EDUCATION

SCHOOL BUZZ
Chunauti: Igniting talent in youngsters
Smriti Kak Ramachandran

A two-day inter-school skill competition ‘Chunauti’ was organised by Apeejay School, Saket, with an aim to “ignite talent in various fields amongst the participants”.

The contest began with the lighting of the inaugural lamp by renowned dancer Geeta Chandran. Students competed in various categories including ‘cook to save energy’, ‘paste your taste’, a collage based on urban development and environment, ‘web designing’ and hasya kavi sammelan.

Speaking on the occasion Ms Laly Mathew, Principal, said, “winning is not the only aim –to meet, participate and get enriched is the ultimate aim”. She described Chunauti as a platform for children to express themselves through various media.

DPS RK Puram

In the Maths Olympiad RMO, conducted by the department of Maths IIT, Rishi Kant and Satyam Shanker of class XII stood sixth while Manu Saxena of class XII stood eighth. Nikhil Grover, Mayank Kumar, T S Ramanathan, Sandeep Dalmia, Abhay Dang, Sanchit Verma, Varun Verma, Kartik Guota, Ishan Barua and Karan Garg were among the first 50 students.

Shubhan Mittal of class XII stood first in the Inter school Maths talent search exam conducted by Modern School, Vasant Vihar. DPS also won the trophy for the best schools in the same contest. Priya Gupta, Mayank, Rohan and Manan Lalit were the other rank holders.

Prize distribution at Ganga International

The annual prize distribution ceremony of Ganga International School was held in the schools premises. Lt. Governor, Mr Vijai Kapoor, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion, gave away the prizes.

The prize distribution was followed by a cultural extravaganza. Students put up a dance drama ‘Unity in Diversity’ displaying the cultures of various states in India. An English play, ‘The Miracle Merchant’ and a skit in Hindi, ‘ Koi Iski Bhi Suno’, were also staged. Saraswati Vandana and a western dance were also performed.

Inter school debate

Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, organised its annual Rev. Dr Samuel Slater Memorial All India Inter School English Debate. Held in the memory of the first headmaster of the school, the competition is organised each year between April 29 and May 1.

Among the participants were La Martiniere Boys, Vasant Valley, Cathedral Convent, RI MC Dehradun and Auckland House. Lots were drawn from 36 topics for the debate, participating schools competed three times in the preliminary rounds, followed by quarter-finals, the semi- finals and the finals.

The top prize was bagged by La Martiniere Girls, followed by La Martiniere Boys.

tify’s – IYSA Girls Soccer League

The fiery Athenian Warriors went home as the winners of the Tify’s-IYSA Girls Soccer League 2004. Presenting the medals to the winners, Mr Gautam Thapar said “ It is definitely very heartening to see such exceptional young talent come up in a sport where India is still lagging. We are very happy to share the passion and desire to excel with young sportstars like these”.

The Athenian Warriors won the Tify’s- IYSA Girls Soccer League with the closest possible margin. Tarika Khattar (26 goals), Roshni (23) of the Warriors and Nisheeta Labroo (22) of the Red Storm were the highest scorers.

As many as 50 girls in the age group of classes 6-12, from schools such as The Shri Ram School, Sardar Patel, Vasant Valley and Mothers International participated this year. They played matches every Sunday morning in teams with names like Iron Ice, Athenian Warriors, Lethal Blaze, Niobe’s Army, Red Storm and Silver Blades.

The IYSA not only promotes girls’ football but also helps breed teamwork, fitness, sportsmanship and perhaps a little healthy competition. IYSA has taken up this mammoth task of promoting girls’ football in a country where even male footballers are sidelined. Tify itself is a young brand in the Indian market and has been their main supporter since the beginning.

The Tify’s-IYSA Girls Soccer League is designed for any girl to learn, appreciate and enjoy football and provides a benchmark for promising new talent.

In their combined and continuing effort to develop girls’ soccer, the 3rd Tify’s-IYSA Girls League will begin in September-2004 and expects to have between 80-100 girls in 10 teams, some of whom will be from underprivileged backgrounds.

