Belletristic, the Literature Society of the Department of English, Shoolini University, today organised a virtual farewell for the outgoing students of the department.
Although it has been a difficult time for all students because of the present pandemic situation, online classes and other activities of the Department of English have contributed towards maintaining a bond between the students and teachers. Classes have been held regularly and so have literary activities, where students participated enthusiastically.
The event included a short skit summing up student life before and during the lockdown, some poems capturing the nostalgia of the years gone by, and several short speeches by the outgoing students. In particular, the thoughts expressed by Saquib, Chetali, Ritika, and Jagriti were much appreciated.
With the academic year drawing to a close, annual examinations were conducted online, and it is now time to say our fond goodbyes. The traditional farewell ritual has been transformed into a virtual one and students of the pre-final year invited their seniors for an affectionate send-off.
Faculty members of the department, Prof Manju Jaidka, Prof Tejnath Dhar, Prof Purnima Bali, Prof Neeraj Pizar, and Prof Sakshi Sundaram, also spoke on the occasion, wishing the final year students good luck for the next stage of their lives. The organising student committee comprised Vaishali, Snehanjali, Rsvika, Garima, Sakshi, and others.
In particular, the senior students appreciated the role played by Belletristic, the Literature Society of Shoolini, in grooming them and initiating them into the excitement provided by the study of literature. Ritika Tomar who, will now be passing out, in particular, has been very actively engaged in reporting and archiving the activities of the society.
Prof PK Khosla, Chancellor of Shoolini University, Solan, was today honoured by the Indian Society of Agroforestry, Jhansi, with the Lifetime Achievement Award, 2017, for his contributions to agroforestry research and development.?
An alumnus of Oxford University, Dr Khosla was instrumental in starting agroforestry education in the country for conservation and scientific investigations of the Himalayan trees. Prof Khosla was also at the forefront in establishing the Indian Society of Tree Scientists (ISTS) and worked as its Secretary as well as Secretary-General for more than two decades. He has edited more than 15 books related to agroforestry.
Prof Khosla has organised several National and International Conferences on Agroforestry, which earned him a distinguished place in the fraternity of Indian top scientists. He played a key role in greening the mid-Himalayas and was fondly known as a ‘Green Scientist’.
The award was conferred on four dignitaries starting 2017-20 and Prof PK Khosla was the first to receive the award (2017). Other scientists to receive the awards were, Dr PS Pathak, Former Director, Indian Grassland Institute, Jhansi (2018), Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary DARE and Director General, ICAR, New Delhi (2019), and Dr Ravi Prabhu, CIFOR, ICRAF, Nairobi (2020).
The function was held in the virtual space and Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR was the Chief Guest of the function. One hundred participants, including eminent scientists in the subject, retired and served from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and International Council of Agroforestry, Nairobi, and many other international scientists participated in the function.
In its endeavour towards a safer Covid-free world, Shoolini University, at the initiative of the Solan district health authorities, organised a special Covid camp to vaccinate faculty and staff members.
About 400 faculty and staff members were vaccinated against Covid-19 during the two camps held on the university premises.
As per a notification issued by the National Health Mission, the Governor of Himachal Pradesh had included all staff members of Shoolini University as Frontine Workers for COVID-19 vaccination. During the first camp held last week, around 200 staff members were vaccinated.
In view of the overwhelming response, the district health authorities also organised a second camp, where another 200 staff members were vaccinated. All employees above 18 years of age were eligible for vaccination, said Director Operations Brig Sunil Mehta (retd).
The camp was led by Dr Yogita, Medical Officer incharge, Primary Health Centre, Nauni, and Ms Kanta Kashyap, Health Supervisor, Community Health Centre, Dharampur. Mr Ravi Kumar and Ms Anita Kashyap were the vaccinators. The team also included Ms Upasna Sood, Block Accountant/Data Entry Operator and Mr Arpit Bhatia, Data Entry Operator.
Brig Mehta said all staff members coming to the campus after its opening must be vaccinated. Similar camps would be organised for students as and when the authorities permitted, he added.
