Blog

Ronika Angelina

World Cancer Day was observed in Shoolini University on February 4 and various activities were organised by the university staff and students to mark the occasion.

These included a lecture to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, holding of a detection and treatment camp and a session on road safety and basic life support which was taken by well-known policeman-poet-singer ASI Balvinder Singh of Chandigarh Police.

A team of YouWeCan, an organisation established by Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, organised a Health Camp under the leadership of Mrs. Poonam Nanda, Dean Student Welfare. Around 80-100 females turned up for the checkup for Breast Cancer. There were four female doctors from YouWeCan Dr Poonam Chandel, Dr Jamuna, Dr Pratichi and Dr Dikcha De who give their valuable suggestions to the patients.

 The University also arranged a lecture for students and staff with doctors and surgeons from Indus International Hospital, Chandigarh, and Mohali. Dr Kamal Preet Grewal who is an MBBS, Oswal Cancer Hospital Ludhiana, delivered lecture about the signs and symptoms to watch out in breast cancer.

Dr Aakash Sarangwal, a plastic surgeon at SMS Hospital Jaipur, talked about reconstruction spectrum of Plastic Surgery and about how he has treated patients who have real medical problems like cancer, infections, facial fractures, functional deficits and helping people who have every certain right to look like a normal person.

 In an another activity organised by the university to observe World Cancer Day a road safety awareness session in collaboration with Chandigarh Police, in which constable Rajiv Sharma spike on the importance of obeying and respecting traffic rules and various ways to prevent road accidents and mishaps.  This traffic safety campaign was followed by the Basic life support session. This was about how we can save someone’s life during emergency by following the steps and by using AMBU Artificial Manual Breathing Unit.

This session was followed by the Chandigarh Police ASI Balvinder Singh who sings Punjabi numbers to sensitise youngsters about the road safety.

Mrs Poonam Nanda said the events on the World Cancer Day were part of a week long programme to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection and treatment, and most importantly, to commemorate all the cancer survivors.

There were a total of seven segments of programme which included Shoolini walk to cover some streets of Solan city, fund raising for victims, organising medical campaign, football matches, a talk session, visit to IGMC Shimla with the volunteers of YouWeCan and a cricket match.

Aarushi Mishra

A massive cleanliness drive, called?Cleanathon, was launched at the Shoolini University campus and adjoining areas as part of the National Cleanliness day observed in India to commemorate the death anniversary of the father of nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

This time around Shoolini University, which is one of the cleanest campuses of India organised its first?cleanathon?to encourage students to keep their surroundings?clean?and green.

Hundreds of students of the University took a step towards a cleaner and a greener environment by cleaning the campus and the villages nearby so as to promote a healthy and hygienic lifestyle.

The students were divided in groups and were asked to?clean?a certain areas under the observation of their respective faculties.

This?cleanathon?was also a part of their Social Projects under which multiple social activities are organised and executed.

Dean Students Welfare Mrs Poonam Nanda said the campaign was a big success thanks your guidance and involvement? and willing participation of the students to the guidance of the Vice Chancellor Prof P K Khosla and willing participation of the students.?

“ Considering it was a maiden effort we pulled it off very well”, she said and said a special thanks was due to the operations team, especially Suresh, Manohar and Praveen who provided full support for the campaign.

Shoolini Newsletter Team

Yatin Kumar, a student of B.Tech in Food Technology at Shoolini University, was among the few youth delegates selected from around the world and invited to attend the prestigious UN Youth Assembly event that took place in New York, USA in August 2017. He has now been chosen as a campus ambassador of the Youth Assembly.

Yatin has many feathers on his cap. To start with, he was selected for the Sakura Science Programme, which secured him a fully-funded scholarship to attend Osaka University. He then got a scholarship from a university in Taiwan.

The experience of attending the Youth Assembly for Yatin was a life changing event. “Words fail to express the huge impact that the Youth Assembly had on me. It was best experience of my life and I could never get over the feeling when I got the opportunity to walk into the UN General Assembly Hall. It was a truly unique experience for me”, he said.

