Chandigarh girl's search for success begins at Google

The Post Graduate Department of English, St. Agnes College (Autonomous) organized COSMOPOETICA – a Two-Day International Poets Conference, transcending the boundaries of language and bringing together scholars from English, Hindi and Kannada languages. The key-note speaker was Dr Hima Urmila Shetty and the Panel of Experts included Maggie Harris, a Commonwealth short stories award winning poet of Broadstairs, Kent; Dr Kathryn Hummel, a visiting professor at IIT Hyderabad; Prof Raj Rao, acclaimed poet and novelist, former HOD of English, Savithribai Phule University; Lata Chouhan from Bangalore; Vijay Tiwari from Ahmedabad; Dr. Nagaveni Manchi, an acclaimed Poet and Professor, Govt College, Carstreet and Ms. Chandrakala Nandavara, former Principal of Ganapati PU College.

Dr Sr Jeswina A.C., the Principal; Dr Sr Maria Roopa A.C. the Superior and Dr Sr Vinora A.C., graced the occasion.

Dr Geralyn Pinto, the Staff Convenor; Dr Malini Hebbar, the HOD and Ananya Sneha the student Convenor organised the Conference.

The highlight of the Conference was the Poetry Workshop, Slam Poetry Competition in three languages and paper presentations on various aspects of poetry.

Overall the conference drew together poets and academicians to discuss poetry as a genre and practice with ignited minds.

The Alumni Association members along with the members of Women’s Cell organized a programme to celebrate Women’s day and felicitate the student achievers in various fields.

The programme began with a prayer song by the members of the Women’s cell. Among the dignitaries were Sr Dr M Jeswina A.C, Principal, St Agnes College, Mrs Geanette Dsouza, Vice President, Agnesian Alumni Association, Ms Vivid Dsouza, Convenor of the programme and Secretary Agnesian Alumni Association, Mrs Jyothi Cutinha, Joint Secretary Agnesian Alumni Association. 

The college president, Ms Jerusha Maben welcomed the gathering followed by a welcome dance. The student achievers of the college were honoured by the Agnesian Alumni Association;

Agnesian Outstanding Leader Award sponsored by Mrs Carol Pais in honour of her parents Mr Philip and Mrs Mariette Pais is awarded to Ms Jerusha Maben of III BCom.

Agnesian All-Rounder Award sponsored by Mrs Marjorie Texeira is awarded to Ms Anna Una Crasta of II MA English.

Agnesian Scholar Award sponsored by Dr Meera Aranha is awarded to Ms Shane Joveeta Jovet of III BCom.

Agnesian Best Sports Woman Award sponsored by Mrs Daisy Coelho is awarded to Ms Anusha K.J of III BSc.

Agnesian Best NSS Volunteer is awarded to Nerissa Clementina Noronha of III BCom.

Agnesian Best NCC Cadet Award (Army Wing) is awarded to CPL Melani Lobo of III BCom.

Agnesian Best NCC Cadet Award (Air Wing) is awarded to CWO Vanditha Anusha Dsouza of III BSc.

Sr Dr M Jeswina AC presided over the programme congratulated all the student achievers and wished them the best.

Mrs Carol Pais compered the programme and Ms Vivid Dsouza, Secretary of Alumni Association proposed the vote of thanks.

Mangaluru: Agnes Towards Community (ATC) is a five-year old project of social responsibility undertaken by St Agnes College (Autonomous), Mangaluru to give their students a taste for community service before they leave the portals of the College.  For this purpose the College has adopted five villages in the vicinity of Mangaluru, namely Harekala, Amblamogaru, Munnuru, Kotekar and Hosabettu.  The ATC programmes are undertaken on saturdays wherein all the final year students as guided by their staff members are given hands on experience of community interaction and service.  The four saturdays in a month are divided to plan, prepare, execute and evaluate the whole service exercise.

The year 2019-20 saw a major change in the format of the project. The Science and Arts faculty came together with projects based on the syllabus of study and apply it for their service learning activity.  This was done with the dual purpose of helping students to learn the topic practically in a real social set up and to identify and render useful scientific based practical solutions to the problems faced by the villagers.  

One such problem is water purity. Since water plays an important role in maintaining the human health and welfare, water quality testing is important because it identifies contaminants and prevents water borne diseases. In this regard, Departments of Chemistry and Microbiology took up a project on water analysis.   The major objectives of the project were: 1. To provide hands on experience on water analysis, a topic learnt by the students in their course of study.  2. To test the potability of water sources of the villages, so that the scientific and practical solutions can be provided, wherever needed.  

The first village chosen for the study was Amblamogaru.  The two batches of students (20 students in each batch) were led by Mrs.Prajwal Rao, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Ms.Smitha, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry. They were assisted by Ms.Hezil Saldanha, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry in carrying out the project. 

The water samples from different sources were collected in sterilised glass bottles. The students were enthusiastic in collecting water samples and also interacted with the village folk regarding the availability of drinking water supplies. The students under the guidance of faculty carried out the experiments in water analysis in Chemistry and Microbiology Laboratories at St Agnes College. This included testing for parameters such as pH, conductivity, total hardness and turbidity, presumptive, confirmed and completed Coliform test. From chemical analysis, it is found that all parameters satisfy the standards of potable water. Microbiological analysis showed that the water samples were potable for human consumption (No faecal contamination observed). 

The project has been envisaged to help the villagers to have recourse to the information on the results of the tests conducted. The water samples collected for the analysis were found to be potable for human consumption. If the water samples not been found to be potable, the departments had strategized to guide the villagers on useful scientific and practical solutions wherever needed.

This project of Agnes Towards Community (ATC) helped students to go beyond classroom learning, develop practical skills, disseminate knowledge and render service to the community. This activity also provided direct and relevant experiences to the students that deepened and enriched their learning abilities.