In its endeavour towards a safer Covid-free world, Shoolini University, at the initiative of the Solan district health authorities, organised two special camps to vaccinate faculty and staff members.
About 400 faculty and staff members were vaccinated against Covid-19 during the two camps held on the university premises.
As per a notification issued by the National Health Mission, the Governor of Himachal Pradesh had included all staff members of Shoolini University as Frontine Workers for COVID-19 vaccination. During the first camp held last week, around 200 staff members were vaccinated.
In view of the overwhelming response, the district health authorities also organised a second camp, where another 200 staff members were vaccinated. All employees above 18 years of age were eligible for vaccination, said Director Operations Brig Sunil Mehta (retd).
The camp was led by Dr Yogita, Medical Officer incharge, Primary Health Centre, Nauni, and Ms Kanta Kashyap, Health Supervisor, Community Health Centre, Dharampur. Mr Ravi Kumar and Ms Anita Kashyap were the vaccinators. The team also included Ms Upasna Sood, Block Accountant/Data Entry Operator and Mr Arpit Bhatia, Data Entry Operator.
Brig Mehta said all staff members coming to the campus after its opening must be vaccinated. Similar camps would be organised for students as and when the authorities permitted, he added.
The power of Yoga for a healthy living is undisputed. Taking this into account, a webinar on ‘Ayurvedic Principles for Healthy Living’ was organised by the School of Yoga at Shoolini University. The keynote speaker for the webinar, Dr Ajeet Tiwari, Ayurveda Medical Officer, Government Ayurveda Hospital, Almora, Uttarakhand, spoke about the Ayurvedic remedies to avoid Covid 19.
This webinar is a part of the series of webinars being organised by the School of Yoga on the occasion of the seventh International Day of Yoga on the theme, ‘Health and Happiness’.
The welcome note was presented by the Chancellor of Shoolini University, Prof PK Khosla. Sharing his valuable experience, he said the youth should be proud of the ancient Indian principles of healthy living, as the West was also adopting them, especially during the pandemic.
Delivering his lecture, Dr Tiwari said Ayurveda was known as the fifth Veda of India. He explained about the ‘Panchamahabhootas’ of the body, discussed the location of ‘Vatta Pitta’ and ‘Kapha Doshas’ in the body and their behaviour. He explained many Ayurvedic remedies to avoid the infection of Covid 19 and Black fungus. The most important, he said, was the regular practice of ‘Nasya kriya, Ghee’ in the eyes, Mustard oil in the mouth, steam with ‘Pudina’ and Ajwain’, gargles with turmeric, golden milk and citrus fruit.
During another webinar under the series, Prof Hemanshu Sharma delivered a lecture on ‘Improving Lung Function through Naturopathy’. He talked about the Naturopathy treatment to enhance lung function that in turn helped improve mucosal immunity and innate immunity, reducing stress and improving sleep. He also emphasised a Yogic diet for a better lifestyle.
During a session, Prof Suresh Lal Barnwal said Yoga provided the ability to cope with different situations and to get rid of all suffering. It spread positivity all around, removed the frustration and helped in purification, rejuvenation and transformation of the heart, mind, body and soul. He also described the importance of Dincharya, Pranayama, Silence, Araadhana, Upasana and Sadhana in daily life.
The vote of thanks was given by Dr Subodh Sourabh Singh, Associate Prof and Head, School of Yoga, Shoolini University. The webinar was co-ordinated by Dr Mala Tripathi, Assistant Prof, School of Yoga, Shoolini University.
Shoolini University scientist and associate professor Dr. Amit Kumar has achieved a coveted h-index of 50 for his research in Chemical Sciences and Nanotechnology. His scientific production encompasses 124 research papers with total citations of 6000 to his credit.
Kumar is ranked among the World’s top 2% scientists as per a paper published at Stanford University in 2020. He has diverse research collaborations in the Instituto de Cat?lisis y Petroleoqu?mica (Spain), King Saud University (Saudi Arabia), Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (China) and Universidad Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil).
