The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Sunday decided to launch a nationwide campaign against making Hindu religious practices such as yoga and Surya Namaskar compulsory in schools.

After holding its Majlis-e-Aamla (working committee meeting) in Lucknow, AIMPLB constituted Majlis-e-Amal (action group) with four objectives — taking steps to stop Hindu religious practices like yoga and Surya Namaskar in schools, oppose imposition of other religious practices through school curriculum, make efforts to ensure that Sharia law is implemented among Muslims and safeguarding religious freedom.

The AIMPLB demanded that the order which made yoga and Surya Namaskar compulsory in schools be cancelled and decided to move court against it. The board also termed the Modi government’s policies as against law and Constitution.

“Narendra Modi is functioning like the PM of RSS and not as the PM of India… It is dangerous for the secular fabric of the country,” AIMPLB spokesperson Maulana Abdul Raheem Qureshi reportedly said. In a resolution, it stated that the situation after Modi came to power has changed and was not conducive for national integrity.

It appealed all to rise against such “conspiracies” and maintain national unity. Maulana Wali Rehmani of Bihar, a founder member of AIMPLB, was appointed the chairman of the group at the meeting.

School Of Communication And Learning (SOCIAL)  launches in Bangalore with the hope to address the niggling issue corporates and businesses have in hiring those with no prior job experience. SOCIAL is a three months course on Business Communication where it would make its candidates employable ready. SOCIAL is also for those who are in the corporate work-force and recognise the lack in career growth due to poor communication skills. The classes will be held in CBD (Central Business District) in Bangalore for three months, thrice a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) from 6:00pm – 7:30pm. The first batch starts on Friday, May 1.

SOCIAL has designed its course covering three basic requirements in business communication- Spoken, Written and use of Online Media. All three are important when it comes to understanding what is being talked about or while representing yourself or the company.

SOCIAL will run three batches in a year – May June July, September October November, January February March.

The classes will be conducted by industry professionals from the communication and  the business field.

“We saw a huge need for training in business communication which is the foundation for all work opportunities,” said Shalini Singh, Founder School Of Communication And Learning. She further added, “We also saw that those with no work experience are turned down as our education system does not make us employ worth. A corporate on hiring a fresher does expect the fresher to come well aware of basics of business communication which is the gap we are addressing by training. All the first time job seekers will also be provided six months internship allowing them to put use the theory to practical knowledge.”

SOCIAL is committed to providing our students with the very best opportunities and are confident that this three months of investment of their time and money will see them well through their working life.

About School Of Communication And Learning

School Of Communication  And Learning (SOCIAL) has been launched in April 2015 bridging the gap for first time job seekers and organisations by providing intensive training in business communication. SOCIAL is also for those who are working and have realised that lack of proper business communication is providing a hurdle on their career growth.

SOCIAL runs three batches in a year – May June July/ September October November / January February March, the classes of which are held thrice a week and in the evenings.

For more: www.schoolofcommunicationandlearning.com I FB I @Learn2Earn_

Parents and friends of students were photographed climbing school walls to pass on answers.

Many of those arrested were parents. At least 750 students have been expelled.

An estimated 1.4m students are taking their school leaving exams in Bihar alone – tests seen as crucial for their chances of a successful career.

The authorities have clearly been embarrassed by the cheating, the BBC’s Jill McGivering says, with the episode prompting ridicule on social media.

Students were seen copying answers from smuggled-in note sheets, and police posted outside test centres were even seen being bribed to look the other way.

On top of the arrests, in four centres further exams have been cancelled.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar condemned the cheating but said the images were not the “whole story” of his state.

He warned parents that helping their children cheat would only harm them in the long run.

State Education Minister PK Shahi said it would be difficult to conduct fair exams without help from parents, given the potential number of people involved.

“Three to four people helping a single student would mean that there is a total of six to seven million people helping students cheat,” he said.

“Is it the responsibility of the government alone to manage such a huge number of people and to conduct a 100% free and fair examination?”

