Celebrating an Independent India for the 75th Year, August 2021 was occupied with a full-fledged schedule. The calendar of BGR campus was embellished with events and celebrations. Take a peek!

-Director, BGR Campus

News from BGR Campus | August 2021
Monthly Newsletter

"Every citizen of India must remember that.. He is an Indian and he has every right in this country but, with certain duties".

_ Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel

Celebrating Independent India for the 75th Year

The NCC training officer Lt Col Sajina Begum, teaching and non-teaching faculty members and Security personnel witnessed the flag hoisting ceremony at the BGR campus to celebrate the Independence day of our country. The Director Fr Biju K Chacko hoisted the Indian flag and the participants cherished the moment with pride and dignity pondering on the journey of Independence. August 15th 2021 observed a quiet gathering with limited members of the campus, keeping in mind the covid-19 restrictions upon social gatherings.

Unfurling the symbol of courage, peace and fertility of our land

The Student Welfare Office of BGR campus brought together all the students in an online platform to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the nation's independence. A musical performance was given by the folk music team which evoked every essence of patriotism. Post-performance, the sacrifices of the soldiers during the Kargil War in the year 1999 were given a tribute. Major Padmapani Acharya, from 2 Rajputana Rifles, was one of the superheroes from the war and sacrificed his life for the safety of the nation. His story and his views were shared by his daughter, Miss Aparajita Acharya, who never got to experience the fortune of living with her father but constantly took inspiration from the letters that the family holds. She graced the ceremony with her father's beliefs and indeed provided a realistic view of patriotism.

The School of Business and Management organized its second International and First virtual Conference “Renaissance” 2021 on 6t^h and 7^th August 2021.

This year the International Conference was on the theme “Challenges & Prospects of New Normal of Life in Various Spheres Surviving the Covid 19 Pandemic Era”. The conference theme delves on – The new work order and connects the domains of advanced researches’ wherein, a range of paper presentations by scholars….and discussions on various domains such as Marketing and Strategic Management, Human Resources Management and Finance and Tourism and Hospitality.

The academic deliberation had commenced on the morning of the 6^th of August, 2021 with a total of 58 research papers being presented in two full days across 8 tracks ranging from Business & Tourism.

Renaissance - International conference

The Chief Guest of the inaugural session was Dr Mr Jaikanth Sharma- Senior Director, Head of Japan & Korea at Teva pharmaceutical industries.

Dr Maximilliano Korstanyee from the University of Palllermo, Argentina delivered the Keynote Address.

After two days of panel discussions and technical sessions, the conference ended with a valedictory ceremony. Mr Subodh Patil, Founder and CEO, Brisa Technologies was invited as the chief guest for the ceremony.

On the 12th of August, National Librarians day was celebrated at BGR campus with a mini gathering of all the administrative staff in the library. On an invitation from the librarians of BGR Ms Lakshmamma, Mr Dhruv and Mr Balraj, the administrative staff assembled for a cake cutting followed by a quiz about the library. This day is observed in remembrance of the father of Library Science in India Shri S R Ranganathan.

National Librarians day

Authentic Happiness

Mrs Sudha R, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Avinashilingam Institute, Coimbatore was the guest speaker of the webinar held on 10th August 2021 by the Psychology Department. The topics covered were Exposition of Authentic happiness and its significance, Sowing and growing positive thoughts rather than getting out the negativity, Happiness as an internal state of mind and Embracing the happiness to look for better. The key takeaways of this webinar were the Three types of life - The Pleasant life, Good Life and the Meaningful life, the Happiness Formula and Techniques to practice

Health Awareness Program

Ms Sonia Joseph, CCHS of BGR campus facilitated a health and fitness training session for the housekeeping ladies on the 10th of August 2021. The ladies were engaged in an exercise drill with video instructions in the native language.

The mentor highlighted the health benefits of exercising every day with a few more pieces of advice for a healthy lifestyle.

