The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

SCHOOL BUZZ
Girl students generate heat in debate on terrorism
Smriti Kak

Vishwa Bharti Public School (VBPS) witnessed passionate arguments as students debated the solution to the growing menace of terrorism. Students from as many as 13 schools in Delhi and Noida participated in a debate titled ‘Spirituality and not weapons can eliminate terrorism from the world’. The topic was meant to be a dipstick to gauge the young minds on their understanding of this hydra like menace. Needless to say that they emerged successful.

The host school was adjudged the best team, but couldn’t bag the trophy, which went to DPS Noida, the first runners up. The second runners up trophy went to Amity International, Saket. The best speaker trophy went to Vatsala Kakroo of Vishwa Bharti and the second prize in this category went to Bhim Kaul of the same school. Esham of DAV, Noida, won the third best speaker award and Gurang Shukla of VBPS was declared the best interjector.

It was not easy for the judges to declare the winner, as each student spoke with remarkable confidence and conviction. Impressed by the fact that there were more girls than boys who participated in the debate, director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Veeraraghavan quipped, “ I don’t know if it will be spirituality or weapons that will solve this problem, but I sure do know that the women force would solve it”.

Annual day

Lt-Gen Surinder Nath (Retd), Chairman, UPSC, along with Dr Ashok Walia at the annual day function of Mother Teresa Public School in Preet Vihar.

Lt-Gen Surinder Nath (Retd), Chairman, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), said that there was no shortcut to hard work and those working hard were bound to excel in their careers. He was speaking at the annual day function of Mother Teresa Public School in Preet Vihar.

Lt-Gen Nath said that the Indian civilisation has a very rich and glorious cultural heritage and traditions. These are the firm foundations on which the edifice of a great India could be built, he said. Lt-Gen Nath also distributed prizes to the students who excelled in various academic and extra -curricular programmes.

Quiz on Aids

The Rai Bahadur Gujarmal Modi Foundation organised a quiz on ‘AIDS Awareness’ for the class IX students of Father Agnel School, Gautam Nagar. As the culmination of the AIDS awareness programme at Father Agnel School, the quiz recapitulated the features of workshops held previously to evaluate the success of the programme.

Four teams of two members each from standard IX participated in the competition. The contest had five rounds, starting with two rounds of multiple questions followed by two rounds of one word answer. The final round was that of rapid-fire questions. Abhishek Kumar and Kunal Karwal of IX-B won the first position and Ashima Sharma and Megha Choudhary of IX-D were the runners up. The chief guest, Mr M. C. Ray, Project Director, Delhi State AIDS Control Society and the Additional Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, gave away the prizes.

Odissi treat

Amity International School, Noida, played host to ‘EC-DEM’, a part of the ongoing celebrations of the ‘Fest 2002’ being organised by the Spic Macay. Renowned Odissi dancer Kiran Sehgal gave a fascinating performance. Her graceful movements and expressions were in perfect tune with the music beats.

Ms Sehgal began her performance with a pushpanjali, followed by the manglacharan. She concluded her performance with the ‘ bhav’ abhinaya, based on the poetry of Banmali Das.

The interactive session between the artiste and the students was informative. Among those present were the chairperson of the Amity Schools, Mrs Anita Chauhan, and the principal, Mrs Mohina Dar. Students from various schools in Noida participated in ‘EC-DEM’.

Hockey tourney

Dr Vivek Gogia, DCP, being introduced to the players of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Tournament.

Guru Harkrishan Public School (GHPS), Shahdara, organised the first Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Tournament in the school premises last week. The aim was to promote the national game, whose popularity has been on the decline. Twelve teams from various schools in the Capital participated in the tournament. The running trophy went to Sawan Public School, Mehrauli. The team of GHPS, Shahdara, was declared the first runners up. The chief guest, Dr Vivek Gogia, DCP (North-East zone), presented the trophy to the winning team and appreciated the school’s efforts to promote the game.

Chotte Kalakaar

The national awards for the Global Trust Bank (GTB) Chotte Kalakaar 2001 were presented at a function held in the Capital last week. Kriti Sharma of Chandigarh, Akita Bhandary of Mumbai and Mahesh K. Mijar of Mysore won the first prize in each of the three categories. Mr Chandramohan Reddy, Minister for Information and Public Relations, Government of Andhra Pradesh, presented the awards to all the nine winners in the three categories.

The GTB Chotte Kalakaar began on November 14, 2001, as part of the Children’s Day celebration. The contest was open to all students of Class I to VIII. The competition, initially held at the school level, later was held at the city level and culminated at the national level.

