In a touching gesture, a group of Shoolini University students took the initiative to collect funds for the family of a victim of the terrorist attack at Pulwama. Encouraged by the Dean Students Welfare, Mrs. Poonam Nanda, the students collected about Rs 35,000 by appealing to the staff and students of the University.
They then visited the family of the martyr Tilak Raj and
personally handed over the funds as a mark of respect and gratitude for the
fallen Central Reserve Police Force jawan. He was among the 40 jawans who were
killed after a suicide bomber had attacked the convoy of vehicles on way to
Srinagar.
The students who joined this noble gesture were Abhishek Kashyap (BTech CSE 6th sem.), Harsh Chauhan (B. Pharmacy 6th sem.), Rajat Rana (M. Pharmacy) and Ravi Kant Thakur (MTech. Civil Structures). They said it was really tough to drive from Solan to Dharamshala and hand over the collected funds to the bereaved family of the victim which was under deep depression. They were told that a school was being opened in the name of Tilak Raj in Dharamsala as his memorial. Tilak Raj’s father said that he was really proud of his son.
Cricket is the most favourite sport played across the two
neighbouring nations of India and Pakistan. Rising tensions between the two
countries have once again raised the question ‘Should India play cricket with
Pakistan?’ Here is what a cross section of students of Shoolini University had
to say:
Ritika (B.Tech CSE, Semester 2)
Yes, India should play cricket with Pakistan. Don’t you
think, it will give us immense pleasure to see our men in blue crushing our
most notorious enemies on cricket field? They deserve defeat on the battle
ground as well as on the green ground. If governments of both the countries
allow then there is no issue of playing with each other. Other advantage in
playing with Pakistan is that India’s ICC ranking will improve because it is
next to impossible for Pakistan to beat India.
Vishal Kainthla (MBA
Quad 3)
The set of people who want to continue cricketing ties with
Pakistan are those who are more concerned with their commercial interests than
the national feelings. One expected Sachin Tendulkar, who holds an honorary
rank of Group Captain in Indian Air Force, to show solidarity with the soldiers
rather than talking about two-point loss. By asserting that the sporting ties
can improve relations between the two countries is all deceptive talks. It is a
smokescreen to justify their demand to make money under the euphemism of
sporting ties.
Paras Tudhial (B.Com,
Semester 2)
India should not play cricket with a country like Pakistan
who is responsible for terror attacks in our country. Our army patrolling on
border areas put their own lives at risk to make sure that we all are safe in
our homes. One needs to think what if our soldiers decline to secure our
borders and say that they don’t have any personal problem with Pakistan. We should
stand with our army and should not continue any relationship with Pakistan
until Pakistan stops terrorism.
Mani Sharma (B.Sc.
Yoga Semester 2)
India shouldn’t. Sports and games are played with friends
and are meant for entertainment but with our soldiers dying at the border and
our nation being at a constant war like scenario with Pakistan no sport should
be played with it. India has already stopped playing bilateral series with
Pakistan. It’s only in the ICC trophies these two countries play as there should
be a single winner for the competition.
Advocating the idea of isolating Pakistan and at the same
time keeping relations with them ranging from sports to entertainment industry
is paradoxical and is an insult to the memory of Indian soldiers who lost their
lives at the hands of that country’s army.
Raman Chandel (MBA
Quad 3)
Playing cricket with a country whose avowed aim is to
destroy India can never be justified. Soldier’s dedication to duty, loyalty to
the nation and willingness for the supreme sacrifice are driven less by
material considerations and more by an overwhelming urge to earn love and
respect of their countrymen. However, they feel betrayed when the same
countrymen want to shake hands and play cricket with the perpetrators of
carnage’s, simply because the World Cup with associated earnings is far more
important to them than the tears of martyrs’ widows and orphans.
Aniket Singha ( B. Tech Civil Engineering Semester 2)
I firmly believe that Cricket is a game and it should be
kept away from politics. Indo-Pak cricket rivalry fills everyone’s heart with
passion and happiness. About 1.2 Billion people watched the Champions Trophy
2017 final only because India and Pakistan played against each other in an ICC
final after 30 years. ‘India vs Pakistan’ is a moment where we unite and
connect with each other and it is so big that it can make or break tournaments.
Shoolini University is an amazing place to study, explore and perform outstanding in each and every activity whether it is in the class or outside the class. MBA course is more practical rather than subjective in nature.
It helps to build your career and focuses more on the
overall persona enhancement. Here, real time situations are created for us to
increase our knowledge and ‘out of the box’ thinking to solve the problem.
SPRINT sessions also help us to work in teams, built our leadership skills,
etc.
