.

Gyan Bharti, Saket, which has around 150 seats for nursery will invite applications for only 15 seats in KG. Shri Ram School has 112 seats in nursery and KG each. "But all seats for the general category will be full in KG. We will only have seats for EWS in KG. All the rest of the seats will be filled up by our own nursery students," said principal, Manika Sharma. Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar, and Bal Bharti School, Ganga Ram Hospital Marg, will not have KG admissions at all as of now.

The seats in KG have been going down with a higher number of nursery admissions. Last year, some schools had even opened extra sections for nursery to increase seats. This affects the seats in KG. "The number of KG seats will be fewer this time. But there are a few schools which don't have nursery, but start with KG. Those who were left out last year can get a seat there if parents don't go only for schools of their choice," said S L Jain, chairperson, National Progressive Schools' Conference (NPSC). Mother's International School at Aurobindo Marg and Meera Model School in Janakpuri are two such schools, which start with KG and not nursery.


Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Admission process in 15 schools starts today

new delhi: If you have been keeping a close watch on the nursery admission schedule of different schools, it's now time to venture
out. At least 15 schools in the city are coming out with their pre-school admission forms on Monday with many others following later in the week.

Many sought-after schools are opening the sale of forms in the first week of December. The Shri Ram School and Tagore International in Vasant Vihar, Bluebell's International in East of Kailash will make the forms available on December 1. Ryan International School will come out with forms a few days later on December 5. West Delhi parents can buy the forms at Springdales Dhaula Kuan and Pusa Road and St Francis de Sales in Janakpuri. Parents in north Delhi can go for Srijan School and Mahavir Senior Model School which are both opening their counters on Monday. However, the schedule for submission of forms is different in most schools and need to be checked by parents.

Parents say with so many schools finally giving out forms, the mental pressure on them can mount. "We are now feeling like the students who are through with their pre-boards and are getting ready for the board exam. It's going to be a war,'' said Sanjay Singh, a parent. He added that he had been waiting for December when the nursery admission procedure gets into full swing. "Filling the forms is not difficult, but submission is a problem. I will make sure I submit the forms online wherever possible. Shri Ram, Sanskriti and DPS RK Puram have their forms online,'' Singh said.

Many parents are also contemplating skipping work to make sure they can collect the forms of all the preferred schools. "I have planned to take an off from my office tomorrow. I will initially buy forms for the nearest schools only, as that is where I want to send my daughter,'' said Jaikishen from Vasant Vihar.

The admission in-charge of a west Delhi school has some advice. She said, "Spouses can share work if they are applying in many schools. Find out which schools have online options. Parents don't need to land up at a school on the first day itself if there are more days for the sale of forms. Don't forget to make a chart of the issue and submission dates of forms.''


Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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AIMA, as a knowledge organisation

Rekha Sethi,who has recently taken over as Director General, All India Management Association(AIMA), talks to Surbhi Bhatia about her future
plans for the association.

What is your vision for AIMA?

Whenever people refer to premier management institutions, AIMA is not there in terms of profile. I want to take AIMA to that level and want it to be positioned as a knowledge organisation. In order to achieve premier position, we have constituted a taskforce that will create a vision for AIMA. We operate in a number of areas like conducting the MAT exam in the country, offering distance-learning programme, and so on. We are also looking at promoting global links.

Can you elaborate on the global links?

We are tying up with international institutions such as Yale University and INSEAD business school to conduct advance management programmes. We are also looking at the possibility of people from India going to INSEAD for a certificate course. We plan to hold an all-India B- school conference in the coming year to discuss issues related to management education. With Yale University, we are exploring the possibility of conducting a programme for CEOs. Selected CEOs from India will be going to Yale for a certificate course.

Attracting good faculty is the biggest challenge for any institute that wants to provide quality education. What steps have been taken in this regard?

Most institutes are facing a faculty crunch. AIMA runs its own faculty development programme. But in order to impart complete training with the latest technology, we are planning to have a separate campus that will focus on training of teachers and executives.

Are you thinking of introducing changes in the MAT exam?

There are over 400 B-schools that consider the MAT score. In terms of quality of questions asked, MAT is at par with other management exams. We will look at widening the format of MAT so that those who want to go overseas can take it.

What about improving the quality of research ?

There is a change of perception towards research. Many are acknowledging its value. In the coming years, the number of people pursuing a PhD will increase. Our own experience has shown this. AIMA conducts RMAT for PhD students and the number of applications has gone up. AIMA has its own research community and we will be looking at increasing funding for research.


Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Birla Vidya Niketan Birla Vidya Niketan New Delhi Admission In Birla Vidya Niketan

With most Delhi schools coming out with their admission criteria on Sunday, as directed by the Department of Education, parents have been frantically posting informationon ..........


Birla Vidya Niketan

Related : Birla Vidya Niketan , Tagore International School, Vasant Valley School, Vasant Valley, Sanskriti School, Springdales School



Source: ratevin.blogspot.com

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As more schools give out forms, nursery blogs get crowded

New Delhi: With most Delhi schools coming out with their admission criteria on Sunday, as directed by the Department of Education, parents have been frantically posting informationon www.nurseryadmissions.com. The blog has 6,640 members already.

There are more than 825 blogposts and 1,580 discussions with parents sharing tips, discussing interactions, openly alleging the violation of Supreme Court’s orders by some schools as they go about interviewing children or how many coveted seats are being sold for hefty sums of money at some of the most prestigious city schools.

At any given time, there are more than 40 parents online comparing schools, sharing lists of questions and tips to dress right for D-day. Some discussions list questions parents might have to face when they go for interactions in schools. With courts allowing schools to conduct interactions with parents for verification of documents, many schools are allocating as many as 20 points to these interactions. Some of the listed

questions were:

* How much time do you spend with your child?

* Who takes care of the child in your absence?

* How do you tackle your child’s tantrums?

* How independent is your child?

* What do you want your child to become?

Another discussion focussed on whether parents would consider giving donations. While some said they would rather shell out the money and secure a seat, others said they weren’t comfortable with the idea.

Others even requested sources or numbers of people who would accept donations.

“I think we should give donations. But whom we should approach? We offer donations to any school openly,” a parent posted on the discussion group.

Schools, on the other hand, say due to stiff competition, they have to base their points system on the principle of elimination.

On an average, there are about 20 students competing for one seat at every prestigious public school. It is a difficult situation for schools as well, school officials said.

In certain schools like Sanskriti, it is difficult for businessmen to secure a seat.

As per the listed criteria it published on Sunday, 20 points are allotted for the parents’ profession and the preferred professions are media, medicine and academics.

In Birla Vidya Niketan, 25 points would be given to siblings of children already studying in the school and for children of alumni, 15 points would be awarded.

Fifteen points have also been allotted to parents who have excelled in the fields of art, fashion design or media. Some parents have raised objections, saying this again is discriminatory and aims at giving admission to those from privileged backgrounds.

But the Supreme Court has allowed schools to frame their own guidelines that only need to be “intimated” to the Directorate of Education.

No wonder parents chose to complain under pseudonyms in the blogs.


SOurce: indianexpress.com

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