As a campus ambassador, Yatin now guides students in Shoolini University to participate in the Youth Assembly by organizing seminars. The Assembly invites youth from around the world to discuss sustainable development agenda of 2030. Yatin was among the hundreds of youth participants representing different nations.

The university fully funded its elite student to attend the Youth Assembly that takes place once every year. Launched in 2004, the Youth Assembly at the United Nations(YA)is a unique platform for fostering dialogue and generating partnerships between exceptional youth, civil society, the private sector, and the United Nations. For more than a decade, the Youth Assembly has grown to become the largest and longest running youth conference that takes place at the heart of global change – the United Nations.

Akanksha Srivastava

A corrosive trend that is increasingly growing among people is body shaming. It is quite common among people be it our relatives, friends or most importantly the strangers who are not even known to us.

Celebrities on body shaming

Shockingly enough, some people do think or believe that making a person feel ashamed about his or her body is a potent way of motivating one to transform one’s body and of course work harder to achieve this ‘miracle’. Even celebrities get trolled for their bodies. One example is of American Singer Kelly Clarkson who was targeted by the British TV personality Katie Hopkins, who tweeted, “Jesus! What happened to Kelly Clarkson? Did she eat all of her backing singers? Happily, I have widescreen”. Such comments lead to reduced self-esteem and increased insecurities among people specifically amongst today’s youth. There are people who just wish to curb your vibes, those who have all the time to judge others and no work to do, so they’ll just utter anything.

Many of us have been through this body shaming and may have stopped eating less than our regular diet just to grab the attention of others. When someone condemns our looks, we withdraw ourselves in shells and we hardly stand up against bullying. ‘They say and we listen, sometimes we feel angry, hurt and even numb’.

Film actor Sonakshi Sinha, in a video against body shaming, said that she has nothing to hide neither her curves nor her weight because she is not a number on the scale. She is there for a reason not to impress someone and that’s what makes her unique.

Why it happens?

Why does this happen? Why do we remain silent? Is it because we lack self-confidence? So here arises a very prominent question. What is a perfect body? Is it a handsome hunk with six-pack abs or a woman with an enviable zero size figure? A perfect body is a myth superimposed on us by society.

It is so surprising to find a 10 years old girl being worried about her figure? We need to understand that no one chooses a body they have and especially an unfit one by oneself. Now it’s time we stand up against all this bullying. Body shaming does not only mean making someone feel bad about their body but also means criticising your own appearance and comparing it with others. And of course, it arises from our own insecurities.

Media also influences our perceptions to look slimmer or fairer. Does it really mean that only whites can create fairy tales? Slapping our faces with a variety of creams we often fail to realise that chocolate brown can also create fairy tales.

If you are willing to do something, nothing can stop you from touching the stars. Body shaming is a deplorable practice that must be avoided at all costs. Let’s practice it by being our own lovers.

Shaina Chauhan, Bandana Thakur, Komal Kashyap

For the student MBA volunteers associated with the NGO, YouWeCan, it has been a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Some of those actively involved with its philanthropic activities say it has been a turning point in their lives.

YouWeCan, a non-profit organisation was set up in 2009 by Cricket icon Yuvraj Singh, who is a cancer survivor and who had made a remarkable return to the Indian national cricket team after fighting cancer. Shoolini University’s YouWeCan team works under the guidance of Ms Poonam Nanda. She is the Dean Students Welfare at Shoolini University and is herself a cancer survivor.

Members of the team recall some memorable moments. For instance, at a camp organised in Kasauli Cantonment, they faced serious linguistic barriers as those attending the camp were families of army personnel from Tamil Nadu. They had to take the help of sign language to ‘converse’. Rajnish Modgil, who belongs to Amritsar and is pursuing a degree in Bachelors in Technology with a specialisation in Computer Science, was prompted to join the organisation after his uncle, who was just 28, succumbed to cancer. “It took the family a long time to recover from the huge loss,” he said. This led him to try and help others, particularly with the early detection of the disease. “My family is fully supporting my efforts”, he added. Rajnish said that his association with the NGO has brought numerous changes in his lifestyle and he has gained tremendous confidence.

