SMVDU Katra, September 2019. The School of Languages & Literature (SoLL) at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), celebrated research day on campus where hands-on learning on the topic titled, Unity & Coherence in the Academic Writing, was provided to the research scholars. Dr. Amitabh V. Dwivedi, Head, SoLL, informed the Media Cell that the university organizes research day biannually in the month of March & September. The main objective of the research day is to celebrate the culture of original research at SMVDU. Previously, the School of Languages & Literature celebrated research as a national doctoral conclave where researchers of the university and across Indian states participated, and presented their research works. During the event, researchers from the School of Biotechnology; Computer Sciences, Electronics and Communication; Management; Languages & Literature; and others got benefitted of the hands-on training, while learning how to maintain a unity and coherence in academic writing.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. Engineers day was celebrated by the faculty & staff members, research scholars, and students of the Faculty of Engineering at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU). The Engineers Day is celebrated every year to pay tribute to the greatest Engineer, Bharat Ratan, Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (1861-1962), who dedicated his life for the development of the country through his outstanding achievements in construction of dams, irrigation systems, flood protection system, roads, industries, education, and alike. Oral/poster presentation was made by the students and research scholars of SMVDU on the theme, titled ‘Engineering for Change’. The Coordinator, Dr. Balbir Singh, Associate Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering, SMVDU, gave presentation on the life of Sir M. Visvesvaraya. Prof. Easwaramurthy, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, SMVDU, spoke on learning and practicing of ethical and professional values emanated from the life of great engineer. Chief Guest, Mr. Gurmeet Singh, Plant Head, Dabur Group, Jammu, shared his experience and emphasis on true engineering and work for the positive and good change in society. Further, Heads from all the Engineering Schools also highlighted the importance of Engineering in current scenario and urged the students to learn skills required for the future industries. The votes of thanks were presented by the Co-coordinator, Mr. BK Bhatia, Training & Placement Officer, SMVDU.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. A TEQIP-III sponsored one-week workshop on “Ethical Hacking & Cyber Security” was conducted from 25th –26th September 2019 at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra. The workshop was organised by the School of Computer Science & Engineering, SMVDU. The key objective of the workshop was to provide an exposure to the faculty members; research scholars and students in the field of ethical hacking & cyber security to enhance their knowledge in the domain. The primary aim of the workshop was to introduce the relevance of ethical hacking and cyber security in a wide range of academic and real-life problems. Gaining knowledge on how to guard systems against attacks and security breach, this workshop intended to impart the skills that an ethical hacker and cyber security expert may need. The same was achieved through lectures with main emphasis on hands-on sessions. The resource persons for the workshop were: Dr. Maninder Singh, Professor & Head, Thapar University and Mr. Dheeraj Madhukar, Cyber Security Expert, Techno Legends Pvt. Ltd. for providing and arranging the hands-on practice for the participants. The workshop received extensive participation from students, scholars and faculty from inside and outside the university. The workshop coordinator Dr. Sakshi Arora and organising secretaries Dr. Sunanda and Mr. Sudesh Kumar expressed their gratitude to the resource persons, for delivering lectures and hands-on experience.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. The celebration of Hindi Pakhwada was inaugurated at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra, on the eve of Hindi Diwas. Each year Hindi Day is celebrated on 14th September in India to celebrate the popularity of Hindi as an official language of India. The event was inaugurated with a formal address by Padam Shri Prof. RK Sinha, Vice Chancellor, SMVDU, where he highlighted the significance of 14th September, and cited various real-life examples, emphasising how he preferred to speak in HIndi at various formal occasions. Further, he desired that the university should also start drafting the official and administrative work in Hindi. On the onset, Dr. Anil Tewari, Nodal Officer of Hindi Cell, SMVDU, formally welcomed all the dignitaries, faculty and staff members, students and participants, and briefed about the events to be organized during remaining 14 days of the Hindi Pakhwada 2019. A cultural program was organized on this occasion. A video clip of 2018 celebration was also presented. This presentation was followed by various musical performances by students, also a play to highlight the importance of Hindi was performed. Prof. VK Bhat, Registrar, SMVDU; Dr. Yugal Khajuria, Dean of Students, SMVDU; Dr. Amitabh V. Dwivedi, Head, School of Languages & Literature and Chairperson, Media Cell, SMVDU; Dr. RK Jha, Dean (R&D), SMVDU; Prof. Ashok Sharma, Head, School of Physics, SMVDU; and other faculty and staff members were also present. Dr. Amitabh V. Dwivedi presented a vote of thanks to everyone behind the successful organization of the inauguration.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. Mr. Sumanta S. Sharma, a senior faculty member and also Faculty Coordinator, NSS Wing at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) Katra, delivered a plenary talk on “Social cause, responsibilities and the NSS” at the Induction Program about NSS organized by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jammu on 21st September 2019. In this, he highlighted various events organized along with several initiatives taken by NSS at SMVDU. Vikalp – students’ initiative which started in 2009, and is currently headed by Dr. Madhu Mangal Chaturvedi (Faculty Coordinator, Vikalp) to educate the poor and destitute of the surrounding areas, was very well appreciated by the gathering. Dr. J. Jeganaathan, Programme Coordinator of NSS, Central University Jammu who was also present, pledged more tie-ups with the NSS wing of SMVDU and for organizing joint programmes and camps. Dr. S. Ray, Faculty Coordinator, NSS at IIT Jammu delivered the vote of thanks.