Guest Lecture with Eldin Zeliyg

A guest lecture was held on the 5th of August 2021 by the Department of Tourism under the School of Business and Management, BGR Campus. The Guest Speaker was Eldin Zelyig who is an alumnus of CHRIST University and is currently the Data Scientist at SPAR International. The speaker touched on topics such as career opportunities, interviews, jobs, organization presentations, the tourism market and higher education. Discussions on the importance of keeping career options open, value additional courses, skill set development, new additional tools and programmes, CV and Resume Building and the importance of work experience and internships were the key takeaways of the lecture.

Guest Lecture with Shubham Banerjee

The Guest Speaker for this lecture held on 29th August 2021 was Shubham Banerjee, who is an alumnus of CHRIST University and is currently the Principal Growth Consultant at HubSpot.

The speaker emphasized the importance of participation in events and fests and the connections and network it provides. The speaker also gave tips on how to tackle challenges that are faced on witnessing the shift to the virtual workspace. He provided many real-life insights. on how to be firm in decision making, how to lay future career paths and goals.

The session was complemented by healthy discussions and very lively participation by the audience.

Inauguration of Association of Christian Christites (ACC)

The inauguration of the ACC took place on 23rd August 2021. The virtual gathering was addressed by the Director of BGR, Fr. Biju K Chacko, who shared his insights on what spirituality means and the characteristics of a spiritual person. The program was also addressed by Dean DrJyothi Kumar and event head & Organizer Dr Roy Mathew who enlightened the audience on spiritual values.

PRAAGYA: Wisdom & Knowledge going hand-in-hand

The event consisted of two rounds, the first one being the Prelims round, conducted on 11th August 2021, which was a quiz organized on the Kahoot platform for the students on topics such as International current affairs, global brands, latest international marketing trends, latest corporate appointments, marketing concepts, etc.

The second and final round was a presentation-based round, for which TOP 5 teams were selected and the teams had to devise an International Marketing entry strategy for a particular country by selecting the industry and product of their choice. The teams were judged based on the most appropriate and feasible market entry strategy. The judge of the event was Ms Sneha Susan Eipe, Associate Consultant, Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

The teams presented their presentations with professionalism by giving reasons to choose a particular industry and product, in-depth country analysis in terms of business opportunities, competitors in the market, trade or entry barriers, SWOT/PESTLE analysis, the rationale for selecting a particular market entry strategy: direct exports, joint ventures, partnerships, E-commerce, Target market, and future outlook in that country.

Gastronomy Tourism - Webinar

Gastronomy reflects the culture, heritage, traditions and sense of community of different people. It is a way of promoting understanding among different communities and of bringing people and traditions closer. Gastronomy tourism is also an essential protector of cultural heritage, and the sector helps create opportunities, including jobs, most notably in rural destinations.

The webinar titled “Gastronomy Tourism” was hosted by PATA India CHRIST University Student Chapter of the Department of Tourism Management, on the 3rd of August, 2021. The Guest Speaker for the webinar was Mr Sandeep Talwar. The webinar majorly focused on Culinary and Gastronomy Tourism, gastronomy being an art of food and culture and, focusing on the difference between gastronomy and cuisineWe can infer that gastronomy is an important element of a journey, but it is more than just eating or feeding; it also means immersing oneself in the culture of the destination.

Gender Studies Forum - A session with Aditi Angiras

The session was held on 3rd August 2021 from 2 PM to 3 PM to acquaint the students with the genre of queer poetry. Aditi Angiras, the editor of the anthology “The world that belongs to us” was invited as the guest speaker.

She shared her experience of working together on the anthology along with Akhil Katyal. She also talked about the act of writing poetry and read poetry from the anthology.

IKIGAI- Finding your passion

Col Sajan Moideen was the resource person of the session held on 10th August 2021 who enlightened the 195 participants on the identification of their e passion, jobs and careers. The future options available for them were discussed

Hands-on Session on Web Analytics

The Hands-on Session on Web Analytics was organized by Prof. Dr Aarthy C. The Session was conducted by Mr Vivek Hariharan who is a Senior Marketing Strategist at Thought-Works in the Analytics and Insights

Web Analytics is an important tool for website users today to gain insights into their customer behaviour and create a better user experience for the customers.

