Students of XL-Utsav 2004. PIcture by Uma Shankar Dubey.

Over & done, and time for fun again

The Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) campus is abuzz with activity. After successfully organising the XLRI-IIM-Calcutta sports meet recently, the institute organised its first annual festival, XL Utsav-2004. The festival witnessed several sports and cultural events with both students and staff participating in full gusto.

And now, students of XLRI are preparing for yet another gala event ? the annual inter B-school festival Ensemble-2004, scheduled to be held in the second week of October.

Students are busy chalking out plans for various events and registering different institutes for the festival. ?It?s fun being at XLRI. Our institute gives equal importance to academics and extra-curricular activities. This helps every individual in the campus to excel in life,? said Chandrakant Pai, general secretary of the students? council.

Tribute to Mahatma

The philosophy department of Jamshedpur Women?s College organised a programme last week to pay tribute to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary.

Inaugurating the function, Shukla Mohanty, principal of the college, stressed on the important of Gandhiji?s role in the freedom struggle. She said his life is a source of inspiration and students should follow his philosophy.

Degree students of the college Kalpana and Nitu Kumari presented a analysis of Gandhiji and spoke on the different facets of his life. Students also presented classical songs.

Smooth talk

The Language Club of Loyola School of Education organised an extempore competition in English and Hindi for its students.

Soma Bose spike her way to the top in the English category while Rekha Srivastava charmed the judges to win in the Hindi category.

Addressing the gathering of the students, principal of the college Father Victor Misquith said that such competitions help comprehensive growth of personality and added that the language club should widen its activities and organise more such events.

In memoriam

A programme was organised at Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial College (LBSM) recently to commemorate the birth anniversary of social reformer Raghunath Murmu.

Various competitions, including story writing and poetry-writing, were organised on the campus. Addressing the gathering on this occasion, chief guest Ramdas Soren, district JMM president, said Murmu was a great social worker of the state and students should follow his ideals.

The chief guest gave away prizes to winners of the various. Sagen Hembram won the first prize for story writing, while Joba Rani and Doman Tudu bagged the second and third prizes respectively. In the poetry-writing contest, Konda Munda bagged the first prize.

RU extension relief

Harried students from colleges in and around Daltonganj, who had to stay in the state capital for days after applying for their provisional certificates will no longer have to do so, thanks to the Ranchi University?s decision to open an extension counter of the university on the premises of GLA College in Daltonganj.

?We feel relieved now that an extension counter will finally come up in this region. The university has heeded to this demand of ours, which has been pending for over the last three decades,? said a student of Daltonganj.

The university has opened an extension branch at Jamshedpur to cater to the needs of students coming from various colleges located in and around Jamshedpur. University spokesperson S.S. Akhtar said the Daltonganj chapter of Ranchi University was inaugurated by human resources development minister P.N. Singh last week. The inauguration programme was attended by students, university officials and residents.

Final-year students of the psychology department of Ranchi Women?s College enjoy their farewell party. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Path to power

The Ranchi University campus has been witnessing visits of one delegation after another of students? organisations following the announcement of the students? union election.

They are turning up in hordes to enquire about the nitty-gritty of the election process. Said one cynical university official: ?We hadn?t even heard the names of most of these organisations. Most of them have probably done nothing for fellow students but they are all here seeking for power.?