National Symposia/ Webinars

2023

Two-Day National Symposium on “Potential of Start-ups in the field of Biological Sciences-Start-up Awareness”, held on 12th and 13th September 2023

Day 1: 12-09-23: The Department of Zoology of Deshbandhu College organized the National Symposium to encourage and educate the youths of the college and other colleges as well as universities about the entrepreneurship and basics of start-ups. The inaugural session of the event started with Saraswati Vandana followed by Kulgeet of the University of Delhi. The Convener of the Symposium, Dr. Sandhya Rai presented a thoughtful opening note and enthused the students about startup ideas in the field of Biology and emphasized “Nature as an inspiration approach”. Then, the Teacher-in-Charge, Prof. Indrakant Kumar Singh delivered a welcome address. The Principal Sir, while addressing the gathering of around 200 participants encouraged the students to think out-of-the-box and make “Bharat as Global Leader”. Prof. D. S. Chauhan, Chairman of, the Governing body of the college addressed the participants stating the fact that we have to become rich not at an individual level but all together and that’s how we can complete our journey from developing to a developed country.

The Chief guest, Sh. Rakesh K. Rai, Director, Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India emphasized that MSMEs have made significant contributions to economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction, making it a vital pillar of our economy. The Guest of Honor, Prof. Payal Mago, Chairperson of SEC Committee, DU delivered information about the human resources of India and gave an insight about the entrepreneurship aspect of Genomics.  Dr. R. K. Bharti, Joint Director, Ministry of MSME, GOI enthused the students to find themselves and explained the 4-Ds: Desire, Direction, Discipline and Dedication which is the key for innovation and success. The Distinguished guest, Dr. Garima Gupta, Head of DBT Star College Scheme enlightened the students about biotechnology aspects of innovation as well as start-up and informed them about various schemes by GOI for funding support. Dr. Aditya Saxena, IQAC Co-ordinator, concluded the session by highlighting that better resource management is the key.

Dr. Naveen K. Patle, Additl. Commissioner (Horti.) & Executive Director, National Bee Board, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt. Of India, delivered a keynote lecture about how horticulture can be a path towards entrepreneurship & educated about how market works in the field of horticulture products, especially honey.

Sh. Rajiv Nath, Deputy General Manager, National Small Industries Corporation Technical Services

Centre, MSME, enlightened the students about dignity of labor and pointed that success in entrepreneurship involves 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

Sh. Gaurav Agarwal, Assistant General Manager, State Bank of India gave the financial aspects for startups, and make the conception clear about grants, fund raise, marketing, sales, investors etc. He also spread the awareness about various government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna, Standup India and their eligibility criteria.

Ms. Shubhangi Singh, founder of the start-up Golden Millets, the most innovative startup of 2022 and one of the sponsors shared her journey and enlightened students the importance and future of the millets.

Day 2: 13-09-23: Day 2 of National Symposium, also witnessed the sagacious entrepreneurs and enthusiastic students. It started with the engaging lecture by Prof. Pawan K. Dhar from School of Biotechnology, JNU. Besides being an excellent scientist in the field of genetics, he co-founded a start- up named Clearmeat, an in-vitro meat culture startup along with production of Foetal -Bovine-Serum named ClearX, a start-up that focusses on eliminating animal sacrificing. He gave the key points of a start-up as : idea, Team, Marketing, Ability to sell. Then we moved ahead to sweet success story of Mr. Jigar Mehta, Cofounder and CPO of Honey Twigs, one of the sponsors. He started by sharing his inspiring story of the idea of Honey Twigs. He also mentioned about the different marketing strategies and filling the market gap.

Dr. Mahesh Dhar (IOT Healthcare Foundation), an alumnus of Dept. Of Zoology, DBC talked about the start-up opportunities in the field of biotechnology as it is one of the most evolving sectors across the globe. He elaborated about BIRAC and different schemes such as Unati Biotech.

Another alumnus of DBC, Co-founder & Director of Leucine Rich Bio, Dr. Debojyoti Dhar, National Start- up Winner 2021, described the stages of academic and financial status of a student. He spread the awareness about significance of gut microbiome and enthuse the young buds about integrity, patience and risk-taking ability.

Dr. Sapna Ratnakar, Founder, Cordygem Agro farm drawn everyone’s attention with her inspiring story of startup, which was the clear example that opportunities are always there we just have to research more and work hard to turn those into innovations. She advised students to go for the small startups first to figure out one’s field of interest.

Co-convener Dr. Sourav Singh Deo delivered a vote of thanks. Dr. Jitendra Kumar and Dr. Vineeta Kashyap were also the Co-conveners of the event.