Mr Hariharan introduced the concept of Web Analytics and the job role of a Web Analyst. Further, he explained the building blocks of Web Analytics i.e. 1) User or Visitor, 2) Pageview or Event, 3) Session or Number of Visits and 4) Time or Duration of each session. He explained this with practical examples using the Amazon.com website.

The use of Google Analytics and Google Data Studio to prepare reports based on the website data were discussed. The use of different analytics tools to create a systematic report which is user-friendly and gives good knowledge about the huge data to the stakeholders and decision-makers was covered in the workshop.

Guest Lecture - Mr Jayesh Sharaf and Mr Aadit Jain

A guest lecture with Mr Aadit Jain, National Sales Manager at Futura Kitchen Sinks India Pvt Ltd and Mr Jayesh Sharaf, Verity Solutions Pvt Ltd was organised for the Management students of BGR. Around 120 participants attended the session which guided the students on how to prepare themselves for taking up their family business and what to expect from the job market. The interaction with these industrialists took place on 3rd August 2021.

Margins Tafteesh' The Research club

The event was aimed to take a look at how the Indian cinematic industry (Bollywood and other regional industries) look at different social groups and minorities, a deeper insight of their representation and how they have been either stereotyped or prejudiced against and how the views as displayed on the silver-screen affect the national mentality and the viewpoints.

The first round of the event was held on Kahoot in the form of a Quiz/Quizlet. 12 participants qualified for the 2nd Round (final round) who were paired into 6 teams. Two teams were allotted one movie, wherein one team would make a case ‘for’ the representation and the other would be ‘against’ the representation. The Debate round was judged by Dr Vidya S, from the Department of English and Cultural Studies, CHRIST (Deemed to be University). After three rounds of heated debate and pertinent views and points being made by the participants, the event came to an end. The first place was secured by Shriya and the second place was secured by Soundarya and Rohit.

Visual Culture And Politics 'Tafteesh' The Research Club

This skill development session was held on 17th August 2021 as a skill development session for second-year English Honours. The speaker was Dr Vidya S, professor at CHRIST (Deemed to be) University. The session traced the solidification of visual culture as a discipline and various different questions that one needs to keep in mind while engaging with visuals, for example, who has the agency to construct these visuals? what do we learn from them? and what can be learnt from these visuals amongst others? The session ended with the audience being shown different visuals and questioning them on what those visuals construed.

Self-Enhancing Skill Hour - Guest Lecture Series

On 12th August 2021, the Department of Tourism conducted a guest lecture for their students on the topic of ERP. This session was engaged by Ms S Archana, Domain Architect of Fujitsu Consulting Private Ltd.

The speaker shared her experience in the IT industry and gave advice to the students on the opportunities that are available in the field of ERP.

The speaker also touched on topics such as ERP business platform for the services industry, Functional areas and career prospects for BBA graduates

ERP is an enterprise resource planning software that businesses use to handle day-to-day operations like accounting, project management and risk management. Enterprise performance management software, which helps plan, budget, predict, and report on an organization's financial results, is included in a complete ERP suite.

This software has its use in various business operations. Ms Archana mentioned how businesses have rapidly changed because of ERP. Moreover, she also mentioned what the future of ERP is for the world and businesses

Linkedin Profile Building - CAPS workshop

A two-day workshop was held on the 7th and 15th August 2021, on the basics of LinkedIn Profile building and effective personal branding as well as content creation. The program was organized by the Centre for Academic and Professional Support (CAPS) of BGR campus, which invited Ms Dhairya Gangwani, SAP Analyst, Management consultant, Career coach, KPMG, Dhairya Decodes, as the resource speaker.

The students gained knowledge of the importance of LinkedIn Profile building while developing their brands. The facilitator also mentioned the importance of applying to various internships and the proven ways of getting the attention of top recruiters. The session was fast-paced yet descriptive. The topics covered ranged from the importance of LinkedIn to things to mention in the Resume

The zine-making workshop with Aila Dutt, a member of the Bi Collective in Delhi focused on learning how to make zines, understanding how it is an integral part of queer subcultures, and creating a safe space for the participants to express their identities and talk about it. The workshop started off with a presentation that gave a detailed overview of the genre of the zine, its types and how it is often linked with radical movements as a form of art that is both inclusive and accessible for people. The participants were given seven questions that required them to talk about their secrets through the pages of the zine they were creating.