All this has helped me to get placed with ICICI Securities,
one of the leading companies in the financial sector. I wanted to extend my
special thanks to Mr Chander Mohan Gupta for his support and motivation at all
times. All over it is a great place to study and to explore your future.
My experience with Shoolini University has been fabulous. I still reminisce about the day when I first paid a visit to this beautiful university. I still recall the first person I met, Dr Kuldeep Rojhe. I was highly motivated to follow my MBA from here as from that day itself I aspired to be like him.
Another person who really inspired me is Mrs Poonam Nanda. I call her the ‘Mother of the University’ as she has aided not only me in my hardships but every student who went to her with any of their problems. I am also very inspired by Prof Narender Verma and Mr Amar Rao. Better known as Mr Encyclopedia, Prof Verma has vast knowledge.
Controversy on Padmavat turned out to be baseless when the movie was finally released in India. All the fears expressed and allegations levelled by the Karni Sena proved erroneous. It reacted violently even before knowing anything about the movie and demanded a ban on it.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the famous Indian film director is
well-known for his movies based on Indian history and mythology. He had made it
clear that the film was based on a story written nearly two centuries after the
reign of Allaudin Khilji.
Sara Sharma
The Karni Sena alleged that Bhansali’s film shows Rani
Padmini in bad light. It also objected to the ghoomar song picturized in the
film saying that “history was witness that none of the Rajput Maharanis has
ever danced in front of anyone and the movie-makers cannot play with the
history.”
A section of women of Rajasthan were upset with this film
too because this film was made on a queen who was epitome of sacrifice. They
added, “Rather than highlighting Padmini’s sacrifice, the film maker has sought
to highlight the romantic angel in the movie” which is not true. They have
claimed all these objections for the movie before they had even seen it. The
real reason behind this protest by the Karni Sena against this movie originated
from something else.
In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the head of Karni
Sena Lokendar Singh Kalvi said: “Responding to a question asked to actor
Ranveer Singh whether he was playing the role of villain in the movie, the
actor responded that he could go two notches beyond playing the role of villain
if he is given two intimate scenes with the lead female character in the film.”
Someone sent that clipping to Karni Sena in Rajasthan.
Leaders of Karni sena tried to contact the movie director
and Ranveer Singh for the justification of that clip, but when there was no
response they attacked them on the airport. But this protest took an ugly turn
when Deepika Padukone, who plays Padmavati, was threatened with physical harm
and a crew member was actually assaulted.
Karni Sena even tried to stop the shooting of the movie,
burnt movie sets and threatened the actors but somehow under tight security
they all were able to complete the movie. They presumed things and evidently
overreacted to mere presumptions. Their acute mindset led to the destruction
and unnecessary tension.
Nowhere in the movie, Rajputs were shown weaker. In fact
they were shown as courageous and strong, prepared for any sacrifices to
protect their honour and their culture. Nor did the film show any affair
between Khilji and Padmavati, as was being presumed.
Padmavati is portrayed as a symbol of courage and bravery.
Unfortunately the film remains banned even now in some of the states even after
several cuts and editing. Yet wherever it has been released, it has proved a
big success. That is not only in India but abroad as well. Organisations like
the Karni Sena should not jump to conclusions and must take lessons from their
experience this time.
Bhushan Kumar, a BBA Final Year student, has emerged as the Library student of the month of February. He spent the maximum time among all students in the University’s Yogananda library and Knowledge Centre (YKC) during the month.
Bhushan Kumar hails from Bihar and has completed his +2 in science stream from DC College, Hajpur Dighi in Vaishali. He says he joined Shoolini University because of the environment and because the teachers are very supportive. He loves the beautiful campus, the greenery all around and the scenic beauty.
His pastimes include reading general books. He is currently preparing for the UPSC examination for entry to Civil Services. On being asked about his experiences in YKC, he said the library provides him with new books and a peaceful place option when it comes to studying. His favourite writer is Sandeep Maheshwari, a well-known poet and writer.
Students should be ready for jobs that don’t even exist yet.
Leadership is a critical and a non-negotiable skill in the 21st century.
Leadership is the ability to inspire and the students should read about
different leaders and their unique leadership styles. Students should also read
about the various unconventional leadership styles too.
Students must keep an eye on all the trends in the fields of
Technology, automation and augmented intelligence. The need of the hour is
continuous learning through informal ways of learning, networking and mentoring
to survive and succeed in respective careers.
Prof. Dipra Jha, Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA, who has a long experience of working in the Hotel Management industry in different parts of the world made these remarks while delivering a Guru Talk in Shoolini University on the subject of future proofing a career.
He also expressed his
delight to see the photographs of Steve Jobs in the campus. He described Jobs
as a horrible boss but an exceptional transformative leader having a cult
following. Next, he talked about the concepts of emotional intelligence and
Neuro-Marketing and the need to connect to people emotionally. Towards the end,
he discussed various technological advances that have happened recently, which
were just an imagination a few years back.
