Students celebrate Basant Panchmi 
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 24
Basant Panchmi was celebrated in Ramgarhia Girls College, Millerganj, and Sanatan Vidya Mandir, Civil Lines, here today. The function started with the recitation of shabad 'Deh Shiva var mohe hai'. Thereafter, the ceremonial lamp was lit by Prof Ms Jasbir Punni and Dr Narinder Sandu. The students took part in various competitions like fancy dress, dance, giddha and basant princess. Prof Rajeshwarpal Kaur, Prof Jatinder Walia, Prof Ripandeep Kaur and Prof Inderjit Kaur were the judges of the fancy dress competition.

The judges for the dance competition were Prof Manmohan Kaur Saggu, Prof Surinder Kaurand Prof Manjeet Kaur Sethi. The judges for Basant princess contest were Prof Nishi Arora, Prof Tajinder Kaur, Prof Shwinderpal Kaur, Prof Jasbir Brar and Prof Swaran Grewal. About 100 students participated in the contest. Ms Jasbir Punni, acting principal, addressed the students and exphasised on their overall development.

Results of the competition :

Fancy dress : Seema Passi from BA III (1), Sangeeta Trivedi from BA III (2), Mandeep Kaur from BA II (3).

Poster Making : Navjot from BA III (1), Sonia from BA II (2), Mamta from BA II (3). Consolation prize : Harpreet from BA II , Harpreet from Class XII.

Group dance : Team of BA- I (1), Team of BCA (2), Amandeep Kaur and party (3).

Individual dance : Gagan from BA II (1), Anju Parg from BCA I (2) and, Jyoti Bhardwaj from BA I, Asha from BCA III (3).

Giddha: Team prize : BA I and BA III teams.

Individual : Maninder Kaur (1), Harmeet Kaur (2), Manpreet and Jaspreet (3).

Basant Princess : Navjot (1), Ms Beautiful Hair for Shween, Ms Beautiful Smile for Daman, Ms Beautiful eyes for Sarabjot.

Rohit wins inter-school declamation contest
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 24
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, organised an inter-school declamation contest at Everest Model High School, Giaspura, here yesterday.

Students from nearly seven schools participated in the contest. The topic of the contest was “Diseases caused by lack of iodine”. In the contest, Rohit of the host school stood first. The second prize went to Dimple of the same school. Mr B.K. Sharma, Senior Technical Officer, Regional Broadcasting Department of India, was the chief organiser.

Talking to the participants, Mr Sharma said that lack of iodine in human body caused diseases like goitre, mental disability and retarded growth.

He emphasised on the use of iodised salt in food so as to avoid any iodine deficiency in the body. He said that pregnant women must take extra precaution so that foetus remained healthy.

Mr Dheeraj Sharma, Principal, said that the government must organise such programmes in every city, village and street so that the message could be disseminated effectively. Fruits, sweets and publicity material were distributed among the kids at the end of the programme.

Sehaj path by students
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 24
As part of the 400th celebrations of the first installation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Youth Services Directorate of the Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle organised a function at Guru Gobind Singh College, Kamalpura village, here yesterday.

More than 115 students of the college started “sehaj path” of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Mr Balwant Singh Hansra, a trustee of the Council of Parliament of World Religious (CPWR), was the chief guest.

He exhorted the students of recite, contemplate and follow the teachings of Gurbani in letter and in spirit.

Mr Ram Singh, Principal, chief organiser, Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, disclosed that three major centenaries were falling during 2004 which included 500th birth anniversary of Guru Angad Dev, the second Guru, 400th year of first installation of Guru Granth Sahib, and 300th year after martyrdom of four sahibzadas. He called for a change in the attitude of students to strive for excellence and scale new heights in academics, sports and other co-curricular activities.

Harleen wins mathematics test
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 24
Harleen Kaur of Guru Nanak Public School has stood first in the inter-school mathematics competition conducted by Guru Nanak International Public School, the results of which were declared yesterday.

The test was conducted by the school on January 9 in which 90 students from schools affiliated with the CBSE participated. Harleen Kaur stood first by securing 79.5 per cent marks. Amanpreet Kaur from the same school stood second with 79 per cent marks.

Third position was shared by Harpreet Singh of Guru Nanak International Public School, Shilpa Gupta of Kundan Vidya Mandir and Shiplum Agnihotri of Tagore Public School, respectively, with 78.5 per cent marks. Cash awards were given to the winners by Ms B. Gulati, Principal of the school. 

Lecture on Julius Caesar
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 24
The Department of English, Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town, organised an extension lecture on Shakespeare’s play ‘Julius Caesar’ here today. Dr Charanjit Mahal, Principal, welcomed the guest faculty lead by Dr G.R. Kataria, Professor and Head, Department of English, Punjabi University, Patiala. She praised the faculty members of English Department for organising such extension lectures throughout the academic session.

