New online data science programme

Edtech company Great Learning has collaborated with Great Lakes Institute of Management to launch a seven-month Data Science Fellows Program, aimed at providing learning and career outcomes to students from the top 150 engineering colleges in the country. It follows the ‘pay later’ option modelled on the income- sharing agreement model.

For more details, visit greatlearning.in

INEFFICIENT TIME-MANAGEMENT

Time management is very important in order to finish your exam in the accurate time. For this, you need to set a time-limit for each section and try to stick to those limits. The speed with which you answer the question should also be checked. If you do not keep the track of time, and answer too slowly, you might miss out on solving some questions.

CALCULATION MISTAKES

Try to be aware of your approach to the solutions of the questions. Be focused while you solve the numerical based questions. Calculation mistakes can lead to negative markings. The accuracy with which you answer should also be efficient. Keep your concepts clear, in order to be accurate. Guesswork should also be avoided to score more marks.

BEING OVER/UNDER CONFIDENT

Being over- confident might lead you in a risky situation. You should be self-assured but in a modest way. Revise your answers once you are done.

As overconfidence can lead you to lose more marks, being under-confident is also not healthy for taking exam. You should have faith in your hard work and efforts.

NEGLECTING EXAM RULES

Be cautious about the rules, inside and outside the examination hall. Visit your examination venue once, prior to the main day. Wear clothes according to the dress code. Don’t carry the items that would be found as the sources of unfair means and avoid the malpractices.

My father was an active member of Rotary International, the international body that works towards creating good and goodwill in society. He had joined the movement in the 1960s and became an active Rotarian at the international as well as local levels. In 1973, he stood as a candidate for governor of the Rotary district encompassing Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and a substantial part of Uttar Pradesh.

The governor’s post went to someone else, but it didn’t diminish his involvement. He believed in the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the holy texts of Hinduism: work and don’t worry about rewards.

Four years later, he became the district governor. Despite the fact that Hero’s new projects were taking off at the time, he devoted considerable time and energy to the Rotary Club. He was not only involved in district affairs, but also its national and zonal activities.

Rajendra Saboo, my father’s predecessor as district governor, who was also one of his closest friends in Rotary, writes admiringly about my father’s role in the Rotary movement: ‘His humility and belief in social service became his trademark in human interactions. How can I forget his readiness to donate blood at the blood donation camp I had organized at the Chandigarh Conference? Whenever a project needed monetary support, he’d do his utmost for its success.’

He was equally passionate about healthcare. After playing an active role in managing the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital at Ludhiana for a number of years, he became its president (a mantle which later passed to me).

The Dayanand Medical College and Hospital was a small medical college and hospital run by the Arya Samaj, which ran into trouble with the state government because of pending dues. My father, along with leading citizens of Ludhiana, such as Mr Dhanda and Mr Dheer, and a few others, stepped in and managed to collect enough money to put the institution back on its feet.

Admittedly, my father had to top up the funds from his own pocket and he did so cheerfully. The DMCH is now one of the leading medical colleges and hospitals of north India, providing quality care to common citizens. It is known for its support to poor patients who can’t afford even moderate levels of pricing.

In 2001, DMCH decided to expand its activities, and the Hero Group offered to help with the funding.

A state-of-the-art heart institute was set up to provide world class yet affordable cardiac care. Until then, one had to rush to Delhi in case of a cardiac emergency.

From 140 beds, the Hero DMC Heart Institute has grown into a nearly 200 bed hospital and is considered one of the best cardiac care centres in north India.

In fact, my father’s attention to healthcare wasn’t restricted to urban centres.

He instinctively understood how difficult it was for denizens of villages to travel to urban centres for medical care, so he mooted the idea of a mobile medical service.

Subsequently, a Hero van, carrying doctors and medical equipment would treat patients in remote areas of Haryana.

After playing an active role in managing the DMCH at Ludhiana for a number of years, he became its president, a post he held for thirty-two years (the mantle passed to me in 2004).

The family’s social footprint expanded considerably after the Raman Kant Munjal Foundation was set up in 1991.

For close to three decades, the Foundation has been working with economically challenged communities in Haryana. From organizing mass marriages for poor and differently abled girls, to supporting education and promoting vocational training and skill development, the Foundation’s social interventions touch almost every aspect of the beneficiaries’ lives.