PRINCIPALSPEAK
All work and no play....

THE world is a magical manifestation of the divine spirit and man is His most wonderful creation, blessed with a beautiful body, an infinite mind, a creative spirit and an array of emotions, which help us to cherish our experiences. Each individual’s potential is manifold. Our actions, thoughts and responses are not mechanical but expressions of variety and spontaneity that determine our happiness. Therefore our growth and development needs to be holistic through exploration and use of all our faculties and parts so generously gifted to us by God.

For a fulfilling and happy life we need to train our body, mind, creative energy and our spirit. Work, work and more work and pursuit of excellence only in one field is like running on the road with blinkers on.

Somewhere in this race for position, status, material rewards and acclaim, the world today has lost a sense of joy. How many of us get up feeling how good it is to be alive! What a glorious morning! I’ve really never felt better. This promises to be a wonderful day! Such joy seems almost like a dream now, for people feel that if they pause in their work they will be overtaken.

Where is the time for leisure – those moments to nurture your creativity, to fill your heart with music, to capture the rhythm of the universe in your dance, to transfer the wondrous colours of nature on to your canvas, to hit a six or score a fine goal? Where is that unaffected kind of joy that comes from inside? Why are we killing it?

In the field of education people today have a misconception about what education comprises. It is equated with studies and results and with good placements in prestigious institutions. Aspirations of both parents and students have become unnaturally high and in this endless race for marks the students miss out on joys of life. They neglect all other activities and are deluded into believing that games and extracurricular activities are a waste of time and encroach on their study time. This has given rise to a plethora of problems. The students feel sapped out, stressed and depressed. As a result suicide rate has gone up and they spend precious hours in a psychiatrist’s clinic or a hospital rather than on the field of life.

We need to develop all our faculties. Only a healthy body can house a healthy mind. Thus outdoor activities and games are vital to building strong and healthy bodies. Exercise strengthens the muscles, makes them flexible and makes one feel right. How often we see people with damaged faculties and limbs and thank God for blessing us with a healthy body? So, we should not neglect nurturing it. We also need to develop skills to give expression to our creative energy. Feel the thrill of the paintbrush following your imagination, your body responding to music or discover your talent, which will become your hallmark.

Develop interests and hobbies, which will bring immense satisfaction. Leisure time activities widen our horizon, de-stress us and give channels to our energy in the right direction. They become our individualistic expressions. They help us overcome the monotony and regularity in our lives which otherwise give rise to restlessness and aggression.

So, learn to enjoy life and get the right attitude. This will make you interesting and even enhance your work.

— Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan

HEALTH

Noida Metro Centre: A balm for critical patients
Our Correspondent

Noida, May 9
The Metro Hospital, Noida has emerged as a centre of neuro-sciences both for OPD and emergency services with the setting up of a department of neuro-sciences equipped with the state-of-the-art equipment.

Already a number of complicated cases heave been diagnosed and treated at the hospital by Dr Vivek Kumar, senior neurologist, and Dr Amitabh Goel, senior neuro-surgeon.

According to Dr Amitabh Goel, senior neuro-surgeon, these cases are include complex brain tumours like CP angle and pituitary tumours. The particular case of CP angle tumour had come with difficulty in walking, hoarseness in voice. He was operated upon using an operating miscroscope and facial nerve monitoring was also carried out. The nerve monitoring ensured that the patient, Mr Dayal (50), would not have any disfigurement of his face due to facial nerve damage.

Endoscopic removal of pituitary tumours, which is the latest in minimally invasive neuro-surgery have been performed successfully at the centre. Dr Goel sated that a thin 4-mm endoscope is introduced into the nose and the tumour is removed looking at the live video images without any external cuts and there is hardly any blood loss. Microsurgical spine operations, other brain and spine tumour surgeries and treatment of complex spine problems like C-V junction anomalies have also been carried out with excellent results.

