When it comes to doing business, it’s just the balance-sheet that matters by the end of the day. The profit, loss and the expenses. Right? “Wrong,” says Govind Rajan, General Manager, Skincare, HUL, who talks about one more emerging dimension — that of meeting their corporate social responsibility and that too in a way that benefits the society at large. “Youngsters are building blocks of society and we, the corporates, now are working towards grooming them,” he rolls out the Fair & Lovely Scholarship that encourages and empowers young deserving girls. Designed to successfully bridge the financial gap, the scholarship aims to support the dreams of the women who have competence, passion and a will to make it big in life. “With the girls awarded up to a maximum of rupees one lakh per student to pursue higher education, over 600 women have been given the scholarship in the last seven years for their graduation, post-graduation and PhD studies,” Rajan tells us the basic eligibility for the scholarship is Class X and XII with a minimum of 60 per cent marks, as he logs on to www.fairandlovely.in to show the details of the scholarship that ends on August 17.

This, as elsewhere Infosys foundation does its bit through NGO-Prerana that extends financial help to students from poor financial background who have cleared Class X exam in April 2009 with more than 80 per cent marks. “The NGO is conducting a written test for the purpose and those who clear the test will be eligible for financial help for further studies. Those interested can contact on #580, Ahubhakar, 44th Cross, 1st Main Road, Jayanagar 7th Block, Bangalore or call on 9900906338,” Vinod Mittal of Infosys is sure the little endeavour will go a long way. As Vishal Gupta, Director Marketing of Aviva India nods in agreement. “To provide them inspiration to study, helps,” he says that’s the reason at Aviva Life Insurance and National Geographic Channel ‘Aviva Young Scholar Nat Geo Junior Hunt’ is much sought after. “It is the hunt for the best young brain in the country, someone who is articulate, curious, smart and aware; in short a complete all-rounder. It is the channel’s endeavour to extend its popular children’s block ‘Nat Geo Junior’, on-ground to provide an intelligent platform for children to showcase their talent through a stimulating and invigorating learning experience,” Gupta points out that participants will get an opportunity to win four national and 20 city scholarships from Aviva.

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