 Parle scholarship
 The
Parle Unnada Thirkana 2004 scholarship for excellence in education and co-curricular activities was awarded recently to 20 deserving school students from the primary and secondary sections from schools in Tamil
Nadu.
World chess master,
Vishwanathan Anand, was the Guest of Honour while the Vice Chancellor of
Madras University, S P Thyagarajan was the Chief Guest. The 20 award-winning students were selected from the entries received from schools across the state of Tamil Nadu. A select panel of judges short-listed the entries.
At the felicitation ceremony, students and their parents were treated to a classical dance recital by
Bharatnatyam exponent Anita
Ratnam. This was interspersed with performances of students from schools short-listed for
Parle Best School Performance award.
 This year, a new category was introduced at the PUT 2004 -- Parle Best
School Performance. Of the 25 schools that enrolled for this category, six schools were short-listed by a trio of
distinguished judges -- choreographer Jeffrey Vardon, stage actor Sunil Vishnu and singer Arjun Janakiraman. These short-listed teams enthusiastically contested for the award on the felicitation day where they displayed their talent before the cheering and enthusiastic gathering.
Instituted by Parle Products Pvt. Ltd, the Parle Unnada Thirkana 2004 awards fall under the auspices of Parle Centre of Excellence, an effort aimed at encouraging all-round development among school children. The award recognises the development of a well-rounded personality, whether it is academics, sports, fine
arts,
painting, performing
arts, social work and any other skill-based activities among students. This award also serves as a point of inspiration for youngsters to break new barriers.
 Congratulating the awardees, the chief guest emphasized that the Parle Unnada Thirkana 2004 scholarship awards has provided much needed support to these students and will definitely contribute to
there overall development.
Mayank Shah, Product Manager, Parle Products said, "We are extremely happy to award the Parle Scholarship of Excellence to the deserving students. Parle G is the 'world's largest selling biscuit' because it is these children who have patronised the brand. We are grateful to the children for the love and loyalty they have for our brand.
"Parle Centre of Excellence and activities like Parle Unnada Thirkana under its aegis are a step towards acknowledging their loyalty towards our brand. The scholarship is one of the efforts of Parle to contribute to the overall
development of school children in Tamil Nadu," added Shah.
 This year, the organisers received a large number of entries for the scholarship from all over Tamil Nadu including towns like Vaniyanbadi, Karaikudi,
Pudukottai, Karur,
Salem, Pollachi,
Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Erode, Ramnathapuram,
Villupuram, Dharmapuri and
Nagapattinam among others.
The selection was held at two levels -- the first stage, where each nominated student was selected on the basis of the percentage of marks in annual school exams, achievement in sports, performing arts and other skill-based activities. A written essay was duly attested and signed by the head of school. Following this, 50 students were short-listed for the next stage.
 In the second stage, these 50 selected students had to undergo personal
interviews by a selected committee of renowned teachers and distinguished people. The final 20 students were selected based on their performance in academics, extra-curricular activities and personal interview. Finally, the 10 best students from the primary and secondary sections respectively were selected as the awardees for the Parle scholarship.
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