Zine-Making Workshop

The participants showed their creations at the end of the workshop and the panel had a healthy discussion on the experience of being queer in India and their position in a society that is still prejudiced in matters concerning gender identities. The creative and interactive environment of the workshop saw enthusiastic participation of students from various programmes of the BGR as well as Central Campus and was a good learning experience

A Session for Security personnel on Communication & Behavior

On the 14^th of August 2021, a session was conducted for Security Department, CHRIST Bannerghatta Road campus. The resource person was Ms. Manju Deepak Hampannavar, Counsellor, CCHS, BGR campus. It was conducted in Hindi as most of them are Hindi speaking.

The main objective of the session was to understand the concerns and difficulties faced by the security personnel while performing their duties and empower them with effective communication and apt behaviour.

This interactive session started with a discussion about the characteristics of security personnel. Different skills required for effective communication were discussed with examples. Difficult situations faced by security personnel earlier were discussed. Ways of handling these situations by effective communication and proper behaviour were demonstrated.

The session ended with a short meditation.

Introduction to Personal Finance

Bulls & Bears conducted its first workshop of Workshop Series 2021. The workshop was based on Introduction to Personal Finance. The workshop dealt with the ways to achieve financial freedom and the crucial aspects of budgeting, saving, and investing. The whole presentation was divided into the three principles of personal finance namely:

spend less than you earn
make the money you have to work for
be prepared for the unexpected.

The speakers aptly explained all three principles in detail with good examples. The workshop concluded with how important it is to plan before investing, and personal finance is all about how effectively an individual manages personal income.

Agora - Inaugural session

The career guidance orientation initiated and hosted by the Department of Political Science and History (BGR Campus) for all the batches of BA EPH and EMP and Liberal Arts, was graced by Dr V S Elizabeth, vice-chancellor of Tamil Nadu National Law University, Tiruchirappalli.

It was a remarkable session wherein students received insights into the concept of gender politics in India from time immemorial to the present day in the 21st century

Dr Elizabeth, a professor who teaches her students to understand and view law from the feminist perspective began the session by talking about gender and power From binaries present in the 21st century to the forgotten names of young girls and women who contributed to the independence of India, the professor touched upon every aspect of gender and politics making young minds present in the meeting think about the position of women in our society.

Dr Elizabeth shared the names of books that would be helpful to students to understand the concept of ‘feminism’ and ‘’feminist perspective’ leaving them with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge even post the session.

Inauguration of Ellipsis 2021-22

The event was attended by Director Dr Fr Biju K.C, Dean Dr Jyothi Kumar, Head of Department Dr Gaana J, and Guest Speaker Ms.Samhita Arni along with faculty and student members of the association to inaugurate Ellipsis 2021-22. The respected Director, Dean and Head of Department addressed the gathering to recognise and encourage the work of the association.

Ms.Samhita Arni who is a Writer, Poet, Illustrator, from Srishti School of Design, Bangalore, gave her valuable insights on the creative process of a writer-explained through a thoughtful activity. She gave the example of a Rubik's cube that she associated the feelings of confusion and uncertainty with it. She brought attention to the idea that a writer is extremely vulnerable with their readers, as they bare their thoughts and emotions to them.

Ms.Arni spoke about the Sangam Era literature as she recognised the reference to nature in these writings. She suggested that instead of seeing nature as the ‘Other’, the writers see themselves as one with nature. She stated that with the tools we have, we must too dissolve the boundaries between nature and ourselves. She emphasised on the importance of creativity and creative skills- which give wide scope for growth and leading to a greater understanding of self.

Ms.Arni then moved on to the Question and Answer session as she directly engaged in conversation with the students

Students actively engaged with Ms.Arni, asking questions and seeking Ms.Arni’s views on various topics.

The event was concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Professor Renu Elizabeth Abraham.

Strategies for Business Sustainability

Dr. Shruti Sharma, Professor of Strategy, TERI gave insights in the webinar organised by the School of Business Management, about why do we need sustainable organizations and what orientation is required to thrive in today’s business world today. She also gave brief idea of strategies for sustainability in organizations through examples. There was an exchange of views between the guest speaker and students about different strategies adopted by companies by Reliance Group especially during pandemic. The students gained an understanding of strategies and why they are needed. The session ended by giving thanks to the speaker.

