International Women’s Day Webinar hosted by NSS, UIET

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Chandigarh March 8, 2022

      NSS, UIET successfully hosted a webinar in collaboration with NSS, UIAMS on International Women’s Day on 08.03.2022. The topic of the webinar was – “CONSENT- Shaping the mind of India’s Youth to empower women” which was chosen to educate the NSS volunteers on the importance of consent. The event was organised to commemorate Azadi ka Amrit mahotsav (AKAM) under the theme of Ideas@75 (Development, sustainability and Justice).

      Mrs. Sharmila Kher (Director, Foundation for Child Protection, MUSKAAN) as Chief Guest spoke about why consent shouldn’t be considered as a taboo topic to talk about. She educated the volunteers on the true meaning of consent and highlighted why consent education is still needed in India by giving real life examples of victims. She showcased a clip that answered the doubts on how to ask for consent in a very simple manner.

      The event was held in the presence of Programme Officer Dr. Shankar Sehgal (Programme Officer-NSS UIET), Dr. Naveen Kumar (Programme Officer UIAMS) and Dr. Vivek Kumar (Programme Officer, Centre for Medical Physics). The event was managed by student coordinators- Ganga Batra, Taha Ali Khan and Tryammbak Kansal.

      Ritu Verma, NSS Volunteer gave a brief Presentation to inform the volunteers as to why we celebrate international women’s day and what is consent and why it’s important.            The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Naveen Kumar. Overall, the main motive to educate the NSS volunteers was accomplished unanimously.

3rd day of Iconic Week Celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Festivities Dedicated to Women’s Day at Panjab University

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Chandigarh March 8, 2022

            3rd day of Iconic Week Celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiated with a Cleanliness Drive organized by NSS in collaboration with UIAMS and UIET department. Dr. Naveen Kumar welcomed the guests and shared the aim behind conducting such events. Dr. Shankar Sehgal congratulated each participant and talked on the relevance of celebrating ‘International Women’s Day’. NSS Volunteers cleaned the area in and around the vicinity of UIAMS department. The event concluded with the vote of thanks by Dr. Vivek Kumar. The event was attended by Dr. Anupreet Kaur Mavi and Dr. Manjushri Sharma from University Institute of Applied Management Sciences, Dr. Vivek Kumar from Centre For Medical Physics, and Dr. Shankar Sehgal from University Institute of Engineering and Technology. The event was coordinated by Dr. Naveen Kumar, Dr. Shankar Sehgal Dr. Vivek Kumar, and Dr. Bharti Garg.

Iconic Event Week of Panjab University under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

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Chandigarh March 8, 2022

            As part of the Iconic Event Week of Panjab University( 6-13march , 2022) under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Department of Sociology in collaboration with University Institute of Fashion Technology and  Vocational Development celebrated International Women’s Day by holding a National Webinar on ” Boosting Mind, Body and Soul Connection in Women ” given by Dr Mahima Bakshi , Child women wellness expert and woman activist and Times Most Influential Personalities , 2021. Professor Rani Mehta, Chairperson , Department of Sociology, introduced the special guest, Professor Anju Suri, Dean College Development Council, Panjab University, Chandigarh and Key Speaker Dr Mahima Bakshi by highlighting the fact that women suffer from various physical, mental and emotional ailments due to certain socio- cultural patterns affecting child rearing , family and social aspirations and weakening of social solidarity leading to high incidence of psychological diseases, suicides and violence faced by women.

            Dr Anu H Gupta, Chairperson, University Institute of Fashion Technology & Vocational Development (UIFT VD) also welcomed the guests and emphasized on the significant role of women in the society to bring a positive change in the social set up.

            Prof Anju Suri, Dean College Development Council, wonderfully articulated the plight of women coming from different walks of life that is,  rich , poor , rural – urban backgrounds etc facing difficult problems in their specific cultural context . She also highlighted the importance of empowering women at individual, familial and societal level by giving them more decision making powers.

