Road safety

The recently concluded Road Safety Week saw the involvement of thousands of schoolchildren in the capital. The tiny tots of DAV Public School (Chandrasekharpur) hit the streets on Monday morning to create traffic awareness under the leadership of their seniors. Assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Binod Das flagged off the rally at Sailashree Vihar with the students marching on the road with important traffic symbols and signages.

File picture of the students of DAV Chandrasekharpur at an awareness rally during Road Safety Week and (left) a student of Uditnagar High School, Rourkela, takes part in a skit organised as part of the Road Safety Week celebrations. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

On the same day, Takshila school students of Class VI to VIII manned the traffic at various junctions of the city, greeting motorists and requesting them to follow traffic rules. They also distributed leaflets and presented a dance drama by the roadside. Sushree Suchismita of Class VIII won the first prize in the inter-school debate competition on the topic “Whether Bhubaneswar is a city at par with other metros in terms of traffic infrastructure”. Rajeswar Nayak of Class VII bagged the second prize in quiz competition. The police organised these contests.

Students of Uditnagar High School, Rourkela, observed the weeklong awareness campaign by taking part in a host of activities such as on-campus skits and street plays.

Jumbo campaign

Students of Sai International School, Bhubaneswar, have pitched in to save India’s heritage animal - the elephant - which is threatened by habitat destruction, increased poaching and accidents. Donning elephant masks, the kids staged a skit and organised a signature campaign on their school premises to raise awareness about the safety of the endangered animals. As many as 648 jumbos have died in the past 12 years, a majority of them because of poaching, electrocution and accidents.

Talents blossom

From sack race to marathon and drills to folk dances, the annual sports meet of Blossoms School, Bhubaneswar, was one spectacular event. As many as 300 budding sportspersons took part in a series of fun as well as tough activities during the three-day meet, the last lap of which was held at Kalinga Stadium. The participants were divided into four groups - unity (blue), peace (green), courage (yellow) and friendship (red) - and their costumes were made for a very bright, colourful ambience. Director of sports and youth services D.V. Swamy was the chief guest on the closing day and awarded the winners of various competitions. President of the Indian Association of Kickboxing S.S. Harichandan addressed the students and their guardians.

National fame

Purnima Murmu, a Class IX student of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), won wide appreciation at the National Children’s Science Congress recently held at Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh, for her project “A solution towards reduction and management of LPG and electricity at KISS”.

Purnima, who belongs to Mayurbhanj, was supported by her teammates, Durgamayee Nayak, Rabi Majhi, Ananta Murmu, and Truptimayee Murmu in completing her project. Her teachers, Smita Jayasingh and Elina Mishra, were her guides.