Department of Biotechnology

• Workshop on soft skills: POWER HOUR with Prof. Jaspreet Kaur 

To teach students core skills to help them gain expertise in their subjects, it is equally important to teach them soft skills so that they can communicate effectively their subject knowledge. As part of an effort to enhance these skills, the Department of Biotechnology in association with IQAC organized one-day workshop on Soft Skills “Power Hour” topic on 14th March 2023, for students. The workshop started with a welcome speech by Dr. Nipunjot Kaur, Head, Department of Biotechnology who acknowledged the main guest Dr. Jaspreet Kaur and all other participants among whom were faculty Mr. Amandeep Singh, Ms. Diksha Garg, Dr. Rosy Bansal and Ms. Gaganpreet Kaur and students of Biotechnology, Chemistry, Food Processing & Engineering and Mathematics and introduced them to the topic of discussion. The main aim of this workshop was to provide guidance for students regarding the development of soft skills so that they can express their subject skills effectively in today’s competitive world. During the workshop, Dr. Jaspreet Kaur shared her insights into the importance of communication and how it can be used to build relationships, create trust, and foster collaboration. The workshop was a great success and the students were highly appreciative of the knowledge and skills they acquired. The Department of Biotechnology and IQAC are committed to providing students with the necessary skills to help them succeed in their professional and personal lives. Dr. Dharminder Singh Ubha, the College Principal, acknowledged the effort of the department in organizing an event that would boost the skills of the students. He also expressed his hope that such events would continue to be organized in the future in order to help students develop their skills and knowledge.

• Three day workshop on Microbial Technology

A Three days’ workshop on “Microbial Techniques” was recently conducted by the Departments of Biotechnology and Agriculture. Students from the agriculture department attended the workshop, who were accompanied by their teachers Ms. Arshpreet Kaur and Mr. Neeldhari Singh. Workshop began with an introductory lecture by Dr. Arpit Sharma, who explained the program schedule for the three-day event. During the first day, Mr. Amandeep Singh discussed how microbes interact with soil to maintain nutritional value for plants. As a result of his assistance, students will gain a better understanding of how these organisms interact with each other and with the environment around them. He has taught students how to isolate rhizobia, azotobacter and other microorganisms from soil samples. On the second day, Ms. Diksha Garg demonstrated the experiment and taught the students how to observe bacterial colonies and determine their properties and identification. On the third day, the head of the biotechnology department, Dr. Nipunjot Kaur, shared insights into the calculation aspect of microbiological techniques and how they can be applied in agriculture. Attending the workshop allowed students to learn new techniques.

• Educational Visit to Jaypee University of Information technology, Waknaghat, Solan

Department of Biotechnology organized an educational visit to Jaypee University of Information Technology Waknaghat, Solan, Himachal Pradesh for the students of Biotechnology. The students were led by Dr. Nipunjot Kaur, Head of the Department and Dr. Arpit Sharma. The main objective behind the visit was exposure of UG students to make them aware about how various research and teaching activities related to microbiology, molecular biology, plant biotechnology, environmental biotechnology, biogas production and sophisticated instrumentation. Different sessions were organized to make the students aware about the research facilities and laboratories. In the introductory session, students were guided by Dr. Rahul Shrivastava along with Dr. Abhishek. Dr. Rahul Shrivastava provided visit to biotechnology department and orientation about research and teaching facilities were provided by Dr. Abhishek. After introduction, all students were taken to respective research labs that helped them to understand the research work going on the respective labs. Students took almost three hours to see all laboratories and complete set of instruments which was followed by questions of students. The students were then taken by Dr. Abhishek to Biogas facility, where they were explained about working and science involved in biogas production along with live demonstration of the facility and its usage.

• Participation in Inter-College Science Fair

Students of Khalsa College Patiala participated in Inter-College Science Fair held at Multani Mal Modi College Patiala. Total of 12 students of Khalsa College comprising of 5 teams participated in Poster and Model making competition. The students were benefitted through sharing and exchanging of innovative ideas which helped them to understand the scientific concepts beyond curriculum. Moreover, students learned the process of teamwork and cooperation and get the sense of competition through participation. Out of all the entries in the competition, students of Khalsa College Patiala outshined with flying colours by bagging top Positions as the First prize in Poster competition bagged by Sushamjot Kaur and Prabh Simran Singh, Second prize in Static model Competition by Gurpreet Singh, Navdeep Singh and Harpreet Kaur of B.Sc. I Honours Biotechnology, Third prize in Static model Competition by Harmeet Kaur, Kamalpreet Kaur of B.Sc. III Honours Biotechnology and Prabhjot Singh of B.Sc. I Honours Biotechnology and Consolation prizes by Mannat Dhaliwal, Lovepreet Kaur of B.Sc. I Honours Biotechnology and Gurmukh Singh and Jagpreet Singh of B.Sc. II Honours Mathematics. College Principal Dr. Dharminder Singh Ubha, acknowledged the zeal and enthusiasm of students for participating and emphasized that activities like these could help them to have a better understanding of scientific concepts and play a pivotal role in overall development of the students.   
     