The second prize winners in all the three categories were Sanskriti Nahata, Meghana N. Hebbar and Komal Ullal. The third prize in all the categories was bagged by Arpit Jauhal, Himal D. Mehta and Harshita Tayalal Oswal.

Bash for the poor

GE Elfun celebrated a special day with the children from the deprived sections of society. The function, held in the Capital on the occasion of GE Elfun’s third annual day celebration, saw the children along with the GE volunteers having a bash.

Commenting on the rehabilitation of these marginalised children, Mr Scott Bayman, president and CEO, GE India, said, “Elfun has rapidly grown to over 1,000 volunteers, who have committed their time, talent and skills to make a difference to the underprivileged sections of the society”. Mr Bayman also presented a cheque of Rs 40,000 to Mrs Hukku, director of Cancer Patients Aids Association (CPAA). The amount was collected through the sale of Elfun greeting cards and will be used by the CPAA to organise two cancer detection camps for the underprivileged.

New noddy range

A child’s library is incomplete without a Noddy, the impish little character who keeps getting into trouble. His escapades with his friends, Big Ears and Mr Plod, are a must read for little ones. Egmont Imagination India Ltd has launched the new Noddy range for the first time in India. Targeted at children between 2 and 10 years, the Noddy range is surely going to attract the young customers. It is going to be a welcome break for those who have been satiated with reading their math and chemistry books.

Tips on exam blues

With exams staring us right in our faces, many of us are jittery and some of us are more than blue. Relax! Dr Samir Parikh, a psychiatrist, has a few ‘easy’ tips to fight the exam blues. “A child undergoes a lot of pressure during examinations and at times, parents make it worse for them. It is time to encourage the child and not discourage him,” says Dr Parikh. Dr Parikh recommends a proper healthy diet, relaxation exercises and adequate sleep to fight fatigue. He adds that students must avoid self-medication, tea, and coffee and should not change their lifestyle drastically. “Preparation should be performance oriented and not result oriented,” says Dr Parikh.

He advises students to conduct self-tests, regular revision, and attention-improving exercises. He also advises avoiding long sessions of studying. Couple these tips with hard work, and this could be your formula for success in the exams.

Sports meet

Guru Harkrishan Public School, Nanak Piao, organised its junior sports meet on February 16. Mr Avtar Singh Hit, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, was the chief guest while Sardar Kulmohan Singh presided over the function.

The programme included a colourful display of dance and drills, athletic events and a march past by the students of the school. The principal, Mr V. Sawhney, welcomed the guests. A foundation stone for an extension counter of Punjab and Sind Bank inside the school was also laid on the occasion.

Lok Adalats help in amicable settlements
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, February 17
The Lok Adalats have proved to be a boon for the poor, destitute, backward classes and weaker sections of the society who are now able to get justice immediately, cheaply and easily, says Mr S. K. Sardana, District and Sessions Judge, Sonepat and chairman of the District Legal Services Authority. He was inaugurating the 73rd Lok Adalat in the Judicial Complex here yesterday.

Mr R. K. Bishnoi, Mr Inderjit Mehta, Mr A. K. Raghav, Mr Surinder Kumar, all Additional District and Sessions Judges, Ms Ritu Tagore, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Paramvir Nijjar and Mr Basruddin, both Civil Judges, were present on the occasion.

Mr Sardana said that both the complainant and the respondent, through negotiations and persuasion, reach an amicable agreement without any pressure from any quarter. This, he said, always helped the persons involved to forget the acrimony and lead a happy and congenial life as well as redevelop their social relations.

The agreements reached between the contesting parties and were approved in the Lok Adalats could not be challenged in any court of law in the country, he reminded.

Mr Sardana disclosed that a reconciliation and consultation center has been set up in the Judicial Complex and the people are getting free legal opinion and help in settling down their disputes. Dr Puran Mal Gaur and Ms Kiran Chhabra had been appointed as counsellors of this center, he added.

He also disclosed that the Haryana State Legal Services Authority had also set up a legal aid cell in the district jail of Sonepat. The main function of this cell, he said, was to provide free legal services to every accused person in jail, who is unable to defend himself because of poverty.

Later on, as many as 529 cases of different types were settled in the Lok Adalat. These include 23 petitions regarding motor accident claims. A sum of Rs 17.92 lakh was given as compensation to the families of the victims in these accidents. In 428 cases under the Motor vehicles Act, Rs 86,000 was awarded as compensation to the parties.

Various banks recovered a sum of Rs 29,800 from six loan defaulters. Six cases under the Hindu Marriage Act, 63 civil and three criminal cases were settled on the spot.