A puppetry workshop in progress at Maria’s Public School in Birkuchi. A Telegraph picture

Workshop

Maria’s Public School, at Birkuchi in Guwahati, organised a workshop on puppetry for students of Classes V and VI in association with Kat-Katha Puppet Arts Trust, New Delhi, recently.

Anuruppa Roy, founder- trustee of Kat-Katha Puppet Arts Trust, conducted the workshop.

Apart from learning the art of making puppets from simple, inexpensive materials like buckets, old sarees, bamboo sticks and cardboard, the children also learnt to stage shows with the puppets. The process of teaching and learning appeared more effective and delightful with the use of puppets.

As Learning Beyond the Classroom has always been the motto of Maria’s Public School, the innovative techniques of puppetry will go a long way in achieving this objective of the institution.

Roy is a well-known puppeteer, director and designer. She conducts workshops and shows all over the country.

Pawan Waghmare, who is also a puppeteer, a puppet maker and an accomplished designer, assisted Roy in conducting the workshop. Waghmare has been working with Ishana Puppet Theatre Trust and Kat-Katha for the past five years.

The workshop has been a part of the school’s Maha Utsav celebrations.

Lecture

A lecture on Wetland Repair — A Strategy, was delivered recently by R.C. Mohanty, head of the department of botany of Utkal University, at the botany department of Cotton College. Delivering the fifth Dr Parukutty Baruah memorial lecture, Mohanty stressed that in view of the growing population, rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, wetlands are either decreasing in number or are getting destroyed.

The lecture was organised by the botanical hobby centre department of Cotton College. Mohanty suggested 11 themes with action plans so that man does not only remain a silent spectator but adopts a strategy for gradually reviving the denuded ecosystem. He said anthropogenic activities have taken a toll on many wetlands and Deepor Beel has also been exposed to the risk due to human activities.

Tarun Sirkar, principal of Cotton College, attended the memorial lecture. D.K. Bordoloi, head of the botany department, delivered the welcome address. Karabi Goswami, general secretary of the hobby centre, offered the vote of thanks.

NAAC grade

KC Das Commerce College, Guwahati, has been awarded a B+ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). A peer team from NAAC appreciated the efforts of the college in building its infrastructure along with a hi-tech library, air-conditioned computer cell, air-conditioned conference hall and gymnasium without any assistance from the University Grants Commission. The college came under the deficit grants-in-aid system in 1998.

The peer team comprised Dr Kerma S. Lyngdoh, Prof. Swami Suparnanda and Jagannath Patil, deputy adviser of NAAC.

Quiz contest

The Kamrup District Inter-Educational Institute’s National Service Scheme (NSS) unit organised a quiz competition on Adolescent Health on October 28 at Pandu College. Organised by the NSS unit of Pandu College, the quizmaster of the programme was Dipankar Banerjee, faculty member of the department of history, Gauhati University.

The team from Arya Vidyapeeth College, Guwahati, comprising Olee Talukdar and Nilutpal Singh, was declared first, followed by Dipankar Sarkar and Biswajit Pal of Pandu College in second position.

The team from Lalit Chandra Bharali College comprising Biku Deka and Chandan Sharma was declared third.

Mukti Deb Chowdhury, former principal of Cotton College and chairperson of the Assam State Social Welfare Advisory Board, was the chief guest of the programme. Dipak Kumar and Dipak Sharma, youth officers of the NSS unit of Guwahati, were the guests of honour.

In the concluding session of the programme, Deb Chowdhury delivered a lecture on Problems of Taboos in Indian Society regarding Adolescent Health. Earlier, Shantanu Roy Chowdhury, programme officer of NSS unit of Pandu College, gave an introductory address while Dipak Kumar elaborated on the purpose of the quiz competition.

The contest was sponsored by the Union ministry of youth affairs and sports and supported by the Adolescent Division of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) along with Youth United Victory on AIDS (YUVA). It is a part of a countrywide quiz contest covering 2,016 educational institutions from 252 districts of 35 states and Union Territories.

The winner from the Kamrup district competition will be eligible for participation in the state-level quiz competition, scheduled for the last part of November in Guwahati. The national-level quiz competition will be held in the early part of 2007 in New Delhi.

Programme

Don Bosco Institute, Kharguli, was the meeting point for children from different parts of the region recently. Students from Little Flower School of Dibrugarh and a mixed group from St Francis Xavier’s School of Kanmun in Mizoram participated in programmes on personality development. The youth care department under the institute looks into the needs of the youth through its different programmes.

Kanmun is a small place in Mizoram bordering Tripura. In terms of facilities and technology, it is yet to develop into a technological hub. A total of 30 students from this place were at Don Bosco Institute from October 21 to 24 for an orientation-cum-exposure programme.

Little Flower School of Dibrugarh is a well-known institution and 65 students of Class IX and their teachers were at the institute from October 25 to 28 for a similar programme. The sessions were mainly on personality development and personal values, self-esteem and motivation. Songs and dances were part of the training methodology. Aerobics in the morning, meeting one’s family in the evening and trekking were also part of the programme.

Interaction

The department of business administration of Gauhati University organised an interactive session on Brand Management on October 30 on its premises.

Manas Dewan, senior manager, corporate communications, Daimler Chrysler India Private Limited, Pune, was invited to interact with the students of the department. Daimler Chrysler is the company that manufactures Mercedes Benz cars.

Dewan started by showing a short documentary, Passion, on the German manufacturing plant of Mercedes Benz, which showed how the company strives for safety, technology and care. He spoke on how to build brand equity, manage demand and build sales, differentiate product and influence perception, attitude and buyers’ behaviour.

The session ended with the screening of another documentary on Daimler Chrysler. The students appreciated the session and learnt a lot from the interaction.

A staff reporter