Guest Lecture

Webinar on ‘A Journey in Food Production’ The Webinar started with Chef Banshi Dhar’s introduction by Mr. Jitendra Choudhari. Chef Banshi shared his career journey with the students.He inspired the students by giving self example i.e. how did he climbed up the ladder of success from Commis III to Corporate Chef.He told students to be determined, disciplined,self motivated. He shared important points to be successful in the field of Food Production. The reality of long working hours was brought to the notice of the students. The physical & mental health importance was emphasized. While sharing his personal experience he explained that money matters in the life but running after money & changing the employers is not good career option. One should stick to the organization which is established & should prove oneself for the advancement in the organization. Chef Banshi also mentioned that working with good brands not only improves your market value but also gives career stability in one’s life. Chef Banshi has mastered various cuisines over a period of time. As far as being perfect or master in one cuisine he said one should be open minded & should not consider any task inferior. Doing small tasks perfectly leads to mastery in that cuisine. When asked about the questions asked in the interviews he informed what is expected out of them as a fresher at the time of interview. Be thorough with basics, costing related topics,confidence,excellent communication skills were the points highlighted by him. The session was very beneficial from students’ point of view. At the end of the session Mr. Jitendra Choudhari thanked him for guiding the students & sparing his valuable time. He also confirmed to be associated with the students & St. John College in future.

Webinar on ‘New Trends in Food Industry’ The Webinar started with Mr. Anurag Trehan’s introduction by Mr. Jitendra Choudhari. Mr. Anurag Trehan explained about the process of manufacturing ready to use food items. He shared his expertise in the field of Managing the QSR. The presentation conducted of the new concepts which are there in the market. His extensive travel experience was shared with the students. The saying ‘ Learn to travel & Travel to learn’ is very true. His experience in the management of multi brand food group also was shared by him. The acumen required to run the business successfully was shared by him. The difference between managing Hotel Operations & QSR, Multiple brands food group was explained by him. He made aware students about job opportunities in other departments like sales & marketing.Mr. Anurag explained how the ready to use food is effective in today’s world from customer point of view.The usage of ready to use food not only reduces the labour cost but also cuts down other costs related to operations like electricity, rent, rates, etc.The webinar ended with a thank you speech by Mr. Nelson Pereira.

Webinar on “Significance of Critical Inquiry in Social Sciences” The B.A. Department organised this Webinar on 15th September 2021 from 11:10 am-12:10 pm The session began with Ms. Silima D’abreo, faculty of Arts Department welcoming the participants and introducing the resource person. The resource person, Dr. Ravi Shankar Mishra, the faculty of Sociology in Arts Department conducted the webinar using the online platform Google Meet. Dr. Ravi Shankar Mishra started by giving an introduction to the structure of his presentation, where he divided the Presentation into four broad topics:1. What do we mean my “Critical Inquiry”/ “Critical Thinking”?2. Origin and History of Critical Thinking/ Critical Perspective in Social Sciences3. Frankfurt School and Critical Inquiry4. Application of Critical Inquiry5. Conclusion In the first topic, the speaker explained the literal meaning of critical inquiry/critical thinking and explained the various associated terms, such as criticism, critique and critic. He also delineated here the characteristics of critical thinking. The speaker then proceeded to the origin and historical development of the critical perspective in social sciences. He traced the development of this perspective from the prominent first-generation critical thinkers in social sciences, such as Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, a second-generation thinker-Jurgen Habermas to the third-generation theorists, such as Klaus Offe, Jose Fruchtl, Klaus Gunther, Alex Honneth etc.. He discussed briefly the main currents of their thoughts. Then he discussed the contributions of the Frankfurt School in developing the critical thinking/critical inquiry and what “critical thinking” meant for them. He concluded that sociologists using the critical orientation seek to change not just society but also the character of research itself. Researchers and subjects use their findings to provide a voice for less powerful people and to advance the political goal of a more equal society. In the next part, the speaker demonstrated the students the use/applicability of the critical thinking/critical thinking by taking examples from the sociological phenomena that sociologist analyse, such as industrialization, modernization, globalization ethnocentrism etc. In this regard, he discussed the phenomenon of industrialization and analysed its constructive or positive aspects as well as the negative aspects. This gave the students a hands-on experience to further use this tool to analyze any other social phenomena for their future academic engagements. In the conclusion, he summarized some of the important features of critical thinking. Critical thinking thus asks questions about any phenomena or events that are clear and easily understood. It helps in listening to others’ views and opinions. It distinguishes between fact and opinion. It weighs all evidences, distinguishes relevant from irrelevant information. It draws inferences and logical conclusions based on evidences. It organizes and classifies ideas and evidence. It identifies underlying assumptions, distinguishes hypotheses from evidence. Above all, it recognizes a variety of political, social, cultural, and personal perspectivesAfter the session, Dr. Ravi Shankar Mishra, himself invited the students for a brief session of questions form the participants. The questions were answered to the questioners’ satisfaction. The event was attended by 20 participants. The event received positive feedback from the participants. After the question-answer session, the webinar concluded with a vote of thanks by Ms. Silima D’abreo to the resource person, principal sir, technical team and the participants

A report on seminar on Exploring Raspberry Pie: The Micro Computer A seminar on “Exploring Raspberry Pie: The Micro Computer” was organized by the department of B.Sc.(I.T) on Monday, 06th September, 2021. The total 35 students have participated from S.Y. B.Sc. (I.T.). The seminar commenced with the introduction of Raspberry Pie and explained the objectives and importance of the seminar. The motive behind conducting this seminar was to introduce the basic idea about Raspberry Pie and using Raspberry Pie how students can able to create thousands of different projects and applications. The Raspberry Pie is a credit-card sized computer. It can be plugged into your TV and a keyboard, and can be used for many of the things that your average desktop does -spreadsheets, word-processing, games and it also plays high-definition video an open-source prototyping platform in electronics based on easy-to-use hardware and software flexible enough for advanced users. It runs on Linux. The session started with keynote description on Raspberry Pie board and then Application of Raspberry pie by Mrs. Rojal Rodrigues, (M.E, EXTC). The session was conducted for two hours. It provided the insights of how students use Raspberry Pie board to build low cost scientific instruments, to prove chemistry and physics principles, or to get started with programming and robotics. The goal behind seminar was to create awareness of low cost device that would improve programming skills and hardware understanding for students. Participants were indeed curious to provide various solutions.

Webinar on Emotional Intelligence and Professional Success A webinar entitled ‘Emotional Intelligence and Professional Success’ was organized by the department of Arts, St. John College of Humanities and Sciences, Palghar, Maharashtra on August 25, 2021.Mr. Saurabh Chauhan introduced the resource person Dr. Vijay Songire in the beginning. In the beginning the speaker highlighted the significance of emotions in human life and their connection to Emotional Intelligence. The session covered essential aspects of Emotional Intelligence: Self Awareness, Social Awareness, Relationship Management, and Self Management. The importance of EI was highlighted and how it helps us in each segment of life. It is conveyed that Emotional Intelligence can be improved by analysing one’s own behaviour and following the strategy. The guidelines are given at the end to improve EI.Most importantly, as a strategy for well-being five minutes breathing exercise was also taken which was enjoyed by all the participants. Meanwhile, the students responded to the questions asked by the speaker. Mr. Saurabh Chauhan extended the vote of thanks at last. Total 26 students joined the session. At the end,the feedback form was filled.