SMVDU Katra, 17^thOct. 18. Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University fraternity, including B Tech students (Semester-III, V, & VII) and their mentor, namely Dr. Sharada M. Potukuchi, SoBT& technical aid, Mr. Himmat Raj Sharma, attended the International PyCon-2018 at IIIT, Hyderabad-a premier annual conference in India on using and developing the Python programming language conducted by the Python developer community. The SMVDU students attended 36 sessions, including community meets to acquaint themselves with the use and implementation of Python. The event was followed by workshop, conference and developers sprints days. Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Deep Learning Engineer, Predible Health, Bangalore,one of the esteemed Alumni, SMVDU also delivered a talk on ‘Exploring PyTorch for AI assistance in Medical Imaging’ during the event. The students actively participated in the competitive events and won many prizes, as reported Dr. Potukuchi. Further, the event was inaugurated by Mr. Kushal Das and Ms. Marlene Mhangami, Directors, Python Software Foundation. Notably, 11 eminent speakers of international repute and 4 keynote speakers delivered their lectures on topics, such as Satellite Image Processing, Larscale Web Crawling, Creating 3^rd Generation APIs, Language Model, Piping and Parallelism,Handling DASH streams - Generation, Consumption & Clipping, and alike. The students and their mentor thanked the SMVDU administration for their support, and showed their gratitude towards Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor, SMVDU for his motivation and encouragement.

SMVDU Katra, 09^th Oct. 2018. Dr. Narendra K. Bairwa, faculty member, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra attended the national workshop (Sept.-Oct. 2018) on “Research based Pedagogical Tools (RBPT)” organised by the Centre of Excellence in Science & Mathematics Education (COESME), Indian Institute of Science Education Research (IISER), Pune and supported by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), GoI, and British Council. Dr. Bairwa, a Ramalingaswami fellow, also got a chance to present his research through paper presentation. Notably, a team from Sheffield Hallam university, UK conducted the sessions during the workshop that aimed at orienting the science teachers at undergraduate and postgraduate level to learn research based pedagogical tools while incorporating them in teaching methodology. The faculty member thanked the administration particularly, Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor, SMVDU for providing him with this opportunity to help focus in educating and improve teaching quality.

SMVDU Katra, 15^thOct. 2018. When it comes to bring laurels to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, the students never miss a chance. Until recently, the students of School of Languages & Literature were acknowledged for their calibre at Chandigarh University, Mohali where they participated in the 4^thNational Literary Fest.Tanu Gupta and Simranjeet Kaur bagged the 1^st prize in a debate competition with cash of INR 5,100/- for their insightful debate on “women are underpaid, undervalued and underutilized”, for and against the motion respectively. Other students, namely Anjali Manhas, Riya Verma, Anmoll Khanna, Jasleen ,Tusharsharma, Anjali Devi, Prabhleen Kour and Sandeep Kaur participated in different events, such as Quizzinaire, Quizical, Wordstorke, Presentation, Youth Parliament, Story Telling, Quizzophillic, and Anchor Hunt. Incidentally, Riya Verma won a contest and got a chance to sing live at 98.3 FM, Radio Mirchi. The faculty coordinators, namely Dr. Simranpreet Kaur and Dr.Ranbir Kaur trained the students under their guidance, and assisted them to the events, as reported Dr. Amitabh V. Dwivedi, Head, School of Languages & Literature. Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor, congratulated the winners, and hoped that they would be successful in every sphere of their lives.

SMVDU Katra, 8^th Oct. 2018. The Human Development Center at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University organized one-week Faculty Development Program (FDP) on ‘Research Methodology’ from 08^th -12^th Oct.18, which was inaugurated in the Matrika Auditorium. Dr. Shailla Cannie, Dean, Faculty of Nursing & Principal, was the Chief Guest of the event, whereas Prof. D. Mukhopadhyay, Director, H.R.D.C., chaired the inaugural session while gracing the occasion as the Guest of Honor. Dr. M. M. Chaturvedi introduced the theme of the FDP while emphasizing the need to master the existing methods & techniques of quantitative analysis along with new techniques suitable to Indian context. Prof. Mukhopadhyay asked the participants to take the full benefit of this program while expressing his delight that H.R.D.C. has been upgraded to Faculty Development Center (FDC) under the PMMMNMTT scheme of MHRD, GoI. The Chief Guest, Dr. Shailla Cannie, expressed her satisfaction that SMVDU regularly organizes such programs, aiming at empowering research scholars and faculty towards better research. The FDP attracted a huge participation from different parts of India, including Andhra, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and others. Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor, emphasized that such events should be organized often, and congratulated the H.R.D.C. team. The vote of thanks was presented by Dr. Sushil Mehta. The inaugural session was also attended by Dr. Anil K. Tewari, Head, School of Philosophy & Culture, Ms. Kanchan Gupta, and other faculty members and research scholars of the university.

