Students get various appointments at the investiture ceremony of DAV Public School (Chandrasekharpur), Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Science talent

Seetal, a Class III student of DAV Public School (Chandrasekharpur), Bhubaneswar, has excelled in the national-level Science Talent Search Examination-2012 conducted by Unified Council, a scientific assessment organisation in Hyderabad. She got past nearly 3.5 lakh students who had appeared for the exam and got the highest marks.

For her feat, Seetal received the “National Topper” award from Union minister of state for human resource development D. Purandeswari in Hyderabad. The award carries a gold medal and a cash prize of Rs 40,000. Seetal had earlier received the National Child Award-2011 from the Union ministry of women and child development for exceptional achievement in the field of academics, art and culture.

Right on top

Chinmoy Samant, who completed his Class X from Delhi Public School, Rourkela, won a gold medal for his brilliant performance in the International Assessment for Indian Schools (IAIS) exam annually organised by the University of New South Wales, Sydney. This exam helps students assess their current academic achievement levels and the prospects for them in international educational institutes.

Chinmoy scored the highest marks in mathematics among around 6,000 class X students in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Mauritius, Maldives, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait. Apart from him, only one other student has been awarded the gold medal in mathematics.

Let’s get quizzical

Students from 35 schools in Odisha and Chhattisgarh pit their wits against each other at the 10th Mother Teresa Quiz contest hosted by Stewart School, Bhubaneswar, on July 22.

Ace quizmaster Siddharth Basu conducted the contest and posed some challenging questions to the contestants, who wracked their brains to come up with the correct answers.

In the senior category, teams from St Joseph High School, Bhubaneswar, Stewart School, Bhubaneswar, and Carmel Convent School, Rourkela, finished in first, second and third places respectively. Among juniors, the first three positions went to De Paul, Berhampur, St Paul, Rourkela, and St Xavier’s, Cuttack.

At the sub-junior level, Loyola, Bhubaneswar, won the first prize. Venkateswar English Medium School, Bhubaneswar was adjudged runners-up and Stewart School, Cuttack, second runners-up. About 2,000 students attended the three-hour contest organised by the All-Odisha Association of ICSE Schools and Britannica Educational Publishing. The latter has designed a ‘Know for Sure’ book series for classes I to VIII for better integration of general knowledge in school curriculum, said Ved Prakash of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Leaders all

Two Bhubaneswar schools — DAV Public School (Chandrasekharpur) and Sai International — conducted the ceremonial induction of members into their respective student councils and appointment of office bearers into different clubs.

During the investiture ceremony at DAV, the appointees were administered the oath by retired major general B.K. Mohapatra, who encouraged the students to hone their leadership skills and serve the country.

At Sai International, principal secretary of school and mass education Rajesh Verma felicitated the council members. He stressed value-based education and extracurricular activities. School chairman B.K. Sahoo encouraged the newly appointed members, urging them to steer the school towards achieving success.

She dances to his moves

Everybody loves to dance. We may be good, bad, funny, zany, graceful, clumsy, but dancing is something we all love. But there is someone who believes that “anybody can dance” and more than ability, it is one's attitude that makes a difference.

That someone is none other than Terence Lewis, who has taken the world of dance by storm with his avant-garde choreography in several popular Hindi films, albums and events.

Terence, my role model, is a heady mix of charm, grace, versatility and fun. There is a unique power in his dance that spreads joy and positive vibes. Before he made his foray into Bollywood, dances had features that were predominantly Indian. But with his contemporary choreography in Naach, he heralded a new era and set new standards.
And it is not just the younger generation that idolises him. Interestingly, Terence's mother was not very happy about his decision to take up dancing as a profession (since he is highly qualified with a degree in microbiology and hotel management) but she would be proud of the huge following he commands among young moms. Most dance institutes and academies here have a considerable number of homemakers and women professionals as their clientele, who are increasingly putting on their dancing shoes, wanting to dance like Terence!

I have always been a fan of Terence and after Dance India Dance (a television reality show, in which he is a judge) I literally worship him. Though I don't have professional training, I hope to make it to this show someday. There would no greater honour than to learn from the “master” himself.

Aishwarya Kar,
Class XII, Mother's Public School, Bhubaneswar