• Biotech Start-up Expo- 2022 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

9 June 2022

Department of Biotechnology, Government of India organised India’s first Biotech Starup Expo 2022 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi in association with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), India on 9-10 June 2022. Two faculty members, Mr. Amandeep Singh and Dr. Arpit Sharma of Department of Biotechnology, Khalsa College Patiala along with their four students participated in the event.

• International Conference on “Biotechnological Interventions to Overcome the Challenges of Covid/Post-Covid Era (BIOCoPE-2022)”

24-25 March 2022

International Conference on “Biotechnological Interventions to Overcome the Challenges of Covid/Post-Covid Era (BIOCoPE-2022)”; at Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur, INDIA. Dilpreet Kaur of B.Sc. II Honours Biotechnology secured first position in the competition.

• Science workshop on the occasion of National Science Day

28 February 2022

On 28 February 2022 Biotech Society, Department of Biotechnology and IQAC, Khalsa College Patiala organizes a Science workshop on the occasion of National Science Day in collaboration with Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, JayPee University of Information technology, Waknaghat, Solan in Khalsa College Patiala. The workshop was arranged for students to enhance their knowledge in the field of biotechnology. A total of 40 students along with faculty of the department participated in the workshop. In her welcome address, Dr. Nipunjot Kaur, Head, Department of Biotechnology gave the importance of such workshops in current scenario. Dr. Dharminder Singh Ubha, Principal, Khalsa College encouraged students about participation in the workshops and highlighted the importance of generations of scientific temperament among students. Dr. Sudhir Kumar, Professor and Head, Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, JayPee University of Information Technology, presented the applications of biotechnology in various fields. He also explained students about the scope of biotechnology and various scholarship programs for further studies. Thereafter, Dr. Sudhir Kumar along with their faculty members Dr. Hemant Sood, Dr. Jata Shankar, Baleshwar Shukla (laboratory staff), PhD Scholars Monika, and Sargeet Kaur gave technical sessions in which students were given hands on experiences on various techniques of biotechnology. Dr. Sudhir Kumar enlightened students about microbiological techniques to identify different types of cultures without using microscope in a very easy and effective manner. Dr. Hemant Sood, clarified students about techniques of tissue culture technology to propagate plants in artificial conditions in labs. Dr. Jata Shankar, explained students about PCR technique to amplify DNA for process of cloning and genetic testing kits for identification of unknown organisms. The PhD Scholars demonstrated the techniques explained by Dr. Jata Shankar to the students and clarified their concepts about practical experience.

• “2^nd International Virtual Seminar on Recent Trends in Life Sciences and Biotechnology”

12-18 December 2021

The real purpose of the teachers is not only to teach students about the curriculum but to make them competent across the globe and to enhance their overall personality. Keeping this in mind, Students of Department of Biotechnology, Khalsa College Patiala participated in Seven days “2^nd International Virtual Seminar on Recent Trends in Life Sciences and Biotechnology” from 12-18 December 2021 organized by International Association of Zoologists (IAZ) and Siddhi Artha Group of Education (SAGE) collaboration with Department of Biotechnology, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana-Ambala, Haryana. In spite of the hard work faced by them during their final exams, departmental students perform exceptionally well among the other participants and grabbed Gold and Silver medal in the event. We are blessing our students to keep shining like this in all the phases of life. Out of the total entries from 35 universities and 21 states of the country, Dilpreet Kaur of B.Sc. II Honours Biotechnology secured first position and grabbed gold medal and Mannat Dhaliwal of B.Sc. II Honours Biotechnology secured second position and grabbed silver medal in oral presentation.

• Inter Institutional Science Fair, Multani Mal Modi College Patiala

14 October 2021

On 14 October 2021, students of Department of Biotechnology, Khalsa College Patiala, participated in Inter Institutional Science Fair held at Multani Mal Modi College Patiala. Inspite of the participation from different colleges of Patiala, Aarzoo and Kushwinder Kaur of B.Sc. II honours Biotechnology, Khalsa College Patiala secured second position in Static model presentation.

• “Poster making competition” on the occasion of “World Nature Conservation Day”

28 July 2021

Department of Biotechnology in collaboration with IQAC organized an inter departmental “Poster making competition” on the occasion of “World Nature Conservation Day” to encourage students about the conservation of natural resources which make our earth a place worth living. Students of different departments actively participated in the event. Out of the entries, Kanupriya of B.Sc. II Honours Biotechnology bagged first position for the poster. Manjot Kaur of B.Sc. II Non-Medical secured second and Kamalpreet Kaur of B.Sc. II Honours Biotechnology secured third position for poster. Through their creative mindset, students well described about the current threats the environment like deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, pollution, using plastics and chemicals and explain about factors responsible for depletion of natural resources. Dr. Dharminder Singh Ubha, Principal, GSSDGS Khalsa College Patiala appreciated the innovative performance of students and said that the initiative taken by the department would inculcate in the students a sense of competition as well as a desire to take care of the environment. He also said that making the earth clean and beautiful is the basic duty of every human being. If we don't take care of the environment then the day is not far when we may face natural wrath. Dr. Nipunjot Kaur, Head, Department of Biotechnology fortified students on their participation and highlighted the importance of practicing sustainable living and of mindful use of natural resources.