2008-10-01 17:33:54 - By continuing to bag the coveted Aditya Birla Scholarships year after year, BITSians have time and again proved that they do not shirk from putting their best foot forward to march out boldly and seize the opportunities to face the challenges head on.

The Aditya Birla Group Scholarship (ABGS) scheme, instituted in 1999, is a way to foster outstanding academic excellence and humane leadership values, in partnership with select prestigious top ranking institutions in India today such as BITS Pilani, various Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIM). The scholarship amount of one hundred and seventy five thousand rupees

per annum for IIMs and sixty five thousand rupees per annum for IITs and BITS Pilani covers the academic fees as well as the hostel fees for the entire duration of the curriculum at these institutions.

The selection process is no cakewalk. Applications were invited from only top twenty students from each of the select premier institutes. The Scholarship scheme is not just about academic excellence, as the aspiring scholars are evaluated on holistic parameters that take on board their extra-curricular activities, leadership qualities, values, vision and their dreams.

The short listed forty six candidates went through a challenge round at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai on 27 September 2008. The distinguished panel of judges comprised of Prof M Barma, Director, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR); Mr J Harsha Bhogle, well known Media Personality and Corporate Trainer; Padma Shri Prof (Dr) Jai P Mittal, Raja Ramanna Fellow, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre; Dr Subas Pani, Secretary, Planning Commission of India; Prof H G Pradhan, Dean, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education Faculty, TIFR; Mr Rajrishi Singhal, Consulting Editor, Economic Times; Mr Adil Zainulbhai, Managing Director - India, McKinsey & Co, to arrive at the final list of 21 proud winners of this coveted scholarship.

Piyush Suraj Raathor (Email piyush.rathor@gmail.com) is the proud winner of this prestigious scholarship for this year from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani. Piyush who is the CBSE topper from Guwahati region joined BITS Pilani in July 2008 to pursue his first choice B.E. (Hons) Mechanical Engineering. Born and brought up in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, Piyush did his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya-2, Itanagar. His father Shri CP Raathor is Head of the Physics Department at DN Government College, Itanagar. Piyush's passion includes automobiles and surprisingly, cooking as well. His dream is to build a team of youth who will dedicate themselves to the educational, social and economic development of his native State, the Land of the Rising Sun of India, Arunachal Pradesh. Proud to be a BITSian Piyush Suraj Raathor is bound to climb many more peaks in the years to come.

The Aditya Birla scholarship winners from BITS Pilani in the previous years include Neelam Prabhu Gaonkar, Shanta Pratyusha Bodapat, Indu Mohan, Patel Ravish Harishbhai, Sonu Swaika, Uzma Hussain, Pankaj Debnath, Digbijoy Neelam Nath, Swagat Borah, Hema Arora, Sandeep Gaud, Rachit Chandra, Pusph Saurav and Namrata Raman. In the past several BITS Alumni have won the scholarship among the IIMs category also.

Many of Today's Leaders came from BITS Pilani yesterday and many of Tomorrow's Leaders will continue to come from BITS Pilani today.

About BITS Pilani: Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.