Bangalore 28th February 2015 : The store is being launched on 28th February’2015 and is located in Banashankari, Bangalore. On the occasion of the launch, Hemangini Babla – founder of SPELLBOUND – Mumbai was also present. SPELLBOUND did a one day workshop for educators from all across Bangalore and on the launch, TALEescope did a lovely story telling session for kids.

SPELLBOUND’s  specialty is Interactive “Fun and Learn” Educational Books for Kids from birth to young adults. Their  entire range of more than 5000 Products is specially imported from UK and US.

You may choose from Board Books to Touch and Feel Books and from Early Readers to an incomparable collection of Flash Cards. They are also the exclusive Indian distributors for Letterland® – child-friendly Phonics programs to teach Reading, Writing and Spellings to young children from 2 to 8 years

SPELLBOUND has an extensive collection of Educational products to develop Research and Reference skills in children. Their products range from easy to do Science Experiments to easy to use Encyclopedias, Fiction to Non-fiction, Math, Language Arts – Reading, Writing and Speaking Skills to Art, Craft and Projects; as well as a wide range of Activity Books for practice and test preparation for all age groups and all school curriculum.

SPELLBOUND’s collection of “Spot What”, “I Spy” and books on “Thinking Skills” help develop observation, concentration and Thinking skills in children.

At Spellbound Kids Bookstore you will find a wide range of more than 3000 imported books specially chosen to meet the educational needs of children. Our entire range of integrated material is curriculum based and aims at progressive learning. Our products help develop the following skills in children:

Language Arts – Reading, writing and speaking skills

Reference and Research skills – to enhance knowledge and help children with project topics, Science experiments and Units of Inquiry

Mathematical skills – making Maths fun from Numbers, counting, Measuring to Problem Solving and more

Thinking skills – Logical Reasoning, Observation, Concentration, Number Enigmas, Problem Solving and Mensa

Art, Craft, Creativity and Model making

SPELLBOUND’s educational products, Learning Resources and Teaching Aids are grouped category wise and age wise catering to 0 to 15 yr olds.

For more information – visit spellboundbookstore.com or write to bangalore@spellbound.in

About Crossword Bookstore

Crossword Bookstores Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary Company of Shopper’s Stop Ltd – India’s leading department store chain with 97 stores, across 30 cities in India and as on today is India’s fastest growing chain of bookstores. At Crossword we aim to be a point of cultural and social interaction where authors and poets hold court, where children are regaled, where people gravitate to be informed, to be entertained, even enlightened. Crossword vision is to build community centers for readers across the Country. Crossword launched the Crossword Book Award in 1998 to recognize and reward the best of Indian writing across Fiction, Non Fiction, Children’s, Translation & Popular

Since its inception in 15th October 1992, It has been featured in Advertising Age International, USA, as one of the Marketing Superstars for 1994. The Bookseller, UK, has also described it as ‘being on the cutting edge of retailing’ in India. Crossword was ranked the 6th most admired retailer in India by Business world for the year 2006. It also won the Star Retailer Award for the Best Lifestyle Retailer in Books & Music in 2011. Crossword won the Retailer of the Year Award – Leisure (Books, Music and Gifts Category) at the Images Retail Awards 2005 & 2007& 2009. Crossword received the Federation of Indian Publishers Award for excellence in Publishing for the year 2004 on 18th June 2005 at the hands of Shri Arjun Singh, Minister of Human Resource Development. It won the Debutant E-retailer of the year – books – at India eRetail Awards 2012. In 2013 Crossword also won The ET Retail Award for Marketing for ‘Crossword Popular Award’. It won the Best Book retailer award in 2014 at the Indian Retail Awards

For media enquiries, please contact: WizSpk PR | Communication

Kirti Tawde –09820834941 – kirti.tawde@wizspk.com/

Mangalore February 14^th: Budding filmmakers had a chance to demonstrate their creativity and trade ideas at “Shooting Stars”, a National-Level seminar, conducted by The Department of Journalism, St. Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangalore, here on Saturday. The surge in short films was evident with 10 short films being submitted from all over the Nation.

