SMVDU Katra, January 2020. The Central Library of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra, organized 2nd National Level Essay Writing Contest for harnessing energy, creativity and inculcating quality writing skills among students. The essay contest aimed at providing a platform for students with writing skills to express their creativity. The themes of this contest were varied: “Social Networking Sites: Advantages & Disadvantages”, “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”, “Jobs Versus Startups Options & Opportunities ” & “Harnessing the Demographic Divided through Investments in Youth” in which 164 candidates participated from various reputed institutions and universities, including Central & State universities; IITs; VIT, and foreign university such as South America University USA.

The evaluation committee of the competition consisting Dr. Madhu M. Chaturvedi & Dr. Rashi Taggar, Faculty, SMVDU; Dr.Amitabh Vikram Diwivedi, Head, School of Languages & Literature and Program Coordinator Dr. Supran K. Sharma, Faculty Incharge Central library, SMVDU. The winners of the event are: Purvi Chaturvedi & Yashvi Jain (First Prize of Rs.10,000/-), Kamala Nehru College: University of Delhi & Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala, Swatika, (2nd Prize of Rs.5000/-) Punjab University Chandigarh and Nirmalya Panigrahi, (3rd Prize of Rs.2000/-), Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Further Shilpa Kashyap, Panjab University, Unninarayanan Kurup Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Andhra Pradesh & Saloni Seth, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University have bagged consolation Prize of Rs.1,000 each with a Certificate of Appreciation. Prof. R.K. Sinha, Vice Chancellor, SMVDU, emphasized that such competitions encourage students and enhance their ability on different fronts He also congratulated the participants and winners.

SMVDU Katra, 10 Januray 2020. Prof. KK Aggarwal, National Board of Accreditation (NBA), and Member, Executive Council, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra, addressed university students, staff and faculty members at Matrika Auditorium. At the onset, Prof. Aggarwal took an inspection round of the university schools and sections, and visited various laboratories. During his address, Prof. Aggarwal emphasized upon to club innovation with research. Also, he stressed that students must learn to answer the same questions differently. Interestingly, he stated that the university teachers must ask challenging questions so that students’ creativity could be triggered. Previously, Dr. Sumeet Gupta, Dean, Academic Affairs, SMVDU, welcomed the esteemed guest, and briefed the audience about his academic and administrative experiences at the national and international level. Prof. Aggarwal urged the faculty members and students to follow the “T” model of learning, where one should have a knowledge of their core subject, and also of other disciplines so that they become multidisciplinary. Prof. RK Sinha, Vice-Chancellor, SMVDU, thanked Prof. Aggarwal for his valuable insights, and wished that he would visit again.