Katra SMVDU, 13^th Oct. 2018. Dr. Ashok K. Sharma, Professor & Head, School of Physics, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University delivered an invited talk at national workshop, titled ‘Imagining the future of the Space Science and its Strategic Importance’ at Central University, Jammu. The objective of the workshop was to create a general awareness in teachers and research scholars in the J&K state about the importance of space sciences. Dr. Sharma motivated the young minds to go for research in space sciences through collaborating with and joining up the ISRO laboratories. The titles of his talks were: Indian navigation satellite system and the role of ionosphere in communication. Also, his mentored MSc students of School of Physics, SMVDU, took part in the poster presentations which were hugely appreciated by the audience during the workshop. Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor, congratulated Prof. Ashok K. Sharma, and hoped that the School of Physics, SMVDU would find ways so that it may collaborate with the space science agencies like ISRO in near future.

SMVDU Katra, 07^th Oct.18. Final of a week-long inter-hostel Basketball men’s tournament was held at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University. The event witnessed a close fight from both the finalists, out of 6 teams that participated enthusiastically during the event. The league matches started mid-Sept. onwards amongst all the teams to make it to the finals. Vindhyanchal Hostel, team captain, Mr. Kartik Sharma went on to defeat Trikuta Hostel, team captain, Mr. Shivankit Andotra in  a neck-to-neck final match, with a score of 49-48; Mr. Rohit Malik scored the highest number of baskets.The students performed splendidly and proved themselves while showing their best and were honoured for their skills. Sh. Ashok Kumar, Director Sports, SMVDSB and Sh. Rajiv Kumar, Incharge Sports, SMVDU, graced the finals with their presence. All the matches of the tournament were officiated by Sports Coach Sh. Sucha Singh and Mr. Sumit Sharma.

SMVDU Katra, 12^th October 2018. One-week Faculty Development Program on ‘Research Methodology’, organized by Human Resource Development Center, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (08-12 October 2018) concluded today, as reported Dr. M. M. Chaturvedi, Coordinator & Asst. Director, (H.R.D.C.). Prof. (Dr.) D. Mukhopadhyay, Director (H.R.D.C.), graced the valedictory function as chief guest, and expressed his satisfaction over the successful completion of the programme. During the event, 18 technical sessions on various topics, related to research methodology, covering tools and methods of quantitative analysis, conceptual analysis, publication strategy, research ethics and alike were conducted. The participants were benefitted from the interactive sessions and thanked the expert resource persons, including Prof. Mukhopadhyay, Prof. Rajeev Garg, Dr. Baijnath Kaushik, Dr. Kakali Majumdar, Dr. Sandeep Bhougal, Dr. Saurabh, Dr. Suparn, Dr. Anil K. Tewari, Dr. Amitabh V. Dwivedi, Dr. Rashi Taggar, Dr. Pabitra K. Jena, Dr. Ashoka K. Tarai, Dr. Kirti Ranjan, all in-house faculty members, and Dr. Suneel Bhougal from Dept. of Statistics, Uni. of Jammu. The participants were facilitated with certificate and group photo. The session ended up with a vote of thanks by Dr. Deepak Jain, Co-Coordinator, FDP. The valedictory was attended by Dr. Anil K. Tewari, Dr. Saurabh, Dr. Rashi Taggar, Dr. Pabiitra K. Jena, Dr. Kirti Ranjan, Dr. Ashoka K.Tarai, Dr. M. M. Chaturvedi, Mr. Samir Vohra and Ms. Kanchan Gupta.

