ST. TERESA’S COLLEGE, ERNAKULAM (AUTONOMOUS)

BHOOMITHRA SENA CLUB

REPORT OF ACTIVITIES: 2018-19

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY CELEBRATIONS

BhoomithraSena Club of St. Teresa’s college celebrated World Environment Day on June 5,

2018 in the Platinum Jubilee Auditorium. Dr.M.KPrasad , well known environmentalist and

educator was the Chief Guest. Dr. Sajimol Augustine, the Principal welcomed the gathering

and Rev.Dr.Sr. Vineetha , the Director delivered the presidential address. To mark the

occasion the Principal handed over a sapling to ShihanaV.M( II BA Sociology).Delivering

the Environment Day message , Dr.Prasad spoke about his experience working for the Silent

Valley Movement. He also spoke about the dire need for reducing the use of plastics. He also

launched the “Ink Pen Challenge”( an effort to beat plastic pollution by using ink pen instead

of plastic pens) by handing out ink pen kits to three students- Bhavya K Narayanan( II BA

History), Renji George ( III BA Sociology) and CerineTreesaRussel(II BSc. Physics).

‘Beat the plastic’ programme was organized at the auditorium. The second and final year

students from the department of Botany, Zoology and Home Science participated in the

program.

The programme came to an end with a power point presentation of all the activities of the

BhoomitraSena Club of 2017-2018, prepared by Aaysha Ashraf, Sreelakshmi P.A. and

Jazima C.L.

A flash mob was organized as a part of the celebrations by the students from the Departments

of the French and Master of Travel and Tourism Management.

INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON “EMERGING TRENDS IN BIOPHYSICAL

RESEARCH AND CURRENT CHALLENGES IN ARTIC SEA MONITORING”

TheBhoomithrasena Club and Zoology Department hosted an International Seminar on

“Emerging trends in biophysical research and current challenges in artic sea ice monitoring,

on 13th July, 2018. The seminar was formally inaugurated by Dr.VishnuNandan, Scientist,

Cryosphere Climate research group, University of Calgary, Canada by handing over a sapling

symbolizing life to Principal Dr. Sajimol Augustine.

The seminar had four sessions handled by four eminent resource persons. The first session

was the keynote address by Dr.VishnuNandan, Cryosphere Climate research group,

University of Calgary, Canada. The topic handled was “Diminishing Artic sea Ice: Why

should we care about it? Current challenges in artic sea ice monitoring. The various research

options in Cryosphere Climate research was also discussed.

The second session was addressed by Dr. AnuGopinath, Assistant Professor,KUFOS on

“Organic matter characterization from Artic Fjord sediments.

“International cooperation in Artic Research –Opportunities and Challenges” was the topic of

the third session delivered by Dr. K Ajith Joseph, Executive Director, Nansen Environmental

Research Centre, KUFOS, Amenity Center,Kochi.

The final session was handled by Dr. NandiniMenon N, Senior Scientist, Nansen

Environmental Research Centre, KUFOS, Amenity Center, Kochi on “Remote Sensing and

marine phytoplankton –An introduction.

The seminar officially marked its end by a note of thanks by Dr. Meera Jan Abraham,

Associate Professor, Department of Zoology.

OZONE DAY CELEBRATION-2018

17th September 2018

Theme: Keep Cool and Carry On: The Montreal Protocol

TheBhoomitraSena Club in association with the Department of Chemistry of the college

celebrated Ozone day on 17th September 2018. The theme of the celebrations was Keep Cool

and Carry On: The Montreal Protocol.

A poster presentation competition was conducted for the students of the college on the day.

28 students from various departments of the college- Mathematics, Zoology, Home Science,

History, Chemistry, Communicative English etc participated in the competition which was

displayed in the Gym Plaza, Science block. The judgement of the posters was done by Dr. P.

Shaiju, Technical Staff, Department of Chemical Oceanography, Cochin University of

Science and Technology.

Students fixing their posters

Posters displayed to students

Dr.Shaiju P judging the posters

Dr.Shaiju P judging the posters

This was followed by a talk on “Keep cool and Carry On” by Dr. P. Shaiju, Technical Staff,

Department of Chemical Oceanography, Cochin University of Science and Technology. A

total of 76 persons including students and teachers attended the talk. The talk gave an outline

about what is Ozone, causes for ozone layer depletion and the historical scientific discoveries

which motivated scientist to study more about it. The talk also focused on various protocols

and amendments formulated for the protection of ozone layer. The talk also gave us valuable

information about how to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, how to choose

refrigerators which has reduced emission of greenhouse gases wisely for protecting our

environment etc. In short, the talk gave an overall idea about the importance of ozone layer

and the dangerous impacts it will have on biological life if its equilibrium is affected.

