Chak de cry for sex education

Seven hundred adolescents said “Chak de” in support of sex education, which has been banned by several BJP-ruled states.

The children also pledged they would work to end discrimination against those who suffer from the deadly virus at a programme on World AIDS Day. The event was organised by Unesco and a clutch of voluntary organisations.

Student after student spoke in favour of sex education — the government has chosen a more sanitised description and prefers to call the plan adolescent education — as a tool to combat the spread of HIV.

The sex education programme has seen several stop-starts with state governments, teachers’ associations and organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh opposing it. They have argued that the lessons about sex in schools will “corrupt” the minds of children.

Health activists and the government’s apex AIDS control body, the National AIDS Control Organisation, argue otherwise. Teaching children early about the ways AIDS can spread is the best way to control the disease, they have been trying to tell the critics.

Short shrift to parents

Schools in Delhi, now framing guidelines for nursery admissions, have been asked not to attach any significance to the educational qualifications of parents.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Delhi government’s school advisory board, headed by education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely, earlier this week.

“This would provide level-playing field to all parents including poor, economically weak and the less educated,” the minister after handing out the directions.

The move is part of the recent attempts to draw up a “child-friendly” criteria for such admissions. The government believes that in a system aimed at ensuring fair play, the qualifications of parents should be immaterial.

Each school will have to chalk out its own set of guidelines keeping in view local requirements and submit them to the education directorate for approval, an official said.

Pianist hits right chord

At 45, Viju Shah is among the most famous Gujaratis in Chennai.

Fifty years after his father arrived from Kutch to make a living, Viju has struck a chord among the city’s music lovers like few others with his near-legendary piano skills.

The Trinity College of Music alumnus teaches Western classical music at Sur Sangam, the music school he opened six years back with mentor Abdul Sattar.

“I learnt to play the piano for six years under Mr Sattar, who also taught Tamil cinema musician Harris Jayaraj,” Viju, who started playing the tabla in concerts at 11 years of age, said. He began to learn playing the piano only in college.

“I stopped for a while when I was in school, but I was persuaded to get back to Hindustani classical music in college as people loved my performance so much,” Viju said.

At the school, set up to mark 25 years of his contribution, pupils are also taught to play other instruments.

Among the big draws is Prem, brother of self-taught ace drummer Sivamani, who teaches guitar and drums.

Track two

The second phase of the Metro project has hit the fast track with work on the tunnels starting on some of the planned routes.

One such tunnel is being dug in the Malviya Nagar area, which will fall on one of the three sections of the new phase.

The boring machines, imported from Germany, can carry out the digging without affecting the structures and buildings on the surface above in any way.

Delhi: In the year of the Russian language, watch Achala Moulik’s adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s work in Pushkin’s Last Poem at the Russian Centre of Science & Culture. The venue is located on 24 Ferozshah Road. It is close to the Mandi House Metro station. Time: 7pm.