Currently teaching at the School of Advanced Chemical Sciences, Kumar is also co-director at the International Research Centre of Nanotechnology for Himalayan Sustainability (IRCNHS) at Shoolini University. Along with that, he is a visiting Professor at School of Technology, Glocal University and visiting faculty at Department of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
Kumar focuses on research in the fields of optical designing of semiconductor heterojunctions as catalysts for environmental remediation and energy production. with this work, he aims to work towards waste management, cost effective waste-to-energy conversion, greenhouse gases conversion into fuels, and advanced green photocatalytic water treatment. He aims to focus on lab-scale experiments to enable pilot-scale projects to be able to achieve water detoxification and clean energy production in real-water systems and conditions.
Conservation of environment is the top priority for Shoolini University. Under this initiative, the Faculty of Sciences at Shoolini University organised a lecture on ‘Ecosystem Services’ under the Shoolini Science Web Series to celebrate World Environment Day. All faculty members, research scholars and students attended the lecture.
The interaction began with Prof Sunil Puri, Registrar, Shoolini University welcoming Chancellor Prof PK Khosla, and the speaker for the day, Prof RK Kohli, Vice Chancellor, Amity University, Mohali.
Sharing the ethos of Shoolini University, Vice Chancellor Prof Atul Khosla talked about the various steps the university had initiated towards sustainable development and to save the ecology. He said, “Shoolini University is the dream of academicians to provide high-impact, high-quality university education to lesser privileged students of Himachal and India through research, innovative learning and community service.”
Prof RK Kohli’s deliberation was very informative, and he interacted enthusiastically with students, responding to all their questions.
Prof PK Khosla congratulated the entire team for organising such interactions of global importance and thanked Prof Kohli for sparing his time to be the speaker for the day. He said research was the backbone of any university, institute, and country, and Shoolini University had made great strides in publishing quality research papers and filed 500+ patents.
Dr Mamta Sharma moderated the session and thanked Prof Kohli for accepting the invitation to speak on a crucial topic in context to the present scenario.
Prof JM Julka, Director Planning, presented vote of thanks to Prof Kohli for his valuable talk on environment conservation. He also thanked the Chancellor, Prof PK Khosla, Vice Chancellor Prof Atul Khosla, Prof Sunil Puri, Prof Rajesh Kumar Sharma, Dr Mamta Sharma and all the participants who joined the webinar.
Prof Rajesh Kumar Sharma, Dean Sciences at Shoolini University, said the web series aimed at providing an effective platform for knowledgeable interaction among reputed scientists, academicians, and students of all graduate and postgraduate programmes to popularise and create awareness about the importance of science in our lives.
‘Be an agent of change’
Shoolini Institute of Life Sciences and Business Management (SILB) celebrated the World Environment Day with great enthusiasm, exuberance and excitement.
Students and staff members took this day as an opportunity to spread the message on this year’s theme, Ecosystem Restoration’ by emphasising that it was our sole responsibility to take care of Mother Nature by ourselves becoming agents of change.
The virtual celebrations began with the formal welcoming of the dignitaries, including SILB president Mrs Saroj Khosla, Director Dr Shalini Sharma and departmental heads.
The highlights of the event were the ideas expressed by the participants through audio-visual aids. Olivia, Deepali, Yogesh, Aastha Chauhan Ravi Kant, Aradhana, Smile, Srishti, Nikita and Anchal captivated the virtual audience with their artistic and intellectual insights on the importance of restoring, repairing and conserving the environment.
The celebration concluded with the closing remarks of Mrs Khosla who pledged to fight against all odds and plant more trees to save our beloved Mother Nature.
The VE -V Empower Coaching programme being run at the Shoolini University organised its second session in the series of seminars to be conducted for student development aimed at empowering the youth.
The sessions are being organised by Payal Jindal Khanna, Senior Coach at Shoolini University, under the guidance of Vice-Chancellor Prof Atul Khosla.
The key speaker for the session was Jayashree Marakini Braganza, an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Certified Coach and a consultant. She led an interactive and engaging session on the topic, ‘Working Styles in Action: Making the Most of our Preferred Styles’.
