The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

SCHOOL BUZZ
Quiz contests & poster painting mark Earth Day
Smriti Kak

Students from various schools in the Capital got together to celebrate Earth Day here last week. Activities like quiz contests, poster and banner painting contests based on the theme of environment protection and conservation were organised.

Dressed in green and white, these students, who undertook the charge of taking forward the cause of environment protection and conservation, gathered at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium to participate in a walk, which was flagged off by the Union Minister for Environment, Mr T. R. Baalu.

A group of students was also invited for tea at the Prime Minister’s residence later in the day. The week-long celebrations were organised jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of Delhi, TERI and Coca Cola. Mr Vinod Duggal, Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, gave away the prizes to the winners of various contests.

Eco-club meeting

Students of Bal Bhavan Public School, Mayur Vihar, participated in the third annual Eco-Club meet at the National Bal Bhavan. The meet was attended by more than 45 schools and several NGOs.

The Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, inaugurated the programme and presided over the function. While 15 students from Bal Bhavan School performed the national song some had put up stalls displaying things that can be made out of waste products.

The 15th Annual Convention, Education Conference and Honouring Function of SANATA was held on April 23 at Bal Bhavan. Teachers, Principals, headmasters, lecturers and other associates were honoured with national, state and other awards.

The awards consisted of a merit certificate, a shawl and a mark of honour.

Scholarships for students

The Ayyappa Sewa Samiti distributed 51 scholarships of Rs 2,500 each to students from various schools, including 17 from blind schools in the Capital.

The function was presided over by the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr Raghunathan.

The scheme, which was started four years ago, began with four scholarships with the number increasing each year.

These scholarships have been sponsored by the Ayyappa Temple Trust and various individuals.

The society is also planning to distribute free books to deserving students from the current academic session.

Annual day celebrations

Bal Bharti Public School, Ganga Ram Hospital Marg, celebrated its annual day on April 20. The Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Dr Najma Heptullah, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, she said, "We are the citizens of a great country and our children should be proud of our ancient culture. Education should be considered next only to defence".

She also referred to the famous speech made by R. K. Narayan in Parliament that drew attention to the burden that schoolchildren have to carry on their backs in the form of heavy schoolbags. Mr Romesh Sabharwal, Chairman, DTTDC, who is an alumnus of the school, was the guest of honour and acknowledged the contribution of the school in shaping his career. Mr Jaspal Singh, who teaches engineering drawing in the school, was given a special award and a cash prize of Rs20, 000 in honour of wining the CBSE’s Teacher’s Excellence Award 2001.

Students presented a cultural programme and staged a dance drama, ‘It Happened Tomorrow’. A prize distribution ceremony was also organised.

Orientation plan for parents

Indus Valley Public School, Noida, organised an orientation programme for parents with an aim to developing a rapport with the parents. Mrs Niredita Ganguly, counsellor, stressed on the need for positive parenting and psychological aspects of a child. She also gave inputs to parents on bringing up children.

Ms Veena Aggarwal, Headmistress, said, "The school administration will leave no stone unturned to enhance the physical and mental growth of each student".

Scheme for kids’ future

Sony Entertainment and Procter and Gamble have announced the launch of ‘Shiksha –Secure Your Child’s Future’, a special promotion scheme to help educate children in India.

As per the scheme while buying certain products manufactured by P&G one can win either Rs 2 lakh towards the graduate education fee of one child or Rs 5,000 towards the next year’s tuition fee for one child. While 24 lucky persons can win the first prize 96 lucky one’s can stake a claim to the second. These prizes are transferable if the winner does not have children or has children above 21 years.

PRINCIPAL SPEAK
Let the law of truth rule your life - It will set you free

Truth is powerful. Truth is wonderful. Truth is pleasurable. It is a step towards personal freedom. It takes great efforts to develop the habit of speaking the truth. But once we are able to nurture and cultivate this habit we will be able to increase our self-confidence. Our life will then become ‘transparent’ to others and to ourselves and dispel our fears. We should rule our life by the law of truth at any cost. Gandhiji exemplified this concept of truth through the celebrated illustration of the life of Prahalad.

For the sake of Truth, Prahalad dared to oppose his own father and he defended himself not by retaliation, by paying his father back in his own coin, but in defence of Truth. He was prepared to die for it without caring to return the blows that he received from his father. With a smile on his face, he underwent the innumerable tortures to which he was subjected. As a result, Truth rose triumphant, demonstrating the infallibility of the law of Truth.

A principle is a principle, and in no case can it be watered down because of our incapacity to live it in practice. We should speak the truth and be prepared to face the consequences, whatever they may be. We will, no doubt, have stress for a minute or two, or a little more time, but the more devastating the storm, the sooner it is over, the better.

When I was in college, we were introduced to the concept of ‘creative ethics’ whereby we were posed with this question, “Should we speak the truth ever in circumstances where a lie might save an ailing person’s life?” It is a difficult decision to take. Should we compromise with situations and treat Truth as a relative concept? Can Truth be kept under cover? The answer is a firm ‘no’. A lie cannot be justified and truth will manifest itself for the fabric of lies in flimsy.

