Chief Minister Narayan Rane assured that a final decision on various demands by teachers will be taken before February 20. He gave this assurance to a teachers' delegation which met him on Wednesday. The CM sought `some more time' to resolve the issue. The teachers, who explained their stand to Rane, urged him for a speedier solution to the issue.Besides Rane, the meeting was attended by Deputy CM Gopinath Munde, Education Minister Sudhir Joshi, Finance Minister Mahadeo Shivankar, Higher and Technical Minister Datta Rane and senior government officials.

Release of book on YB Chavan

George Fernandes, Defence Minister of India, will release a book Debacle to Revival - Y B Chavan as Defence Minister, 1962-1965, written by R D Pradhan, former Cabinet Secretary and former Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. The function will be held at the Hall of Harmony, Nehru Centre, on Thursday, Feb 4 at 6.15 pm. Dr Rafiq Zakaria will introduce the book and senior journalistM V Kamath will speak on the occasion.

Colouring contest

Dates for the All India Camel Colour Contest, started in the 80s, has been announced. The contest will be held on February 5 and 6 at 4.30 pm at the Hindu Colony Municipal School Bldg, Lakshmi Nappu Road, opp Raja Shivaji High School, Hindu Colony, Dadar (E). The contest will be held in three levels: the school level, regional level and national level. Five age groups have been earmarked for the contest: Group A - Junior and Senior KG students; Group B - Std I and II; Group C - Std III & IV; Group D - Stds V, VI & VII, Group E - Stds VIII, IX & X.

Lectures by philosopher

The Department of Civics and Politics, Mumbai University, has organised lectures by M P Rege, eminent philosopher on February 4 and 5. The first lecture will be on Swaraj in Ideas and the second on Hind Swaraj Reconsidered. The talks will be held at 3 pm at the Conference Hall, J P Naik Bhavan, Vidyangari campus. Convocation of varsity coursen THE Bharatiya VidyaBhavan's Gandhi Institute of Computer Education and Information Technology has organised the first convocation of the Accounts Assistant Course, sponsored by Tata IBM. The function will be held on February 6 at 12 noon at Bhavan's auditorium, Chowpatty. Murli Deora, MP, will preside over the function.

Journalism seminar at XIC

The Xavier Institute of Communications has organised a seminar in journalism titled `The Great Media Meltdown' on Feb 6. The seminar, to be held at the XIC mini-theatre, will focus on `Media and the Living Language.' Media professionals and language specialists will focus onSex in our Living Rooms, Gobbledegook and the Case for Plain English, Gender Bias in Language and Media and Profiles in Literary Journalism from Non-fiction.

Seminar on exam success

Elite Tutorials is organising a seminar `Pathways to Success' on February 7 for students preparing for SSC, ICSE and HSC and their parents. Subjects like stress management, career counselling and vocational guidancewill be discussed. For details, call on 8341351/8394473.