Professor Kataria acquainted the students with the varied aspects of the Shakespearean tragedies. In an interactive session, Shakespeare’s plays and their relevance in the present context was debated upon. The significance of the opening scene of the play, role of the supernatural machinery, fickleness of the mob, shrewd attitude of the conspirators, triumph of good over the deceitful were some of the aspects dwelt upon by Prof Kataria in his lecture. 

First aid training course held

Ludhiana, January 24
A first aid training course was organised at Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines. At least 140 students attended the course which began on January 2 and concluded here today.

The Instructor, Ms Usha Chopra from the Indian Red Cross Society, showed students how to provide various kinds of artificial respirations, to help patients with fractured limbs, head injuries and to make stretches out of a blanket or a bedsheet. The course was organised by Ms Davinderpal Kaur and Ms Honey Walia. Dr Varinder Kaur Thind, Principal, Khalsa College for Women, took keen interest in the course and encouraged the students to learn first aid so as to help people during emergencies. OC

Seminar on legal literacy
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 24
The Centre for Adult Continuing Education and Extension, Panjab University, organised a seminar on ‘Legal Literacy for Women’ at Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women here today. Mr Gurbir Singh Grewal, advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court, was the chief guest. Mr Jaspal Singh Chugh, senior advocate, was the resource person. Mr T.R. Arora from Consumer Redressal Forum attended the seminar. Dr Madanjit Kaur Sahota, Principal, said the lecture proved to be very informative for the students and staff.

CULTURE

Indian, Pak Sufi singers create magic
Vimal Sumbly
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 24
At a time when leaders of India and Pakistan are ironing out their differences, singers and artists are doing as much in their own way. The Ludhiana Sanskritic Samagam provided the right platform to these artists while hosting an Indo-Pak Sufiana Kalam Sammelan here last night.

While Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans represented India, Pakistan was represented by Javed Bashir and his team of young and promising singers. The performance of Hans was unmatched and the singers from Pakistan gave a remarkable performance.

Guru Nanak Auditorium was jampacked and the audience was driven into a frenzy.

The melody reached its zenith when Hans and the Pakistani troupe performed “Damadam mast kalandhar, Ali da pehla number.”

Hans began with his favourite Sufiana numbers like Bulle Shah’s “Tere ishq nachaya, chhaya chhaya,” Hazrat Sultan’s “Haq bahu, dam dam bahu” and Shah Hussain’s popular number “Mere Sahiba mein, teri ho gayi han.” The audience best appreciated his recent number “Nit khair manga sonia mein teri, dua na koi hor mang di” and sang along with him.

Javed Bashir and his troupe presented Safdar Shah’s “Aye mere mahi allah allah, aye mere maula allah allah,” making the atmosphere reverberate with the sound of “Allah Allah” followed by their recently released number “Saade wull mukh mode de pyarya” and “Aa ja nayon dil lag da mera.”

Earlier, talking to The Tribune, the Sufi singers said there was a need for more cultural exchange between the two countries as it would supplement the ongoing peace process. Hans remarked, “Sufism is probably the best antidote for animosities, violence and bloodshed”.

Hans and Javed said they believed that the people of the two countries had strong brotherly feelings for one another. Javed, who was accompanied by his brother Ali, said the mindset was changing in Pakistan, particularly after the recent peace moves. “Why should it not be so?” they asked in emotion, while pointing out, “we have a strong tradition that is common …we have a common language…we have common culture…we cannot live apart.”

Collaborating their point, Hans said music was the food for love and it should be so for both sides.

Mr Sunil Kant Munjal, president of the samagam, said the association would try to contribute its bit towards creating a congenial atmosphere. Musical and cultural exchanges, he said, would probably be the best way to promote amity and brotherhood.

PNB cultural meet begins
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 24
Mr U.S. Bhargava, General Manager, Punjab National Bank(PNB), inaugurated the 21st PNB Inter-Region Cultural Meet at the PNB's auditorium at Zonal Training Centre here today.

About 130 artistes from eight regions of the Punjab zone i.e. Amritsar, Bathinda, Chandigarh-B, Ferozepore, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Ludhiana participated in the meet.

Mr Bhargava, in his address, told the gathering that the PNB was holding these meets annually to enable the employees to show their talent in cultural activities. He hoped that the team of the Punjab zone, which would be selected from the winners of these competitions, would do better at the Inter-Zone Cultural Meet to be held in New Delhi from February 3 to 7.

Competitions were held today in light vocal solo, classical vocal solo, classical instrumental(taal and string), group song, mono acting, etc.

Mr V.K.Gupta, Deputy General Manager and Mr Ajit Jaitely, Chief Manager and secretary of the Zonal Cultural Committee, spoke on the occasion. Mr Chand Singh, Deputy Zonal Manager, Mr A.K.Looma, Senior Regional Manager, Mr Deepak Kalra, Assistant General Manager, and many other senior officers and employees of the bank were present on the occasion.