Lokesh wins laurals in international kickboxing c’ship

Ambika Sharma

Lokesh Bhanot, brought laurels to the university by bagging silver at the World Kickboxing Championship held at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The World Kickboxing Federation organised the championship. A fourth-year student of B Sc (Forestry) at the University’s College of Horticulture and Forestry (COH&F), Neri, Bhanot, competed in the minus 90-kilogram category. He was part of the nine-member Indian team, which took part in the competition where players from 25 countries competed against one another. He won his bouts against Portugal and Austria to reach the final where he faced Brazil. Further, Bhanot has also been selected for the Seven Continental Pro-kickboxing Fight to be held in Egypt in 2022. Previously, he has bagged a bronze medal in the senior category (90-100 kg) in the National Kickboxing Championship held at Patna in 2016, and a gold medal in the 65-75 kg category at the National Championship held at Ghaziabad in 2012-13. In addition, he has won several medals at the state and district-level championships. Hailing from Solan, Bhanot has previously represented India in Italy in 2013 where he has acquired the distinction of being a black belt. Apart from excelling as a player, Bhanot is also a World Kickboxing Federation-accredited -international referee.

Training on horticultural crops

Seventyfive farmers from Shimla and Una districts attended a seven-day training programme on the “Integrated production techniques of Horticulture crops”, which was sponsored by the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and organised by the Directorate of Extension Education. A special session on ‘Doubling Farmers’ Income’ was also held during this programme, which was addressed by Dr HC Sharma, Vice-Chancellor of the university. Dr Sharma urged the farmers to take up protected cultivation and precision farming techniques to improve crop production and increase profits. He advised the farmers to set up farmer cooperative agencies for collectively exploring the branding and marketing opportunities and reap its benefits. High density plantation, mixed cropping, solar drying of fruits and vegetables, cooperative farming and water conservation were some of the other areas on which he deliberated upon. The lecture was followed by an interactive session, which was also attended by Dr Rajkumar Thakur, Joint Director (Communication), and other scientists of the directorate.

Professor honoured 

Professor Dr DD Sharma, who heads the Department of Social Sciences, was honoured with the  ‘Excellence in Teaching Award’ at the recently concluded International Conference on ‘Global Research Initiatives for Sustainable Agriculture and Allied Sciences 2018. The conference was held at the Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute, Durgapura (Jaipur). Dr Sharma was bestowed this award for his contribution to teaching and other academic and extension activities. He also presented a lead paper entitled ‘Improving farmers’ socio-economic status through recent extension approach at the conference. The paper was presented in the technical session on the theme ‘Social sciences, library, information sciences and humanities’, which was appreciated by all the participating scientists. Leading scientists, including vice-chancellors of several universities, attended the conference.

Declamation contest 

The Department of Business Management in association with UCO Bank, Nauni, organised a declamation contest on the theme “My vision- corruption free India. Dr Rakesh Gupta, Dean, College of Horticulture was the chief guest while Jaspal Sood, chief manager, UCO Bank (Zonal Office, Shimla) was the guest of honour. The highlight of the programme was deliberations by students of the department expressing their opinions and suggestions on how to tackle the menace of corruption. As many as 11 participants participated in the contest. The first prize was bagged by Harsh while Bhavya and Shanu won the second and third prizes, respectively. Two consolation prizes were given to Richa and Rohini. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Rakesh Gupta said the dream of corruption-free India could be realised by making it a vision and mission of every citizen. He said the students had to play a lead role in fulfilling the mission and transforming this country into a role model for the world. In his address, Jaspal Sood said the corruption-free environment was only possible if honesty and sincerity became the key elements of one’s life. He also gave away prizes to the winners and participants. Nidhi Sharma, branch manager, UCO Bank, Nauni, administered the oath of non-corruption.