Lo! Our Teachers are back to campus!
September 2021 began with the Teacher's day celebrations and CHRIST BGR actively resumed its hybrid classes. A series of captivating events decked the calendar this month. Lets glance through!
-Director, BGR Campus
"One Child, One Teacher, One Book, One Pen, can change the world." _ Malala YousafZai
The student council of CHRIST BGR invited all the teachers of the campus to the online platform and honoured the teaching community. Fr Biju K Chacko, Director of BGR welcomed the gathering with words of wisdom expressing that 'Teachers are a beacon of light in the darkness who inspire, lead and guide to the path of success.'
The students entertained the teachers with a potpourri of fun-filled activities to express their love and gratitude to their teachers. The concluding address was rendered by the Dean of BGR campus Dr Jyothi Kumar who appreciated the teaching community for their dedication and contribution to the society.
On 2nd September every year, the birthday of the great Indian Philosopher Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan is celebrated as Teachers day all over India.
On the 7th of September 2021, a skill development program was held to discuss the issue of toxic masculinity and K-Pop’s role in challenging it. The students who contributed as the speakers of the event were Darshanbir Singh, Divyasha Panda and Teena Verma who discussed on toxic masculinity, how it is propagated by popular media and the critical role of K-Pop in breaking the gender stereotypes and challenging toxic masculinity
Dr Anoop Antony, Mr Vishal, and Mr Poorna Rao from The Association of People with Disability, were the guest speakers of the event which was held on 4th September 2021.
They shared their shared valuable information about spinal cord injuries and how they are caused, and how one can avoid them. They also shared a few cases where spinal cord injuries were fatal.
The speakers gave a very brief introduction about their foundation and how it started. One of the speakers shared his experience of undergoing a traumatic spinal cord injury which led to a series of surgery and treatments which only caused more harm to the body. Later he told about how the organization helped him adjust to life after the injury and how hard it was to live a normal life being in a wheelchair. But he told that he did not lose hope and is now a life coach trainer for many people who were affected like him.
Commander (Dr) Shama Sundara who is a Naval Officer with more than 22 years of service and currently posted at the Quality Assurance of the New Delhi Naval Headquarters, was the resource person of this event which was held on the 14th of September 2021.
He shared his knowledge from History, real-life experiences and how teamwork can do wonders than individual strength and wealth.
The Guest Speaker for this lecture was Guest Dr Ingrid Van Rompay - Bartel, a Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer at HAN International School of Business.
She gave insights about high context and low context of communication culture, monochronic and polychronic perceptions in time like how in Netherland everything happens on time and in India it fluctuates. She also spoke about the meaning of kindness which is different in India and the Netherlands. She also mentioned that culture, what we see, is just the tip of the iceberg and about Hofstede Insights – country comparisons. There was an exchange of views between the guest speaker and students about different ways of communication and what actions mean in any language or culture.
Guest Speaker Dr Robert B Koopman, Chief Economist and Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division of World Trade Organization introduced to the Role and functioning of the World Trade Organization and highlighted the impact of COVID 19 Pandemic on various Indian and Asian Economies from an economist perspective. The lecture was held on the 20th September 2021 lasted for about 40 minutes followed by an interactive Question and answer session involving both UG and PG students
Mr Chad Gruzin
Ms Shivani Chander
EarlyAdmit is committed to providing affordable and highly effective strategies to help prospective applicants gain admission into the most prestigious deferred MBA programs in the world. The session was conducted by Mr Chad Gruzin, Co-Founder and Head of Growth and Ms Shivani Chander, Admissions Coach of the organisation 'Early Admit'. All aspects of the Standardized Test, Letters of recommendation, Transcripts, Resume, and essays were discussed.
Dr Mahmood Kooria, Researcher and Historian of Leiden University, Netherlands contributed to the guest talk series with his knowledge about reconstructing libraries and understanding the literary culture during the 9th-16th centuries, which were then dominated by the Arabic script. Manuscripts included various forms like commentaries, translations, poetry, drama, and so on.
He also spoke about how the Arabic script dominated various vernacular languages before the shift towards Sanskrit and Latin. he said that Manuscripts were costly and were primarily aimed at the scholarly group. An endoscopic analysis of a manuscript is done to get a general understanding of the type of texts found in libraries at the time.
He presented historical events as stories to elucidate his arguments and gave honest answers to the questions that were asked
The theme of NOVICE 2021 was inspired by Escher’s Belvedere building, aiming to embark upon the participants’ journey in the business fest.
