A student collects textbooks for the academic year from Rajasthan Youth Association. Present at the 43rd Annual Book Bank and Scholarship Programme were (from left) Vinay Chordia, Secretary, Rajasthan Youth Association; Arjuna awardee Reeth Abraham; Vidya Laxman, Director Technology, Tesco; Surpat Chouraria, Trust Chairman, Rajasthan Youth Association; Priyank Kharge, Karnataka IT, BT & Tourism Minister; Rajesh P Shah, President, Rajasthan Youth Association; Dr Ramesh, Bangalore University Vice Chancellor; and Dr. Nirmal Sancheti, President, Terapanth Prof Forum, Bangalore

Bengaluru: Around 5,000 economically weak students of various colleges in the state were provided with textbooks covering the year’s syllabus as part of Rajasthan Youth Association’s 43rd Annual Book Bank and Scholarship Programme. Annual tuition fee for more than 250 students will also be paid by RYA. The book distribution was held today at the Jnana Jyothi auditorium on Central College campus.

Students receive textbooks for the academic year at the 43rd Annual Book Bank and Scholarship Programme organised by Rajasthan Youth Association

Speaking on the occasion, Karnataka IT, BT & Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge said, “Contributing towards knowledge transfer is one of the most noble forms of charity, and it is heartening to see so many youngsters benefiting from the Book Bank project. This makes me think that our future is in safe hands.”

He called upon the youth to not be afraid to ask questions. “Stay curious, always question and have the courage to make mistakes. That’s the only way you will learn,” he said.

Kharge was all praise for the Rajasthani community’s sense of social responsibility and spirit of entrepreneurship that has successfully steered many business ventures in the city. “The inbuilt bootstrapping spirit enables the community to lead enterprises to success. Wipro is one of the best cases in point,” he added.

Bangalore University Vice Chancellor Dr Ramesh congratulated the young beneficiaries of the project and thanked the association for its help, while Arjuna awardee Reeth Abraham encouraged the students to chase their dreams. “You have to learn to dream to achieve anything in the future,” she said.

The annual programme was also graced by Gajacharya Dr. Sri Vishal Munishree; Vidya Laxman, Director Technology, Tesco; and Dr Nirmal Sancheti, President, Terapanth Professional Forum, Bengaluru.

The Shershah of Kargil by Deepak Surana that delves on the life of the late Captain Vikram Batra P.V.C was also released on the occasion.

The association will also be creating a computer lab for Bangalore University’s Department of Commerce and providing 80 desktops, 20 laptops, six LCD projectors and five water filters to Central College and other colleges.

This year the RYA is expanding its charity from Bengaluru to colleges in Chintamani, Chikkaballapura, Andhahalli and Vemagal. In the past few years RYA has extended its reach from Bengaluru Urban to Kanakapura, Devanahalli, Kolar Gold Fields and Kadur.

More than one lakh students have benefited from the text books over the past 43 years while 5,000 students have received scholarships during the period as part of the Annual Book Bank and Scholarship Programme.

The undergraduate students studying BCom, BBM and BSc are selected for tuition-fee payment based on their performance in the previous year. The books are given away as a loan without any deposit and the students have to return them at the end of the year.

“We are proud to say that about 95 per cent of the students return the books in a fair manner. Regarding the tuition fee, once the students are selected, we remit the entire amount along with the other fee a student has to pay, directly to the principal of the college concerned,” said Prasan Parekh, Chairman, Book Bank.

The book bank project was started in Bengaluru back in 1975 by philanthropist, the late Padmashree Mohanlalji Chordia. He began by distributing 101 sets of text books to students from the economically weaker sections of the society. In 1976, he entrusted the Book Bank project to the Rajasthan Youth Association, enabling a larger participation. Since then the association has been continuing the good work while expanding its reach and activities, most of which are in the field of education.

“If any change has to happen in the nation, it will be enabled by educating the people. And we believe that the highest form of donation is education,” said Rajesh P Shah, President, RYA. He proudly pointed out that it was the third generation at RYA that is at the helm.

The RYA president called for more support from publishers and donors besides colleges in identifying the deserving students. “We aim to add to what the government and others do towards the cause of education. A large section of school-goers fall out because of lack of access to textbooks and paucity of funds. We see a higher percentage of girls dropping out after school. We aim to contribute in whatever ways we can towards bridging this gap,” he added.

Interested students can download the application on www.bookbankrya.com. The application will have to be attested by the college and submitted along with an income proof letter, latest mark sheets and letter of recommendation.

Ahmednagar: A mob allegedly attacked 12 members of a cow protection group in Shrigonda city near here after police intercepted a tempo illegally carrying cows to a slaughterhouse, police has said.

The police intercepted the vehicle on Daund-Ahmednagar road and arrested its owners Wahid Sheikh and Raju Fannubhai Sheikh on Saturday afternoon.

A police official said one Shivshankar Rajendra Swami of Pune, and a team of 11 cow vigilantes had come to the police station where the case was registered against the tempo owners and others under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act.