            Dr Mahima Bakshi focused on the interconnectedness between the mind, body and soul and specified that boosting one can bring positive change in the other. In a very simplified and effective way she brought forward the various useful inputs such as inculcating reading and writing habits , pursuing hobbies , taking life as a celebration , doing regular exercise and doing meditation to enhance the spiritual chakras and eating nutritious food required for wellness of women. These valuable techniques of life style would boost the women’s self confidence to live a dignified life with internal empowerment. The vote of Thanks was given by Dr Anu H Gupta and the webinar was well attended by participants from the region. 

Iconic Week Celebrations Started At Panjab University

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Chandigarh March 7, 2022

Iconic Week Celebrations under the theme of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav kick-started at Panjab University with a walk organized by NSS in collaboration with UIAMS and Centre for Medical Physics department. NSS volunteers have shown great enthusiasm by participating actively in the event. Dr. Naveen Kumar welcomed the guests and shared the idea and objective behind the event among wide array of around 100 participants. Participants thoroughly enjoyed the walk that initiated from Gandhi Bhawan, Sector 14 and concluded at UIAMS, Sector 25. The event concluded with the vote of thanks by and Dr. Vivek Kumar. The event was attended by Prof. Anju Suri, Dean College Development Council, Dr. Veenu Mangat, University Institute of Engineering & Technology(UIET), Dr. Naresh Kumar (UIET), Dr. Manju Shri Sharma, University Institute of Applied Management Sciences(UIAMS) and Dr. Sucha Singh, University School Of Open Learning. The event was coordinated by Dr. Naveen Kumar (UIAMS) and Dr. Vivek Kumar, Centre For Medical Physics.

National Dentist Day marked at HSJ DENTAL COLLEGE, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

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Chandigarh March 5, 2022

6th March every year is celebrated as the ” National Dentist Day “. To commemorate this day , celebrations were held in Dr. Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of dental sciences and hospital, Panjab University ,  Chandigarh. Various activities centered around the theme ” Dentistry” , like photography competition, soap carving competition and caption writing competition were held for undergraduate as well as postgraduate students to celebrate the spirit of dentistry. An appreciation board was also put up where everyone could pin up appreciation posts for their favourite seniors / teachers .

Webinar : Social Sciences as Cornerstones of Scientific and Technological Breakthroughs

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Chandigarh March 5, 2022

Engaging seemingly unrelated disciplines of intellectual enquiry, traditional gaps in terminology, approach, and methodology are gradually getting eliminated. By removing roadblocks to potential collaboration, a true meeting of minds can take place which can give rise to new hybrid disciplines of study. These views were expressed by Prof A D N Bajpeyi, Vice Chancellor, A.B. Vajpayee University, Bilaspur (Chattisgarh). In his expository talk, Prof Bajpeyi made earnest appeal for drawing inspirations from rich reservoir of traditional Indian knowledge systems. Elucidating with numerous commentaries from Indian scriptures, Prof Bajpeyi in his seminal discourse outlined thatsocial sciences revolve around the behavior and societal norms. Social scientists are concerned with cultural and human contexts and try to explain how the world works. Their main aim is to study the complex and ever-changing phenomena that occur in human and social life as well as their interactions with one another.

The celebrated author noted that interdisciplinary research figures high on India’s New Education Policy agenda. As scientific knowledge in a wide range of disciplines has advanced, Indian scholars have become increasingly aware of the need to link disciplinary fields to comprehensively answer critical questions, or to facilitate application of knowledge in socially relevant fields. This recognition has stimulated a steadily growing interest within the academic community in developing new knowledge through research that combines the skills and perspectives of multiple disciplines for reducing socio-economic disparities.

Prof Bajpeyi made a passionate appeal to the academicians on need to produce researchers that not only ensure technological progress, but individuals with a strong background in values and with enough vision to meet new challenges in a sustainable manner.

