Pranab Roy completes 90km OotyUltra Marathon in less than 8 hours

Mohali based ultra-runner Pranab Roy completed a 90km grueling run from Mohali to Ropar and back in 7 hours 58 minutes and 16 seconds at Chandigarh while participating for OotyUltra Marathon. 

Ooty Ultra Marathon organized by Eagles Dare had physical event in the Nilgiris hills where 200 runners were flagged off on 27th March for while virtual ultrar marathon was also opened to the participants in the country. 

According to the organisers, Pranab Roy created a new national record in ultrarun as an Indian participant in an Indian ultrarun event. 

This was his first major trail-run after his accident in 2019 which injured his spine and had rendered him crippled below the waist. 

Running is my passion and only the right motivation, meditation and right physiotherapy under the supervision of PGI doctors helped me  get back to the trail, he said.

Pranab Roy is a Guinness Book World Record holder, and had been the only Indian to complete the Asian Trail Master 75kms run in Thailand in July 2018, and was selected by Athletics Federation of India to represent the country in many other similar events but his accident put a temporary halt to his journey but not his spirit that has made him come back.

He was the only one running from north India in this virtual ultramarathon event which was being monitored through GPS.

As per a message from the organizers, he has broken the world record and established new national record with his timings.

Mythology, Poetry, History dominates first day of Chandigarh Spring LitFest

Chandigarh, 20 March:  

The two-days virtual Spring Litfest organized by Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS)  opened with its chairperson Dr Sumita Misra, IAS, announcing the celebration of life in its diverse beautiful facets during the spring season.  This is also the 10^th anniversary of CLS, she remarked, and we wanted to have new initiative to bring together the creative people and authors to share their work experience.  

Though lot of talk and poetry revolved around the pandemic period that gave birth to many creative works, there was a beautiful tinge of hope and the human values that people became aware of including the beauty of the Nature during these challenging times.

Dr Arshiya Saini, a celebrated author, the first dance and music critic, and a well known face on Doordarshan, shared her experience of lockdown in conversation with Nisha Luthra, and that, she said, not only helped her connect with some of the best artists from across the globe because of the technological marvels, but gave her time to reconnect with herself.

Doordarshan she said democratized all forms of art over the years bringing to the fore some of the great artists, she recalled.

She said that pandemic has shown us to lead our lives as givers and start thinking about other people.  

A mythologist Utkarsh Patel, and author of "Shakuntla: the Woman Wronged", a corporate turned mythological fiction writer, in talk with Col Avnish Sharma, explained the mythological writing, which is a sacred story, not as a religious, but because of people's strong belief in them, but there is a strong purpose of these stories, he said.

Myths, he said, might not be a reality but because of the strong lessons these carry, the people continue to relate with them and share it over the ages turning them almost sacred. Mythological writing is necessary to connect with some of the unknown facets of strong personalities from the past who carry life-changing lessons over the ages.

Surbhi Sarna, avid storyteller, children's writer, picture book enthusiast and a psychologist, said it has therapeutic value and through telling a story, which acts as a catharsis, can heal, and even at times can empower the reader through various metaphors and words used in the story.

Sutapa Basu, a prolific historical fiction writer, poet and a publishing professional for children's books, shared the story of her latest book, "The Cursed Inheritance", and her earlier book "The Curse of Nadir Shah" which is a part of her Invaders Series.

In conversation with writer, trainer, and communication strategist CJ Singh, Sudapa reiterated that her purpose of writing historical fiction is to make history come alive and enable the readers to connect with their rich past and understand the cultural treasure.  Even her current cozy mystery is a queset of a young UK returned Indian who returns and discovers the Indian culture in the byelanes of Kolkata while unraveling the mysteries of the old mansion.

Dyutima conducted the slam poetry session with young budding writers, Sofia Khatoon, Isha Yadav and Akshay  who recied their poetic experiences of life and its varied hues through the pandemic.

Tomorrow, on the second day, thee shall be Kavi Sammelan moderated by Madhav Kaushik, besides moderated sessions with Abeer Kapoor, Kishwar Desai, Vinita Bakshi, Tim de Rider, and Sahar Mansoor, starting at 5pm which is being streamed live on Facebook and YouTube (@CLS Chandigarh).

Press Release Chandigarh Spring LitFest tomorrow

PRESS RELEASE

Chandigarh Spring LitFest begins tomorrow

Chandigarh, 19 March:   Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) is organizing a two-days of virtual Spring LitFest on 20^th and 21^st March.