06^th Oct. 18. The science festivals are public celebrations of science & technology, and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra is witnessing this celebrations and festivities while participating in the 4^th India International Science Festival 2018, inaugurated by Sh. Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, in Lucknow from 5-8 Oct. 2018. The IISF-2018 is a collaborative event of Ministries of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences (GoI), Department of Biotechnology and Vigyan Bharati for the promotion of scientific temper in India amongst commoners. All major central and state government departments, Public Sector Units and industries, including the pioneers in science & technology, namely Brahmos, DRDO, ISRO, CSIR Labs, Councils of S&T of Indian States, NIPER along with SMVDU are exhibiting themselves in the Science Fest. SMVD University alumnus, Mr. Akash Shrivastva & his team, who are also associated with the SMVDU-TBIC is a panelist in the startup event at IISF 2018. Dr. H. G. Mishra, Mr. B.K. Bhatia (Training & Placement Officer), Mr. Samir Vohra (Assistant Registrar) and student volunteers, namely Mr. Aayush & Ms. Rishika represented the university. Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor (SMVDU), envisages science festival as a form of social engagement, and a key site for engaging public with contemporary scientific research. Further, he congratulated the SMVDU team for their active participation.

SMVDU Katra, 12^thOct. 2018. Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University has been promoting Hindi in the J&K region through various events and activities. In this context, the SMVDU Hindi Cell recently organised an interactive session on the creative writing by Prof. Sandhya Khare, Dept. of Hindi, Govt. PG Autonomous College, Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh. She interacted with the students and discussed various methods and techniques to write story, poem and essay in Hindi. Also, she advised to read good literature for a better formulation of emotions. The session was coordinated by Dr. Anil Tewari, Nodal Officer, Hindi Cell. Students from different streams participated and received valuable inputs related to creative writing.

SMVDU Katra, 06^th Oct, 18. On the occasion of annual Tech Fest at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, the School of Biotechnology organised a workshop on “Protein Modeling”, where Dr. Shilpi Sharma, professor, IIT, New Delhi spoke on nuclei acid, its structures and biological functions, also highlighting the building blocks of cells in all living creatures of all kingdoms. Interestingly, the idea that in the movie of life on a molecular scale, proteins are the action heroes captures attention during various sessions. The workshop was attended by the faculty members, research scholars, students and delegates who had an enriching experience, says Dr. Indu Bhushan. The interactive technical sessions were conducted by Dr. Parvez and Mr. Inder Pal Singh, as reported the organisers, namely Dr. R. Kumar, Er. A. K. Yadav, and Dr. Bhushan. Further, Prof. V. Verma, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, presented a vote of thanks to Prof. Sharma for her words of wisdom. Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor (SMVDU), believes expert lectures by eminent professors inspire a passion for the subject among students, and simultaneously ignite their love for learning.

SMVDU Katra, 12^th Oct. 2018. In order to foster entrepreneurial environment in the J&K region, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University’s Technology Business Incubation Centre held its 6th managing council meeting under the chairmanship of Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-chancellor, SMVDU. During the meeting, various policy matters as well as issues, related to appraisal, evaluation and progress were discussed, as reported by Dr. Swarkar Sharma (CEO) & Ms. Swati Sharma (Manager), SMVDU-TBIC. The TBIC team presented its exponential growth, and highlighted successfully organised events, including innovation challenges which attracted more than 200 ideas-some under consideration, others shortlisted for prototype development and fourteen converted as businesses and companies with Ministry of Corporate Affairs. GoI. The team also informed the members that TBIC supported startups getting national and international awards, signing of MoU, joining of India Yatra Initiative (GoI), and launching of ‘Ambassador of Chance’ programme. The meeting attended by Dr. Anil Wali, MD FIIT, IIT Delhi; Er. Yashwant Dev Panwar, Head Patent Facilitation Cell, TIFAC, New Delhi; CA Raghav Gupta, member Chamber of Commerce, Jammu, including in-house Deans, Registrar, Finance Officer and Coordinator. The meeting concluded with a vote thanks to chair and award distribution ceremony of “Rural Innovation Challenge”. Notably, the members were highly impressed that 15 patents were filed by the SMVDU fraternity, and the university is rather focusing on intellectual property, including patents, copyrights and trademarks.

