EDUCATION

Schools reverberate with Xmas cheer
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 23
Students of Saint Soldier International School, Sector 28, Chandigarh celebrated Christmas with great pomp and show. Student of kindergarten dressed up as Santa Claus, angels and shepherds, looked very attractive and charming. A manger portraying the birth place of Jesus Christ was also made by the students.

The school echoed tunes of traditional carols and Santa Claus distributed sweets to the students. The Principal, Ms Sudesh Chaudhary appreciated the efforts of students and teachers and wished one and all a very prosperous Christmas and new year.

Divya Public School: Christmas was celebrated with great fervour at Divya Public School, Sector 44, Chandigarh. The tiny tots of Pre- Nursery, Nursery, KG and Class I came dressed in virant attires. The Vice Principal, r Rajesh Kamal conveyed the message of love, peace and brotherhood.

Students of junior classes were taken to a church in Sector 44 to pray to Lord Jesus as part of their Christmas celebrations. The celebration concluded with distribution of gifts among the students.

Sanjay Public School: The students of this school celebrated Christmas with great pomp and show. The school premises was tastefully decorated with balloons, booties, bells and Christmas tree. Carols were sung by the tiny tots. Thereafter, students dressed as Santa Claus distributed sweets among the children. Principal Director, Mrs U Sethi enlightened the students about the life of Jesus Christ and His teachings.

Panchkula

Saupins School: Christmas was celebrated here with vigour and gaiety. The school wore a festive look and all the classes were decorated tastefully.

Children organised class parties and thoroughly enjoyed the spirit of Christmas. The main attraction of the day was Santa Claus, who dressed in the traditional attire, went to all the classes and distributed sweets, accompanied by the school choir singing Christmas carols.

Baltana

Strawberry Public School: Christmas was celebrated with great fervour at Strawberry Public School, here today. Children and teachers arrived donned in colourful attires. Small kids presented songs and dances on the occasion. Santa Claus was welcomed with a great deal of excitement and he distributed sweets among the children.

Mohali

Genius Public School: Students at the school had a gala time during the Christmas celebrations. Students sang carols and a student of Class V, attired in Santa’s dress, distributed sweets among the students. The Principal of the school shed light on the benevolence of Santa Claus and Jesus Christ for humanity. The students made colourful cards in a contest.

Shastri Model School: Students of the junior classes began their winter vacations in the company of Santa Claus. Santa distributed gifts among them. Principal R. Bala spoke on the teachings of the Bible and distributed sweets among the students. The Students visited CNI Church.

Saint Soldier Convent: A Christmas tree was decorated with buntings, balloons, gifts and snowflakes. The school ambience gave a festive look. Students took part in a fancy dress competition. The school echoed with the carols sung by the school choir. Winners of the fancy dress competition got prizes.

Shivalik Public School: The day was celebrated with reverence and piety. The occasion also coincided with the commencement of winter break. Students presented a cultural programme, which included carol singing, poetry recitation and scenes portraying the birth of Jesus Christ. Rohit Dogra of Class V came attired as Santa Claus and regaled the children with his antics. He distributed gifts and sweets among the children.

Swami Ram Tirtha School: A cultural programme and fete were organised on the eve of Christmas. Tiny tots of Nursery and KG presented a play depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. The staff and the children arranged a fete in which eating and games stalls were put up. Santa Claus emerged on the scene with sweets and presents.

SRCN introduces B.Sc. Nursing course
Tribune News Service

Mohali, December 23
Sri Sukhmani College of Nursing, Derabassi, organised a path of Sri Sukhmani Sahib on the college premises to mark the first session of its B.Sc. Nursing course. The course is affiliated to the Baba Farid University Nursing Council of India, Faridkot.

According to the Chairman, Prof. Avtar Singh, 40 seats for the course have already been filled by the university on the basis of merit.

Ms Kanwaljit Kaur, Director, said the institute would help students and people in and around Derabassi. The Principal of the institute, Ms Saroj Sharma, added that there was great demand for nurses in India and aboard.

Creating awareness about Gurus

Teachers honoured at annual function
Tribune News Service

Mani Majra, December 23
Maharishi Dayanand Public School, Daria, organised its annual function at Kalagram, here yesterday. Students presented a cultural programme and performed Haryanvi dance, bhangra and giddha. Children impressed the audience with a fancy dress show.

Mr Nek Chand, the creator of Rock Garden, was the chief guest on the occasion. He gave away the prizes to the students who excelled in academics, sports and co-curricular activities.

Two teachers of the school, Ms Prabha Bhainsora and Mr Pardeep, were also honoured for their valuable contribution to the school and showing good results. The function concluded with the National Anthem.

PU to set up grievance cell for staff
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 23
Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University R.C. Sobti has announced that a grievance cell will be set up for the university employees for expeditious disposal of their problems. Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor had set up a grievance cell for the students.

He said the cell set up for the students had been immensely successful and till date it had received over 300 cases and resolved over 280.

YPS alumni walk down memory lane
Our Correspondent

Mohali, December 23
The Old Yadavindrians Association ( OYA) organised its annual ball at the YPS grounds here today.

It was a grand evening with a large number of Old Yadavindrians, including a few from the first batch that passed out of the school, making it to the venue.

