NSS SMVDU organized Mega Swacchata Drive with SMVD Nursing College volunteers under the aegis of the "Clean India 2.0" campaign. The drive was organized to collect mainly plastic waste in the Sirah village area. Every NSS unit in the country has been given a target of collecting 200 Kg of plastic waste during the Swacchata month of October. With 2 NSS units at SMVDU, the achievable target was of 400 kg waste. Around 100 volunteers participated in the drive and collected 190 Kg of plastic waste. Earlier, in this drive, both units had collected 403 kg of a waste-a total of 593 kg of waste during the Swacchata month. NSS Programme coordinator, SMVDU Dr. Rajiv Kumar and Programme Officer, SMVD Nursing College, Ms. Hanna were also present during the event and appreciated the efforts of the volunteers.

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University in association with Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Intellectual Property Management (RGNIIPM), Govt. of India,under National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM), organized an online IPR awareness program “Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) & Patent, Designs filing requirements”.The session started with the welcome speech by Dr Yatheshth Anand, Nodal Officer, Patent Office-R&D wing, SMVDU, followed by a brief session by Dr Vineet V. Tyagi, Dean R&D, SMVDU. Dr Pankaj P Borkar (Ph.D. IPR), Dy. Controller of Patents and Design, IPO Mumbai/RGNIIPM Nagpur, was the worthy speaker of the session. He deliberated on the requirements for filing a patent/copyright. He also explained what and how ideas/innovations can be protected through patents and copyrights.Dr Borkar also highlighted how someone can look up ideas to innovate in their day-to-day life, where we can apply our innovation. The program was attended by 297 pan-India participants which included college freelancers, students, research scholars and college faculties. The session ended with a vote of thanks given by Mr. Ashish Suri, Associate Dean of Academics, SMVDU.

School of Civil Engineering, SMVD University organized an expert talk on “Application of Geosynthetics for Sustainable Development: Case Study from Indian Perspective” by Er. Minimol Korulla Vice President & Head Strategy-Maccaferri group in Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia Pacific (ISEAP) in an online mode.The talk was delivered to B.Tech. students of SoCE. This lecture was an extension activity for the course ‘Reinforced Earth and Geotextiles’ which is a part of the curriculum of B.Tech. (Civil Engineering). Er. Korulla shared the basic requirements for sustainable construction materials with the attendees. Further, she also discussed the application of geosynthetics as a sustainable solution in the construction of roads. She also highlighted the beneficial effects of using geosynthetic materials in terms of reducing the thickness of the pavement, and savings in initial and life cycle cost apart from enhancing strength and durability. The talk was organised by Dr. Balbir Pandey, Assistant Professor, SoCE and coordinated by Mr. Srijan and Mr. Ankur, Assistant Professor, SoCE under the guidance of the Head, School of Civil Engineering. The talk concluded with a vote of thanks.

Every year 10th October is observed as World Mental Health Day for the advocacy against social stigma, and to spread global mental health education and awareness. In this context, NSS SMVDU organized various events on World Mental Health Day. The NSS volunteers formed a human chain to make people aware about issues associated with mental health and to get support for the depressed persons in the society. NSS Programme Coordinator, Dr. Rajiv Kumar briefed students about the event, and put emphasis on sharing thoughts on mental health with friends and relatives. More than 100 students participated in the human chain formation. Volunteers, Sadhvi and Ayush Arya, also shared their thoughts on the occasion. An essay writing competition was also organized on the theme "Mental Health Our Priority".

As part of imparting industrial exposure to students of Mechanical Engineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) a one day industrial visit was organized with active support of Prof. M. Eswaramurthy, Head, School of Mechanical Engineering (SME) and Mr. BK Bhatia, Training and Placement Officer, SMVDU to Baglihar Hydro Electric Power Project, Chanderkote Ramban for students of 3rd and 4th year Mechanical Engineering. The event was coordinated by the faculty members of SME, SMVDU, namely Dr. Balbir Singh, Dr. Ankush Raina, Dr. Mir Irfan Ul Haq, and Dr. Amit Kumar Sinha also accompanied the students. The students were briefed about the various technical, economic and maintenance aspects of the Baglihar Project. The students interacted with various technical officials in various units of the project. Also a question answer session was held at the end of the visit. A discussion was also held to carry out interships, joint projects with JKPDC for imparting better industrial exposure to students inline with NEP2020. Throughout the session, the students were guided and briefed by Er. Mitten Raina and Er. Arjun Khajuria. The coordinator thanked the officers of JKPDC, TPO and the administration of SMVDU for making this event a success.

