All mechanised opencast mines of Gujarat and Rajasthan will participate in this workshop. The programme is aimed at disseminating information regarding mechanisation, latest technology and safety aspects of mining.

Recently, ONGC, Cambay Project organised a three-day training programme on `Stress Management by Yoga', by G L Goel, Deputy GM Electrical (Training).

The training programme was attended by a number of employees and their family members. Meditation, pranayama and eye-stress relieving techniques were taught during the programme.

Certificates were distributed to all participants in the concluding ceremony of the programme by S R Trivedi, Project Manager, Cambay.

A kavi sammelan was also organised by the Kadambini Club, in Kendriya Vidyalaya, ONGC, Vadodara, attended by many teachers from various Kendriya Vidyalayas. Among the main poets who graced the function were Shah, Bhatt, S K Lakhani, Yasmin Earnest, R S Bhavsar, Malaya and Mamta Verma.

On behalf of ONGC, Anwar Jamal, P Verma and Mehmood Raj recited poems, based on national integration, while well-known poet Manik Mrugesh conducted the sammelan.

Meanwhile, the 87th Regional Exploration Board Meeting was also held recently in Vadodara. The meeting was presided over by Daljit Singh, Group General Manager (Explorations) of ONGC, Western Region. Among others, the meeting was attended by geo-scientists of different groups dealing in exploration including the Exploration and Development Directorate, K D Malaviya Institute of Petroleum Exploration (KDMIPE), Geo-Data Processing and Interpretation Centre (GEOPIC), Institute of Reservoir Studies (IRS) and WRBC.

The Rural Development Project -- initiated by the ONGC with the Centre for Continuing Adult Education and Community Services, M S University -- began with five project proposals being approved in Nutrition and Health Education in multimedia, dai training, day care organiser's training, AIDS awareness generation and functional literacy. The project will encompass five villages in Padra Taluka.

Meanwhile, responding to nation-wide appeal to help cyclone-affected people of Jamnagar and Saurashtra, the ONGC Commission rushed emergency medicines and food packets with dry ration to affected areas. A team of ONGC employees along with ONGC doctors also toured the cyclone-affected districts and conducted medical camps at various places.