While the case was registered in presence of the Sheikhs, Swami and others told the police that they should act tough against those illegally transporting cows.

Shrigonda police station inspector Bajirao Pawar said Swami and others claimed they belonged to Akhil Bhartiya Krushi Gau Seva Sangh.

After the activists stepped out of the police station in the evening, they were attacked by a mob of around 50 people, some of them armed with butcher knives and rods.

Police have registered an FIR against 36 people in connection with the attack under various sections of the IPC, including attempt to murder, and under Arms Act, Pawar said, adding the injured ‘gau rakshaks’ left for Pune after the incident.

Nobody has been arrested so far in connection with the attack, the official said.

(PTI)

Mumbai: Filmmaker Karan Johar on Monday shared a heart-warming photograph of the “loves of his life” — his mother Hiroo with his twins Roohi and Yash, who have turned six months old.

Karan shared the photograph on Twitter. The grandmother is seen cuddling up to the babies.

Karan captioned it: “Loves of my life! My mom and my babies Roohi and Yash. Happy Rakshabandhan.”

The twins were born via surrogacy on February 7, and Karan has said time and again that fatherhood has been a life-changing experience for him.

Karan’s daughter has been named Roohi – a rearrangement of Karan’s mother’s name Hiroo — and the son Yash – on Karan’s late father’s name.

(IANS)

Bengaluru: The Congress party workers staged a protest in Bengaluru against the raids by income tax department on Karnataka Power Minister D. K. Shivakumar.

Chiranjeevi Jetty KPCC Labour Cell State Secretary Participated In the Protest Organised by Yelahanka Congress Leader Shri Keshav Rajanna & NSUI Karnataka against IT Raid in DK Shivakumar’s residence. The party also protested against Gujarat BJP and PM Modi to Condemn Stone pelting on INC VP Rahul Gandhi.

The income tax department on Wednesday had conducted a raid at the residence of Karnataka Power Minister Shivakumar and a private resort in Bengaluru where 44 Congress lawmakers from Gujarat are staying.

The raid was also carried out at the residence of Shivakumar’s father-in-law today.

The Congress had created a ruckus in both the Houses of Parliament after the I-T raid and alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Central Government was indulging in political witch-hunt just to defeat Congress candidate Ahmed Patel in Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.

Raising the matter in Rajya Sabha, Congress leader Anand Sharma had said it is now becoming a trend of the Government to blatantly misuse powers of the state.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dubbed I-T raids as ‘undemocratic’.

However, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley denied that the IT raid has any links with Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.

466 schools registered from 95 cities across India. Initiative reaffirms the growing interest among schools and students in Psychology

Bangalore: The first round for the Second year of Psychology Quiz Psych-ED 2017 was successfully conducted on Friday, August 4th, 2017. 466 schools across 94 cities had registered for this contest, out of which 72 schools cleared the first round to qualify for the semifinals to be held in Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Jaipur and Mohali, these would be conducted at Fortis facilities in these respective cities. Each participating school nominated a team of three students from their senior secondary classes. The first round was an online test that was conducted within the premises of the school.

This is the second time Department of Mental Health & Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Healthcare organized a quiz competition on Psychology, titled, “PSYCH-ED 2017”. This is an exclusive quiz designed for students from Class XI & XII to test their knowledge of Psychology and allied sciences and challenge the participants. It enables them to analyses situations in an astute manner. The questions present several insights into changing psychological perceptions and how people in the field would react and relate to them. This unique initiative has been conceptualized & led by Dr Samir Parikh, Director, Department Mental Health & Behavioral Sciences, Fortis HealthcareLtd.

Lavanya, psychology teacher, Amity School, Push Vihar which has qualified the online round I, shared, “Quiz was very challenging and it pushed the kids to explore different concepts beyond the course books. Overall it was a very good experience for the participants”.

“Overall, it was a good experience for the children and it was a pleasure to participate in such an exciting quiz. This is very innovative and unorthodox way to provide students with a platform to learn more about psychology,” said Veronica Ingels, Psychology teacher, Inventure Academy, Bengaluru. The school has qualified for the regional round.

Added Ms Bulbul, teacher, Oakridge International School, Mohali, “I am extremely happy that the students have cleared the online round. My students loved every bit of it though they were not from the psychology stream. Hoping for the best.” The students will be competing with other qualifiers in round II.

Speaking on this distinct concept, Dr. Samir Parikh said, “The quiz couples immense enthusiasm with competitiveness which makes it come to life. I am looking forward to the following rounds and am very excited to see which school will emerge as the winner of the Fortis National Psychology Quiz Psych-ED 2017.The Winner, the First and Second Runners’ up teams will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 50,000; Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. Free Comprehensive Psychology internships for all six teams who reach finale will also be organized at any of the Fortis centres. More importantly it generates interest in psychology and we would hope a lot of these young bright minds would take psychology in the future considering the huge deficit of experts in our country”.