Prof R C Sobti, Former Vice Chancellor of Panjab University, Chandigarh and Dr BBAU, Lucknow, in his presidential address highlighted that scientific developments have emerged out of human curiosity about the events and processes surrounding the mankind.  The origin of the natural world is traceable to the renaissance age, when philosophers and sociologists started investigating how the world functioned and how can we improve quality of life. Society’s moral and ethical systems have always driven the quest towards scientific breakthroughs. Science, in its original concept, is at the service of humanity.

Prof Sobti made an impassioned appeal to adopt such a multi-pronged approach which is essential to the proper functioning of society and the world we live in. It is because of the synergistic contributions of all fields of enquiry to the body of knowledge that helps us understand ourselves better. Most branches of science and technology employ both natural and social science components. He highlighted that we are living in exciting times where knowledge flows and gets shared like never before.

Prof Sudhir Kumar, Dean Research, P.U. emphasised that the academicians have to move out of their colonial mindset and dismantle artificial silos of compartmentalised knowledge. We need to undertake research work that involves ideas and approaches from multiple disciplines of knowledge applied to solve a specific problem through cross fertilization of ideas. Creativity, analytical and problem solving skills, reflections, empathy skills are equally dependent on societal as well as scientific knowledge. It is ability of individuals to relate seemingly unrelated concepts and ideas and to develop a global vision of problems which has ensured that scientific breakthroughs take place.

Prof Manish Sharma, Chairperson, Department of Gandhian and Peace studies, welcoming the participants, highlighted that PU is consistently maintaining its leadership position in higher education and research on account of vibrant academic environment.

Prof Sanjeev Sharma, Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Centre for Swami Vivekananda Studies outlined the changing facets of teaching-learning processes at PU where emphasis is on sensitising students.to develop more global and pluralistic view of the problems. This helps in developing holistic perspective to harness skills to empathize with societal and ethical ramifications.

Dr Gaurav Gaur, Chairperson, Centre for Social Work, P.U. proposed a vote of thanks and acknowledged the contributions of such webinars in shaping the thought processes in the faculty and students. He highlighted that PU is making earnest efforts under the guidance of Prof Raj Kumar to ensure collaboration between different Departments of the university

          The webinar was organised by Interdisciplinary Centre for Swami Vivekananda Studies, Centre for Social Work and Department of Gandhian & Peace studies under the aegis of Indian Science Congress Association (Chandigarh Chapter). It received enthusiastic response from more than 125 academicians and researchers.

             National Science Day 2022

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Chandigarh March 4, 2022

The Chemical Society, Department of Chemistry and Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry, Panjab University Sector 14 Chandigarh celebrated National Science Day 2022 on 3rd March 2022 to commemorate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, catalysed and supported by Panjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) and NCSTC, DST, Govt. Of India, under the able guidance of Prof Raj Kumar, Honourable Vice-Chancellor and Prof. Sonal Singhal, Chairperson. The event was organized by Dr. Varinder kaur, President, Chemical Society. Various competitions “I am Smarticus”: The Science Quiz, “Let the Colors Speak”: Rangoli Competition, “Ideas Picturized:” Poster Presentation, “Let’s Recycle:” Best out of Waste and Extempore, on the theme ‘Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future’ were held were held for students of Panjab University Chandigarh. Pranav (M.Sc. II, Department of Chemistry), Rohan Sharma (B.Sc. III, Department of Biochemistry), and Ankita (M.Sc. II, Department of Chemistry), bagged 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions in Poster Presentation, respectively. The students of M.Sc. II of Department of Chemistry, Ankita and Anurag got the 1st prize; Mansangeet and Kritika got the 2nd prize; Bhumika and Parneet bagged the 3rd prize in “Let´s Recycle competition”. Priya (M.Sc. I, Department of Chemistry), Keshav Kant (B.Sc. III, Department of Biochemistry), and Ishika Gupta (M.Sc. II, Department of Chemistry), were awarded with 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions in “Extempore” event, respectively. Amit Sharma and Chetan Verma of M.Sc. I, Department of Chemistry, Keshav Kant and Rohan Sharma of B.Sc. III, Department of Biochemistry, Vipul Sharma and Maheep Kaur Gill of M.Sc. II, Department of Chemistry got the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions in the Science Quiz competition. Nancy Koundal, Kostubh Gaur, and Harsimran Kaur of B.Sc. III, Department of Chemistry, were awarded with the 1st prize, Ankita (M.Sc. II, Department of Chemistry), Aashni Khurana and Dixon Bhoriwal of B.Sc. III, Department of Chemistry, were awarded with the 2nd prize, Aishwarya, Ridhima, and Garima B.Sc. III, Department of Biochemistry were awarded with the 3rd prize in the Rangoli competition. In addition, Tanvi Sharma, Damanpreet Singh, Nitya Aggarwal (M.Sc. II, Department of Chemistry) got the consolation prize in the Rangoli competition. The aim of the event was fulfilled by sheer zeal and zest of all the organizers, participants and the guests.