The extravaganza included a YAG laser show, perhaps the first ever in the Chandigarh area. The show focussed through graphics on the history of the school and various activities.

The evening was made even more memorable by a live performance by the Guinness record-holding dance troupe, the Scorpions, and scintillating items by the award- winning band, Bhoomi.

NSS volunteers adopt Shastri Colony, Jujhar Nagar village

Mohali, December 23
A ten-day NSS camp was inaugurated at Government College here on Thursday. The inaugural ceremony was presided over by the college Principal, Ms Mandeep Kaur. A colourful cultural function had been organised in which star singer of the college Sangram Singh along with Vikram, Gurdeep, Sukhwinder and Manpreet participated.

NSS volunteers adopted the Shastri Colony and Jujhar Nagar village and also took up the task of leveling of college campus, beautification of parks and cutting of congress grass from entire campus. Mr Ajaypal Sidhu, Jaskaran Singh and Miss Rajwinder appointed the camp commanders. Dr Baldev Singh, Prof Ashwani Kumar Chadda and Prof Devinder Kaur are the camp organisers. — TNS

Stress management talk at NSS camp
Tribune News Service

Mohali, December 23
On the fourth day of the 10-day NSS Camp at the Shivalik Institute of Education and Research, Phase 6 here on Thursday a lecture on stress management was delivered by lecturer Dr Sarita Saini. Mr Sukhwinder Singh, Publicity in-charge, Rajendra Hospital, Government Medical College, Patiala, delivered a motivation lecture on blood donation. He motivated volunteers to donate blood to save life. In the afternoon the volunteers visited the Valmiki Colony and talked about the need of education to the residents.

CULTURE

A vocalist of international eminence
S.D. Sharma

Chandigarh, December 23
“In the era of globalisation overriding priorities are for the profit-oriented business which had its bearing on the growth of Indian classical arts also. The classical arts and the artists had no substantial presence in print or the electronic media as compared to film, pop music practitioners which are hankering after the TRP ratings, “observed Sanjeev Abhyankar, the acclaimed young classical vocalist of international fame and torchbearer of Mewati gharana.

The foremost disciple of Pandit Jasraj he won prestigious President ‘s AIR Award , coveted National Award 1998 as best male playback singer for Hindi film ‘Godmother’ besides ‘Sur Ratna’ and Krishanrao Gold Medal. Credited with 50 classical music albums the globetrotting young maestro is an inspiration and role model for the young generation. The youngest artist to perform at the Swai Gandharav and Harvallabh Sangeet Festival he had the rare honour to provide grand finale to the festival five times.

In city on the invitation of the Triveni Sangeet Sabha for a concert he shared his views with The Tribune on various aspects influencing the popularity of classical and other genres of Indian music.

A real appreciation for classical music required a cultivated knowledge and training which is woefully lacking in the general public. But now with the availability of recorded music the situation had eased somewhat for an ardent classical music aficionado while majority of people love to relish the lighter versions. The musicians, art promoters and the government must come forward to preserve and propagate the rich cultural heritage. In many areas like Bengal, Maharashtra and others, for instance in my home town Pune, you will find much higher percentage of youngsters dedicated to classical arts than from the City Beautiful. An awakening through the sangeet sammelans and efforts of musicians had made the difference, he claims.

Earlier also during the Muslim era the classical music had though alienated itself from the life of people but it thrived under the patronage of feudal lords and princes. So why not now, he asks, appreciating the role of SPIC-MACAY (Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture among Youth) which is successfully revolutionising this movement. Based on his grand response at his concerts abroad and in India, he is optimistic about the future all Indian classical music and dance which a divine origin and sublime appeal.

Rafi nite takes music lovers down memory lane
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 23
The Mohammad Rafi Memorial Nite, an annual melodic extravaganza organised by the Yaadgar -E- Rafi Society was a great success with music lovers flooding the Tagore hall much before the scheduled commencement of the programme.

The event entering into its 22nd anniversary witnessed the larger-than-life image of Mohammad Rafi permeating the ambience of the Tagore Theatre as 30-odd singers doled out timeless melodies immortalized by the legendary maestro. The celebrated hero of yesteryears, Biswajit was the chief guest accompanied by his actress daughter, Sambhavi.

The programme was presided over by Haryana minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala. Raman Kapoor was the guest of honour.The event was sponsored by BSNL, SVIET, SBI, PNB, BOI, Allahabad bank , CITCO, DPR Haryana and Chandigarh, NZCC with the Tribune group of Newspapers as the media sponsor.

Versatile vocalist Veenu Kautish and Rich Sharma gave a grand start to the evening with 'hazzore bala' followed by Jaspreet doling out 'Kahin deep jale..', both songs being close to Bisawjit's heart.

Winner of the mega Rafi contest, Ram Tirath won hearts with an immaculate rendition of 'O duniyan ke rakhwaale..' The house gave him a standing ovation and Biswajit got up to hug the ailing artist. Similarly child prodigies Preetak Bhasin, Lakshya Kapoor, and Venil Malik excelled.

Biswajit surprised one and all with an adroit spell of hit songs like 'Pukarata chala hun mein', 'Bekarar karke hamein' and the immortal 'Hai apna dil to awaara'.