Aspire Zone Launched in SNS Library

June 24, 2026

HDFC Bank supports facility under CSR initiative to aid competitive examination aspirants

The Satyanand Stokes (SNS) Library of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, has taken another step towards strengthening student support services with the establishment of the ASPIRE Zone, a dedicated facility for aspirants preparing for administrative and other competitive examinations. The initiative has been supported by HDFC Bank under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. The facility was inaugurated by Vice-Chancellor Prof. Harminder Singh Baweja in the presence of Rajiv Bansal, Cluster Head, HDFC Bank.

The ASPIRE Zone has been created as a specialized hub for students preparing for examinations such as UPSC, HPPSC, ARS, Forest Services and Banking services. HDFC Bank has sponsored key infrastructure facilities, including modular reading cabins, digital hubs for accessing online resources, ten book racks and a collection of competitive examination books. The addition of these resources has further strengthened the SNS Library’s holdings, which now comprise more than 85,000 resources, including books, journals, theses, e-books and e-journals.

Prof. Baweja dedicated the facility to students, research scholars and scientists. He highlighted that the university has also provided access to over 1.3 million e-books and more than five lakh global magazines, newspapers and journals through the Perlego and Magzter databases. The SNS Library now spans 3,975 sq m and provides a dedicated reading space of 665 sq m for more than 500 users, supported by high-speed Wi-Fi for seamless access to digital information.

The library is equipped with several modern facilities, including the One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) platform, RFID technology, Open Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), KOHA Library Management System, multimedia centre, book club, plagiarism detection services and a dedicated competitive examination section.

Appreciating HDFC Bank for its support, Prof. Baweja said that the university library has been providing exemplary services to students and faculty and has been recognized by ICAR for digitization of documents and outstanding utilization of CeRA resources. He urged students to make full use of the new facility and prepare for national and state-level competitive examinations.

Rajiv Bansal motivated students to prepare for banking sector examinations and encouraged them to utilize various banking products and opportunities to venture into entrepreneurship.

University Librarian Dr Satish Sharma, statutory officers, heads of departments, members of the Library Advisory Committee, student representatives and officials from HDFC Bank, Solan, were also present on the occasion.