T Prasad Memorial Gold Medal to Anjali Rao

The second edition of the coveted T Prasad Memorial Print Competition for the current students at Northern Regional Institute of Printing Technology (NRIPT) was organised on the 10th, 11th & 12th May 2023. This print competition is named after the Legendary Teacher who served this  Institution for more than 33 years. Besides being a Quality Teacher from 1960, he also remained the Principal of NRIPT from 1982 to 1993. His contribution to the modernization of print education in India is well recognized. T Prasad also contributed  to the modernization of several printing presses of the central and state governments and some of the university printing presses. He was visiting faculty at Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College, (now MNIT), Allahabad. His contributions to the printing sector, especially print teaching, are exemplary.

This annual print competition is conducted by the Offset Printers’ Association (OPA), speaking on the occasion Prof Kamal Mohan Chopra, General Secretary OPA said that besides giving tributes and due recognition to Hon’ble T Prasadji, the main purpose of this competition is to encourage the students to look beyond the books for out of box ideas and to be abreast with latest developments and innovations in the field of Printing. All the students currently studying for Diploma in Printing at the NRIPT were eligible to participate in this 'Print Competition’ in order for the selection of the Best Student of 2023.

The competition started with preliminary written tests from 10th May 2023, where the  students were invited to answer the set of multiple-choice questions (MCQ) in the a given  time in the presence of eminent Judges. The eminent personalities of the five-member Jury for this were Diptendu Chowdhury, former Principal RIT Kolkata, Anubhava Shiksharthi, Print Consultant from Nagpur, Sunil Kumar Joshi, Print Technologist from New Delhi, Nafish from Prayagraj and Rakesh Tiwari HOD Printing     at NRIPT.

During the preliminary MCQ test i) Anjali Rao, ii) Kajol, iii) Kamal Ojha, all from Final year, iv) Khushi, and v) Nabeel Hamza, both from Second year were declared eligible by the judges for taking part in the final oral round of competition.

The finale of T Prasad Memorial Print Competition to get the ‘Best Printing Student of the year 2023’ was organised at the Seminar Hall of the NRIPT on 12th May 2023, in the presence of B K Srivastava, Principal, other faculty members and students of NRIPT.

A list of fifty topics was given to the participating students earlier, all the five judges were given ten different topics each out of the above  fifty topics. On the day of competition, the judges were asked to  give one topic each out of the list of ten given to them to the first participating student. These five topics  selected by different judges were made available to the participating student five minutes before the start of his/her speech. The student was having choice to speak on any one of these five topics for at least five minutes and not more than seven minutes. Winner is decided based on, i) Quality and reliability of contents of the presentation, ii) Style of            presentation and confidence level and iii) Question Answer ssession and lastly the Audience poll, on pre-prescribed formula, which is added to the marks given by the judges and result is finalised after deducting marks if the students spoke for less than five or more than seven minutes.

After the completion and amalgamation of the marks given by the Five Judges, Anjali Rao, a Final year student was declared as the winner of 2023 T Prasad Memorial Print Competition to receive the coveted Gold Medal and Rs. 25,000. Congratulating Anjali Rao, Diptendu Chowdhury said that by visiting NRIPT has given him bundle of joy amidst the greenery of a lovely campus, vibrant students, and incredible hospitality. Chowdhury further said that, for many years after serving as a Lecturer and then as Principal of Regional College in Kolkata (RIPT)  was overwhelmed to receive the warmth with which the students greeted me, cheered me. It reminded me of my most fond days in RIPT with my students. I realized from the core of my heart that the eternal bond of a teacher and a student never dies. I shall also cherish in my memory the warm welcome and a loving atmosphere all through with some beautiful people around and look forward to having such opportunities again and again.

B K Srivastava, Principal while thanking the Judges and congratulating Anjali said, he has not witnessed such alumni, devoted for a cause with deep love for their teachers. The students must take a lesson from them, and I wish such bounding must continue for ever. I know OPA and especially Prof. Kamal Mohan Chopra alumni of NRIPT who is working tirelessly for the cause of Printing and Packaging Industry. It is a matter of greatest enjoyment for me that the Offset Printers Association  is working for the cause of Print Education and are motivating the students of Print in India. Today Chopra is here with us as the President of World Print & Communication Forum (WPCF), the highest post in whole of the world, a great honour for NRIPT and being the Principal of this premier institution, it is a matter of pride for me also.   The students at my Institute are  lucky to have Mentors like Kamal Chopra and Anubhava Shiksharthi, S K Joshi, Nafis and all others who are working for the cause of NRIPT.

In his concluding remarks, Prof Kamal Mohan Chopra, thanked the Principal and the Faculty members for their cooperation and advice for smoothly conducting the second edition of this print competition. He thanked Diptendu Chowdhury specially joining for the event from Kolkata, Anubhava Shiksharthi who came from Nagpur and S K Joshi joining from New Delhi for the event. Nafish was instrumental in arranging all the activities at Allahabad and needs all the praise for his efforts. I am particularly thankful to the students of this institution who participated in this three day event whole heartedly in good strength. Special thanks to Srivastava ji for permitting OPA to conduct this event at the premises of NRIPT.