Students talents to take shape at Aakriti

CHENNAI: Speakers at the launch of a girls’ forum at Anna University on Thursday stressed the need for women to take up greater responsibilities, equip themselves with knowledge, learn to handle stress and exhibit the will to usher in change. Called ‘Aakriti’, the forum aims to draw out the hidden talents of girl students and increase their level of participation in college activities, president T Abhinaya said. Claiming that 40 per cent of the students in the university were girls, M Shekher, dean, College of Engineering, Guindy, said the ‘fairer sex’ had come a long way and registered achievements on a large scale. But, he expressed concern over recent suicide attempts by girl students at the university. Vice-chancellor P Mannar Jawahar asked women to arm themselves with knowledge. Launching the forum and its logo, Prof Udaya Mahadevan of Loyola College exhorted them to perform well. Achievers A S Kursith Begum of Anna Fathima Trust, Usha Rajagopal of ESVI Sarada Foundation, G Lalitha of New Life Charitable Trust, and representatives of Iniya Udhayam Charitable Trust and Ramamoorthy Education and Rehabilitation Trust were honoured.