The program was inaugurated by Pawan Kumar, award winning filmmaker and director of the famed feature film “Lucia”. “By films you can be an agent of change or an agent of transformation of the individuals and society” said Rev. Fr. Dr. Swebert D’Silva, Principal, St. Aloysius College president of the function. Vice principal, Dr. Veronica Judith Carlo, Head of the department Ms. Bhavya Shetty, event convenor Ms Jayalakshmi Alva, student coordinators Mr. Girish Reddy and Ms Deepthi Rai, were present on the dais. Campus minister Fr. Francis Almeida,

Registrar Dr. A.M. Narahari, Dean of Arts, Dr. Alwyn D’Sa,head of the HR department Mr. Suresh Nath were also present.

The workshop conducted by Mr. Pawan Kumar titled, “High quality films on a low budget” saw an innovative approach to lecturing with stills from his movie” Lucia”. Talking about crowd funding he said  “ To do effective crowd funding, use smart marketing technique, create a brand name and get your point across through social media.”  Stressing on the relationships between the filmmakers and the audience he said, “Connect to the people with the same idea”. On the aspects of filmmaking he said, “There are 2 important ingredients when you tell a story; one is the film maker and the other is the audience. Create a movie which will attract an audience”.

The second session was headed by resource person Mr. Sooryanarayan Bhat, Assistant Professor of English, SDM College Ujjre on the topic “Projection of men in Indian cinema.” Addressing the topic at hand he said, “It is in the mindset of the society of India about male projection which is the cause of the large scale production of male centred films.”

This technical session was followed by the documentary analysis by journalism student of St. Aloysius College, Mr. Janith Lakmal, “The perverts guide to cinema”.

Following the workshop, the shortlisted movies were screened, followed by the valedictory function.  The guest of honor Dr. Alwyn D’sa presided over the same. On this occasion he told the audience “Film making requires the attributes, spirit of inquiry and critical thinking”. The awards were given away by the finance minister of St. Aloysius college, president of the function, Fr. Walter Andrade S.J., with “Thu- paan” by SDM college production, SDM college Ujjre bagging the Best short film award and second best short film award was bagged by “Muttham” by Filmgun production, St. Aloysius college, Mangalore.  Best photography award was won by Murli Krishna, SDM college Ujjre, and with second best photography being bagged by Nithesh P, Mangalore University. Best vine was won by “Mobile” by SDM  college Ujjre .

1 Hindus believe that cutting nails and hair on Saturdays brings bad luck.

Hindus believe that it’s inauspicious to cut hair and nails on Saturday because it angers planet Saturn (shani), which then brings bad luck. However, ask people who cut their hair and nails on Saturdays, and we bet they’ll tell you their hair looked better and their nails neater, and no planet hovered above them with bad luck.

2 If a black cat crosses your path, then your tasks get delayed or postponed.

black cats. They are blamed just for being black (no racist joke here). It’s a popular belief in the west too that, if a black cat crosses your path, it’s a bad omen. For the west, the origin of this superstition came from Egypt. Egyptian culture believed that black cats were evil creatures, whereas the Indian explanation is that black represents Shani and therefore brings bad luck. It is said that if a black cat crosses your path, then your day’s tasks get delayed or postponed. Which reminds me, when we were kids and went for our exams, and if a black cat crossed, never once was the exam delayed or postponed. Now say?

3 Omitting the 13th floor from the building.

No explanation for this one, because number 13 is just considered unlucky. Ancient Christianity declared the number thirteen unlucky and therefore till date apartments and hotels skip the thirteenth floor.

4 Curse of 8.

According to numerology, the number eight is ruled by the planet Shani (again Shani!) and therefore if you’re ruled by the number eight then there shall be lots of obstructions, limitations and frustrations in your way.

5 Keeping onions and knives under your bed will drive away bad dreams.

An onion and a knife is kept under a newborn child’s bed to drive away bad dreams. It is also believed that placing an onion under your pillow while you sleep will bring you great insight when dreaming about who your future partner in life will be. We suggest all single people try doing this to prove how wrong this belief is!

6 You lose your wealth, if you shake your legs.

Shaking legs is not just a sign of nervousness. It also drives away your wealth. It is believed that if you shake your legs, prosperity will flow away from you. That explains, why we are so broke at the end of the month right!