A 30-year-old woman, Fatima, had come to the centre complaining of weakness and numbness of both legs. Investigations revealed that she had a tumour pressing on her main nerve in the upper back. She was successfully operated upon, the tumour was removed and she was back to normal in a few days. Similarly, emergency management of patients with severe head injuries and cases of polytrauma is effectively carried out under the care of neurosurgeons, neurologists, intensivists.

A 22-year-old household help, Chandan, who had fallen down three floors into an open lift shaft, was brought to the emergency room with no pulse, in deeply unconscious state and with profuse bleeding from head injuries, was immediately taken up for emergency brain surgery and later his neck and limb fractures were also treated. He could walk out of the hospital after few days, thanks to the team effort of the hospital staff, said Dr Goel.

According to Dr Vivek Kumar, senior neurologist at Metro Hospital, a complete work up for the patients having nerve and muscle disorders, with thinning of muscles or numbness and tingling of hands and feet or patients of nerve injuries has been made possible by a fully-equipped, modern neurophysiology laboratory, the only lab in Noida.

A state-of-the-art intensive care unit at Metro Multi-speciality Hospital, with facilities for non-invasive and invasive monitoring, latest siemens ventilators, a dedicated team of neurologist, neurosurgeons, critical care specialities, trained nurses and paramedical staff has made it possible to offer high quality care to the patients of stroke, meningitis, encephalitis, head injuries, G.B. Syndrome etc., said Dr Vivek Kumar.

Dr Vivek Kumar has successfully carried out a new and emerging treatment modality of Botulinum injection in patients of chronic headache and movement disorders, such as hemifacial spasm and blepharospasm.

A 70-year-old woman, Shelja, came to the centre with severe spasm (tightness) of muscles of one half of face and neck. She was given 50 units of injection Botulinum toxin by Dr Vivek Kumar. After few hours, she got complete relief from the muscle spasms, for which earlier she used to take a number of medicines without any relief. Speciality evening neurology clinics on headache and epilepsy have become a regular feature at Metro hospital, Noida, it was stated.

According to Dr Parshotam Lal, Chairman of Metro groups of Hospitals, a comprehensive work up and management of all types of stroke or brain attacks is being carried out by a dedicated team of neurologist, neurosurgeon, interventional cardiologist and physiotherapist.

The multi-modality approach to neurological and neuro-surgical patients seems to have endeared this hospital to several patients who have been treated here to their satisfaction.

SPORTS

Jheel School sail into semi-final

New Delhi: An all-round performance by Vivek Srivastava (29, 3 for 34) helped Government Boys School, Jheel Kuranja defeat Sonnet Club by 21 runs in the first All-India Sushila Tiwari Under-17 Cricket Tournament on the Yamuna Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Government Boys School, Jheel: 206 for 9 in 40 overs (Ravi Prakash 48, Narender Kumar 39, Kaif Mohd 41, Vivek Srivastava 29, Yogesh Nagar 3 for 43, Tarun Chauhan 2 for 23). Sonnet Club: 105 in 38.5 overs (Yogesh Nagar 32, Rushil Bhaskar 26, Vishu Tomar 23, Anurag Tyagi 21, Vivek Srivastava 3 for 34, Kaif Mohd 2 for 27). — OSRS

Joginder stars in ID Paul tourney
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, May 9
Joginder Singh played a vital all-round role and Narender Singh Negi and Rohit Mehra hit pleasing half centuries to help BSNL defeat Kehar Singh Cricket Club by 42 runs in the third ID Paul Cricket Tournament.

Scores: BSNL: 211 for 8 in 25 overs (Narender Singh Negi 58, Rohit Mehra 57, Joginder Singh 41, Nitin Agarwal 29, Anup Kumar 4 for 30). Kehar Singh Club: 169 all out in 24 overs (Jugnoo Saini 40, Anil Kumar 30, Sunil Sharma 28, Anoop Kumar 25, Sanjeev Rana 3 for 30, Pramod Bhati 2 for 23, Joginder Singh 2 for 31).