SMVDU Katra, 06 Oct. 2018. Through extension lectures various schools of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University impart quality education to the students. In this context, the School of Energy Management invited Prof. S. K. Samdarshi of Central University, Jharkhand who is also an Adjunct Professor, SMVDU for two-day lecture series wef 03-04 Oct. 2018. The eminent professor delivered interactive sessions on the photovoltaic material and new types of solar photovoltaic panels which was attended by faculty members, researchers, and M. Tech. students of the school. Prof. Samdarshi also encouraged the students to work in the direction of solar photovoltaic in future. The lecture series concluded with a formal vote of thanks presented by Dr. Sanjeev Anand, Head, School of Energy Management. Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor, wished that the School of Energy Management would come up with a research that would help fulfill the dream of honorable Prime Minister of gaining country’s 80% power requirement from solar PV.

SMVDU Katra, 11^th Oct. 2018. The School of Business at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University organized a two-day national training program for IFS officers on “emotional intelligence for workplace effectiveness”, funded by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, GoI. Dr. Jyoti Sharma, programme convener & coordinator, introduced the relevance of being emotionally intelligent for tackling routine and strategic issues to the IFS officers, participating across 13 Indian States. Prof. (Dr.) D. Mukhopadhyay, Dean, Faculty of Management, emphasized upon the importance of managing emotions for unbiased and impersonal decisions in the organizations during his inaugural speech. Prof. V. K. Bhatt, Registrar, SMVDU, hoped for the beneficial outcome by sensitizing the IFS officers. Also, he expressed the plans of conducting MDPs in future to bridge the gap between academia and expediency. The program would include sessions on values of emotional intelligence, its importance in workplace, and how they play a significant role in decision making through effective leadership. Expert resource persons for the sessions included Mr. Saibal Dasgupta, Additional Director General (Forest Conservator), MOEF & CC, New Delhi, Dr. Ashok Bhatt, Director of Mindshare HR Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. and visiting faculty in IIM-Lucknow, Prof. W.C. Singh, Central University, Manipur, besides the in-house subject experts. Dr. Rashi Taggar, Member, Organizing Committee & Assistant Professor, School of Business, expressed her gratitude to Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor, SMVDU for his constant support and thanked the administration for providing resources for a smooth conduct of the program.

SMVDU Katra 04^th Oct. 18. The School of Languages and Literature at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University is a research oriented department at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra which holds special lectures to help students decide on the right field of research. In this context, until recently the school organised an extension lecture on “Cinema in Postcolonial India with Special Focus on Bombay Cinema” by Prof. Prabhjot Parmar, Professor, Department of English at University of Fraser Valley, Canada. In her discourse, the eminent professor focused upon the mise-en-scene in Hindi cinema with particular reference to contemporary movies. The insightful conglomeration of films as an academic discipline, theory and its practice was quite beneficial for the students and assisted them in developing a global mindset. Prof. Parmar conducted her research into the Indian experience of WWI as part of her post-doctoral research. Her area of specialisation includes postcolonial literatures and theory; South Asian literature and cinema; migration and diaspora studies; multicultural Britain and Canada; women's studies; memory and history; world war and colonial soldiers; modern British fiction. Dr. Amitabh V. Dwivedi, Head, School of Languages and Literature appreciated her interactive and enriching sessions. The formal vote of thanks was presented by Dr. Simranpreet Kaur.

SMVDU Katra, 10^th Oct. 2018. The students of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University never miss a chance to bring laurels to the institution. Until recently, research students, namely Ms. Ruchi Shah and Ms. Sonali Verma grabbed the silver and bronze medals respectively under the prestigious ‘Atal Vani Puraskar’. Ms. Shah, also a DST woman scientist (WoS-A), received this award for her work on esophageal carcinoma, reported her guide, Dr. Swarkar Sharma, whereas Prof. V. Verma & Dr. Rakesh Thusoo were full of praise for their researcher, Ms. Sonali Verma. Further, the researchers showcased their works through poster and paper presentations in ‘Atal Protsahan Satra’ in two-day International Cancer Conference “Crab-e-Con, IV”, organized by LBNROH in collaboration with NZAROI and Maharishi Dayanand Hospital, Jammu. In poster presentation, Mr. Gh. Rasool Bhat, Ms. Vaishali and Mr. Akash bagged all top three medals respectively, reported their mentor, Dr. Thusoo. Notably, the Genetics group of SMVDU is a leading, research oriented group, working assiduously for elucidation of genetic landscape of fatal diseases, including Cancer in J&K. Dr Deepak Abrol, a top-notch oncologist and the convener of the workshop, congratulated the awardees. The research students and their supervisors showed their gratitude to Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor, for providing excellent research facilities in the School of Biotechnology.