7 Sweeping floors in the evening drives away Laxmi from the home.

Even if your room is filthy, your mom will not let you sweep the floor in the evening. That’s because Hindus believe that Goddess Laxmi generally visits homes during the evenings (specifically around 6-7 pm), and therefore sweeping will drive her away. This is, of course, assuming that Goddess Laxmi has a problem with basic hygiene.

8 Teen tigada, kaam bigada.

According to the phrase, ‘teen tighada kaam bighada’, anything above two gets difficult to handle. And that a discussion is always better between two people rather than three. However, this was misinterpreted as 3 being unlucky.

9 Eye twitching.

it is considered that the right eye twitching is good for men, and the left one brings good news for women.

10 Crow shit brings luck.

We’re not making up shit if we tell you that crow shit is considered lucky. Hindus believe that crow shit brings ‘laabh’ and that money is on the way. If that was the case, then crows would’ve been the best pets no?

11 Adding one rupee to a gift sum is auspicious.

Because one is a lucky number. The shagun must hold an amount which ends with one. It should be gyraah rupaye ka prasad or ek sau ek ka present at Indian weddings and pujas.

12 People with flat feet bring bad luck.

Many consider that flat feet indicate widowhood. And, therefore in ancient India, during match-making, the mother of the groom checked the feet of the bride.

13 Putting a small spot of kajal on a baby’s forehead took care of ‘buri nazar’.

To drive away buri nazar, babies are smeared with black kohl. A tikka on the forehead and cheek is believed to ward off the evil eye.

The mummy is being examined at National Centre of Forensic Expertise in Ulan Bator.

The scientists are determining, how the mummy has been so well preserved for such a long time, though cold is cited one of the reasons.

The identity of the monk has not been ascertained but is being speculated that he could be the teacher of Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, who was also found mummified.

Professor Ganhugiyn Purevbata, founder of the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art at Ulan Bator has advanced a unique theory that the monk is still alive and is in deep meditation mode called “tukdam”.

He said, “Lama is sitting in the lotus position vajra, the left hand is opened, and the right hand symbolises of the preaching Sutra.”

That is very close to Nirvana, which according to Buddhist beliefs, is the highest possible state achievable when the physical body dissolves.

“If the meditator can continue to stay in this meditative state, he can become a Buddha,” Dr Barry Kerzin, a physician to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

The police arrested the 45-year-old man who was trying to sell the mummy in black market and sent the mummy for further research.

Regional Winners- Mr. Soo Siew Keong,Director-Enrichment, Singapore Tourism Board, Prajna Hebbar & Sidharth from Shardha Vidyalaya, Mangalore & Mr. Abraham Alapatt, Chief Innovation Officer ,Thomas Cook.jpg 

Thomas Cook India‘s Travel Quest Quiz sees impressive participation from Bangalore students for its City & South Zonal Finals Over 25,000 students, 50 Bangalore schools participate in Travel Quest – India’s first National Travel Quiz 450 students shortlisted to compete and qualify for the City Finals- in Bangalore

4 Southern Cities compete for the South Zonals; Bhavan’sVidyaMandir (Eroor) Cochin emerges as the Zonal finalist and qualifies for National Round

Bangalore, 30th January, 2014:  Thomas CookTravel Quest – India’s first national travel quiz for school students concluded its City and South Zonal Finals today at the Presidency School, Bilekahalli, Bangalore, declaring Prajna Hebbar and Sidharth. H.B from SharadhaVidyala, Mangalore the City Finals winner and Sidharth Suresh and Gouri Prasanth from Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir, Eroor, Kochi as the winner of the South Zonal Finals ensuring an entry to the National finals Present at the event were Mr. Abraham Alapatt, Chief Innovation Officer & Head – Marketing and Service Quality, Thomas Cook India, Mr. GiriPickbrain, Quizmaster, Greycaps India Private LimitedMr. SooSiewKeong, Director – Enrichment, Singapore Tourism Board, heads of Bangalore’s leading educational institutions, parents and students.

