SMVDU Katra: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University stands strong in 2nd State Universities Championship hosted by University of Jammu. SMVDU players bagged a total of 4 medals including 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. In the women category, University grabbed 2nd position in Basketball game. University team led by captain Charu defeated University of Kashmir in semifinal match. In Table Tennis women also University got 2nd position while in men they got 3rd position. Badminton women team of University also got 3rd position and claimed bronze medal in the mega sports event.

SMVDU has clearly marked its presence in the state championship. President Board of Sports Activities Mr. Rajiv Kumar, Sports Coach Cp. Sucha Singh and Sumit Sharma were present during the valedictory ceremony at Jammu University. Sh. Ashok Sharma, Director Sports, Shrine Board and Vice Chancellor Prof. Sanjeev Jain congratulated all winning teams.

12th March SMVDU Katra. Mrs. Bhushan Sharma, Ph. D. student at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, presented her paper entitled, “Kandaswamy’s Poetry: Choosing the Margin as Space of Radical Openness” while participating in the three-day international conference, ‘MELOW-2018’. More than 200 delegates across the country participated in the Conference and where around 120 research papers were presented. The conference was organized at the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) on March 11, 2018. The delegates from abroad and across the country presented their papers and held discussions on issues pertaining to Space, Place and Landscape in Literatures of the World. The scholars focused on diverse concepts and approaches related to the core theme. Mrs. Bhushan Sharma is pursuing her research in School of Literature and Languages, at SMVD University under the supervision of Dr. Anurag Kumar, in the area of Dalit studies.

SMVDU Katra: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University successfully organized Inter- House volleyball tournament under the flag of ‘Sarang-2K18’ - annual sports festival of the University. In Volleyball (girls) the final match was played between ‘Prithvi’ house and ‘Aakash’ house. Prithivi house got 1st position in girls’ category. Under boys category ‘Aakash’ confirmed it’s berth for the final match. The second finalist will be confirmed after the semifinal match of ‘Vayu’ and ‘Agni’ house. The tournament was organized by Board for Sports Activities (BSA) President Mr. Rajiv Kumar, under the able guidance of Sh. Ashok Sharma, Director Sports, Shrine Board. Cp. Sucha Singh, Sports Coach, dedicated himself as match referee. Vice Chancellor Dr. Sanjeev Jain and Dean of Students Dr. Yugal Khajuria congratulated Prithvi House for winning girls’ category and also gave his best wishes to boys’ teams.

School of Mathematics at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University organized Research Day on 9th March 2018. Dr A. K. Das, Head, School of Mathematics welcomed all participants and spoke on the importance and usefulness of Mathematics research. He also explained various opportunities available in India and abroad to researchers of Mathematics. Dr V. K. Bhat, Dean Faculty of Sciences, encouraged participants to work hard in fields of recent developments and appear in National level tests. Prof H. N. Ramaswamy, adjunct professor of School of Mathematics, also spoke on various leading Institutes offering Mathematics Education in India and abroad. Research scholars Ms. Ria Gupta, Mr. Pradeep and Mr. Bhavneet also presented some interesting facts and mathematical research, which showcased the beauty of Mathematics. Dr. Kuldeep Raj, Dr Sandeep Bhougal, Dr Rakesh Kumar, and Dr Surender Singh were also present in the event. Vote of thanks was delivered by Dr Sandeep Sharma.

First in the series of Eight Two-Weeks Student and Faculty Refresher Course on “Introduction to MATLAB and Research Enhancement Tool (16th MAR -25th MAR 2018)” concluded today at School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi university Katra. The program was organized by the School along with HRDC SMVDU under funding from TEQIP-III and technically sponsored by MATLAB Inc. HoD, SoECE Dr. K R Jha congratulated the organizing members for organizing quality academic program. He wished for academic and research excellence for all participants. Coordinator of the Program Dr. Amit K Pandit outlined the highlight of the course. He said that the program proved to be a breeding point of many research ideas and expert from industry provided much insight on skill set required in coming years.