This Foundation is looked after by Renu Munjal, the wife of my late brother.

Today, the Foundation’s Asha (Hope) centres cater to the remedial educational needs of children studying in understaffed and inadequate government schools in villages.

In addition to strengthening the educational base of village children, these centres also organize extracurricular activities which include sports, music, art, good habits, health and hygiene – all aimed at shaping the overall personality of students from villages.

Teachers at these centres are appointed from within the village and trained by a competent foundation volunteer.

The students are assessed twice in a session, through written and oral examinations and a record of their progress is maintained. The Foundation also provides scholarships to Ashatrained girls from underprivileged backgrounds, which enable them to study at the Raman Vidya Mandir in Dharuhera. Affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), it is an English medium school that began with two rooms and a 100 children, and has since grown into one of the largest schools in the region.

The forty Asha centres scattered across thirty-four villages in Dharuhera, site of the first Hero Honda factory, function on the principles of sustainability, inclusiveness and progressive growth.

From 1993 onwards, they have run vocational and skill enhancement programmes in the villages around Dharuhera, Manesar, Pataudi, Rewari and Bhiwadi. The Hamari Asha programmes aim to foster economic independence among women. They are taught how to make various products like jute bags, candles, diyas (earthen oil lamps), bags and other handicrafts that are marketed through the Hero ecosystem.

The Foundation has also devised diploma courses in sewing and cutting, that enable women to either run their own boutiques or to find employment in garment-manufacturing units. Those who are unable to reach the main centre because of transportation constraints can attend a satellite centre, typically located within walking distance of a village cluster. Several thousand women have already been trained and are either self-employed or have found jobs in garment manufacturing units in the Gurgaon–dharuhera–manesar belt.

A number of social interventions that the family undertook were carried out through village-level NGOS or by involving local communities to manage the operational aspects, while remaining actively involved only at the strategic level. In some projects, the family has remained active at both levels.

Hero’s engagement in the social sector was primarily driven by the patriarchs’ connect with people.

If they had the wherewithal to improve the lives of people, be it access to education, potable water, healthcare or job opportunities, they felt it was their responsibility to do so.

Also, as a rule, the Munjal family became involved in greening projects across multiple levels from the early days, as part of their deep commitment to the environment.

As an unintended but welcome consequence, the Munjal family won an enormous amount of goodwill amongst the communities in the vicinity of our workplaces through these initiatives.

In many parts of the Hero

Group, both the businesses and family members are involved in multiple social initiatives covering a wide range of subjects. Today, the next two generations of Munjals are trying to uphold the legacy of social service left to them by their elders and putting their own stamp on social outreach programmes.

Rockman Industries has set up Mission Parivartan, an integrated rural development project that includes rural infrastructure development, education and skill development.

Hero Corporate Service is actively involved in hunger alleviation and shelter creation programmes in Delhi. Over the years, many of the previously established programmes have been scaled up and replicated elsewhere. For instance, several more Bahadur Chand Munjal schools have been set up, notably in Haryana and Uttarakhand.

Hero Motocorp has set up road-safety riding schools across India as part of its mission to minimize road accidents in India, which rank among the highest in the world. The company has also partnered with police departments across India and provided them with scooters for their women police officers, thereby enabling them to discharge their duties more efficiently. It has also initiated Hamari Pari, an initiative targeted towards girls aged 6+ from underprivileged sections.

In most of the social projects that we undertake, our organizations partner with local NGOS or members of the community. However, we do not absolve ourselves of responsibility and ensure that at least one family member actively oversees the projects.

For example, in the 1990s and 2000s, I enjoyed anchoring our family’s involvement in the greening of Ludhiana, in partnership with the local civic agencies.

Our objective has been to make the bustling, overcrowded and polluted city more habitable and sustainable through better management of traffic, maintenance of public spaces like parks and efficient waste management, and also to ensure that these practices became an integral part of the city’s master plan.

My social and cultural consciousness also first found expression in the Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam – a non-profit organization we set up in the city in 1999 to sensitize the citizens of a business and commerce-driven city to the joys of art and culture.