Novice 2021 was a 6-day long intra-collegiate business festival exclusively for 2nd year students across all business and management undergraduate courses offered by our campus.. The participating students were able to master research skills, presentation skills, creativity, time management and gain exposure into the world of fests. A total of 9 exhilarating events were conducted during Novice 2021 namely– Best Manager, Business Quiz, Corporate Strategy, Entrepreneurship Development, Human Resources, Marketing, Public Relations, Service Management and Wealth Management.
NOVICE 2021 saw 220+ interested participants. Each event had an average of 16 teams with 18+ rounds over the course of 6 days. The fest started on 30th August 2021 and was brought to a ceremonious end with the Valedictory on 4th September 2021. The event-wise winners were announced by Dr Jyothi Kumar, Dean, CHRIST, Bannerghatta Road Campus. The Chief Guest for the event was Ms Akansha Srivastava who threw light upon the importance of acclimatising students to the corporate world through business fests like Novice
Novice 2021 concluded with the end of the Valedictory Ceremony.
The purpose of the session which was held on 18th September 2021, was to help the audience understand what consulting is as a profession and the benefits and selection processes involved. The speaker, Mr. Priyank Ahuja, is a product leader at Accenture. He is also a management consultant and marketing strategist.
He spoke about Learning the concept of Consulting and its key service areas, Understanding the career progression and an overview of the hiring process, Identifying key errors in resumes and creating profiles, how to get recruited by large consulting firms. and Understanding how to approach case statements and guesstimates through live examples
Dr Salome Divya Joseph, Assistant Professor and Faculty Coordinator of the Department of Psychology, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at SRM University, Amaravati was the guest speaker of the session 'Stress and Time Management' held on 3rd September 2021.
The nature of stress, its relation between the mind and body, coping strategies and the antecedents and consequences of stress were explained through a presentation, which was followed by the practice of mindfulness meditation and breathing exercise. The event ended with an interactive question and answer session.
Dissertation refers to a long and formal thesis paper students have to write, usually in their final year of higher education. 'Dissertation Diaries' is an hour-long periodic event held by Tafteesh where the CHRIST alumni are invited to share their undergraduate dissertation experiences, and it is aimed at helping and guiding students with their dissertations.
The first speaker was Raima Bhumik who narrated her experiences when she wrote a paper on 'Politics Behind Women Representation and Translation studies of Saadat Hasan Manto'.
The second speaker was Vaishna Raj who gave several tips and suggestions on how to work on dissertations and the significance of finding one's interests and narrowing them down to a specific research field.
The session concluded with the thought that dissertations were a process of error and correction.
The main aim of this event which was held on 7th September 2021, was to direct the students towards the Changing world - VUCA. The guest speaker Mr Sanjeev Arora, has been associated with ABB India ltd for almost two decades. He spoke about the 4 leading business areas of ABB today with 21 divisions. In which he spoke about Electrification (the future of mobility and infrastructure); Motion (driving energy efficiency movement); Process automation ( enabling safe, smart and sustainable operations); Robotics and discrete automation (accelerating adoptions of smart machines and flexible manufacturing).
Further, he added, that the crises have become the new normal and mankind has started to learn the disruptions like financial crisis, supply chain disruptions, corporate litigations, natural disasters and crises like now that is covid-19. In the long term, the speed of change of covid 19 is to strategize as post covid the economy has to emerge stronger.
Mr Arora also spoke about the future of work post-pandemic which will bring up the team collaborations and resilience
Design Thinking is a people-oriented process and helps to reinvent the business process. The primary purpose of the Design is Purpose & Objective. It is also used for problem-solving and human-centric design. This workshop which was held on 8th and 9th of September 2021 was an exchange of views between the guest speaker and students about the importance of Design Elements needed in the industry in our near future.
The seminar also helped students learn about various types of innovations, i.e., Transformational – Redefining the sector, Breakthrough- New customers, new business model, and Incremental- Greater Efficiency. The students gained an understanding of various strategies and why they are needed.
Bob the Builder hosted by E-Cell, BGR in collaboration with Institution’s Innovation Council was held across 4 days and all 5 campuses of Christ University. Participation from 135 teams across all five campuses was observed. The students participated with great sportsmanship and team spirit. Mock Stock, Auction, Internal Pitch, and Investor’s Pitch were the four events conducted.
The winning teams were judged by Mr Parmod Kamlani and Dr Lakshmy Priya K.