It is pertinent to mentioned that Dr. Pandit thanked Director HRDC, University Administration, Transport Section, Guest house, Finance Section, Telecom Section, students, HoD of various Schools and members of organizing committee for their kind support and cooperation and further thanked all the speakers for their valuable contribution. Dr. Pandit especially thanked HVC SMVDU, Prof. Sanjeev Jain for his guidance, support and valuable suggestions. He requested the participants to spread the information about the second refresher program of the series scheduled in July for quality academic gathering and dialogue.

Adjunct Professor H. N. Ramaswamy from University of Mysore visited School of Mathematics in Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, J&K. He delivered a series of lectures in Algebra during 5-10 March 2018. Prof Ramaswamy, delivered the lecture series in Field Theory and covered various aspects of the subject including simple extensions, finite extensions, algebraic extensions, existence theorem and slitting fields or root field of polynomials. The lecture series was attended by M.Sc. (Maths) students and research scholars of the School. Apart from taking classes, Prof. Ramaswamy spent time in the School and interacted with research scholars and faculty members. On the last day of the lecture series, Prof Ramaswamy discussed various activities of the School with faculty members and provided valuable inputs for future activities. Dr. A. K. Das, Head of the school thanked Prof. Ramaswamy for his visit to SMVDU. Dean faculty of Sciences, Prof V. K. Bhat, Dr Kuldip Raj, Dr. Sandeep Bhougal, Dr. Surender Singh and Dr. Sandeep Sharma were also present during the discussion.

Dr. Arif Billah Dar, Assistant Professor, School of Economics, has been selected for the prestigious “Prof. M. J. Manohar Rao Award” for the year 2017. The award is given by the Indian Econometric Society to the young economics scholars (below 35 years) in India to commemorate Professor M. J. Manohar Rao’s contributions to economic research as well as to The Indian Econometric Society. Dr. Arif will be receiving this award during the 54th Annual Conference of the Indian Econometric Society to be held in March 2018. Prior to joining SMVD University, Dr. Arif Billah Dar taught at the Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad (IMT) one of the few AACSB accredited business schools in India. His research work has appeared in internationally acclaimed and reputed journals of Elsevier, Springer, Routledge and Emerald. His work has also appeared in some journals published by the globally reputed Economic institutions like Kiel Institute for the World Economy Germany, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Centre for International Research on Economic Tendency Surveys (CIRET), Center for Economic Integration South Korea and Polish Academy of Sciences Poland. He is also ranked among the top 25% economists in India by the Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), a database maintained and monitored by Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis, USA.

SMVDU Katra: The School of Philosophy & Culture (SOPC) along with NSS at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University organized two special lectures on ‘History of Science’ on 8th and 9th March 2018. The resource person of this lecture series was Prof. Proyadarshi Jetli, who is a visiting Faculty at Tata Institute of Social Sciences and also an adjunct faculty of the SMVDU Katra. Prof. Jetli traced the history and development of Mathematics in the first lecture. In addition to this, he explained various techniques and methods used in mathematical reasoning. In the second lecture, he took physics, astronomy, chemistry, life sciences, etc. and traced its trajectory. Moreover, he also highlighted the role of these disciplines in human development and understanding. The lecture was attended by students of sciences, engineering and humanities. Dr. Varun K. Tripathi Dr. Madhu Mangal Chaturvedi, Dr. Ashoka K. Tarai and Mr. Sumanta S. Sharma Faculty Coordinator, NSS, were among the faculty members who attended the lectures. Mr. Dhanraj, Student Coordinator, NSS, coordinated the event. Dr. Anil K. Tewari, Assistant Professor, SOPC, delivered the vote of thanks after each lecture.