In her opening remarks, Payal Jindal Khanna quoted Tim Robbins, a bestselling author. She said, “Your working style is the way you go about your day-to-day tasks on the job. Everyone has his or her own working style – or strategy – for optimal performance at work.
The session conducted by Braganza focused on the unique combination of five working styles. These working styles had a great impact on what we did and how we did it, including how we turned up in class, our relationships, time management or even how we responded to a pandemic.
She also stated that no style was more significant or better than the other. Each Style had its strengths and “Shadow Effect”. All we needed to see was how we could maximise the strength and balance the shadow. In a relationship, how can a ‘please others’ style and a ‘be strong’ style build a mutually rewarding relationship?
Researchers scour what is known to come up with a hypothesis of why blood clots can be a major problem in COVID-19
Driven by the mystery of the blood clots reported in both living and deceased COVID-19 patients, researchers from Shoolini University, India, dig deeper into the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and other similar viral diseases, looking for ways in which these clots could be formed. They propose a robust hypothesis, taking our understanding of clotting-related problems in COVID-19 one step further and opening doors to potential targeted therapies.
Soon after its emergence in December 2019, COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, rapidly spread worldwide resulting in a global pandemic within weeks and halting lives. Thus, early on, like most activities in the world shut down, attempts to understand SARS-CoV2 and COVID-19 kicked off in full swing.
SARS-CoV-2 was initially thought to be a respiratory pathogen, causing flu-like symptoms such as dry cough, sore throat, fever, and weakness. But over time several non-respiratory symptoms cropped up as well. One symptom gaining increasing attention was the blood clotting reported both in living and deceased patients. In several cases, the blood clots blocked normal blood flow, leading to stroke, organ failure, and even death. Yet, the mechanism of formation of these clots remains shrouded in a certain mystery.
As part of the continued attempt to clarify the mechanism, a team of researchers from Shoolini University, India, dove into the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2. Speaking of what inspired them, an assistant professor at the university and lead scientist in the team, Dr Pradeep Kumar, says: “Statements in the vein of ‘mysterious blood clots have been observed in COVID-19 patients’ were being made in newspapers and medical case reports. The blood clots were reported as mysterious because their cause is unknown. This fuelled our interest to dig deeper.” Their conclusions are published in Medical Hypotheses and make up the latest additions to the body of work that led to Parneet Kaur, a member of this study’s team, to be selected for the InSc Young Researcher Award. [A1]
SARS-CoV-2 primarily enters through the nose and mouth moves to the lung. It binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor on the cells of these organs and enters the cells. In the cells, it releases its RNA, which then initiates its replication process, leading to infection. Interestingly, the ACE2 receptor is also harboured by other cells in the body, such as the kidneys, heart, intestine, and endothelial cells (or cells lining blood vessels). COVID-19 has been known to affect these organs in some cases.
Based on this knowledge, the team from Shoolini formulated their hypothesis: Upon entering the body, the virus can enter our circulation system. There, it recognizes and interacts with the widely expressed ACE2 receptor on endothelial cells. As it enters the endothelial cells and begins its replication process, it causes infection, which triggers an immune response and therefore, inflammation. It also injures the blood vessel lining. To repair the blood vessel, clotting and coagulating pathways activate. However, in the presence of inflammation, these pathways can go awry, leading to the formation of clots within the blood vessels which can block the vessels at that site or travel down to other organs, such as the heart or brain, to cause fatal strokes and heart attacks.
Meanwhile, when the virus binds to the ACE2 receptor on the endothelial cells, the receptor is deactivated. Since the receptor normally protects endothelial cell function, its unavailability can help with the injuries and lead to an imbalance in the recruitment of platelets and clotting factors. This can enhance coagulation and clotting.
This hypothesis is based on a robust literature review of cases reporting similar mechanisms in relation to other influenza-like and respiratory viruses, and papers reporting post-mortem observations on COVID-19 patients. So, although it remains to be verified, it is an important step in unravelling the mystery of blood clotting in COVID-19.
Explaining the long-term implications of their study, Dr Kumar says: “Our work will help us to understand in depth the diverse manifestations and pathophysiologies of COVID-19, which can eventually direct us towards developing targeted therapies to treat it and allied viral diseases.”