Dr Sumita Misra, IAS, Chairperson of CLS and author said that the Spring LitFest is a new initiative of the CLS in its 10^th anniversary year, since all the literary fests tend to be clustered in the months of November to January, and this is the most beautiful time of the year to celebrate the beauty of literature, of love and youthfulness.

With spring and Basant in the air, we have conceived this two-days virtual lit fest, with young poets on day one in the slam poetry session, and a kavi sammelan on the second day on the theme of 'rang aur tarang', Dr Sumita Misra added.

Spring is the season of creativity and renewed energy said author and motivational speaker Vivek Atray.  The world of books and literature helps us to dive deep into our own most creative aspects, he stated.

Some of the featured authors include Arshia Sethi, Utkarsh Patel, thriller and historic fiction writer Sutapa Basu, Abeer Kapoor, Sehar Mansoor, Vinita Bakshi, Surbhi Sama in moderated sessions.

Kavi Sammellan shall be moderated by prolific writer and Hindi poet Madhav Kaushik with three prominent poets on the show.

The Spring Litfest shall begin at 5pm on both days and shall be streamed live on CLS channels on Facebook and YouTube. (@CLSChandigarh). 

 

प्रेस विज्ञप्ति
चंडीगढ़ स्प्रिंग लिटफेस्ट कल से शुरू
चंडीगढ़, 19 मार्च: चंडीगढ़ लिटरेरी सोसाइटी (सीएलएस) 20 और 21 मार्च को दो दिवसीय वर्चुअल स्प्रिंग लिटफेस्ट का आयोजन कर रही है।

सीएलएस की चेयरपर्सन और लेखक डॉ। सुमिता मिश्रा ने कहा कि स्प्रिंग लिटफेस्ट सीएलएस की 10 वीं वर्षगांठ वर्ष पर एक नै पहल है, और क्योंकि नवंबर से जनवरी के महीनों में सभी साहित्यिक उत्सवों का आयोजन किया जाता है सीएलएस ने बसंत ऋतू की  सुंदरता और प्रेम से भरे इस खूबसूरत समय में साहित्य की सुंदरता को मनाने की कोशिश की है।  
उन्होंने ने बताया कि इस दो दिवसीय उत्सव में सलेम कविता सत्र में पहले दिन युवा अपनी रचनाएँ प्रस्तुत करेंगे , और दूसरे दिन एक कवि सम्मेलन रंग और तरंग' का आयोजन किया गया है ,

लेखक और प्रेरक वक्ता विवेक अत्रे ने कहा कि वसंत रचनात्मकता और नवीकरणीय ऊर्जा का मौसम है। उन्होंने कहा कि किताबों और साहित्य की दुनिया हमें अपने सबसे रचनात्मक पहलुओं में गहराई तक उतरने के लिए प्रेरित करती है।

कुछ चुनिंदा लेखकों में अर्शिया सेठी, उत्कर्ष पटेल, थ्रिलर और ऐतिहासिक फिक्शन लेखक सुतापा बसु, सुरभि सरना, अबीर कपूर, सेहर मंसूर, किश्वर देसाई, और विनोद बख्शी शामिल हैं।कवि सम्मलेन को प्रतिष्ठित लेखक और हिंदी कवि माधव कौशिक कवी सम्मलेन  का तीन और प्रमुख कवियों के साथ मंच सञ्चालन करेंगे।  

स्प्रिंग लिटफेस्ट को YouTube पर CLS चैनल पर लाइव स्ट्रीम किया जाएगा। (@CLSChandigarh)

Rotarians salute frontline health workers in PGIMER

Press Release Rotary Club Chandigarh

Rotarians honour frontline health workers  

500kg of Sweets Distributed by Rotary Club Chandigarh

 

Chandigarh, December 29: 

Rotary Club of Chandigarh handed over 450 boxes of sweets to PGIMER Director Dr Jagat Ram here today.

 

The words cannot express the gratitude that we owe to doctors, nurses, paramedic staff fighting the

pandemic to save human lives, said President Sukhjit Singh Gill of Rotary Club of Chandigarh, handing over the gifts of gratitude to the frontline heroes who are healing the suffering humanity against Covid19.

 

Fifty boxes of sweets would be handed over to the doctors, nurses and paramedics in General Hospital Sector 16 too, he informed.