SMVDU Katra: The Jammu region Kendriya Vidyalaya principals and respective admission in-charges attended an A-View videoconference interaction with IIT Bombay regarding online process of admissions and other academic functions facilitated by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University Katra on 17th March. Upon communication from KVS Headquarters that they require remote centers for the said interaction, the center for interaction for the Jammu regions KVs was facilitated by the School of Computer Science and Engineering, SMVDU, it its internet lab, wherein more than 80 principals and admission in-charges participated from various Kendriya Vidyalays.

The videoconference interaction started at around 10 am with the mentors from IIT Bombay, who demonstrated to the participants the online open source software to be used for admissions. In the demonstration, all the features like filling of the students’ data, their categories, distance of the students’ homes from the schools, conduct of classes, managements of sections and attendance etc. were discussed. Sh. S. S. Sambanna, DC, KVS (RO), Jammu and Sh. D. R. Meena, AC, KVS (RO), Jammu officiated the session. The session was technologically assisted by Mr. Sudesh, Asst. Prof. School of Computer Science and Engineering and his team comprising Mr. Rajneesh, Mr. Dinesh Sharma and Mr. Naveen Kumar. Dr. V.K. Tripathi, Head SOPC was also present. More than 130 remote centers from across the country were connected in this interactive training with IIT Bombay.

SMVDU 8 March: Industrial visit of M.Tech. students to Emcure Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. and Sarveshwar Foods Pvt. Ltd., Bari Brahamna was arranged by School of Mechanical Engineering in consultation with Mr. B. K. Bhatia, Training & Placement Officer. The visits were diligently arranged keeping into consideration specialisation areas of the students, i.e., Manufacturing and Automation. Both units were of International level and our students were exposed to latest trends in Automation being used in manufacturing sector. Emcure Pvt. Ltd. is a premier pharmaceutical unit which is fully automatic plant and is producing life saving drugs for national and international market. Sarveshwar Rice processing plant is a live example of highly automated German machinery being utilised in processing of high quality rice. The team of four faculty members Dr.Balbir Singh, Dr.Yatheshth Anand, Er. Sanjay Mohan Sharma and Er. Varun Dutta accompanied students for assisting field learning besides exploring further avenues for projects, internship etc. in Mechanical Engineering. Professor D. B. Laata, Head, School of Mechanical is highly concerned for imparting maximum field exposures to students in order to update knowledge and prepare students for industry.

SMVDU Katra: First in series of eight Two-Weeks Refresher Courses for student and faculty on ‘Introduction to MATLAB and Research Enhancement Tool’, being held from 16th-25th March,2018 was inaugurated at School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University Katra. Head, School of Electronics and Communication Engineering Dr. K. R. Jha welcomed the participants and Cdr. Jaitly who spared time to give a motivational speech to the audience. The program is organized along with Human Resource Development Center (HRDC) under funding from TEQIP-III and technically sponsored by MATLAB Inc. Speaking on the occasion Coordinator of the program Dr. Amit K. Pandit emphasized the need of such programs. He detailed that the program is planned to have hands-on practice on various Research Enhancement Tools used by academicians and researchers nowadays.

The lectures shall be delivered by expert from MathWorks Inc. along with faculty members of various schools of SMVDU. Coordinator informed the participants from various institutions that the program also incorporates various supporting lectures of immense importance and for overall development like motivation, team building, and training on research methodology, art of writing and publishing quality research papers etc. He also conveyed the best wishes of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Sanjeev Jain to the participants, School of Electronics and Communication Engineering and especially to the members of the organizing committee.

