From Colleges
Heritage Sports Day organised
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Mohali, March 5
Shivalik Institute of Education and Research here organised Heritage Sports Day on the 5th day of NSS camp in Mohali today. Organised in collaboration with the Generation Saviour Association, Mohali, the day's events were based on the slogan of 'Tobacco Free Sports, Play it Safe'. T-shirts flaunting this slogan were distributed among the participants.

The chief guest on the occasion was Mr D.S. Bedi, Chairman of the institute, and guests of honour were the Principal of the institute, Ms Satpal Kaur Grewal, and the Director, Fatehgarh Sahib branch of the Generation Saviour Association, Ms Surjeet Kaur, who expressed her views regarding spreading awareness about drug de-addiction.

A warm welcome was accorded by Ms Anupkiran Kaur and the campus was beautifully decorated. NSS volunteers showed enthusiasm and zeal by participating in activities like 'stapoo', 'geetae', 'pitthoo garam', kite flying and skipping. The competitions started with tug of war.

Slogans on drug de-addiction were used to create awareness among the audience The prize winners include: Poonam Kumari, Shikha, Shashi, Rupinder, Poonam Kumari, Meena, Hemant, Dalbir, Manpreet, Kaur, Manpreet, Raman, Samriti, Rajinder, Anu Gar, Neha Kapil, Taranjeet, Davinder, Jai Shankar Raj, Suman, Rajender, Navdeep Singh, Taranjeet, Hemant, Dalbir and Anurag.

Mr D.S. Bedi spoke about the importance of all around development where sports being an integral part. The chief guest also thanked Ms Amteshwar Kaur for organising such sports meets in Punjab and motivating the youth with relevant social messages.

Yesterday, NSS volunteers along with the teacher in-charge visited Gharuan village to disseminate information and counseling regarding the harmful effects of the drugs.

Annual festival: Continuing with their annual technical-cum-cultural festival Archo-Fest, students of the Chandigarh College of Architecture here organised a competition in soap carving.

A team of two each participated in the competition. Among those who won include Aarti Khokkar, Seema, Arunjyoti Hazarika, Rajesh, Animesh Mazumdar and Ankit Srivastava. 

Pak band draws crowds
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 5
Panjab University students contributed in their own way in strengthening the bonds of friendship between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani music band, Ragas, performed before a massive crowd of students of the city who collected for the university's annual festival, Jhankaar.

The University Business School ground was brimming with students, teachers and staff. The show began with a scintillating performance by Mallika-Jyoti who set the mood with some foot-tapping Punjabi numbers. Ibrar Hashmi, a Pakistani comedian, and Zishan, a Pakistani singer, also performed.

Bad man Ranjeet has positive aura
S.D. Sharma

Panchkula, March 5
"Some TV channels are deliberately sacrificing the ethics of journalism by giving crime and criminals undue publicity with a view to boosting TRP ratings," feels actor Ranjeet. Sharing his views while shooting for a Sony TV serial at Fort Ramgarh, he rues the way handful of criminals had been projected as supermen in the telecast of their rags-to-riches stories.

"This might seduce poor adolescents to take up crime," he says. He also wonders at the wisdom of film personalities who deny their presence at functions of dons even when they are seen performing live in such parties. "As entertainers, we attend many parties and functions without verifying the antecedents of guests or hosts," he says.

Credited with scintillating performances in over 550 feature films, the bad man Ranjeet has a pleasing aura in real life. Born in a sleepy village Mehta, near Jandiala Guru in Punjab, he did his education in Delhi before his tryst with Bollywood in 1969.

He established himself as a versatile actor in negative roles. Besides directing and producing films, he did some guest roles and is now shooting for a serial, "Aisa Des hai mera."

"I owe a lot to Punjab and notwithstanding low budgets, I have played protagonist in 'Wagha' and 'Rab ne Milayan jodian.' My daughter Divyanka and son Chirnajeev have opted for automobile engineering designing and fashion designing, respectively," he added.

Spreading awareness about schemes through shows
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, March 5
Sleepy villages are shaken from their reverie each evening as the dance and drama wing of the Haryana Public Relations Department gets set to spread awareness regarding welfare schemes of the government.

Just as dusk casts its spell on the rustic background, the team of the wing from Panchkula gets set to enthral villagers with their skits, “raginis”, bhajans, puppetry shows and a cinema show. “The idea of using these audio-visual media is to ensure that the message reaches to all, irrespective of their educational level,” said District Public Relations Officer Raj Pannu.

The team performed in Rehna village, near Raipur Rani, yesterday.

The government had launched various welfare schemes and the idea behind the shows was to create a mass awakening, so that a larger section of people could benefit from the schemes, she added.

From talking about infrastructure development in villages — setting up of anganwaris, pucca phirnis and streets and houses under the Indira Awas Yojana — to social welfare schemes like free registration of tractors for farmers, reduction of tax on tractor parts, abolition of tax on gypsum, etc are highlighted through the raginis.

The increase in old-age pension, pension for the handicapped and ex-serviceman, etc are also highlighted in these presentations. The Ladli scheme, Ladli Social Security pension scheme, Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Vivah Shagun Yojana, construction of delivery huts, etc are highlighted through dramas. 

‘Kavita Mehfil’ for poetry lovers
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 5
Trilingual poetry symposium “Kavita Mehfil” was organised by the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi here today. The poets were welcomed by the Chairman of the akademi, Dr Naresh. He said the basic function of poetry was to arouse sensibility among its readers and listeners in the absence of which society loses its values. He said the akademi would continue its efforts to create a literary atmosphere in Chandigarh.

Mr Izhar Alam, ADGP, Punjab, who was the chief guest. A number of poets, including Surjit Patar, Mohan Sapra, Navin Kamal, Khalid Kifayat, Praveen Kumar Ashk, Atul Vir Arora and others enthralled the lovers of poetry.