Prof. (Dr.) Hari K Koul of Cancer Center LSU Health, New Orleans delivered an invited lecture on “Prostate Cancer: Tumor Progression and Therapeutic Resistance” in the School of Biotechnology, SMVDU. The lecture was attended by the faculty, scientists, research scholars and students of SMVDU and SMVD College of Nursing. Prof. Koul interacted with the research scholars, faculty and was very attentive and showed a lot of interest in the research work being carried out in the School of Biotechnology, SMVDU. Dr Ajay Kaul, Dean College of Engineering, and Dr. Ratna Chandra, Head, School of Biotechnology, laid emphasis on special lectures which are important in raising the level of science in the University. Dr. Koul’s lab is a pioneer in exploring the signalling pathways for cancer development in pathogenesis of prostate and breast cancer, and his research focuses on Epigenetic regulators/Chromatin modulators, Driver Transcription Factors: PDEF, Deregulated Protein Synthesis: Role of EIF4G1, Anticancer activity of small molecules (NOCa series). Dr. Rakesh Kumar, PI ICMR-CAR, and coordinator of the event presented the vote of thanks.

Meta (formerly known as Facebook) in association with Reskilll organized a hands-on workshop on how to create your AR effects on Spark AR Studio. Students learned about augmented reality from scratch and got a chance to start their journey as AR developers. The workshop was attended by 100+ students from different branches. Students learned to create, publish and brag about their own Instagram/Facebook effects.Mr. Sarthak Jain (Community Head India) and Lakshit Pant (Developer Advocate) conducted the workshop and interacted with the students. The event is conducted by Dr Anil Bhardwaj (Coordinator of the event) and Jatin Sharma (Organizing Secretary) along with the volunteering team.The organizers thanked the Vice-Chancellor, SMVDU, Prof. Ravindra Kumar Sinha, Dr. Manish Sabraj (Hod ECE), Dr. Anil Bhardwaj, for providing a platform. They also thanked Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University for its arrangements and great hospitality.

With a focus on creating a collaborative work environment at the workplace, a five-day training program on ‘Teamwork Competencies for High Performance’ was inaugurated at SMVD University in which 20 IFS officers from different states, including Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, etc. took part. The program was supported by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Govt. of India. During the inaugural function, Dr. Jyoti Sharma, Program Coordinator, highlighted the relevance of understanding behaviours which may influence the team performance. Prof. RK Sinha, VC, SMVDU, and chief guest, emphasized the importance of such programs for holistic development. He expressed his concern about saving the environment through sustainable ways. Earlier, Prof. B.S. Sahay, Director, IIM, Jammu, and the guest of honour, discussed the way to work to achieve goals by the combination of hard work, passion and synergy. Dr. Supran Kr. Sharma, Dean, Faculty of Management, described the theme and appreciated the teamwork of the faculty members, SMVDU for conducting IFS training programs for more than a decade. Sh. NS Jamwal, Registrar, SMVDU, shared the formula for creating a pool of resources and individual skills for achieving uncommon goals. Other dignitaries, including Prof. VK Bhat, Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. Ajay Kaul, Dean Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Ashutosh, CEO, TBIC-SMVDU spoke on the occasion and conveyed their best wishes.

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) concluded the student exchange programme under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) and Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav(AKAM) on 20th October 2022.The university hosted students from Chennai Institute of Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Sainik School Amaravathinagar, Tamil Nadu from 14th October onwards. In a week-long programme, the participants explored the heritage and cultural richness of Jammu, the students visited various historic places, explored cuisines and learnt about the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Everyday started with yoga and meditation sessions along with some physical activities, which were coordinated by the NSS wing of SMVDU. They also went to the Spiritual Growth Centre which is a mountainside gospel that serves as a meditation centre and holds concerts, spiritual sessions, workshops, a display of the history of holy coins and tokens and an Exhibition Hall. The Board of cultural activities organised a cultural evening for EBSB which was filled with literary, poetic, songs, and dances to provide a holistic bouquet of the traditions of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. In this, Vikalp, a student’s initiative to educate the destitute of the nearby areas, also performed. Sumanta S Sharma, Nodal officer, EBSB SMVDU, proposed the vote of thanks to all participants, guests and the coordinating organizations. The Vice Chancellor, Prof.(Dr.) Ravindra K. Sinha, SMVDU, and the Registrar, Nagendra Singh Jamwal(JKAS) applauded the efforts of EBSB team for the smooth conduction of the Student Exchange Program and pledged more events like this in near future.

