Kids healthy? Let a contest decide

To elocution contests, relay races and fancy-dress parades, teachers and students might soon add another healthy competition — one that leads to the healthiest school trophy.

One such competition took place among schools in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka recently.

The Amaze Apollo School Wellbeing Programme, sponsored by the Apollo Hospitals and Amaze Brainfood of Hindustan Unilever, will cover more than a lakh students from 200 leading schools in the three states.

After scanning the replies to a questionnaire given to each student, the Apollo Health Centre will create a health and wellness status report for each child. The dossier will also offer health and cognitive development tips.

The “healthiest school” in the three states will be announced at the end of the programme. The health contest for children will cover institutions in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli and Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Bangalore, Mysore and Hubli in Karnataka.        (UNI)

Lift to class in govt school

Students at a Delhi government school recently had an “uplifting experience”.

No, the pupils at Sarvodya Kanya Vidyalaya in Shastri Park weren’t treated to a discourse from a spiritual guru. They merely took a ride on the new lift at their school.

The lift is possibly the first in a government school here. Like the students, the authorities seemed excited, suggesting an easier life at school could boost academic performance.

“Better facilities motivate the students to perform better,” education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said after the inauguration of the building, fitted with the lift.

The school was lucky in other aspects, too. The construction cost of the four-storey building, Rs 6.53 crore, could easily compare with the capital’s elite schools.

Metro work ready to roll

Chennai metro will get off the drawing board to the ground.

Work on the project is expected to begin by October, spurred by a low-rate loan from the Japanese government. The Tamil Nadu authorities will sign the agreement for Rs 853 crore, the loan’s first instalment, next month.

“The Japanese government will extend the loan so we can have a better transport system in the city. This is only the first instalment, though. We will sign the agreement next month,” Syed Munir Hoda, the chairman of the Chennai Metro Rail Corporation, said recently.

The cost of the two-line project is estimated at Rs 11,124 crore. Of this, Japan will lend Rs 8,646 crore. The state government and the Centre will share the rest of the expenses.

State chief secretary L.K. Tripathi said the plan was on the “fast track” and the construction would begin by October. Before that, it will have to pass through the Public Investment Board and the Union cabinet for approval. Much of the project will be elevated.

Wads of trouble

As a “real estate developer”, his ambitions were sky high but not lofty enough for investigators to believe that he should have close to Rs 10 crore stashed away in his house.

Bangalore police recently ferreted out Rs 9.5 crore from the home of the “developer” in the city’s J.C. Nagar area.

The unidentified man couldn’t explain what he was doing with so much cash, nor could he offer proof of his income. The cash was taken into custody, so was the “developer”.

MUMBAI: This Monday, watch lensman Mahesh Nair make a splash with nature. Nair gave up a two-decade-long corporate career in 2005 to pursue his hobby full-time. The venue: Piramal Art Gallery, National Centre for Performing Arts, Nariman Point. Call 66223737 and 22029483.