All the speakers were great and could deliver engrossing talks that were very helpful for the students. After each and every talk, speakers answered the queries and questions of the inquisitive participants with full zeal and satisfaction.

This National Symposium served as a platform for sharing knowledge, fostering collaboration, and inspiring innovation in the field of biological sciences start-up ecosystem. It highlighted the importance of ethical considerations, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strategic planning for success in this dynamic field. The key mantra was being atmanirbhar and to be a job provider rather than job seeker. The future of biological sciences starts- ups looks promising, with ample opportunities for those willing to tackle challenges and push the boundaries. As this sector continues to evolve, it will be exciting to witness the transformative impact of these start-ups in healthcare, agriculture, environment and many more.

The event of National Symposium on startup awareness was successful and Students gave excellent feedback.

Live workshop on “Role of a citizen in biodiversity conservation”

The first live  virtual workshop was organized by the Department of Zoology, under the aegis of IQAC and DBT Star College scheme held online on Google Meet e-platform in July 2020, during lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic. The workshop titled “Role of a Citizen in Biodiversity Conservation” was mentored by Mr. Akshay Dwivedi, a biodiversity extraordinaire and a alumnus of the Department. 

The workshop was  Co-ordinated by Dr Varsha Baweja, Teacher-in-Charge, Department of Zoology, and was patronized by Dr Rajiv Aggarwal, Principal, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi. 

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Webinar on Covid -19, on May 06, 2020

The Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College, organized a webinar on Covid-19 in collaboration with Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences Research University (DPSRU) on May 06, 2020 at 3pm on Google Meet e-platform. Dr Sunil Kayesth, and Dr Kamal K Gupta of Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College were Convener and Co-convener respectively.  The webinar was supported by Dr Ramesh K Goyal, Honorable Vice Chancellor, DPSRU, Dr Veeranoot Nissapatorn, Associate Prof., Walailak University, Thailand, Dr Rajiv Aggarwal, Principal, Deshbandhu College and Dr Varsha Baweja, Teacher-in-Charge, Department of Zoology, University of Delhi. and was held under the aegis of IQAC, Deshbandhu College. 

On this occasion, Dr Pratap Chauhan, The Director of Jiva Ayurveda and Prof Swati Patra, School of Social Sciences, IGNOU, New Delhi, shared their  insight knowledge about the psychology, precautions and prevention of Covid-19 infection. Two eminent speakers enlightened the participants by suggesting various ways to boost the immune system and to remain healthy. 

The webinar was the need of the hour with prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation and had more than 450 enthusiastic  participants from colleges and universities around the globe. 

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Webinar on World environment day, June 06, 2020

On occasion of World Environment Day, a national webinar was organized by Department of Zoology, on June 06, 2020 at 3pm on Zoom platform, under the aegis of DBT Star College project and IQAC. Dr Manisha Sengar and Dr Varsha Baweja, of Department of Zoology, Desbandhu College were Co-Convener and Convener of the event. Dr Rajiv Aggarwal, Principal, Deshbandhu College was Patron of the webinar. 

The two Keynote speakers of the webinar were Dr. Pawan Kumar Bharti Chauhan, environmental scientist and a name in Limca book of records & India Book of record and Dr. Faiyaz Ahmad Khudsar, wildlife biologist and scientist-in-charge, Yamuna Biodiversity park, Delhi. Both the eminent speakers focused on the importance and conservation of the biodiversity.

The webinar was attended by over 100 participants including students and faculty members from all over India. 

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National E-Symposium on “Food Safety and Health” 

  The Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi under the aegis of DBT Star College Scheme and IQAC had organized National E-Symposium on Food Safety and Health on September 19, 2020 on Zoom platform. The Convener and Co-convener were Dr Varsha Baweja, and Dr Moses Rinchui of Department of Zoology, Deshabndhu College. Dr Rajiv Aggarwal, Principal, Deshbandhu College, was the Patron of the event.  

The e-symposium was unique in its way that it two sessions. The invited talks were held in in first half and activities for participants in second half after the lunch.

The Keynote speakers were Dr. Eram S Rao is an Associate Professor and HOD, Department of Food Technology, BCAS, University of Delhi, Dr. Sanu Jacob, the Director, FSSAI, Government of India and Dr. Sheetal Gupta, the Deputy Director FSSAI – Western region, India.

Followed by gripping talks, Culinary Art and E-Quizz Competitions were also held which too was well attended. Overall all the sessions were very informative and enriching for all.

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The Department of Zoology has organized SIX National Symposia over the last 7 years.

Third National Symposium on “Environment: Challenges Generation Next”  was organized by Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi on March 03, 2017.