He joked that very soon our co-workers might be Sophias, referring to the possibilities of humans being replaced by the robots. Sophia is a social humanoid robot, who became the first robot to receive citizenship of any country as she became a Saudi Arabian citizen. Talking about the future and where the world is heading, he said, “It’s scary but so be it. I shall embrace the change I cannot control rather than being scared of it.”
Prof Sunil Puri, Registrar of Shoolini University, completed his PhD almost 40 years ago and has remained associated with teaching at various Agricultural universities before joining Shoolini in 2007. In an interview with KHYAATI SHARMA, he talks about the priorities and plans for the University. Here are the excerpts from the interview:
How many courses are run by the University?Which are the most popular courses?
Presently, we have 74 courses running in six faculties. One of the most popular courses is Pharmacy in an undergraduate programme. We have a far lesser number of seats than the number of applicants for this course.
The other popular programmes are the Basic Sciences courses and Biotechnology courses in the postgraduate programmes where students seek admission as our research facilities are really good.
In management courses, MBA is most sought after. Although, the seats are fewer but we are planning to increase the MBA seats from 180 to 240 from this year. Every year, management tries to look after each and every aspect of the courses so as to deliver the best to the students.
What new courses are planned for 2018?
There are many courses which are planned this year. MSc Yoga is one of them. We are going to start some courses on the integrated programs in Engineering so that students who opt for this course can save at least one year. One of the prestigious programmes of Shoolini is the “Elite Programme” wherein only students are admitted who have more than 85 per cent of marks and the department provides fellowships to such students.
Then, in Biotechnology, we have the Summit Research Programme, where we have only 10 seats and the number of applicants is more than 100. Other new courses which we are planning to start include PhD program in Civil Engineering. Nanotechnology and Genomics which are some of the latest fields are about to be taken over by the university.
How can students
approach you with their problems?
There are two ways. The first option is through the internet. There is an email i.e. care@shooliniuniversity.com where students can simply drop a mail. Those mails are checked daily. Even if the students don’t want to send mail, the other way is that he/she can write an anonymous letter also. They can also approach verbally and discuss the issue. Any student who approaches us regarding the complaints and suggestions, we take it very seriously and action is taken very instantly.
Does the university have an anti-harassment cell too?
Yes, we have various committees. We have a sexual harassment committee and grievance committee too. When the matter is very serious and it comes to our notice, the grievance cell takes it over. We always try to resolve the problem of the students within the university premises. We have been successful and fortunately, our students have been very nice and cooperative. In my experience, I never heard any case of such a serious matter that cannot be resolved on our own basis.
What are Shoolini’s
plans for the newly introduced courses?
The recruitment process of faculty has already started. We have advertised for many of the posts and to give a glimpse of that, we have received more than 1000 applicants from all across the country that is willing to join us for the new courses as well as the existing courses.
In addition to this, we are also focusing on the infrastructure. For example from the next academic session, we are starting up with BSc (Hons) Agriculture. We have already established farms and the inauguration was done on February 18. One of the farms is about 100 metres away from the university and the other is 2 kilometres away from the campus.
What are the various
scholarship schemes which are offered by the university?
We have various types of scholarships. Broadly, there are two types of scholarships. One is awarded by the university and the other is awarded by the government to the students. Our policy is that the students should be made aware of those scholarships, particularly during orientation programmes.
Within the university, we have many scholarships. First is the sibling scholarship i.e. any brother-sister or two sisters or two brothers joining the university. Next, we have scholarships for the single girl child. We also provide BPL scholarships which is a great success along with SC/ST scholarships.
Besides, Inspire scholarships are also there. Those students who qualify for DST programmes get scholarships. We have a separate wing in the office that looks after the scholarship programmes of the university only. There are other scholarships also which we call “earn while you learn”.
Do you keep a record of the alumni?
Yes, we have a proper alumni record. Any student who is passing out has to fill up a form providing their contact details. Every year, there is an alumni association meeting in the university. To the best of my knowledge, more than 3000 students are there on the alumni list maintained by the university.
How do you ensure the
confidentiality and accuracy of the students’ records?
Well, my colleagues do a very good job. They know that records are very confidential and we don’t pass them on. On the other hand, we are transparent on aspects that are important for the students.
How is working with
Shoolini different from other educational institutions?
When we established this university, we decided to run a system part of agriculture and traditional universities. Credit and the choice-based system were adopted by Shoolini in the year 2009 when none of the traditional universities had this system. Even the UGC came up with the choice based credit system in the year 2015. Shoolini’s system is the best, be it in education or research or any academic area.
Any experience of your lifetime which transformed you?
