The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Teacher given Indira Gandhi NSS National Award
Our Correspondent

Mohali, January 22
Dr Sarabjeet Kaur Sohal, Programme Officer, NSS, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Phase -III B 1, has been awarded the prestigious Indira Gandhi NSS National Award, 2005- 2006, by the Vice-President of India, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, at the 12th National Youth Festival held at Shivchhatrapati sports complex, Balewadi, Pune.

She received a medal, a scroll, a certificate, a shawl and Rs 10,000 while her NSS unit was given a trophy, a certificate and Rs 35,000.

Dr Sohal was instrumental in opening two education guarantee scheme centres in slums for 40 dropouts. She imparted training to 120 teachers in Punjab, teaching them how to organise special activities of the NSS and also held national integration camps, youth leadership training camps, orientation camps etc.

She is the founder NSS programme officer of the school which is now running three NSS units. She involved NSS volunteers in traffic control duties, blood donation and other camps. Every year NSS volunteers of her school participated in pre-Republic Day parade camps. She has been organising debates, declamation contests , rallies and poster campaigns as well as slogan writing competitions on drug de-addiction, world peace, AIDS, etc.

In recognition of her outstanding work, Dr Sohal had been earlier given the ‘Award of Honour-2006’ by the Youth Services, Punjab, ‘Award of Honour’ by the Punjab Cultural Promotion Council and state award-2005 from the Government of Punjab.

PU institutes 2 national science awards
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22
Panjab University has instituted two national awards-the Vigyan Rattan and Udyog Rattan -under the aegis of the Industry-Institute Partnership Cell of the University.

The awards will be given to recognised scholars in science and technology in order to promote public, private and national-level partnership of these scholars.

The institution of the awards is a part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the university. The university syndicate members had given the nod to the institution of these awards in its last meeting held recently.

The syndicate also decided to award Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) degrees to renowned cardiologist Dr. T.S. Kler and Prof. S.P. Agarwal, Secretary-General, Indian Red Cross Society, National Headquarter, New Delhi. The degrees will be awarded at the forthcoming annual convocation of the university.

Trainee teachers celebrate ‘Basant Saturnalia’
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22
Nursery trainee teachers of DAV Model School, Sector 15-A, organised a cultural programme ‘Basant Saturnalia’ at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 21, here, today.

The function was inaugurated by Ms Indira Dhingra, Principal, GMSSS 21, and Ms Rakesh Sachdeva, Principal, DAV-15. The function was based on the theme of ‘Basant’, the festival of spring, sunshine and merriment. The tiny tots of pre-nursery, nursery I and II presented a variety of songs and dance items to enthral the audience. The somber ‘bandana’ was presented by Class I and II students. This was followed by an English song.

The spirit of ‘Basant’ was rightfully introduced by a kite dance on the song, ‘ Dheel De-Dheel De, Is Patang ko’. Thereafter, the children dressed up as characters of various nursery rhymes like clown, baker, fairy, birds and vegetables, presented a fancy dress competition. The tiny tots mesmerised the audience by dressing up as baby Krishna and ‘gopis’. The trainee teachers presented a number of rhymes in the form of team teaching.

“The NTT course gives a first hand experience to the trainee teachers of the classroom situation. As a part of the learning skills of organising functions, the NTT students of DAV - 15, are undergoing teaching practice at various government and private schools of the city and have organised a number of functions in these schools”, said Ms Sweety Bahl, NTT in-charge.