NSS SMVDU organized a "Self Defence Workshop" for girl students of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University under "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" campaign in which around 100 girls participated. NSS Volunteer Ms. Priyanka Sharma took the initiative for this event and organized the event successfully with the coordination of other NSS team volunteers. Mr. Nikhil Jaral and Ms. Neha Jaral National Taekwondo players from Jammu conducted the workshop.

Mr. Nikhil Jaral, a Black belt holder, has been teaching Taekwondo for the last 6 years. Both instructors have trained thousands of students. NSS Programme Coordinator, SMVDU, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, was also present during the event and appreciated the efforts of NSS team members.

Gautam Narula, Assistant Professor, School of Civil Engineering, SMVD University, attended an event on Disaster Management Action Frontiers, organized by the Centre of Excellence in Disaster Mitigation and Management (CoEDMM), IIT Roorkee . The event included eminent speakers' lectures and panel discussions focusing on managing and mitigating floods, landslides and groundwater disasters. Also, the field visit to the Tattyaur in the Tehri district of Uttarakhand was organized in which the participants were made aware of the salt dilution discharge measurement technique. The participants made a visit to a landslide-hit area to observe the faults, folds, cracks, and shear planes. Various methods to understand the strength of rocks at the site were introduced. The participants were shown the all-weather system, and the trip ended with community interaction with the nearby villages. During the event, Dr. Narula discussed various methods with professors that can be used to achieve stable strata in the region of Jammu and Kashmir. On the day four, Prof. Jay Krishna memorial lecture was delivered by Cyclone Man of India, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director, Indian Meteorological Department.

Vikalp, an SMVDU initiative for the under-privileged children, celebrated Dussehra on campus. A play was also performed narrating why Dussehra is celebrated, and, a session on bad and good habits, and basic etiquettes was conducted. A dance performance was performed by the students. Students also wrote about their cherished memories. The event concluded with providing refreshments to students. Previously, Vikalp celebrated Gandhi Jayanti, and Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan on 2nd October. The students were informed about the second Prime Minister of the country, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, and his teachings. The younger students took part in a drawing competition while the elder students participated in an essay writing competition. The students were filled with patriotic feelings, and they were grateful to all the leaders of the country whose hard work, dedication and sacrifices have enabled us to see the India that we see today succeed in all aspects.

SMVDU organized a cleanliness drive at Ban Ganga Katra under Clean India 2.0 campaign. The drive was organized in collaboration with Humanity Aid NGO, Jammu, and Govt. College for Women, parade ground, Jammu. Around 70 volunteers participated in the drive enthusiastically and more than 200 kg waste was collected, includimg plastic bottles, wrappers, old clothes, etc. from the Ban Ganga river. Volunteers also appealed people taking bath at the site to keep the river neat and clean, and not to throw any kind of waste in the river.The drive lasted for three hours in the morning, and covered a significant area alongside the river. The NSS Programme Coordinator, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, NSS Programme Officer, GCW, parade ground, Dr. Parvaiz and Humanity Aid NGO team led by Mr. Swarnveer Jaral were also present during the drive.

As part of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) programme, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), in collaboration with AICTE, AKAM, NSS, Vikalp and Board of Cultural Activities, SMVDU, is hosting students from Chennai Institute of Technology and Sainik School Amaravathinagar, Tamil Nadu, this time in the student exchange programme under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) from 14th-18th October 2022 to encourage interaction between students of two states/UTs. During the 5 day programme, the students will tour places of historical, scientific, and cultural importance, including Manwal temple, Mansar lake, Amar Mahal Museum, Spiritual Growth Centre, Shivkhori, Krimachi to mention a few. The visit is aimed to conduct a sustained and structured cultural connection in the areas of language learning, culture, traditions, music, tourism, and cuisine. The security arrangements are taken care of by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The programme is coordinated by Sumanta S. Sharma, Faculty Coordinator, EBSB. He thanked the patron Prof. (Dr.) Ravindra K. Sinha VC, SMVDU, and Nagendra Singh Jamwal, Registrar, SMVDU for their guidance and support.