Club News - July 22

Congratulations

Rtn Anuraag Chopra, along with Col (Retd) K.J.S. Sandhu, has won the Indian final of the Audi Quattro Cup, held at the Kemer Golf and Country Club in Istanbul. They stood first among 13 pairs by scoring 42 points. The first-place finish has given them access to participate in the world final of the tournament, to be organised in Los Angles from 7 to 12 October, 2013. We wish Rtn Anuraag and his team-mate all the best for success in the world final.



Organ Talks Educational Workshop
The Department of Anatomy, PGIMER, organised the I.J. Dewan Memorial Educational Workshop, titled "Organs Talk: Time to take prevention" on 23-24 July. We sponsored 500 Verka Lassi tetra-packs that were distributed among children from various schools who visited the workshop over two days.

At the inauguration of the Workshop on 23 July, our Club was represented by R'Ann Harkiran Mejie, R'Ann Alpna Khanna and Rtn Desh Deepak Khanna.

The children and visitors were educated on effects of pollution, smoking, drinking, not wearing a helmet while riding a two-wheeler and wrong eating habits by showing them actual organs, both of a healthy person and diseased. It was a novel idea which definitely left a huge impact on youngsters and motivated them to not only desist from indulging in vices but also educate others against it.

Pune-Leh Polio Awareness Rally Flag-off

On 26 July, PRIP R.K. Saboo flagged-off the Chandigarh-Manali leg of the Pune-Leh Polio Awareness Rally from RVTC, Chandigarh. The team comprised of Rtn Pradeep Mulay & Rtn Anju Mulay (RC Pune Pashan), Mr Abhey Karmarker & Mrs Anuradha Karmarker.

PRIP Saboo, while wishing them safe journey, gave them each a gift hamper from our Club, along with our Club flag. Our Club members present  were: Rtn Desh Deepak Khanna, Rtn Surinder P. Kaur, Rtn Sukhjit S. Gill, PP Arvind Mehan, Rtn Mona Khattar and Rtn G.S. Chawla.

Investiture Ceremony - AKSIPS-41 Interact Club

The Investiture Ceremony of the Interact Club of AKSIPS-41 Smart School was organized on 25 July. The 2013-14 office-bearers were decorated by President Hassan Mejie and Secretary Desh Deepak Khanna. Following members attended the ceremony: PP Neena Singh, Rtn P.S. Matharoo, Rtn Mona Khattar, PP Vijay Wadhawan, Rtn A.P. Singh and PP Darshan Mehandru.

The outgoing President of the club, Shruti, showcased the achievements of the club in the year gone by through a power point presentation. Their activities included distribution of stationery items to poor school children, celebration of May Day and the Earth Day, holding of health check up camp for the needy and initiating literacy drives.

President Hassan Singh Mejie, in his address, urged the Interactors to carry on the torch of benevolence and keep it lighted forever.

The newly inducted members of the Interact Club are: Amninder Kaur (President), Geetansh (Vice President), Kritika, Lavisha, Ashima and Prajwal (Directors),  Apoorav (Secretary), Daksh (Joint Secretary), Mehak (Treasurer), Japneet (Sergeant-at Arms).

Investiture Ceremony - DPS Interact Club

The Investiture ceremony to install the 2013-14 team of DPS Interact School was held on 24 July.
The students of DPS presented an impressive dance and music show as part of the ceremony. From our Club following attended: President Hassan Mejie, Rtn Desh Deepak Khanna, Rtn Sukhjit S. Gill, PP Baldev Aggarwal, Rtn P.S. Matharoo, PP Parveen Goyal, Rtn Mona Khattar, PP Vijay Wadhawan, Rtn A.P. Singh  PP Darshan Mehandru and PP Man Mohan Singh Kohli.

The new office-bearers of the DPS Interact Club are: Rhea Jaspal (President), Sasaki Negi (Vice President), Shaira Kansal (Secretary), Jannat Brar (Joint Secretary) Ekta Chahal (Treasurer), Tanya Singh (Sergeant at Arms), Aastha Anand, Inayat Grewal, Aditya Dhingra & Rakshit Sharma (Directors).

UT government taking steps to improve Education in Chandigarh

Mr V.K. Singh, IAS, Finance Secretary UT Chandigarh was to be the guest speaker on July 8 but he could not return from Delhi due to flight cancellation. Instead, Mr Ajoy Sharma, IAS, very kindly consented to be the speaker and present steps being taken by the UT administration to improve schooling in government schools in Chandigarh.

According to Mr Ajoy Sharma, in last one year the Chandigarh Administration had taken a series of very innovative steps that have laid the foundation to providing good education. Ten new senior secondary schools are being added this year and another 10 will be added in two years time, he said. Besides, huge effort has gone into plugging the human resource shortage. In 2012, the Chandigarh Administration has added 800 new teachers and in the next six months another 1500 will be recruited. Efforts have been made that the newly recruited teachers come with the required training to make a qualitative change in education being provided in the city.

Mr Sharma also added that more and more school classrooms are being converted to Smart classrooms. The teachers are being encouraged to have a sense of ownership and do their work with renewed passion. The focus is not on making the class “smart”, he added, but to also transform the thought process of the teachers.

While sharing his own experience of studying in poorly equipped and staffed schools, followed by exposure to institutions like IIT and some leading foreign universities, he said that he was well aware of the gap the existed and he, along with his colleagues in the Administration, are working to bridge the gap.

Mr Sharma added that a dedicated team of 18-20 teachers has been constituted to hand-hold and transform the school and teaching environment. Overall personality development and extra-curricular skills are being given a lot of weightage. More sports facilities are being created and existing infrastructure is being revamped and upgraded. “In coming years, you will see a lot of improvement in government schools due to the steps being taken currently,” he said.

In the interactive session Rtn Krishan Kumar suggested to open the school grounds to children in evening. Mr Sharma assured him that steps are already being taken in this regard.

Rtn Ashok Khanna suggested that yoga be made part of the curriculum.  In reply, Mr Sharma said while yoga is not yet part of curriculum, yoga teachers are being deployed and children are being encouraged to learn yoga.

Rtn Geetika Rao suggested that more efforts should be put in to imbibe social responsibility among school kids, to which Mr Sharma said that steps are already being taken in this regard.
President Hassan Mejie appraised the guest speaker about the projects being undertaken by our Club to help children from poor families get better education and training.

Mr Sharma was introduced by PP Man Mohan Singh Kohli. Rtn Reema Dewan  proposed the vote of thanks.   Rtn Surinder Paul Kaur presented a memento  to the Chief Guest.

The second Lucky Draw (a gold coin courtesy Rtn Vinod Talwar) was won by Rtn Jaspal Sidhu.