A girl works busily with her crayons in an art competition in Guwahati on Saturday. Picture by Eastern Projections

A pre-Christmas programme was held at Dr M.C. Das Memorial auditorium of Assam Agricultural University (AAU) in Jorhat on December 6.

Besides peace prayers, the programme included a rainbow of cultural, musical and spiritual presentations. Professors, teachers, scientists and students of AAU attended the programme along with their families.

Bible scholar Victor Menon shared the message of peace as he offered his Christmas greetings.

The holy scriptures were read and prayers were offered for peace. YMCA School of Music, Jorhat, and a few others showcased their artistic skills in music and dance.

Santa Claus then appeared and distributed sweets and cakes to the audience.

Shabnam and Wings, a rock band, presented a few Christmas hits and other songs to enthral the audience.

The programme, which was attended by over a thousand people on the campus and from Jorhat town, also paid homage to the victims of the terror attacks in Assam and Mumbai.

It was an interaction that helped the students and teachers alike.

A four-day teacher-student exchange programme from December 10 was organised by the department of economics, Margherita College, along with faculty of economics and select students of Digboi College, Mahila Mahavidyalaya and Ledo College.

Over one hundred students and 12 lecturers from the four colleges participated in 13 academic sessions including those on students’ presentation, their feedback and a cultural exchange programme.

The objectives of the programme were to raise the standard of education, harness the competitive spirit of students and teachers alike, update the participants with the latest developments in the subject and strengthen the bond between different educational institutions to prevent brain drain from the region.

The inaugural speech was delivered by B. Gogoi, the principal of Margherita College, B. Gogoi.

In the cultural exchange programme, students from different colleges performed one-act plays, borgeet and cracked jokes.

Lecture

Eminent economist and former principal of Cotton College Dilip Kumar Barua delivered the 2nd Bhabananda Deka Memorial Lecture, titled Global Financial Crisis, at Pragjyotish College on December 14. The memorial lecture was organised by the department of economics under the aegis of the Economic Planning Forum at the Seminar Hall, Pragjyotish College, Guwahati.

Barua said though the world was passing through a difficult time, Indian economy would be able to weather the storm because of better financial management by the government and Reserve Bank of India.