Dr Suman Mor received the National Award for Science Communication

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Chandigarh March 3, 2022

                  Dr. Suman Mor, Chairperson and Associate Professor, Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University Chandigarh, has received the “National Award for Outstanding Efforts in Science and Technology Communication through Innovative and Traditional methods” in an event held on National Science Day 2022 in Vigyan Bhavan.

                  The award carries a citation, a memento and a cash prize of two lakh rupees. This award is presented by National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India (GoI) every year to an individual for outstanding contribution in the field of science and Technology communication and to promote scientific temper.

                  This prestigious award was given by  Dr. Jitender Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Government of India. The award ceremony was graced by Dr. S Chandrasekhar, Secretary, DST; Dr. Shekhar C Mande, DG, CSIR; Dr. M Ravichandran, Secretary, MoES; Dr. Balram Bhargav, Secretary, DHR, GoI. During the event, Dr. Nakul Parashar, Director, Vigyan Prasar, presented an overview of Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate, after which national awards were presented.

                  Dr. Suman Mor has been working in the area of environment and public health for over 21 years. Dr Mor was also recently listed in the top 2% of scientists of the world as per Stanford University and Scopus ranking for 2020 and 2021.

                  Dr Mor is also appointed as Nodal Faculty for Chandigarh under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)  by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Govt. of India. She is actively involved in building scientific temperament to create awareness and motivate action for better health and the environment. Her research focuses on solving common environmental problems, e.g., air pollution, solid waste and wastewater management. She aims to communicate and disseminate scientific knowledge to the public in a way that creates awareness about emerging environmental concerns and motivates them for continued action to ensure sustainability.

Recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Mor led the development of ‘Information, Education and Communication’ materials with scientific knowledge to empower the public for their role in disease prevention. She also developed a public health shield to promote COVID-19 appropriate behaviors. Dr. Mor has developed awareness materials to educate the masses about source segregation of municipal waste, including the safe disposal of COVID-19 household waste during the pandemic.

                  Prof. Mor is actively engaged in conducting capacity-building training and awareness workshops for professionals and the general public. She also developed a booklet to create awareness on ‘How to celebrate pollution-free and eco-friendly Diwali’, to engage the public in celebrating safe and eco-friendly Diwali.

                  Her work on bringing the National Green Tribunal key judgment in simple languages with pictorial was widely appreciated as it helped to educate and empower citizens about their rights for a healthy environment and to protect the most vulnerable. Dr. Mor also developed an ‘Eco-Health Calendar’ to raise awareness and educate citizens about the important days marked to promote public health and the environment.

                  All these awareness materials are freely available and can be downloaded from www.care4cleanair.com.