On 21st September 2021, a guest lecture was arranged by Dr Aishwarya N on the topic of “Cloud computing and impact on business Using AWS” for the students of 5FIB A & B section. The speaker of the session was Mr Senthilnathan Velu from Envestnet Yodlee Ltd, Bangalore.
The speaker interacted with the students on the topics of Cloud storage services, their implications on Industry 4.0 and data security in the cloud. He explained the different deployment models in cloud computing such as private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud and community cloud and elaborated on its pricing strategies.
The speaker discussed the Amazon web services suite and its features. He did a hands-on demo session on the various application on AWS and how young entrepreneurs can benefit from them. The discussion also ventured out into cloud security and how companies can protect sensitive information from hackers.
On September 20th, the Department of English and Cultural Studies organised an online conference on linguistics which was led by Dr Santosh Kumar of Christ(Deemed to be University). The conference was open to all and had an attendance of over 100 hundred Students and Professors. Dr Anik Nandi, the speaker of the event was a Researcher from Leiden University, Linguistics Centre.
Dr Nandi extensively went through his doctoral work on the Language Policies in Galicia. He began his presentation by focusing on the methods and methodology of his work and later shifted the presentation's focus on the individual case studies included in his paper. The presentation, therefore, covered both the theory and practical aspects of linguistics. Some key points of the presentation were Multilingualism and language hierarchy, the concept of Prestige in the context of languages, language governance and legislations, classroom language governance and parental language negotiations.
The Media Studies Association (MESTA) of CHRIST (Deemed to be University) BGR Campus, held its inaugural function on September 14th, 2021. The Chief Guest for the event was Dr Akhileshwari Ramgoud, a well-known journalist, who has published 30 research papers, is a freelancer, and has won five awards for professional excellence.
She talked about her various experiences as a woman journalist, from her days at Deccan Herald to her days outside India. Her publications include several papers on topics that people consider taboo such as women empowerment, poverty in the country, Dalit rights, etc. She deliberated over the problems women in the media face with regards to indifference in salary, the permanence of employment, etc.
CIRMUN 2021 was conducted on the 11th and 12th September 2021. Three committees of the United Nations were stimulated for this conference, namely – the Security Council, Human Rights Council and Economic and Social Council, with the intention to broadly categorise MUN skills, aptitude and knowledge into militaristic, humanitarian and economic. The conference was conducted on the Microsoft Teams platform for ease in operations.
Prior to the competition, 2 workshops were held for the members of the MUN wing titled Basics, Procedures and Protocols in a MUN and How to Research for a MUN and Drafting of resolutions. The conference ended with a closing ceremony on Monday, 14 September 2021.
The lecture on the topic ‘Transactional Analysis’ for 1sem BBH was held on 21st September 2021. The resource person Dr. Santosh V.A., Associate Dean, TKM Institute of Management, Kollam, Kerala, shared his insights on the complex concepts of psychoanalysis and the link between psychological and management-based theories.
Concepts such as ‘Ego State’ analysis and the ideas of ‘controlling parent’ and ‘adaptive child’ sentiments were also discussed in detail with examples.
The session started with the description and categorization of the HR department of IT organizations into three major categories of HR personnel namely, HRBP or HR Business Partners, HR Resources and HR Sourcing or recruitment. Aspects such as External sourcing, Internal sourcing and Purpose management were also discussed in detail. The resource speaker for the event which was held on 18th September 2021 was Ms Krishna R.Nair, Senior Team Lead, WFM, UST Global, Technopark, Trivandrum.
E contago conducted Eclicia, a three-day event, from 23rd to 25th September 2021, on promoting Sustainable Economic Development in collaboration with the CSA. Each round was aimed to promote the idea of sustainable business models as a viable venture in the current world.
Students were given the opportunity to critically analyse and evaluate policy briefs.
The first speaker was Ms Jazzmine Raine, Founder - Hara World, Social Entrepreneur, Facilitator who Raine emphasised sustainability as the future of business, having worked extensively for grassroots community development and social entrepreneurship programs. It is important for the local community to take the lead in creating an enabling platform for them.
The second speaker, Mr Mohd Jawaad Khan, Founder - Tadpole Projects, sought to revolutionise the conversion of Vintage cars to Electric vehicles. As the first Indian to retrofit a 1948 Beetle to an EV, he talked about the significance of using electric engines to create a greener environment. Sustainability has to be accessible to be impactful.
The third day sought to foster the entrepreneurial skills of the students and provide them with a chance to put forth their ideas. a total of 4 finalist teams presented their sustainable business models in front of a two-judge panel — Dr Padmini Ram and Mr Mohd Jawaad Khan.