 

Dr Jagat Ram, Director, along with Dr Meenu Singh from Paediatrics department received the gifts from Rotary Club of Chandigarh represented by President Sukhjit Singh Gill, President Elect Jaspal Singh Sidhu, and Rtn Lalita Grover.

 

Dr Jagat Ram, Director PGIMER thanked the Rotarians especially past Rotary International President Rajendra K Saboo for his leadership assisted by senior Rotarians like past district governor Kawal Bedi who helped raise funds for the cause.

 

The Club had earlier paid tribute to the great congribution that the army, police, and other frontline heroes are making to protect the country and save human lives by sending the greetings and gratitude of the society towards them through boxes of sweets, including 4000kgs for army, 2000kgs for the police personnel, and now another 400kg for the medical fraternity engaged in fight against Covid19.

 

CAPTIONS:

1.     Dr Jagat Ram, Director PGIMER along with Dr Meenu Singh receiving the boxes for Frontline Heroes from Rotary Club Chandigarh

 

2.     The team of PGI Doctors along with Director PGIMER and Rotary Club Chandigarh Members

                       

 

 

Unique Rehabilitation and Reskilling for Specially-abled Afoot

Global PwDs to participate in Global Ability Summit on Saturday

 

Global Ability Summit initiated and designed by The CLAW (Conquer Land, Air & Water) under the Operation Blue Freedom shall go underway on Saturday on virtual platform in order to bring together experts from across the globe to find solution to the challenges of disability. 

Major. Vivek Jacob, Founder of CLAW and a Special Forces Veteran, said “This global initiative has set out to shatter the inaccurate perception of pity, charity and inability associated with persons with disabilities and replace that with power, ability and freedom. 

PwD icons participating in the Summit include Double Para Olympic Gold medalist Danielle Brown from UK, Founder of Poseidon Handicapped SCUBA Adventures, Mark Rausch from US, double amputee mountaineer Chitrasen Sahu, spinal cord injury survivor and now ultra-marathon runner Pranab Roy, amongst many other specialized achievers. 

The Summit shall help develop a Human Ability Matrix to aggregate research, rehabilitation and re-skilling which would form the backbone to creating a robust ecosystem engaging experts from diverse domains to find a sustainable solution and developing cutting-edge rehabilitative protocols to integrate people with disabilities with the society's mainstream. 

The Human Ability Ecosystem. An ‘on-ground’ state-of-the-art research, rehabilitation and re-skilling ecosystem, connected to the ‘Global Ability Matrix’ designed to facilitate a seamless re-integration of PwDs by effectively harnessing their immense creative potential and channelizing it into the global production process. 

Several ex-Indian special forces commandos have joined the Operation Blue Freedom, conceived and spearheaded by a veteran of elite 9 Para (Special Forces), Major Vivek Jacob, having multiple skills not just in combat but also in skydiving, scuba diving, mountaineering, and all-terrain survival expertise who are sharing it with PwDs to conquer their physical disabilities with mental prowess. 

The virtual Global Summit meeting can be joined through the following link: 

https://zoom.us/j/91247968088?pwd=d2E1RjlXR2twc0lYdlgwbStXNHNBQT09

Meeting ID: 912 4796 8088   Passcode: 902962

For further information:
Major. Arun Prakash Ambathy (Veteran)
M: 9500183706

PRCI Chandigarh inks MoU with Shoolini University

Prof P.K.Khosla, Chancellor, Shoolini University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, (second from right) with Registrar Dr Sunil Puri on his right. Mr Vipin Pubby, Director External Communication, and Dr J M Julka, Director Planning of Shoolini University on left.  

Young Communicators Club also chartered at Shoolini University 

Chandigarh Chapter of Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) signed an MoU with Shoolini University, Solan, HP through a virtual meeting to strengthen the industry-academia partnership today.

The MoU was signed by the Chairman of the Chandigarh Chapter of PRCI Vivek Atray, and Dr Sunil Puri, Registrar of the Shoolini University.

Speaking on the occasion Dr P.K. Khosla, Chancellor of the University congratulated the PRCI for taking up the initiative which would help the faculty and the students in further improving their communication skills to make their lives more useful for the society.

Dr Khosla said that the partnership shall support the University’s efforts to make it into a centre of excellence, inculcate the values of rich Indian ethos in the students, and make them ambassadors of goodwill to spread the message across the globe in whatever they do.

On this occasion a Young Communicators Club was also chartered at the University to empower students to network with the professionals, explore newer research and internship opportunities, and become better human beings, said Vivek Atray, an ex-IAS, motivational speaker and author.