Another volunteer with the organisation, Aastha Sahni, who is pursuing MBA in finance and marketing, lost her father to cancer. Aastha, who belongs to Solan, says she can feel the pain of those suffering from cancer and of their family members.

“Working for YouWeCan provides me inner peace. I feel great to be a part of such a great social effort and I feel great to be blessed by those whom we are able to help”, she said and added that it has helped her to evolve as a better human being.

Nitesh, Coordinator of YouWeCan who is pursuing his MBA degree, said that he was motivated by Poonam Nanda Ma’am who not only fought cancer but had been helping others, particularly the poor who are fighting the disease. I love it when people bless us. I remember visiting one such patient, Kamla aunty who said “Mere khud ke bache aa gaye”.  And when we help someone they bless us by saying “Hamesha Zindagi me Kamyab raho.”

Nitesh, who hails from Bilaspur but whose family has settled in Solan, said the future plans of the Shoolini unit of YouWeCan include working towards a “cancer-free Himachal Pradesh”. Priyanka Thakur, who has completed BTech and is now a student of MBA, says it has been a great learning experience. She was the coordinator of the camp organised at Zirakpur in Punjab which received a huge response. “It is an amazing feeling when you give someone hopes of living life again”.

To be able to serve society, and that too from such an early age, is a privilege and honour for Ravi Verma, a student of MBA in Marketing. Ravi, who is from Giripul, a village in district Sirmaur, has also earlier worked for an NGO named ‘Younglinks’. Asked if his involvement with YouWeCan has impacted his life, he said yes it had brought in many changes in his life. Besides, “I have emerged as a public speaker and my presentation skills have considerably improved”, he added.

Shoolini University’s founder vice-chancellor?Prof. P K Khosla?was today honored by Panjab University as its outstanding alumni.
He was feted for his outstanding contributions in the field of forestry and higher education.
The honour was conferred on him during the Global gala Alumni meet in the University campus.
Accepting the honour, Prof Khosla said he would like to dedicate the award to his teachers and also to the staff and students of?Shoolini University.
Prof. Khosla, who has completed his B.Sc. (Hons) School from?Panjab University?has earned?Gold Medal in M. Sc. (Hons)?from the same University. Subsequently, he had completed his Ph.D. from Panjab University in 1968.

He is a former Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh?Agricultural University?and a former
Advisor Biotech to the Himachal Pradesh government. He subsequently led the founding of Shoolini University which is now rubbing shoulders with global universities in the field of research.
Prof. Khosla has been awarded the?Seth Memorial Award?– Society of Tree Scientists for Outstanding Achievement in Forestry and Life Time Achievement Award, Indian Society of True Scientists.
He is a Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India, Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding, India and International Society of Tropical – Foresters, USA. He is also Founder Secretary, Indian Society of True Scientists, India.

Himachal-based Shoolini University today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Formosa University of Taiwan.

The agreement aims to facilitate collaborations in research and exchange of student and faculty on reciprocal basis.

The MoU was signed by Shoolini University Vice Chancellor Prof P K Khosla and president of National Formosa University Prof Wen-Yuh Jywe who was accompanied by coordinator international affairs, Ms Jiang Pei-Rong.

The two universities would collaborate in spheres of students exchange, faculty exchange and higher study opportunities for Shoolini University students in Taiwan.

As per the agreement, every semester six students and faculty members from each side can visit and study in the partner university.

Faculty members and students would engage in joint research activities.

Prof Khosla said that the agreement would initially focus on Faculty of Engineering and Technology.

Earlier five MOUs were signed between Shoolini University with five different universities in Taiwan for exchange of students and joint research last month during the visit of Director, International Affairs Dr R P Dwivedi and Dr Rozy Dhanta, Assistant Director, International Affairs of Shoolini University.

