Date:23/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/12/23/stories/2005122309290400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Symposium on coops. from December 28

Staff Reporter

An inter-university debate competition has also been planned

Well-known persons in the cooperative movement will participate in the valedictory session

Over 100 students from various universities in the country will take part in the events

BANGALORE: A national symposium on "Professionalisation of management of cooperatives are vital for their operational efficiency" and an inter-university debate competition on cooperation in Hindi and English will be held for three days from December 28 to December 30 here.

Chairman of the Regional Institute of Cooperative Management B.S. Vishwanathan told presspersons here on Thursday that President of the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) Sawai Singh Sisodia would inaugurate the symposium and Principal Secretary (Cooperation) C.S. Kedar would deliver the keynote address. Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, Minister for Cooperation R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil, Chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation Ajit Kumar Singh, MP, and other well-known persons involved in the cooperative movement would participate in the valedictory session on December 30. The symposium would conclude on December 28 itself and the debate competition the next day. Over 100 students representing various universities in the country would take part in the events being organised by the institute for the fifth time, he said.

Speaking about the institute, Mr. Vishwanathan, a former MLC, said the late Chief Minister R. Gundu Rao was instrumental in its establishment.

The campus had now developed into a training complex with the Staff Training Institute of the Karnataka State Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank and the National Institute for Rural Banking.