The audience during the talk

Dr.Shaiju P. interacting with audience

Dr.Shaiju P. interacting with audience

The winners of the poster designing competition was declared after the talk and

Dr.Shaiju P. distributed cash prizes to the winners. The following are the winners;

NizaKaladharan, III BA History

AADITHYA SALBI I MSc Chemistry

Dr.Shaiju P distributing prizes

FACULTY ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME

BhoomitraSena Cluband the department of Chemistry , jointly conducted a one-day seminar

for teachers on ‘Water recycling in campus, chemical waste management- challenges and

strategies’, on November 7, 2018 at St. Teresa’s college, Ernakulam.

The professor at Cochin University’s School of Engineering, Dr. G. Madhu addressed the

gathering. Dr. Sr. Vinitha, the director of St. Teresa’s college; Dr. Sajimol Augustine, the

principal; head of the Zoology department, Dr. Meera Jan Abraham (FIC, Bhoomitra club)

and Dr. Jaya T. Varkey gave informational talks.

PK3(Plastic Kurakkaam, Kurakkanam, KurachePattuu)

Nava Keralam, HarithaKeralathinayi

PK3 is a collective initiative of Bhoomitrasena Club of St. Teresa’s College, Ernakulam;

Suchitwa Mission and Mathrubhumi, towards empowering the vibrant youth to rise up to the

call for a new and green Kerala. This project aims at encouraging sustainable consumption

habits regarding plastic carry bags through a PK3 campaign - Plastic Kurakkkaam,

Kurakkanam,KurachePatooin Ernakulam district.. This project aims at building up a public

movement specially youth movement for a sustainable green model of rebuilding Kerala

which also includes a change in Bag Habits of citizens

The project is expected to have the following outcome

Reduction of plastic debris in Ernakulam district in particular and mitigation

of land, marine pollution in general

Paradigm shift in public attitude through development of a social norm where

using own carry bags is the accepted social behaviour instead of current bag

habits

Mobilisation of a youth collective, social network who will use social media

for implementation of concrete result oriented action projects.

Identification of development policy instruments, methodology for

implementation of result oriented social projects base on recent Nobel

prizewinning concepts of behavioural economics. This will be of special

significance to all levels of Government, NGO’s and agencies implementing.

INAUGURATION OF PK3

The official launching ceremony of PK3 was held on 15th December, 2018. Honourable

District Collector Sri Muhammed Y Safirulla inaugurated the project.

Students receiving Green Volunteer certificates from Collector

Launching of PK3 App

INAUGURATION OF TRAINING CENTRE AND TRAINING

PROGRAMME SERIES ON ALTERNATIVES TO PLASTIC CARRY

BAGS

The inauguration of the training centre of BhoomithraSena Club and STEP was held on 26th

November, 2018at the Arts BlockAuditorium.The training centre was set up with CSR

support from The Cochin Shipyard Ltd and Indian bank.It aims at sharing expertise in

manufacturing eco friendly alternatives to plastic/ rexine bags and pouches with SHGs from

various Local Governments thereby supporting their green protocol initiatives. Dr. Sajimol

Augustine(Principal, St. Teresa’s College, Ernakulam) welcomed the gathering. Sri.

Rajendran Nair, Technical Officer HarithaKeralam Mission inaugurated the function. Shri

YoosafA.K, Project Officer (CSR),Cochin Shipyard delivered the keynote address. Sri.

SijuThomas(District Coordinator, Suchitwa Mission) offered felicitation. Dr. Sr.

Vinitha(Director, St. Teresa’s College) honoured the chief guests.

Dr.NirmalaPadmanabhan(Assistant Professor, St. Teresa’s College, Ernakulam) proposed the

vote of thanks.

Following the inauguration a three day training programme on alternatives to

plastic carry bags was also conducted in the training centre.Around 18 Kudumbasree

members from the panchayaths of Mulavukad, Cheranelloor, Thuruthikkara, Mulanthuruthy,

Kunnukara attended the training.

Master Trainers for the Training Series

1. Mrs Thasneem K.S(Master trainer, STEP)

2. Shivaprbha G Kammath(Ist P.G. Resource Management and Interior Designing)

3. Angel A. P.(II B.Sc. Home Science)

4. Anuvindha S Shenoy.(II B.Sc. Home Science)

5. Swetha K. R.(Ist B.Sc. Physics)

6. Anusha M.A.(Ist B.Sc. Botany)

WMC-GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION PROJECT AWARD-

2018

BhoomithraSena Club was awarded FIRST PRIZE in the project competition under the level

category Institution (St.Teresa's College, Bhoomithra club) and the Project category 'Solid

and Liquid Waste Management' by the World Malayalee Council. The Award carries a

sum of Rs.100000/- (Rupees one lakh) with a citation. Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala

Sri PinarayiVijayan Presented the award at Global Business Summit held at Taj Gateway

Hotal, Marine Drive on 13th January, 2019,