The five universities were Asia University, Meiho University, Kaohsiung Medical University, National Taichung University of Education and National Chiayi University.

The Government of Punjab and research-based Shoolini University today agreed on the establishment of an international standard research university in the State of Punjab.

Documents pertaining to the expression of interest were exchanged during the Progressive Punjab Investors’ summit on the campus of?Indian School of Business (ISB), Mohali between Punjab Secretary Employment generation Rahul Tiwari and?Shoolini University?Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof Atul Khosla.

Punjab had invited Shoolini University to set up a campus in the State keeping in view the highly successful research-based focus of the University which has been an innovative path breaker in its field.

Shoolini University would make an investment of Rs 750 crore over a period of ten years and would provide direct and indirect employment to about 1500 persons, as per the understanding.
It would provide an opportunity and platform for Punjabi NRI scientists to come back and contribute to their state. Among other prominent academicians on the Board of their proposed university would be former Delhi University VC Dr. Dinesh Singh and former Director-General of Indian Council for Agricultural Research Dr. Raj Paroda besides eminent educationist and?Shoolini University Vice-Chancellor Prof. P K Khosla.

Prof Khosla said the proposed campus would provide a world-class education to over 5000 students with proven career and opportunities.
Besides, the proposed campus would provide for an incubation ecosystem for food processing, biotechnology and other related startups. It shall also lead research and innovation in key areas of concern for Punjab including water, food and cancer.

The ten-year-old University has also been recognized as one of the foremost patent filing educational institutions in India. The special areas of focus for Shoolini include BioSciences, food technology, Pharma sciences and cutting edge technology which are its priorities for research and education.

The Vice-Chancellor said that Solan-based Shoolini University would like to replicate the Shoolini model in the neighboring state of Punjab and added that it aims to make a sizeable impact on the students from smaller towns and villages of Punjab through world-class education, he added.

“The proposed university will be truly world-class and will have alliances with top global universities and institutions”, he added.
Shoolini University, which is a not-for-profit institution founded by trustees of Foundation for Life Sciences and Business Management, has a student strength of 3,850 students and is multidisciplinary with six faculties running over 70 programmes. The University, run by academics, is fully compliant and accredited.

Kriti Kailashi*

Yoga and meditation include a group of physical, mental and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated in ancient India. Yoga is a holistic way of energising and integrating our mind, body and spirit.

This ancient knowledge made applicable for modern times can be easily added to our daily routine resulting in a lasting experience of our true inner power and overall well-being. Yoga and meditation is a complementary health practise that is often considered a natural form of medicine.

The art of practising yoga and meditation helps in controlling an individual’s mind, body and soul. It brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve a peaceful body and mind. It helps manage stress and anxiety and keeps you relaxed. It also helps in increasing flexibility, muscle strength and body tone. It improves respiration, energy and vitality.

Practising yoga might seem like just stretching, but it can do much more for our body from the way we feel, look and move. Man is a physical, mental and spiritual being; yoga and meditation help promote a balanced development of all three aspects.

Most people understand that meditation reduces stress and promotes peace of mind. As we allow our minds to settle on one continuous thought, instead of being pulled in all directions, our stress level reduces. Other health problems like high blood pressure, irregular or high heartbeat, high pulse rate, abnormal breathing patterns and anxiety are also regulated. It also helps in concentration. Meditation is a great aid in regulating our minds.

The mind’s tendency is to think a lot and to be easily pulled in different directions depending on our personal likes and dislikes. When we pay attention to every unnecessary thought, we are drawn away from what is truly important.

Practising meditation helps us to gently ignore what is unnecessary and focus more on what is important. This gives us greater clarity and makes us faster and more capable of anything that we do. If we have ever laid our head on a pillow and then struggled for hours to sleep because of thoughts racing through our minds, then meditation is ideal for us. Worries of the day and the future will not trouble us, allowing us to sleep soundly.