Katra. International Women’s Day (IWD) celebrated every year on March 8th, provides an opportunity for the faculty members, staff members and the students of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University to join with the International community to celebrate the achievements of women; to reflect on the current status; and to take action: for example to raise the awareness and celebrate the strengths of women and their efforts to break gender and caste stereotypes in general. During the event, Registrar Prof. V. K. Bhat, Asst. Registrar Ms. Saitu, Dean of Students Prof. Yugal Khajuria, Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof. V. K. Tripathi, and various School Heads, Faculty Members, Staff Members and students were present. The Registrar specifically expressed that woman is equivalent to god. Prof. Khajuria emphasized that one should help one’s spouse in the daily household and he proudly acclaimed that in the six years of career as DoS at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University he has never received any complaint from girls against boys. Further, he indicated that SMVD University not only provides equal and quality education but also provides a safe haven to women. Also Prof. Sharda, Ms. Shreya, Ms. Muskan, and Ms. Navleen presented their views in speeches and thorough songs. The Vote of Thanks was presented by Dr. Sakshi and Ms. Sonika Gupta.

SMVDU Katra: NSS along with Yoga and Fitness Club at SMVD University is jointly organizing yoga sessions, to continue for more than a month. It started on Saturday, March 17, 2018 and is open for all the residents of the campus, which includes faculty, staff and students. All these sessions are going to be held on weekends and holidays that will enable one and all to participate in them. The program aims to sensitise people towards comprehensive nature of yoga towards life and well-being. The yoga instructor of these sessions is Shri Gurmel who himself is a well-qualified& trained in yoga, and practices it regularly. He informed students about the benefits of yoga for the body and mind before starting with the asanas. He initiated them into yoga through simple and easy sukshma kriyas, asanas and pranayams. The session concluded with laughter exercise, which students enjoyed the most. Mr. Sumanta Sarathi Sharma, Faculty Coordinator, NSS, was present during the session and the session was coordinated by Mr. Aman and Mr. Dhanraj (both student coordinators, NSS). Dr. Sanjeev Jain, Vice-Chancellor, SMVDUniversity, is the inspiration behind the organization of suchprogram, who not only emphasized the need for such a program for young students but also wants his faculty and staff to participate and get benefitted.

SMVDU Katra : Prof. P. Jetli, Visiting Faculty at Tata Institute of Social Sciences and an adjunct faculty of the School of Philosophy and Culture, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University Katra delivered two special lectures in the University campus from 6th - 7th March 2018. The topic of the first lecture was ‘Philosophy of Jurisprudence’. In this, he highlighted the contribution of two important thinkers, namely, Pufendorf and Euclid who provided alternative perspectives on the universal principles of jurisprudence and amazing futuristic vision, applying which we can come to a better understanding not only of the content of the Constitution but also on the principles on which it is based. The topic of the second lecture was ‘Mathematics and Philosophy’ where he demonstrated that both these disciplines are inter-related and have mutually benefitted from each other’s advances and developments. The lectures were attended by all research scholars and faculty members of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. In the end of each lecture, a vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Anil K. Tewari, Assistant Professor School of Philosophy and Culture.

SMVDU Katra: SMVDU team comprising Kumar Vaibhav and Varun Gupta from School of Mechanical Engineering and School of Business clinched the winner position this year at India’s coveted Business Quiz-Tata Crucibles 2018 in Jammu Regional Round held on 13th March 2018 at GCW Parade. The winners have been presented with a winning amount of 75000 rupees and shall be heading to New Delhi for North Zone finals coming Saturday, 17th March 2018 at Taj Hotels to compete with 10 other teams coming from Northern cities viz Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Dehradun etc. to sail through the finals wherein only top 2 teams shall make it for National final. The SMVDU team saw a clear cut win with its smart strategy and nailed the quiz early with about 350 teams participating in it. Last year too, SMVDU was the runner up for 2017 with Vaibhav and Sarthak as team members. Vaibhav from School of Mechanical Engineering along with his team mates Anurag Rahul and Abhishek had clinched fame for SMVDU by bagging National Runner Up position amongst 130 teams pan India level and cash prize of 35,000 rupee at IDEATHON-2017 at IIT Delhi on 27th October 2017jointly organized by IIT-D and National Knowledge Network, NIC, GoI. He was also the winner at2nd National Business plan competition at Jammu University last year.