World Photography Day - August 19

DSLR CATEGORY-WINNER

Anamika Rai (BBA Honours)

The SWO conducted a two-day online Photography event to celebrate the World Photography Day with the theme ‘Capture the Quote’'. The participants were given a quote that was to be used as their inspiration to capture the photograph. Two different quotes were given for the smartphone and DSLR users.

Under the leadership of Sriranjini Ravindran, Nilashma Chaudhary, and Adharva C. the event had a turnout of 88 people who registered out of which 34 submissions were from smartphone users and 12 submissions from DSLR users.

The judge for the event was Madhu Venkatesh, SWO alumni of CHRIST University. A gripping and innovative round of creative minds brought the event to an end.

SMARTPHONE CATEGORY-WINNER

M Ram Tejas (1 BBAH)

Alumni Interaction 2021

On 14th August 2021, Saturday, the Psychology Association conducted an Alumni Meet to provide information regarding the careers that psychology graduates can work in and share some of their experiences with the field. The panellists were alumni, Mr Vicky Kumar who presented the topic Alumni and Future Educational and Career Prospects. Universities, where Christ Alumni have been accepted were listed. The next speakers were Ms Jyothis and Ms Anoushka, the founders of an initiative called the Burrow, which is an online mental health platform offering ethical mental health services. They shared fond experiences they had with the professors at CHRIST. Ms Apoorva who is pursuing her Masters in Illinois was the next speaker who talked about the importance of internships in understanding which career to get into, and also on how to choose the right college for Masters.

For someone who started out having no knowledge of psychology to now majoring in environmental psychology, Mr Gaurav Girish, alumni of 2020, described how the professors and the exposure in CHRIST helped create his passion for environmental psychology. Mr Munna R S, who graduated in the year 2021, explained about conflicts he felt during his three years in CHRIST and the process of unlearning prior notions, how it opens your mind and helps you to relearn them in a different way. Learning new things will also be a predominant situation that will occur during the three years. Ms Therese Liam Tom talked about her current university, IIT Delhi and its application process among others

How to Search for Research?

The training held on 17th August 2021 was to familiarise students with conducting the review of the literature and finding research articles online using the remote access facilities provided by the university. Dr Vijayalaya facilitated this training using his expertise on the topic as well as his personal experiences. He started by explaining how to look for articles using the remote access facilities instead of relying on Google Scholar. He then moved on to explaining how articles are published, searching for journals, and the dangers of clone journals.

Webinar on Leadership

The Psychology Department of BGR campus and Kengeri campus of CHRIST University collaborated with Praveen Kenneth Chair on Leadership to organise a webinar on 'Leadership'. The event was conducted on 3rd August 2021 and the guest speakers were Samuel S George- Program Manager and Trainer, Sudhakar Kumar, Manish Mukherjee and Aysha Nada Abdul, the Student Volunteers of Praveen Kenneth Chair on Leadership shared their unique insights about being a part of the organisation with all of the attendees. The event's faculty coordinator was Dr Vijayalaya Srinivas, the HOD of the Psychology department of BGR campus.

Introductory session on value-added courses

This skill development session was held on 24th August 2021 which had Dr Vijayalaya Srinivas, the HOD of the BGR Campus as the faculty coordinator. The event's speaker was Dr Akriti Srivastava, a psychology professor at BGR Campus. She emphasized the importance of learning value-added courses in one’s life. She explained the need for these courses, their duration, and courses offered so far by the university. The event was commenced by Dr Rameshbabu Tamarana, another psychology professor of the BGR Campus. The vision and mission of the NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning), one of the most successful multi-institutional projects in the country, was explained. The students were addressed on the benefits of Swayam courses and their enrollment procedure.