When we wake up the next morning, we’ll feel lighter and fresher. Maintaining a balanced sleep cycle can help to eliminate many health problems. During the meditation process, where we are constantly focusing our attention on one thing, we learn to let go of unnecessary thoughts.

Meditation is a process of spending time with self and is a journey of self-discovery. By understanding ourselves, we are able to build our emotional resilience and tap into our inner intuition. Daily struggles and irritations will no longer impact us, as we remain centred in ourselves and the present moment.

One who is committed to balancing their mental energies is also a lot more energised. The positivity that we develop in our minds will give us the zest and enthusiasm to maximise our productivity throughout the day. When we feel calmer and happier, our relationships with people around us grow stronger.

*The writer is an MBA (2nd year) student.

Mansi Gupta

Colour plays a vitally important role in our lives. We are surrounded by different colours which can soothe your eyes, even raise blood pressure or suppress your appetite. Everything from our food to our clothing has colour but most of these are made of artificial and harmful chemicals and can lead to various diseases and are not good for the environment.?

Keeping this in view, researchers from Himachal Pradesh based Shoolini University, Prof Kamal Dev and Prof Anuradha Sourirajan, along with research scholar Ms Garima Bisht, decided to perform experiments to replace chemical colours with natural eco and health-friendly colours. 

Their search for unique bacteria which could survive under extremely adverse circumstances led them to the high altitude Pangong Lake in the remote Ladakh region.

A group of students visited the 134-kilometre long lake, located at a height of over 14,000 feet from Mean Sea Level, and collected water samples to isolate unique bacteria when the lake was completely frozen. It was observed that different bacteria were surviving in the lake under extreme conditions which proved that these had strong characteristics of being helpful for the environment. 

Experiments on the samples collected led them to isolate novel bacteria named Rhodonellum psychrophilum, that produces red pigment and has diverse biotechnological potential. The red pigment showed properties to kill pathogenic bacteria and fungi, enhancing the nutritional value of food and serving as a food preservative, dyeing cotton fabric that could be used in developing biological antimicrobial bandages, masks, drapery, lab coats, inner garments, etc. 

Prof Kamal Dev said that the biological antimicrobial finishes promise protection against bacterial and fungal infections to provide freshness and extended product life. He said Nature produces many bio colourants from various resources including plants, animals, and microorganisms, which are possible alternatives to synthetic dyes and pigments currently employed, so as to provide safer and eco-friendly solutions. 

The textile industry, for instance, uses approximately 1.3 million tons of synthetic dyes and dye precursors.

Experiments are being conducted on red pigment obtained from the novel bacteria that has various applications in the health, food and textile industry. These included its properties as an antioxidant when added to food not only to colour but increase nutrients in food and can also be used as a food preservative. 

Another application of the pigment is in wound healing: The red colour pigment promotes skin cell growth and is useful in developing bio pigment ointments for wound healing. Red colour based bandages and other medicated textiles can be introduced where chemicals will be replaced by bio-pigment that would be human friendly. 

Bacterial infection is the external factor that can effectively delay the wound healing process. Hence protecting the wound from bacterial infection by any agent can promote and increase the healing rate. But in recent years, human pathogenic microorganisms have developed resistance mechanisms for commercially available antibiotics. Moreover, the production costs of these antibiotics are too high and also they cause adverse side effects when compared to naturally obtained bioactive drugs, Prof Kamal Dev added.

Experiments are also being conducted on the application of the red pigment for developing antimicrobials against fungal and bacterial pathogens, bio enhancer of antibacterial and antifungal antibiotics. 

Prof Kamal Dev stated that ‘Microbial pigments have been reported to possess anti-cancer activity in vitro against cancer cell lines as well”.’

Researchers from Shoolini University have already filed patents based upon these applications and extensive experiments are also being conducted in samples collected from Pangong lake. 

Who knows the novel bacteria from the crystal clear lake could one day help even in space exploration.