Joining Shoolini University definitely transformed my vision. Initially, when I was working with the government universities, my outlook towards the private education system was very narrow. But when I became a part of the private university education system, my vision also broadened.
Shoolini University, in cooperation with partner organisations in various countries, has been organising joint programmes to promote international scientific collaboration. So far 50 students have been a part of this foreign exchange programme. This year the university is expecting 5 foreign exchange students and sending out 11 students to Korea, Taiwan and UK.
Shoolini University has established ties and friendly relations across various other countries including Korea, United States, Afghanistan etc. The students and faculty both have the opportunities to join the same.
The Office of International Affairs handles the cooperative activities between Shoolini University and foreign universities and institutes, including creating partnerships, facilitating student and faculty exchanges, and organising joint research collaboration.
Shoolini University helps its students to get higher study
opportunities in foreign universities. Shoolini representatives also regularly
travel abroad for more international collaboration and to review its existing
collaboration with partners abroad.
This year Shoolini has three students from Afghanistan namely Ahmed Walled, Paryana Tahiri, Raisa Saboori for MTech CSE and two students from China. Two students from Shoolini University, Tanya and Pragati are going to the University of Arkansas, USA. Three students, Deepika, Deeksha and Shaina are visiting Gachon University, South Korea.
Two students, Jashjeet Singh Dhupia and Akhil Sharma are going to Inha University. Two students, Abhinav and Ikshiva Rojhe are going to Sichuan University. Two students, Hardika Sharma and Chaitanya Modgill are going to Taiwan.
Moringa, popularly known as drumstick, which has been added as a flavour to sambar for years, may soon be introduced as a water purifier adding another important use to this miraculous plant. The discovery can prove to be a huge turning point in our fight against many water-borne diseases and meeting the requirement of potable water for people around the globe.
A doctorate student, Amanpreet Kaur Virk has been studying the water purifying properties of moringa seeds for around 2 years now. She proudly filed her first patent on ‘compact and portable herbal water purifier for drinking water’ in October last year describing the use of drumstick seed powder as a natural water purifier.
The idea evolved as an attempt to solve the problems of clean and safe drinking water and help curb many of the water-borne diseases. Amanpreet credited this idea to her guide, Prof Saurabh Kulshrestha who initially suggested the use of Moringa seeds as a water purifier as a topic for her research.
This patent is critical because of the increasing scarcity of freshwater with water pollution levels rising at alarming rates. Today, about one billion people lack safe drinking water and more than six million people (of which 2 million are children) die of diarrhoea every year. Waterborne diseases still kill on average 25,000 people in developing countries every day while millions suffer the debilitating effects of these diseases.
Virk said most of the currently available technologies are not affordable for many people living in the rural areas and the chemical substances used in the process have many adverse effects on the health too. She further added that around 75% of water gets wasted, (which cannot even be used for irrigational purposes) in the RO systems which have become quite popular in recent years.
The herb, Moringa oleifera is commonly referred to as drumstick and also referred to as a miracle tree. Every part of the plant has some medicinal properties as well as high nutritional value. Moreover, being an edible substance, it also has no adverse effects on the health of people unlike many other chemicals presently used in the process of water purification.
Sharing the progress, Amanpreet informed us that the patent is in its testing phase right now. Dip-bag containing extremely safe and edible M. oleifera seeds was used to purify portable drinking water. She said the dip-bag has been successful in the removal of many pathogenic bacteria within a short span of 10-15 minutes. She said just an amount of 50 mg is enough for cleaning 500 mL of water. The seed powder has proved to be bactericidal in nature meaning to permanently kill the harmful bacteria present in the water. She shares the dip bag has also proved to be efficient in the removal of heavy metal contamination and toxic dyes.
Talking about the plans for the commercialization of the idea, she says they have planned to create dip-bags just like tea bags for its wider use. But making people aware of this technology and convincing them about the same shall be the major challenge during the final phase of commercialisation, said the Shoolinian.
Amanpreet Kaur, who has been staying in Himachal Pradesh for the last five years, hails to the Ferozeshah village of the Ferozepur district of Punjab. She completed her schooling and graduated from Shahid Ganj Public School, Mudki and D.A.V. College, Amritsar respectively. She also topped her batch when she completed her MSc from Shoolini University.
Virk falls short of words while talking about her guide, Prof Saurabh Kulshrestha who was also her mentor for the project during her master’s degree. She also thanked Chandresh Kumari, a fellow PhD student who is also an Assistant Professor in the University for her contributions during the initial years of the research work.
She said that the entire faculty of Biotechnology is very sincere and always make all the possible efforts to provide students with the best of facilities and opportunities. She is appreciative of her experience at the Shoolini University with all the good and bad that came her way.
