November 17, 2007
Special convocation was held to celebrate completion of eight years of the College and to honor the Chief Guest the Honourable Shri L.K. Advani Ji, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India, and senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Special Guest and Chairperson of the convocation was Shri Mahesh Sharma Ji, President of Pradesh BJP in Rajasthan. Guests of Honor were: the Honourable Shri Rajendra Singh Rathore, PWD and Parliamentary Affairs Minister of Rajasthan and minister incharge of Jhunjhunu district in the Mrs. Vasundhara Raje government, the Honourable Dr. Digambar Singh, Medical and Health, FW, and Ayurved Minister of Rajasthan, the Honourable Shri Prabhu Lal Saini, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy, Fisheries and Agricultural Marketing Minister of Rajasthan, the Hounarable Shri Sanwar Lal Jat, Irrigation, Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojna, PHED, CAD, and Ground Water Development Minister of rajasthan, the Honourable Shri Subhash Maharia, Member Parliament from Sikar, Rajasthan, the Honourable Narendra Khichar, Pradhan Alsisar Panchayat Samiti, the Honourable Smt. Santosh Ahlawat, former Vice President of BJP in Rajasthan, the Honourable Dr. N.K. Jain, Vice Chancellor, University of Rajasthan and other dignitaries.
The College also celebrates the 56 graduates in 2007 and 295 graduates in all so far since the first convocation in 2002. The Honourable Dr. N.K. Jain, Vice Chancellor, University of Rajasthan presided over the distribution of certificates of completion of the University of Rajasthan by the graduates.
The Honourable Shri L.K. Advani Ji inaugurated (1) the Mrs. Helena Kaushik Women's Education College, (2) Shri L.K. Advani Library, (3) A Wall of Leaders who have visited the College, (4) an olympic size basketball court, (5) an Olympic size running track and (6) a helipad on this occasion. (The Hon. Sumitra Singh, Speaker, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, had laid the foundation for the Basketball Court and the Running Track when she was honored by the College in a special convocation on January 17, 2005.)
He also distributed certificates to a select graduates as well as special recognition of college athletes who have participated in national sporting events.
The Honourable former Deputy Prime Minister and current Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha delivered the convocation address in which he emphasized importance of one's cultural history and values in addition to achievement of excellence in one's studies. He was pleased to see a women's college in such a remote area of Rajasthan that even he missed visiting during his ten year social work in the state in the 1950s and 1960s. He endorsed the idea of developing the Mrs. Helena Kaushik Women's College into a women's university as proposed by the founder Dr. Surendra Kaushik in his welcome speech honoring Shri Advani Ji and other national and state level leaders to the special convocation. The College also celebrated Shri Advani Ji's 80th birthday which was on November 8 by cutting a birthday cake before the luncheon in his honor. Shri Advani Ji who had arrived by helicopter from New Delhi at 12:50 PM departed on scheduled time at 4:10 PM following a brief news conference from 3:50 to 4:00 PM. The convocation function was attended by 5,000 or more people and it received state level coverage in Rajasthan newspapers the following day.
July 27, 2007
The 6th Graduation Convocation addressed by the Honorable Mrs. Kanti Singh, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industry; Dr. N.K. Jain, Vice Chancellor, University of Rajasthan; Dr. Surendra K. Kaushik, Founder of the College, and others. 56 students of the College graduated with degrees of the University of Rajasthan.
.............................
Nov.30, 2006
Felicitation of Acharya Maharaja -
Acharya Mahaprajna, spiritual leader of the Terapanthi Jains arrived at the College on the morning of November 30, 2006 from Tamkore, his birth place, about 10 kilometers from the College, where he had visited for a few days during his spiritual journey in Rajasthan. A large crowd from the area and far way had walked with him (his man-pulled buggy). He has given a rousing welcome and a tour of the academic hall where he made his home for the next twenty hours or so. A brief rest was followed by a public function attended by several thousand people to felicitate the great spiritual leader on the front lawn of the College campus. Dr. Surendra Kaushik, founder of the College, welcomed and felicitated Acharya Mahaprajya by a telephone connection to the public announcement system to fully participate with the gathered public in the festivities. He thanked the Acharya for his kindnesses and blessings to the College and its students, faculty and staff and to inspire them towards service to others as they prepare themselves for a personal better life through education at the College. Many other civic and political leaders felicitated the Acharya before he gave his address on non-violence, public service and good works. He received people throughout the day, visited Malsisar, and held communal worship and chanting before retiring for the evening. He left next morning and stopped briefly in the village of Malsisar to visit his relatives where his mother’s sister had made her home and the Acharya had spent many happy days during his childhood. All his aunt’s family, his cousins, and relatives had come from all parts of India to welcome him in the ancestral family home were most happy to have him with them.
August 24, 2006
The Honorable Dr. Sahib Singh Verma, Former Chief Minister of Delhi and Former Union Minister of Labor was honored at the College, accompanied by Mrs. Santosh Ahlawat of Surajgarh, on August 24, 2006.
Unfortunately, the former Delhi chief minister and BJP vice-president and three others died in a car crash in Rajasthan’s Alwar district on Saturday, June 30th, 2007. Dr. Verma had represented Outer Delhi in the Parliament (Lok Sabha) from 1999 to 2004, was returning to Delhi after engagements in Neem Ka Thana in Sikar district where he was involved in development of a new ideal living-working village.