Niche conducted a webinar on ‘9th of September 2021, titled Public relations & Media relationships’. The guest lecturer of the event was Ms. Shreya Rammohan, who is an alumnus of CHRIST University.
The guest speaker threw some light on the overview of PR; how it functions, what are the roles, building connections in a PR industry, differences between PR and advertising. She explained many roles associated with the PR industry; projects and promoting public opinions
On 23rd September 2021, a webinar was conducted on ‘Self branding for marketing’ with guest speaker Ms Sumanlatha, who is an HR by profession. She threw some light on the overview of branding; how it functions, what are the roles etc. and some tips on how should a person behave during an interview. She also shared her insights of building connections in a HR industry.
She explained many roles associated with the HR industry; projects, promoting public opinions
In commemoration of Gandhi Jayanti the BGR library displayed books on the Father of the Nation and his works. The one week display from 27th September to 2nd October was open to all the students, faculty and non-teaching faculty of the campus.
The Buddy learning program (BLP) held from 19th September to 26th September was a peer-learning initiative taken by the Media and communication wing of the Centre for Social Action. The event facilitated a platform for the volunteers to share their expertise and knowledge in a particular skill or field of knowledge with their peers. In this third edition of BLP, a few workshops were conducted and industry experts were invited to aid the instructors in their courses.
On 28th September 2021, a webinar on 'Career opportunities in public relations and strategies to enhance new-age skills' was held with resource person Ms Sumathi M Chari, Director and Sr. Partner at PRHUB Integrated Marketing Communication Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore. She enlightened the audience with her knowledge and vast experience in the fields of Public Relations. She talked about the importance of PR in contemporary times and the disruption in the PR industry. She also talked about the significant shifts in the evolution of the PR industry.
Further, she threw light on how digitalisation has changed the pattern of consumption of media and how it has revolutionised media and communication. Further, she discussed on the skill sets needed for people who aspire to get into the PR industry.
PATA India CHRIST University Student Chapter of Department of Tourism Management, SBM –BGR Campus, conducted an event named EXPRESS TO EXPLORE on 18 September 2021, with soft and complex aspects of adventure tourism as the topic. All the speakers briefly discussed the very concept of soft and challenging aspects of cultural tourism, and they added their insights for me the same. The event was about connecting with new cultures or new landscapes and being physically active at the same time
PATA India CHRIST University Student Chapter conducted a panel discussion on the Role of Technology in Sustainable Tourism as part of QRETA, A World Tourism Day Event Series on the 11th of September 2021.
The panel discussion covered various topics by eminent speakers regarding the role of technology in different layers for promoting sustainable tourism.
The guest speakers were Ms Florrianne D, Segment Marketing Manager at DOCOMO PACIFIC, Ms Carma Chan, Tourism Marketing Manager of PATA, Mr Ashok Jugran, Senior Vice President (Head India and Southeast Asia) at AccessFares, Mr Joseph K Jose, CEO and Co-Founder of Bookcab, Vice President and Head Wholesale of FCM Travel Solutions India. The moderator was Mr JC Wong, Program and Content Director at Talent Basket.
Stage Your Story
The event 'Stage Your Story' was conducted on 16th September 2021 as part of the QRETA event series, where ordinary people shared extraordinary experiences. Stories of incredible adventures, unbelievable surprises, and unexpected triumphs from different cultures were shared.
The first participant Mr Aratrik Dasgupta spoke about Matha Purulia and highlighted different attractions of the destination focusing on its cultural heritage and natural beauty. Following this Mr Yashwanth enlightened with the history of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and the culture of fishing and shopping along with its cuisine and cultural activities. Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ culture was beautifully presented by Ms Tanisha Pokarna. The participants were more informed about different tourism activities and lifestyle patterns of locals on the islands. Finally, Ms Kanishka Mukul shared an insightful presentation on Gujarat which is well known for its rich culture and scenic beauty.
On 21st September 2021, PATA India CHRIST University Student Chapter of Department of Tourism Management, SBM –BGR Campus, conducted Travel Trivia, a quiz event on UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES as part of QRETA- Breathe New Routes, A World Tourism Day Event Series. The quiz occurred in two rounds. 22 groups took an interest in the first round, in which eight groups got selected for the last game. The questions posed to the participants had teased their critical thinking and required them to shoot in the answers to win.
Mr John Savage gave insights on how customers are much more likely to complain about bad service than they are to compliment good service. Therefore, it is essential that all individuals working in this industry are aware of the possible complaints lodged by customers – and also know how to handle them in a professional, yet satisfactory manner.
