EDUCATION

Indo-Malaysian joint education projects on anvil
Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, January 11
A high level delegation of Malaysia-based Indians, led by Member of Parliament and Vice-President of Malaysian Indian Congress, Dr K.S. Nijhar, evinced keen interest in setting up joint projects for the improvement of educational facilities, right from primary level to higher and professional education in Punjab in the near future.

Dr Nijhar along with several other prominent Malaysian Indians was on a visit to Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College and Hospital here today after attending the Pravasi Bharti convention in New Delhi.

Addressing a news conference, Dr Nijhar said the visiting delegation was immensely impressed with the efforts of Baba Jaswant Singh Charitable Trust and the institutions being run by the trust were making laudable contribution toward providing access to education and health facilities. He indicated that the possibilities of signing an MoU for joint education projects was being explored.

“Our initial efforts will be to strengthen primary education through establishment of well-equipped primary schools in collaboration with the state government in different parts of the state. Depending on the success of the first phase of the project, steps will be taken to set up secondary schools, professional colleges and hospitals to provide world class education and health facilities”.

Dato Jaspal Singh, a leading industrialists, accompanying the delegation, disclosed that Indians based in Malaysia were keen to invest in the trade and industrial projects in India as well to promote bilateral relations, as also to check rising unemployment in India. “We have launched a preliminary study to explore possible areas of cooperation and suitable follow up action will be taken as per recommendations of the study”.

Welcoming the visiting delegation, Baba Jaswant Singh, Chairman of Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College and Hospital, said Dr Nijhar, Mr Jaspal Singh and other Malaysian Indian members of the delegation had done the institution proud by their visit. He also appreciated the financial assistance extended by them to the institution and interest shown in setting up joint projects for the promotion of education and health in Punjab.

Rotarians celebrate Lohri with school kids
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 11
The Rotary Club of Ludhiana North celebrated Lohri with students and staff of Government High School, Bassian Bet, adopted by the club in 2002-03 to provide education to the needy students, here today.

Eatables like groundnut, gachak, reories, etc. were distributed among students and staff.

Residents, including sarpanch and panchayat members from Bassian Bet village, were present. Thirty pairs of shoes, 22 woollen shawls, 20 turbans and 10 uniforms were distributed among the needy students.

Students presented a cultural programme and touched upon various aspects like female foeticide, partition, craze for foreign land, departure of bride to her in-laws’ house, etc.

Dr S.S. Johl, former Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Chairman of the Punjab Planning Board, was the chief guest.

Addressing the students, he exhorted them to work hard so that they got admissions to professional institutions for higher studies.

He said currently only 2 to 6 per cent students in various universities in Punjab were from the rural area.

Club president R.S. Behal assured the staff and students of taking care of the needs of the school.

Project chairman Sohan Singh said requirements of the needy students would be met by the club and expenses of meritorious students wanting to pursue higher education would also be borne by it.

Prominent among those present were Sunil Bansal, D.R. Chadha, R.N. Sehgal, Naranjan Singh, Gurjit Singh, S.P.S. Dua, Ajay Verma, S.S. Bajaj, V.S. Sachdeva and Jatinder Behal.

Gurpurb celebrated with fervour

Samrala, January 11
Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College for Women, Jhar Sahib near here, observed the Gurpurb of Guru Gobind Singh with great enthusiasm today. The occasion started with the ‘path’ of Sukhmani Sahib. Students presented shabad kirtan and the occasion concluded with the recitation of "Waars”. The stage was conducted by lecturer Daljeet Kaur.

The Principal, Dr Paramjeet Kaur Tiwana, while addressing the huge gathering laid emphasis on the need to follow the path laid by Guru Gobind Singh. She said that the youth should follow the right path and shun superstitions. — OC

Spring Dale students decry female foeticide
Asha Ahuja

Ludhiana, January 11
The Spring Dale Senior Secondary Public School, Ludhiana, organised a rally on ‘Female Foeticide’ in which senior and junior students, along with their teachers, participated with zeal.

The purpose of this rally to mark Lohri was to give a rightful place to girl child as this day should be celebrated on the birth of female child also.

It was organised to make people aware about the consequences of female foeticide so that this heinous crime should be uprooted from our society.

Mrs Avinash Kaur Walia, Director and Founder, Principal of the school, flagged off the rally. Students holding placards, banners and posters etc marched on while speaking of the plight of female child and raising slogans like "Bhroon Hatya Maha Pap", "Killing Girl Child is a Crime", "Save Girl, Save Future”. Lectures and speeches were also delivered. Students discussed and delivered speeches about the importance of female child. It was highly appreciated by the people of the locality and they wished that such rallies should be organised.

The rally started from the Spring Dale School to Dholewal locality, Rama Charitable Hospital, Daba Road and Government School of Miller Ganj area.

Ryan boys win quiz contest
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 11
Ryan International School boys won the quiz contest organised by the HelpAge India, an organisation working nationwide for the well being of the elderly, held on their school premises here, yesterday.

The second and third prizes were won by the teams from Spring Dale Senior Secondary School and B.C.M. International School, respectively.

The quiz, sponsored by Bank of Maharashtra, Ludhiana branch, was inaugurated by the Principal of the school, Ms Jaishree Gupta.

The contest being a national-level event will be followed by the state-level final at Chandigarh on January 12 followed by a regional-level and national-level competitions in Delhi, said Mr Bhavneshwar Sharma, State Manager, HelpAge India.

Mr P.S. Lamba, Chief Manager of Bank of Maharashtra, was the chief guest. Mr Lamba appreciated the role of the HelpAge India and assured their full support to the organisation. He also gave away the prizes to the winning teams. 

From Schools & Colleges 
Students distribute woollens to needy
Tribune Reporters

Ludhiana, January 11
The NSS volunteers of Kamla Lohtia SD College distributed clothes and woollens to the poor and needy here today. Programme Officers Mr Deepak Dhingra and Dr Yogesh Angrish said that the NSS unit of the college had collected these clothes from the students of the college. The activity was planned to make students more humane and sensitive.

Annual expo: GMT Public School held its annual exhibition Creations 2006-2007 in the school premises here today. Dr H.S. Sidhu, Principal, GMT College of Education, inaugurated the exhibition. Different subjects were depicted in the exhibition through models and charts. Students had prepared models of science, mathematics and displayed art and craft items.

Salad contest: An inter-house 'salad-making competition' was held in Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, BRS Nagar, here today. Students made a variety of salads like corn salad, Eve's Salad and Healthy Fruit Chick-Pick salad. The idea was to teach the students the importance of a balanced diet. The results: Shastri house - first, Gandhi house — second and Tagore & Nehru house — third.

Folk song competition: The Youth Club of Govt Senior (Multipurpose) Secondary School had recently organised a folk song competition under the guidance of Ms Navdeep Romana, youth coordinator of the club. Ms Asha Kapila and Ms Neena Jindal were the judges. Mr H.K. Mayer, Principal of the school, gave away the prizes to the winners. Mr Kamal Bhati bagged the first position followed by Anil and Ravi Kumar who stood second and third respectively.

Inter-college quiz: Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management (SACCM) organised an inter-college quiz competition here today. The quiz covered topics like business laws, economic problems and policies, corporate news, science and technology and management of global economy.