PU Faculty part of 75- day global event by GCEC celebrating 75 Years of Indian Independence

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Chandigarh March 3, 2022

Professor Archana R Singh, School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, has been honoured by Global Media Education Council (GCEC) for being a part of the 75 day event celebrating the 75 years of Indian Independence.  The unique 75-day event involving Indian and global academics and professionals, which intends to celebrate this diversity with scholarly contributions from varied perspectives in this unique online conclave has been organized by GMEC- Global Media Education Council stretching from October  21, 2021, to  April  10, 2022.

The event celebrates 75 Years in  75 days with 90 minute sessions involving 75 Indian Stalwarts, 75 Foreign Stalwarts, 75 Govt Officials, 75 Books/Reports, 150 Young Researchers. Prof . Archana R Singh was a part of the event with a session on the topic ‘Press and Development : A Novel Paradigm’ that was streamed on March 2, 2022. Prof. Singh has been an eminent media educator and was invited to be a part of this event for her stellar contribution to the field of Media and Communication Education.

Prof. Singh with an academic career spanning more than two decades has a number of accolades to her kitty. She has been member, Central Panel Jury for the 66th National Film Awards by Ministry of I&B, GoI Member of Film and Television Institute of India Society by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. She has also been Elected Member of Governing and Academic Council of the FTII Pune. Member, Post graduate Board of Studies, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, GJ University, Hisar, Central University of Haryana Mahendragarh, IP University New Delhi, Indian Institute of Mass Communication Society and many others. She was appointed by UNESCO as part of the Review Panel for their research on youth and violent extremism on social media.

She has more than 150 academic publications including journal papers and book chapters, presentations and seminar talks. She has held many Administrative posts at Panjab University such as Chairperson, School of Communication Studies & Coordinator, PU Radio (twice, Warden, of a Girls Hostel, Cultural Coordinator of Panjab University, Colloquium Coordinator, Panjab University and the Editor of Panjab University Research Journal of Social Sciences. She has completed prestigious research projects such as `Science for Women health and nutrition through Community Radio, a project by the National Council of Science and Technology Communication, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. Of India and presently she is a member of A Panjab University- Cambridge Project on Transforming India’s Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable Food Supplies’ She is heading the Media section of the project. Prof Singh is a recipient of the Senior Social Scientist Fellowship from ICSSR in the subject of Mass Communication

She takes time out to write features for newspapers, make radio programmes for PU’s community radio, make documentaries for Panjab University, run a blog, write poetry for leisure and record some voice-overs from time to time.

            PU DLIS conducted Two Days Workshop on ‘Personality Development and Soft Skills’

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Chandigarh March 3, 2022

The Department of Library and Information Science in collaboration with Central Placement Cell, Panjab University, Chandigarh, successfully organized a “Two Days Workshop on Personality Development and Soft Skills” for B.Lib.I.Sc and M.Lib.I.Sc. students from 2nd   – 3rd March 2022. Prof. Rupak Chakravarty, Training & Placement Officer of the Department, Panjab University welcomed and introduced the resource persons & the theme of the workshop. On 2nd March, Prof. Ramesh C. Gaur, (Dean & director (Library and Inf. Science), IGNCA, New Delhi) spoke on the ‘Role and need of communication skills in career planning’ with a special focus on LIS curricula, fundamental communication skills required to manage libraries and future challenges. Dr. Amandeep Singh Marwaha delivered the hands on practice session on ‘Resume Writing’. On 3rd March, Dr. Sanjiv Gupta (Consultant & Industry Expert, Former Chief GM, SML ISUZU Ltd.) focused on ‘Interview skills’, emphasizing the need of SWOT analysis, mock interviews, etc. in career endeavours. Prof. K.P. Singh from DLIS, University of Delhi, delivered a talk on significance of ‘Personality Development and Capacity Building’ personally as well as professionally. Prof. Rupak Chakravarty presented a vote of thanks at the end of workshop sessions. More than 50 students participated in the two days workshop.