Volume 9 : Issue 5 : November 2017 NEWS LETTER AMRITA SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING Bengaluru Kannada Rajyotsava 1st November 2017 Kala Week 30rd October to 1st November 2017 Dance Competition 3rd November 2017 Workshop by Amrita Darshanam 16th November 2017 Dhanlaxmi - 91 28th November 2017 School Highlights Kannada Rajyotsava Celebrations The School hosted the 62nd Kannada Rajyotsava Celebrations on 1st November 2017. The celebrations commenced with the flag hoisting by Dr. Nagaraja S.R., Chairman, Dept. of ME, ASE-B which was followed by an inspiring talk that focused on the influence of culture and language of Karnataka and Kannada by Mr. Sanketh M. Bhat (S7- CSE), who also highlighted the sacrifices and struggles involved in the state’s unification. The cultural programs began with melodious classical performances from representatives of Raaga, the music club. The prolificacy of Kannada and the evolution of literature were enlightened through a Power Point presentation by Srinidhi V.Bhat (S3- ECE). His presentation educated the audience about the various poets and Jnanapeeta Award recipients from Karnataka. Soon after, Ms. Nitya (S3-ECE) performed a Bharatanatyam piece to some classical tunes after which Ms. Ankitha Rao (S3-ME) exhibited the famous dance form of Kuchupudi. To cap off the cultural performances, Narthana club’s representatives got the crowd jubilant with an energised dance performance to familiar tunes from famous age-old Kannada movies. Mr. Shivappa,Warden, Boys Hostel took to the stage and spoke about the importance of developing the land of Karnataka while urging the youngsters in the crowd to promote the language as well. Finally, Mr. Krishna, Exam Cell representative humorously recited a few poems he had composed to celebrate the occasion. The celebrations ended on a positive note with the events inculcating a good spirit in thestudents and also reminding them about the various steps they can take to help spread the language. November 2017 PAGE 1 School Highlights Kala Week Kala, the fine arts club commemorated ‘Kala Week’ from the 30th of October to 1st of November 2017 at Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru. The first event of the week, held on the 30th of October 2017, was a painting workshop. The workshop was presided over by Mr. M. Vishnu (S5-ME), Secretary, Kala along with Mr. Bharat Vinayagam (S5-ME), Joint Secretary, Kala with able support from the members of Kala. The workshop was divided into four segments. The first segment focused on teaching basic brush strokes using a single colour. The participants were then asked to fill a rectangular box with a single colour and were taught fading brush strokes. After this, the participants were required to do the same exercise with two different colours. On a concluding note, the students painted the picture of a tree using all the techniques learnt during the session. It was a fun filled event which saw active participation from students of all years and had Mr. Shankar Kumaran, Dept. of Cultural Education, actively taking part in all the activities. The second event of the week was hosted on the 31st of October 2017. The objective of this session was to teach the art of sketching of a human body. The participants were told to sketch a human face of their choice, out of which three were selected. As a fun activity, the selected sketches were anthropomorphized and a story was developed around them. Following this, the art of sketching the body one part at a time was explained. The techniques used to draw hands, legs, torso, shoulders in a realistic manner were also explicated. The third event of Kala week hosted on 2nd November 2017 focussed on ‘3D Modelling’. The event was hosted by Mr. M Vishnu and Mr. Bharat. The session commenced with Mr. Vishnu giving a brief introduction to 3D modelling, its necessity and its applications. The attendees were also briefed about the importance of 3D modelling in the fields of CAD (Computer Aided Design), Virtual Reality, and gaming. The participants were also familiarized with various software used to generate models. The process of manipulating polygons, edges, and vertices in simulated 3D space like Autodesk or SketchUp was explicated. The event culminated with the organizers detailing some of the career opportunities in the field of 3D modelling. Overall, Kala week was a success and succeeded in providing the students with an insight into the various fields and forms of art. Curiosity The Quiz Club, in association with Aavishkara, the Science and Humanities forum hosted ‘CURIOSITY’, a science quiz on the 2ndof November 2017 at Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru. Contestants were allowed to participate in teams of utmost 3. The participating teams were briefed about the rules of the Quiz by Mr. Sai Aditya (S5-ECE).The quiz comprised of 20 questions related to various fields of study in science, and eminent scientists. Curiosity was the fourth event of The Quiz League, a tournament of quizzes held by the club, at the end