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. To create an awareness about the menace of drugs in society, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra, organized an invited talk by Sh. Sujith Kumar, IPS, DIG Udhampur, Reasi, J&K, where he addressed the students of the university on the subject “Awareness about the Menace of Drugs”. Sh. Kumar showed his serious concern over drug abuse, and emphatically said that drug abuse is corroding the foundations of society, and leading to various abuses, including sexual and domestic violence. Further, he stated that drug-dependence has become a major social issue in parts of India. The incidence of drug abuse among adolescents and children is increasing at a higher rate; adding to it the increasing economic stress and changing cultural values are some other reasons leading to initiation into drug abuse. Padam Shri Prof. RK Sinha, Vice Chancellor, SMVDU, thanked Sh. Kumar for spreading awareness among university students. Prof. VK Bhat, Registrar, SMVDU; Dr. Yugal Khajuria, Dean of Students, SMVDU, and faculty of various schools and staff memebrs were also present during the invited talk.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. The School of Biotechnology, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra, organized an expert lecture on the topic, titled "Atman of Biological System- The Sequences" by Dr. Samer Singh, Faculty, IMS, BHU, Varanasi. The lecture focused on the working of biological system with the help of biological sequences. Dr. M. Sharada Potukuchi, Head, School of Biotechnology (SoBT), SMVDU, and Prof. V. Verma, Senior Faculty (SoBT), SMVDU, thanked the expert for sharing the knowledge with the participants. The lecture was organized by Dr. Narendra K. Bairwa, Faculty, SoBT, SMVDU and was attended by students, scholars and faculty members of the university.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. TEQIP-III sponsored one-week workshop on “AWS Cloud Technology” was conducted from 7th to 11th September 2019 at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra. The workshop is organised by the School of Electronics & Communication Engineering, SMVDU. The key objective of the workshop was to provide an exposure to the faculty members; research scholars and students in the field of Amazon Web Services to enhance their knowledge in the domain. The primary aim of the workshop was to provide the hands-on practice on AWS with the help of Industry persons. The resource persons for the workshop were Dr. Sateesh Kumar, IIT Roorkee; Dr. Karan Verma, NIT Delhi; Dr. Rajiv Misra, IIT Patna; Mr. Abhinav Kumar, Percona, USA and Mr. Bhuvan, L&T Infocom, Mumbai for providing and arranging the hands-on practice for the participants. The workshop coordinators, Dr. Sachin Kumar Gupta and Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, expressed their gratitude to Padam Shri Prof. RK Sinha, Vice Chancellor, SMVDU, for motivation and support.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. The School of Physics, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), organized an invited talk on the topic, entitled “States and Phases of Matters and Phase Transitions” by Prof. Yashwant Singh, an Emeritus Professor, Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi. Prof. Singh addressed and introduced the audience with topics on the various states of matter, phase diagrams, phase transitions, symmetries and conservation laws and many other areas of the contemporary research in an interesting and interactive manner. The talk was attended by the students, research scholars and faculty members of the School, as informed by Dr. Vivek K. Singh, Faculty, School of Physics & Coordinator of the event, to the Media Cell, SMVDU. Prof. A.K. Sharma, Head, SoP, SMVDU along with the faculty members of School were present in the talk, and Prof. Sharma presented a memento to Prof. Y. Singh as a token of gratitude.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. For improving the service quality of Mata Vaishno Devi Yatris, a three-day training program of Shrine Board employees was conducted by the School of Business, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra. Dr. Saurabh, the Coordinator of the event & Head, School of Business, SMVDU, informed that the event was focused on the identification of the training personalities based upon the natural self, pedagogies and evaluation. On the onset, the program was inaugurated by Padam Shri Prof. Ravindra Kumar Sinha, Vice-Chancellor, SMVDU, who, in his inaugural address, emphasized upon the need for continuous learning. Further, he praised the efforts of Shrine Board and the School of Business, SMVDU for their venture in improving the services for the Yatris. Prof. D. Mukhopadhyay, Dean, Faculty of Management, SVDU, emphasized on the role of managers in coordinating and creating synergy of resources. In the valedictory session, Dr. Arvind Kerwani, Dy. CEO, SMVDSB graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. He expressed the commitment of the Shrine Board for being the agency of sustainable development in the region. He said, the continuous learning and such training programs not only improve the energy level of the participants, but also creates a resonating effect on the fellow employees who shall be trained. The trainers included, Dr. Jyoti Sharma, and Dr. Rashi Taggar, and Dr. Saurabh, faculty members, School of Business, SMVDU, and Dr. Mala Kapadia trainer, Vaidya Gram, Coimbatore.

SMVDU Katra, September 2019. Mr. Kiran Kumar Sharma, Chairman & CEO of International Volunteer Foundation (IVF), and two times national award winner, delivered a special lecture on “Ill effects of plastic bags and the need to shift to cloth bags” to the students at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) Katra. In his talk, he stressed on the need to shun plastic bags, bottles, and other plastic made items, and to embrace the idea of using cloth bags. He also spoke about massive cleanliness campaign, named “Save the Trikuta Mountains”, which was jointly organized by the NSS wing of SMVDU along with the IVF. Mr. Sharma also told students to engage in social service and to help the destitute as there is no act nobler than that. He further stated, our culture also tells us to stay in peace and harmony with nature rather than destroy it to the very core. He also said, it is high time that we should have many waste management systems including compost plants to tackle with wastes generated in huge quantity every day. The lecture was motivational and interactive and was applauded by students. The event was coordinated by Mr. Sumanta S. Sharma, Faculty Coordinator, NSS, SMVDU along with the volunteers of SMVD University.