It is our duty to prepare the other to hear the truth, however harsh it may be, rather than keep him in the dark, for whenever Truth reveals itself, the consequences will be the same. Your integrity and faith will empower not only your own self but win the trust of others and in turn provide them with an anchor they seek in their lives. Thus, under no circumstances should we manipulate facts and words to our convenience.

It may be difficult, but it is not impossible to be truthful. It is like maintaining a white dress - difficult but not impossible. Truth brings beauty, purity, serenity and contentment into our lives. Thus, we should strive to achieve it, and the striving should be conscious, deliberate and hard – for fear less striving is the very condition of freedom, as Rabindra Nath Tagore wrote: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, Into that heaven of freedom, Oh Father, let my country awake.

Truth is the manifestation of ‘divinity’ in us. Let it be the guiding light in our lives.

Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan

SPORTS

Pankaj, Akash star for FCI in Sood Cricket
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 27
An all-round performance by Pankaj Thakur (36 and 3 for 15) and a debonair half century by Akash Malhotra enabled Food Corporation of India defeat Air Sahara by 65 runs and entered the final of the 13th All-India Om Nath Sood Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Khalsa College ground on Sunday. FCI will take on ONGC in the final on April 30.

FCI won the toss and elected to bat. Akash Malhotra’s rapidfire knock of 53, off 63 balls with five fours, and his 48-run stand with Pankaj Thakur for the seventh wicket, powered FCI to 187 for 39.2 overs in a low-scoring match.

FCI were in deep waters when they lost five wickets for 90 runs. But Akash hauled them back to the rails to end up with a decent total. Dinesh Yadav bowled a fierly spell of 4 for 23 for Air Sahara.

Set a target of 188 runs, Air Sahara were bowled out for 122 in 31.4 overs, with Pankaj Thakur and Yogesh Sachdeva claiming three wickets each. Pankaj Thakur was presented the Pepsi man of the match award by Anil Sood.

Scores: FCI: 187 in 39.2 overs (Akash Malhotra 53, Pankaj Thakur 36, Dinesh Yadav 4 for 23, Surinder Dayma 2 for 25).

Air Sahara: 122 in 31.4 overs (Sunil Sharma 32, Pankaj Thakur 3 for 15, Yogesh Sachdeva 3 for 22, Sumit Narwal 2 for 23).

Shivam, Mohnish help Gyan Bharti win
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 27
Shivam Gupta cracked a strokeful half century and Mohnish Kumar, in a fiery spell, claimed three wickets for 11 runs to help Gyan Bharti South Delhi Academy beat R P Academy by two wickets and entered the semi-final of the second Rajdhani Cup Cricket Tournament at the Najafgarh Sports Club ground.

Scores: R P Academy: 180 all out in 35 overs (Ashish Joshi 37, Abdur Sattar 34, Mohnish Kumar 3 for 11, Nitin Punia 2 for 16).

Gyan Bharti Academy: 183 for 8 in 34.2 overs (Shivam Gupta 51, Aprajit Singh 39, Amit Tevatia 4 for 23, Sharad Kumar 2 for 29, Navdeep Tomar 2 for 43).

Young Friends beat K N Colts

A fine knock of 48 by Ishan Bakshi and an all-round performance by Abhishek Chaudhary (3 for 16 and 39 n o) enabled Young Friends Club beat K N Colts by six wickets in a league match of the first Prabhawati Devi World Sports Under-19 Cricket Tournament at the Bharat Nagar ground. Abhishek Chaudhary received the man of the match award.

Scores: K N Colts: 121 all out in 34.3 overs (Harish Pandey 42, Anchit Khandelwal 31, Abhishek Chaudhary 3 for 16, Rakshit Pant 3 for 8, Arjun Chaudhary 3 for 28).

Young Friends: 124 for 4 in 32.3 overs (Ishan Bakshi 48, Abhishek Chaudhary 39 n o, Harish Pandey 3 for 29).

Delhi rout Chandigarh in Dutta Roy trophy
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 27
Delhi recorded a thumping 10-0 victory against Chandigarh in their opening match of the Under-21 National Football League Championship (North Zone qualifying round) for the M Dutta Roy Trophy at Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, according to the Delhi Soccer Association.

Anil Rawat and Kuldip Thariyal scored three goals each and striker Saurabh Bisht scored a brace to steal the spotlight. Captain Irfan Zama Khan, who was declared the man of the match, and substitute Anant Thapa were the other scorers. Delhi play against Jammu and Kashmir on May 1.

Playing attacking soccer, the Delhi players were all over the Chandigarh territory from the word go, and after the first goal was struck early in the match, there was a virtual deluge with the Chandigarh defence meekly submitting to the fiery assaults of the Delhi forwards.

The Delhi captain marshalled his forces magnificently, spraying passes forthe strikers to get the goals, and though he himself could score only one goal, he deservingly got the man of the match award.