The College will miss a dear friend of rural development and women’s education.
August 12-14, 2006
The National Commission for Women sponsored an International Seminar on Gender Violence and Witness Protection at the College from 12 to 14 August 2006. Many scholars presented papers and several lecturers, students, and local leaders participated in the seminar. The Chairperson of the National Commission for Women Dr Girija Vyas herself delivered the keynote address on 14 August 2006. A report was prepared by students and faculty of the College and submitted to the Commission with recommendations on laws and regulations for the safety and protection of women society. Many of the recommendations are part of the national legislation recommended by the Commission for enactment of new laws by the Parliament.
The Seminar on Gender Violence and Witness Protection, sponsored by the National Commission for Women and in cooperation with the Indian Institute of Public Administration, were held at the College. Speakers and participants in the seminar included: Dr. Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Commission for Women, Dr. P.L. Sanjeev Reddy, Dr. Sushma Yadav, Several Americans participated in festivities in the new academic year in July leading up to August 15. They are (in alphabetical order): Mrs. Judith Anderson, Mrs. Zia Durrani, the Honorable Sandra R. Galef, Member, New York State Assembly, Mrs. Durga Kaushik , Miss Shobha Kaushik, Mr. Shorav Kaushik, Dr. Surendra Kaushik , Mr. Vinay Kaushik, Mrs. Barbara Lipton, Miss Deepal Pandya, Miss Kayla Plunkett, and Dr. Donald Plunkett.
List of Potential Paper Presenters/Speakers
1. Dr. Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Commission for Women, Government of India
2. Dr. Surendra K. Kaushik, Founder and Chairman, Mrs. Helena Kaushik Women’s College and Professor of Finance, Pace University, USA
3. The Honorable Sandy Galef, Assemblywoman, New York Assembly, USA
4. Dr. Donald Plunkett, Adjunct Professor, Baruch College, City University of New York, USA
5. Mr. Shorav Kaushik, Brooklyn Law School, USA
6. Ms. Deepal Pandya, Rutgers University, New Jersey, and Jon Robert Powers Agency, Philadelphia, USA
7. Ms. Shobha Kaushik, University of Rocheter, New York, USA
8. Mrs. Barbara Lipton, Adjunct Professor, New School University, New York, USA
9. Mrs. Judith Anderson, Virginia, USA
10. Mrs. Zia Durrani, New Jersey, USA
11. Miss Kayla Plunkett, Cortlandt Manor, New York, USA
12. Mrs. Durga Kaushik, Briarcliff Manor, New York, USA
13. Dr. Ghasi Ram Verma, Professor Emeritus, University of Rhode Island, USA
14. Dr. K.L. Kamal, Former Vice Chancellor, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
15. Prof. Sushma Yadav, Professor, Dr. Ambedkar Chair in Social Justice, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi
16. Prof. Jai Narain Sharma, Department of Gandhian Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
17. Dr. Anil Dutta Mishra, Deputy Director, National Gandhi Museum, New Delhi
18. Dr. Ashu Pasricha, Department of Gandhian Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
19. Dr. Himanshu Borai, Associate Professor, H.N.B. University, Garhwal, Srinagar
20. Smt. Shashi Rao, Director, All India Women Conference, Rewari, Haryana
21. Ms. Nidhi Yadav, Research Officer, Dr. Ambedkar Chair in Social Justice, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi
22. Sh. Ram Autar, District Food supply Controller, Rohtak, Haryana
23. Dr. Pradeep Srivastava, Head, Department of History, Chirawa P. G. College, Chirawa
24. Dr. Prabhat Sharma, Head, Department of Business Administration, Seth G.D.S.B. Patwari, Bagar
25. Dr. Devi Prakash Tripati, Head of the Department of History, Seth G.D.S.B. Patwari, Bagar
26. Dr. S. C. Agarwal, Head, Department of Economics, Seth G.D.S.B. Patwari, Bagar
27. Ms. Sarika Mohta, Lecturer in Psychology, Mrs. Helena Kaushik Women P.G. College, Malsisar
28. Mrs. Chandan Bala Jain, Lecturer in Botany, Mrs. Helena Kaushik Women P.G. College, Malsisar
August 12, 2006
Graduation 2006: The Honorable Narpat Singh Rajvi, Minister for Industry and NRIs in the Government of Rajasthan, was the chief guest and delivered the key graduation address on 12 August 2006 to our B.A., B.Sc. and M.A. graduates. Former Vice Chancellor Professor K.L. Kamal also very kindly graced the occasion, as in earlier years, and presided over the graduation ceremony. The Honorable Sandy Galef, Member, New York State Legislature also delivered a commencement address on August 12, 2006 followed by the following Americans on the occasion of the fifth graduation ceremonies: Mrs. Judith Anderson, Mrs. Zia Durrani, Durga Kaushik, Shobha Kaushik, Shorav Kaushik, Vinay Kaushik, Mrs. Barbara Lipton, Ms. Deepal Pandya, Ms. Kayla Plunkett, Dr. Donald Plunkett, and myself. Mrs. Barbara Lipton presented awards to winners in a photo contest of Village Life in Rajasthan, in and around the area of the College, she had organized among the graduating students.