Indeed, such analyses bring hope in these dark times.
Reference
Authors
Sourav Biswas, Vikram Thakur, Parneet Kaur, Azhar Khan, Saurabh Kulshrestha, and Pradeep Kumar
Title of the original paper
Blood Clots in Covid-19 Patients: Simplifying the Curious Mystery
Journal
Medical Hypotheses, Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection
Faculty of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Himachal Pradesh, India
Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India
About Dr Pradeep Kumar from Shoolini University
Dr Pradeep Kumar is a post-doctoral fellow and assistant professor at the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, Shoolini University. He has completed his PhD from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, in Biotechnology. His research currently focuses on the bench-scale production of secondary metabolites, in relation to new drug discoveries and industrially important bioactive compounds, especially from the endophytic microbial diversity of the Himalayan region.
The famous words of legendary poets like TS Eliot, John Keats and Wordsworth reverberated all around during the poetry session organised by Belletristic, the literary society of the Department of English at Shoolini University. Undergraduate students from various colleges and universities participated in the online event.
The session was chaired by Delhi University Assistant Professor Nidhi Sharma. The panel comprised faculty members of the English Department — Manju Jaidka, Tej Nath Dhar, Purnima Bali, Neeraj Pizar, Sakshi Sundaram, and students from renowned universities and colleges.
The students recited the poems of their favourite poets. The participants were, Rutvi Shah and Priyanka Kumari Zala from Christ College Gujarat; Yotasha from MCM DAV College, Chandigarh; Sriea Chakraborty from St Bede’s College, Shimla; Tishya Chawla and Irene Saira Rajesh from Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, Delhi University; and Ayushi Rakesh from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi. From Shoolini University, the participants were, Vandana Chauhan, Vaishali Thakur, Rsvika Tripathi, Garima Faujdar, and Snehanjali Panicker. The poets whose work was recited include TS Eliot, John Keats, Sylvia Plath, Wordsworth, Maya Angelou, etc.
Highly impressed with the students’ performance, the chair of the session, Nidhi Sharma, appreciated the event. She also recited her favourite poem, ‘Velocity of Being‘, by Ursula K Le Guin.
The head of the English Department, Prof Manju Jaidka, applauded the students for their commendable performances and encouraged them to be a part of such sessions in the future as well.
Prof Dhar also gave some valuable remarks followed by the other faculty members, Purnima Bali and Neeraj Pizar. The students also added to the discussion with great enthusiasm. The poetry session concluded with a vote of thanks by Neeraj Pizar.
Belletristic will take a short break for the students’ exams but will be back again after two weeks with more interesting sessions.
To impart up-to-date knowledge on various aspects of Corona virus Pandemic and its implications among the students and people at large, a three-day International symposium is being organised by the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, Shoolini University, from today.
The symposium on “Understanding the Corona Pandemic and Its Implications”, has expert panelists from India, Sweden, and the USA.
The symposium has been organised to discuss various aspects of the pandemic like Epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention, and socio-economic impacts. Experts will discuss the progress of vaccination, preventions and various aspects of COVID-19.
The inaugural session was addressed by Vice-Chancellor Prof PK Khosla and Pro-VC Prof Atul Khosla. Guest of honour, Dr Dinesh Singh, Mathematician and former VC, Delhi University, shared his views on future predictions on Coronavirus.
Keynote Speaker Dr Narendra Chirmula, Ex Research Head Biocon and CEO SymphonyTech Biologics, India, discussed the search of a vaccine for Corona. During the panel discussion, stress was laid on the development of vaccine for COVID-19 and how Corona pandemic has changed the life of each and every one of us and also the way we live.
Prof Sourabh Kulshrestha, School of Biotechnology, said, “The symposium is free and open to all. The event is extremely useful for students and to all the participants, as the speakers have been invited from across the world and are experts in their own fields. Initiatives like this are extremely important in the academic world.” He also congratulated the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, Shoolini University, for the initiative.
Interested persons may watch on *youtube.com/user/shooliniuniversity, *at 3:00 PM – 5:30 PM