	Rotten orange juice being served to students Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 22 Students residing in Boys Hostel Number 2, Panjab University, have complained that the canteen running in the hostel is selling unhygienic food. The students led by Ankit Jain stated that orange juice being served in the canteen was being prepared from rotten oranges. Ankit added that some days ago another student Sandeep Bal had found worms in his pastry. Sumit Garg, Tarun Singh, Akshat Bansal and some other students also complained that the juice was smelling. When they complained to the warden, Mr J.K. Goswami, he came to the hostel. A joint inspection was done and it was found that the oranges had fungus growing on them .The students also clicked pictures of the same.
	From Colleges Colony residents given free medicines at NSS camp Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 22 The NSS wing of the GGDSD College, Sector 32, here, organised a health camp in Colony No. 5. Volunteers along with experts conducted blood tests of the colony dwellers. More than 100 residents were tested for blood sugar and hemoglobin and those detected with some deficiency were given free medicines. Consultation regarding ways to curb anemia was given and certain common myths regarding diabetes were also dispelled. Fuel conservation fortnight Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight was observed at the Dev Samaj College of Education in collaboration with the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA). An LPG and kerosene conservation clinic along with a quiz contest was organised. The clinic imparted information about the conservation of the domestic fuels. Senior officers from oil and gas PSUs interacted with the students and stressed the need of conserving domestic fuels. The programme aimed at spreading awareness about conservation among all sections of society through various activities. ‘Tex-Quiz’ A ‘Tex-Quiz’ was organised at Government Home Science College as a part of the ongoing ‘Tex-Style Week- 2007’ in the college. An annual feature of the Department of Clothing and Textiles, the week-long function will end on January 24. Six teams participated in the quiz based on the traditional textiles of India. Pratibha Awasthi, Seerat Garg, Gunjan Vohra, Winny, Anila and Vasudha were the winners. Traffic quiz As a part of the ongoing road safety awareness drive, a quiz on traffic rules was organised at the Government College for Girls, Sector 42, here. The chief guest, Mr A.S. Ahlawat, SP, Security and Traffic, Chandigarh, was welcomed by the college Principal Mrs Inderjit Kaur. The winners were Sheba, Shivalika, Tej Kiran, Supriya, Jatinder and Tabassum. Prizes were also given to Devika Pandey, Arita Kumar Mittal, Sandeep and Jyoti for wearing helmets regularly. Presentation on BPOs Campus ambassadors selected by Infosys - Deepak of DAV College, Neerja of GCG -11, Aishwarya Taneja of SD College and Devika Dubey of Dev Samaj College - gave a presentation to the faculty members of DAV College on the growth and prospects of the BPO industry in the country. Deepak Chabbra, BBA final year student, observed that this was the sector where students from different streams got employment as well as growth. He added that Infosys was ranked fourth among the most respected BPOs with 8200 employees at present. Extension Lecture The MCM DAV College for Women organised an extension lecture on converging technology-NBIC to acquaint students with the latest in information technology here today. Mr Salil Ghosh from the Canadian Institute of Immigration Studies delivered the lecture. He highlighted the opportunities in the convergence of nano-science, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science in the improvement of human abilities, social outcomes, national productivity and quality of life.
	A new dimension to kite flying Tribune News Service Panchkula, January 22 Kite flying assumed a new dimension at The Gurukul, Sector 20, and in Madanpura, as Basant Panchami celebrations took over at the two schools here today. As 151 kites on a single string soared in the sky, the afternoon saw students queue up to try their hand at kite flying. They were also told about the religious significance of the festival. On the occasion, they worshiped Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of learning. The students were also introduced to other concepts related to it as also the significance of yellow colour. An expert in kite flying, Mr Naresh Kumar, from Samrala, taught the children the intricacies of kite flying. The sight of numerous colourful kites soaring high in the sky was a visual treat. The expert claimed that he could fly 700 kites on one string. "My target is to be able to fly 1500 kites. While kite flying maybe a dying art in the cities, there are a number of takers from the foreign community and they organise contests frequently," he said.
	Counselling workshop at Eurokids Chandigarh, January 22 An interactive and informative workshop was organised both at Eurokids Chandigarh and Panchkula yesterday where in experts from the Eurokids corporate had an informal counselling session with parents. Dr Bindu Shalot, Academic Head, North, enlightened the parents about the issues and challenges confronting the upbringing of children. Mrs Natasha Dhody, master coordinator, Eurokids, also gave tips on various milestones related to child development. Different queries concerning behavioural and psychological challenges faced by parents of children at the preschool stage were answered at the workshop. According to the school Principal, Mrs Mona Verma, such workshops go a long way in providing a new perspective to the all round development of children. — TNS
	Hindustan Petroleum organises Quiz contest Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 22 A quiz contest for school children was organised by Hindustan Petroleum, as a part of the oil and gas conservation fortnight celebrations today. The quiz contest was organised at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, it was to judge the awareness of oil and gas conservation among students. As many as 200 students participated in the contest. An LPG and kerosene conservation clinic alongside quiz contest were also set up at Dev Samaj College, Sector 36. This targeted at imparting information on conserving domestic fuel of LPG and kerosene.