of which the winners would be declared based on their cumulative score. The questions were intriguing and enthralled the participants. The participants were provided with the solutions to the questions and were thanked for their involvement. The event concluded on a high note with the participants looking forward to other such events. November 2017 PAGE 2 School Highlights Inter-Department Dance Competition Narthana, the Dance club of ASE - Bengaluru, conducted their flag- ship event, the Inter-Department Dance Competition on the 3rd of November 2017. Mr. Prasen Moudgal (S5-EIE) set the ball rolling by introducing the teams for the day soon after which Ms. Aparna Pallavaraja (S5 -CSE), Joint Secretary, Narthana welcomed the teams onto the stage. A total of nine teams battling for the title mesmerized the gathering with their impressive dance moves. The performances from the boys and girls teams from various departments then followed. The performances were greeted with loud cheers of encouragement, from the audience who supported their respective departments with a lot of zeal. Each dance was judged based on choreography, synchronization, message conveyed and an overall visual appeal. The panel of judges comprised of Ms. Jyotsna. G.S. from Dept. of English and Ms. Paromita Sharma from CIR Department. At the end of the performances, the judges took to the stage and adjudged the ECE department as the winners in both the boys and girls categories. Dept. of EEE & ME (combined) bagged the second place in the girls’ category while Dept. of ME became runners- up in the boys’ category. The event witnessed a huge turnout and loud cheers as each team performed to some familiar tunes. The contest was a celebration of dance and also encouraged competitive spirit. The event ended on a high note with the organizers thanking everyone for their involvement and the students looking forward to many such competitions. November 2017 PAGE 3 School Highlights Workshop by Amrita Darshanam Amrita Darshanam, International Centre for linguistic approach to philosophical problems of Spiritual Studies, organized a one-day workshop on epistemology and ontology, and demonstrated how ‘Philosophy of Language: Reading of the these problems were ‘dissolvable’ by the employment Brahmakā ṇ ḍ a of Bhartṛ hari’s Vā kyapadīya,’ on 16th of such a unique approach. He also showed how November 2017 at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bhartṛ -hari’s was a “perspectivist’s” philosophy and Bengaluru Campus. The workshop was attended by drew attention to the common mistranslations of the 35 research scholars and academicians from across the kā rika-s and also pointed out the irrefutable, country - Amritsar, New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad interconnected nature of the kā rika-s and the vṛ tti-s. A and Mysore. profound discussion followed on the nature of ś abda, vā k, sphoṭ a and of language itself. The workshop commenced with the time-honoured ceremony of lighting the lamps which was The workshop concluded with vote of thanks by accompanied by Vedic Mantras chanted by Ś rī Mr. Arjun Bharadwaj, Assistant Professor in Amrita Rā curyā cā rya and his vaṭ u-s and the invocation of Darshanam (International Centre for Spiritual Studies) Gaṇ eś a by Ms. Pratyusha. Ms. Manjushree Hegde, in Bengaluru campus. Assistant Professor in Amrita Darshanam (International Centre for Spiritual Studies) in Br. Dhanraj, Director, Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore campus, welcomed the participants of the Bengaluru Campus, who could not make it for the workshop and introduced the dignitaries, Dr. Rakesh programme due to prior commitments, expressed his S.G., Associate Dean, Amrita School of Engineering, delight at having Prof. Aklujkar (Professor Emeritus, Bengaluru Campus; Prof. K.S. Kannan, Ex-Director, University of British Columbia,) in the campus. Karnataka Samskrit University and Prof. Ashok Aklujkar, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia. Prof. K.S. Kannan, Ex-Director, Karnataka Samskrit University, delivered the inaugural lecture. He high- lighted the crucial nature of Sanskrit as the core of Indian tradition and drew attention to the urgency of a serious study of Indian knowledge systems. Prof. Ashok Aklujkar commenced the workshop with an introduction to Bhartṛ -hari, the 5th century Indian grammarian-philosopher. He explained in detail the structure of Bhartṛ -hari’sVā kyapadī ya, a metaphysical inquiry into the nature and origin of language, or Trikā ṇ ḍ ī and demonstrated the ideas that formed the undercurrents of his statements. He also showed how these ideas had a close relationship with the ideas that have found expression in modern Western philosophies of language and grammar and in modern analyses of typical problems of philosophy. The sessions were lively, and the participants enthusiastically posed perplexing questions to the Professor, both in English and Sanskrit. The afternoon session commenced with a serious textual reading of the ‘Brahmakā ṇ ḍ a of Vā kyapadīya’.