Time Management

The purpose of this webinar held on 27th August 2021 was to help the audience understand the importance of time management and introducing them to the strategies of time management. All the speakers were volunteers of CAPS Assessment Wing. Mr Aaron D’souza was the event emcee and conducted two activities that illustrated how people often fail to estimate time correctly as well as that procrastination is largely considered a common mistake. Ms Janhavi Poddar, one of the speakers, elaborated on the importance of time management, and was followed by Ms Khushii Nanua who talked about the types of time managers and the common mistakes committed by people while managing time. Mr Tanuj Suthar, the third speaker, conducted an activity about prioritizing certain tasks and shared some strategies for the audience to help them manage their time more efficiently. The last speaker, Ms Riya Deepak Shet, discussed the peak performance periods in a day on the basis of the Circadian rhythm and elucidated on the best suited hours of the day for certain tasks.

Congratulations Riha Giri

The Special Prize Winner of Dance of India@75 virtual competition

Riha Giri a Masters student at CHRIST University and a Bharatanatyam dancer, student of Dr R Vijay Madhavan, has been adjudged among the best and won the 'Special Prize' under the solo dance category, in the Dance of India@75 virtual competition organised at the national level by The Center For Indian Classical Dances; Shri Kamakhya Kalapeeth, New Delhi, while finishing among the top 8 contestants out of 112 across eight classical dance forms of India.

The event was spearheaded by Padma Vibhushan Dr Sonal Mansingh along with a 15 member jury including Dr Padma Subramaniam, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and the ICCR president among others. The theme given by the organisers underlined the 75 years of Indian Independence and therefore focused on the topics of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Vishwaguru Bharat and the Unsung Heroes of India. Ms Giri had chosen the Unsung Hero, Saalumarada Thimmakka, an Indian environmentalist based out of Karnataka, who was finally conferred with the Padma Shri in 2019 after decades of service to the environment.

Ms Giri was greatly inspired by the life and work of Thimmakka who couldn’t bear children and resorted to planting 385 banyan trees along the highway with her husband and many more varieties over 70 years, in lieu of children. The choreography illustrates the above, keeping in mind the importance of educating the present generation on the significance of planting trees given its rising relevance today.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqOHQgS9dI

Let Photos Talk - a photography skill enhancement workshop

“Let Photos Talk: An online photography skill enhancement workshop” was an event organised by Spinshot on the 31st of August 2021 by the Photography Club of the Department of Media Studies, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) BGR Campus. The theme of the event was ‘Transcending the boundaries of language’ in compliance with the occasion of World Photography Day 2021.

Mr Gopinathan shared many personal stories at the beginning of the workshop and walked the participants through his journey in the field. He explained various necessary skills that one requires as a photographer while he was interpreting a few pictures that he had clicked. Through various personal examples, he shared his learnings, opinions, ways of taking a different approach to photography and the importance of looking at different narratives of a story.

As a part of the event, students were given the opportunity to showcase their photography skills by submitting their photographs based on the given theme. The best few were selected to be displayed during the workshop and the resource person suggested a few techniques to enhance the photography skill.

At the end of the session, Mr Gopinathan took up questions from the audience. He also analysed the pictures submitted by the students and gave insightful feedback.

Sustainable Development: Experiences from the field

The Department of Media Studies in collaboration with SELCO India organized a webinar on "Sustainable Development - Experiences from the Field” on the occasion of International Youth Day on 12th August 2021.

Dr Ajay Kumar, Head of Department, addressed the need for sustainability and a healthy environment and also elaborated on the important role played by the youth of today in such said sustainable development goals.

The guest of honour, Mr Sudipta Ghosh began his fruitful discourse on the rudimentary aspects of the environment and how we, as active participants of an ecosystem, contribute to it. He talked about the exponential growth in human activity, population growth, overboard consumption of energy, climate change and the rise in temperature in the nearing future.

The repercussions that will take place due to climate change will include calamities such as droughts, changes in rainfall patterns and a rise in sea level. The steps of sustainable development that need to be kept in place for the present generation to secure and prepare for the future was discussed along with the key elements of sustainability. Dr Fr. Biju K.C, Director, BGR Campus, Ms Roopal Shetty, PR Department of SELCO, and SELCO staff participated in the event with Dr Parashurama Kamath as the faculty coordinator.

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News from BGR Campus | August 2021Monthly Newsletter