With over 50% of India under the age of 25 years and the country set to become the world’s youngest nation by 2020, this changing young demographic with growing aspirations seeks exposure to a global curriculum. With opportunities increasingly being built into the curriculum of progressive schools in India, Thomas Cook India’s Travel Quest sets out to serve these schools and enthuse India’s students via its fresh, vibrant travel quiz platform, promoting a fun and enriching approach to global learning – to help create a globally aware and confident young Indian.

For this unique initiative, Thomas Cook India has partnered with Greycaps India Private Limited – Asia’s largest on stage quizzing and knowledge services company, curated by noted quizmaster Mr. GiriPickbrainwith the focus being on History & Geography.

Text Box: Quick Facts: Thomas Cook Travel Quest

• 4 month extensive outreach starting mid-Oct 2014
• Extensive reach: 1100 schools across 16 cities, pan India
• Covering school students classes 6 to 9
• Preliminary written qualifying test followed by City Finals
• City Final winner compete for the Zonal rounds
• Zonal winners contest for the title prize at the grand finale in Mumbai on Feb 22, 2015

Bangalore City winners get a free experiential study trip to Singapore and South Zonal finalist get a free experiential trip to Picardy (France)

Following an extensive School Outreach programme that covered 60 educational institutions in Bangalore and across Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi school level preliminary written tests were conducted and five teams were selected to compete for the City as well as Zonal Finalsover 25000 students from over 50 schools across Bangalore and over 90,000 students across the Southern cities from over 200 schools participated in the Thomas Cook Travel Quest quiz, with more than 1700 students qualifying for the City Finals. Top 4 City Finalists competed for the Southern Zonal title.The proud winners of the South Zonal team, Bhavan’sVidyaMandir, Eroor, Kochiwill now participate in the National Finals in Mumbai along with winners of the North, West and East Zonal Rounds.

The winning students of the South Zonal will get a free experiential trip to Picardy (France)while City Finalists of all 4 Southern cities will be hosted by Singapore Tourism Board for a fun and learn experiential study tour to Singapore.

Mr. Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. said, “We are delighted to announce the launch of Thomas Cook’s Travel Quest, a first of its kind initiative for young Indians via our partnership with Greycaps.  Experiential learning is the need for today’s young minds and travel is indeed the best teacher. Our Travel Quiz platform – Travel Quest, is our contribution to encouraging schools & young Indians to look beyond the classroom and conventional methods of learning.

He concluded, “For us at Thomas Cook India,the Thomas Cook Travel Quest is a strategic pioneering initiative that serves to nurture the passion for travel & learning of India’s next generation – its young explorers.”

Mr. GiriPickbrain, Quizmaster, Greycaps India Private Limited said, “In an era when the need of the hour is to equip our children to be globally savvy& prepared, Thomas Cook‘s Travel Quest Travel Quiz provides a wonderful opportunity and platform for schools to widen the knowledge horizons of Young Indians.”

For : CITY HiLIGHTS

Attended by about 600 students from more than 130 schools of the state, the 29​^th Quiz Contest was conducted with much fanfare and celebration. With the  Managing Director & Chief Executive officer​, Shri kishore Sansi​ shooting off the first question and legendary ‘Pick Brain’ Sri Giri Balasubramaniam conducting the Quiz programme in his inimitable style combining professional perfection and informal warmth, the thronging crowd was witness to one of the most keenly contested Quiz events in the recent times. The function was graced by Executive Directors of the Bank Sri K R shenoy and Sri B S Rama Rao​along with top management team of the Bank.

Presenting the Vijaya Bank V-GenUth Quiz Contest Rolling Trophy to the winning team from Vidyaniketan Public School, Ullal and the Runner up Trophy to the team from Presidency School, Nandini Layout Bangalore, the Managing Director & Chief Executive officer, Shri Kishore Sansi congratulated the participants from different schools and appreciated the rising knowledge levels of the younger generation.

Trophies were given to all the finalists apart from Best Performing Outstation team by Sri Kishore Sansi​, Managing Director & Chief Executive officer​ and Sri K R Shenoy & Sri B S Rama Rao , Executive Directors of the Bank.

The largely attended function included Executives, officials and staff members of the Bank apart from parents and teachers.