This is the first YCC that has been established in the northern region and the chapter would enter into similar arrangement with other universities here, Vivek Atray added.

The PRCI chief mentor and chairman emeritus, M.B. Jayaram shared the growing footprint of the professional body in the country with 38 chapters and presence abroad, especially Dubai, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, etc.

National President of PRCI, Dr T Vinaykumar said that PRCI is publishing various journals and case studies to help the PR practitioners in the country grow, and that YCC is preparing the youth for the leadership positions through such partnerships of PRCI with educational institutions.

National Head of YCC Ms Chinmaye Pravin, PRCI secretary general U S Kutty, Senior Vice President of PRCI C J Singh, North Zonal Head Renuka Salwan, amongst other attended the meet.

Remembering Dr F C Kohli father of Indian IT Industry

Society for Promotion of Science & Technology in India (SPSTI) in association with the Chandigarh Chapter of NASI (National Academy of Sciences India), Technology Enabling Centre (TEC), University Institute of Engineering & Technology and Panjab University Alumni Association Chandigarh organised an online memorial meeting in honour of the Father of Indian IT Industry, Padma Bhushan Dr. F.C. Kohli, Founder and first C.E.O. of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), who left for his heavenly abode on November 26, 2020. 

The web assembly took place on December 6, 2020 at 11:00 AM to pay tribute to this preeminent alumnus of the University of Punjab, Lahore (a precursor of Panjab University, Chandigarh).

The meeting was steered by Prof. Keya Dharmvir, General Secretary of SPSTI. Prof. Arun K. Grover, former Vice Chancellor of Panjab University spoke on the background of the memorial meeting, highlighting Dr. Kohli’s association with Tata Consultancy Service and TIFR (Tata Instt. Of Fundamental Res., Mumbai) and his work with Prof. Yash Pal, Prof. Narasimhan, Prof. M. K. G. Menon, 

Dr. Mathai Joseph and Dr Kehav Nori. Prof. Rajesh Kochhar, an eminent historian of Science, presented a brief profile of Dr Kohli including his personal and professional life. There were messages from Prof. Raj Kumar, VC, PU and Prof. Kesav V. Nori, IIIT Hyderabad, who was earlier a senior functionary at TCS, highlighting his role as a great mentor and visionary.

Shri Som Mittal, former Chairman NASSCOM, paid his tribute stating him being an engineer at heart and being a great student as well as a great teacher throughout his life. 

Dr. Ananth Krishnan who is Chief Technology Officer at TCS read the official statement on the great loss and said greatest tribute to him will be if we can live up to his vision for the growth of nation. 

Shri Rajiv Vaishnav shared how his every meeting with Dr. Kohli was focussed on what better NASSCOM can do to, showing his passion for nation. 

There was also a message from Prof. Shri S. K. Munjal from Hero Enterprises indicating both computer and software industry would not have been possible without Mr Kohli’s interventions. 

Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, shared his personal experiences and the supportive role played by Dr. Kohli. Prof. Manoj Arora, former Director, PEC shared his vision that science curriculum including mathematics should be revised every year. 

Prof. Sarit K. Das, Director IIT, Ropar also shared how passionate Dr. Kohli was with the development of nation and stated his words “India has no damn business to remain poor”. 

Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi, Director, PEC, Dr. Manu Sharma, UIET, Prof. Renu Wig, former Director, UIET, Prof. R. K. Kohli, Secretary, Chandigarh chapter of NASI, Prof. Deepti Gupta, Dean Alumni Relations, Panjab University, Mr. Akhil from MP and Prof. G. S. Kainth, ex Faculty, IIT Kanpur, also paid their tribute by sharing their experiences. 

The meeting was also attended by Prof. R. P. Bambah, former VC, Panjab University and a contemporary of Dr. F. C. Kohli in Lahore, with more than 200 participants on zoom and about 222 on facebook page of SPSTI. 

The meeting ended with vote of thanks by Shri Dharam Vir, IAS (Retd.) & President SPSTI, to all the present for the memorial meeting remembering Dr. Kohli as a legend who not only had passion for developing technology in country but also had similar love for academics.

Dharam Vir, IAS (Retd.)

Formerly Chief Secretary and State Election Commissioner, Haryana

President
Society for Promotion of Science & Technology in India

#229, Sector-4, MDC

Panchkula-134114, Haryana, India

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