This webinar on Effective Complaint Handling in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry as part of QRETA- A World Tourism Day Event Series on 20th of September.
TALK SHOW
Held on 25th September 2021, as part of QRETA, A World Tourism Day Event Series, the talk show principally featured the inclusive growth in the travel industry. Students had a ton of inquiries and the speaker, Mr Mohamed Farouk, Director, India Tourism, addressed each question and gave them his answers and shared his experiences and advice. The speaker posed a few questions, and the students who answered got rewards as well.
The final event celebrating World Tourism Day was with a webinar on Tourism for Inclusive Growth as part of QRETA - Breathe New Routes, A World Tourism Day Event Series on the 27th of September.
As part of the aim to restart tourism to help the pandemic lacerated world tide over the massive negative social and economic impact, the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has designated World Tourism Day 2021 as a day to focus on Tourism for Inclusive Growth. This was brought into discussion by our speakers and they highlighted the insights and importance for the same. Our esteemed speakers for the webinar were Mr Suresh Mangalassery and Mrs Siddhi Pendke.
The event which was held on 28th September had speaker Mr Celso Fraga, a psychotherapist, and entrepreneur from Spain. He emphasized the different milestones of psychotherapy-- knowledge of client, anamnesis, the appropriate selection of therapy toolkit, expansion of that toolkit, the importance of learning even as a therapist, and the need to remember that psychologists or psychiatrists are not superheroes, rather, they are a channel through which people get acknowledged with their problems.
The speaker began the session with the quote of Mahatma Gandhi to highlight what happiness actually is and how the present world of medical science perfection is approaching only the opposite of what happiness symbolizes. He also spoke about our obsession with medications to solve even the tiniest problems without catering to various alternative techniques like CAM practices which focus on energy therapies and remedies that cater to our own traditional roots. He gave examples of the Chinese as they have always understood the importance of herbal remedies for any sickness. Towards the end of the session, the speaker gave brief information on the various neurotransmitters, emotional intelligence, and the evolution of the concept- Neuroplasticity as it is believed that we are born with specific neurons in the brain and they can neither expand nor grow.
Prof. Dr Mathew Chandrankunnel CMI, Professor, Author, Scientist, Philosopher and Theologian, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore, India, was the guest speaker of the
session held on 14th September 2021. He introduced the basic concepts of Quantum physics and the various physicists and scientists who have proposed equations, postulates and theories that provided a foundation to quantum mechanics as a concept.
He proceeded to explain Schrodinger’s equation, which is one of the most important equations in physic and makes us know everything about a system if we can solve it. He also elaborated on how Neils Bohr believes that it is impossible to develop a language to describe “quantum reality” and that quantum theory forces us to choose a description from the ones developed in classical physics for a given situation.
The Collapse of the wave function was explained through the infamous Schrodinger’s cat experiment. Macrocosm & Microcosm – the Buddhist concept of Mandala were covered. Finally, the principles of Quantum Psycho-Religion Therapy (QPRT) and the core meaning of quantum healing were discussed.
The Dean of the Bannerghatta Road Campus, Dr Jyothi Kumar, gave an inspirational welcome address during the Psychology Association Inauguration held on 21st September 2021. This was followed by the unveiling of the new logo for the Psychology Association.
Head of the Department, Dr Vijayalaya Srinivas T addressed the students on the importance of the psychology association, in the functioning of the department as well as the benefits of working as part of the association. Dr Yogesh Kanna Sathyamoorthy discussed the responsibility of the association and the department as a whole having separated from the School of Business Studies and Social Sciences.
Dr Sarah Ghani discussed the calendar and the upcoming events for the association.
Sandra Jose of 5 PSYH welcomed the official new members of the Psychology Association and announced the team heads. The inauguration video was played, which was followed by a Vote of Thanks by Samreen Kaur, Student Coordinator for the Kengeri Campus.
On 30th September 2021, a workshop titled “Introduction to Indian Sign Language” presided and organised by Prof Chandan Kumar under the English and Cultural Studies Department, was directed towards the medium of sign language and draw societal parallels and linguistic parallels. The event was in regard to Sign Language Day.
Dr Andesha Mangla, Assistant Professor at the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) was the guest speaker. who enlightened on Preliminary comprehension of functional sign language and its necessity/implications, Comprehension of Iconicity, Timeline in ISL, Use of Space for Grammatical Purposes, Discourse Structure and Discourse Themes