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Debate Competition

The Debators’ Floor Club of the Post-Graduate Department of Commerce organized a debate competition on July 2, 2021 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm via Google Meet platform. The main objective behind conducting this activity was to provide students with an opportunity to develop their critical thinking ability, polish their presentation skills and put forward their thoughts in an organized manner. It also helps in making them tolerant towards others’ opinions and viewpoints, thus making them more adaptable in a world of continuous changes and challenges.

The topic for the debate was ‘Online Examinations: Boon or Bane’. The participants were divided into 2 teams. Students FOR the motion were Mr. Sankesh Bhagat, Ms. Bindu Poojari, Mr. Saiesh Naik, Ms. Janice Gomes and Ms. Shristi Patel. Students AGAINST the motion were Mr. Ganesh Kumavat, Ms. Stacy Pereira, Ms. Reneta Costa, Mr. Anmol Shetti and Mr. Rohit Prajapati. The moderator for the session was Ms. Elaine Maria Sequeria, student of M.Com Part II. The debate competition was judged by Ms. Stesa Pereira, Asst. Prof Department of Economics and Ms. Amba Prabhu, College Counselor.

The competition began with a welcome address delivered by Asst. Prof. Ms. Sheryl Da Silva. Asst. Prof. Ms. Pooja Shanbhag explained the general rules applicable for debate and the judging criteria. The event comprised4 rounds and the competition began with each participant presented opening statements for and against the topic. As the debate progressed, there were views and counter views proposed by both the team members. Each participant tried to explain and justify why online examination was in the interest of the students or against the interest of the student’s community. The participants put forth meaningful and valid arguments and interjections.  The best speaker title was bagged by Ms. Bindu Poojari and Mr. Ganesh Kumavat and the best interjector was awarded to Ms. Janice Gomes and Mr. Rohit Prajapati. Mr. Sankesh Bhagat, Ms. Reneta Costa and Ms. Stacy Pereira were awarded the Best Rebutter title for their active participation throughout the session. The event concluded at 1.30 pm with a Vote of Thanks proposed by Asst. Prof Ms. Seema Dharani.48 students participated in the event. Non-participating students formed a very enthusiastic and appreciative audience and the event was a grand success.

Industry Interaction Program (IIP) – Session III

The Post-Graduate Department organized the third Industry Interaction Program on the topic ‘Corporate Banking & Project Financing’ on 1st July 2021 at 10.00 am via Google Meet platform. The main objective of the program was to bridge the gap between academia and industry by providing brief insights to the students in the area of project financing and corporate banking.

The Resource Person for the Program was Mr. Sanjiv Kumar Sachdev, Advisor -Debt Restructuring &Resolution Department, Edelweiss Financial Services& Investment Ltd. Mumbai, Ex- Chief General Manager (Large Corporate Group), IDBI, Mumbai. The program commenced with a brief welcome address delivered by Assistant Professor Ms. Sheryl Da Silva. Ms. Anar Singbal, student of M.Com Part I introduced the Resource Person for the session.

Mr. Sachdev began the session with a brief introduction on Pre-liberalization and Post-liberalization phase of banking sector in India. He addressed students on various aspects of corporate finance environment in India and elaborated on different types of corporate finance options available. He further explained the various products of corporate finance giving relevant examples and also discussed in detail the difference between corporate finance and project finance.

The Resource Person emphasized the role of project finance and the need for growing importance of Project Appraisal (assessment of 5 Ms) in the finance sector. He further briefed the students on the concept of project cost in relation to financial assessment and concluded the session by stressing on the need for the banking sector to provide innovative financial solutions to corporate clients and to provide tailor-made products to meet every client’s unique requirements.

The students found the industry interact program very informative and beneficial. The Resource Person addressed the questions raised by the students at the end of the session. A total of 48 participants attended the program. The session ended at 11:30 am, with the Vote of Thanks proposed by Mr. Rohit Prajapati student of M.Com Part II.

DAMODAR UTSAV 2020-2021: Meme War Competition

The Students’ Council organized a virtual Meme War competition under ’Damodar Utsav’ to inspire students to perform creative work and follow their passion. The aim of the competition was to promote digital literacy.

The Competition was conducted in three rounds on 29th and 30th June 2021. Participants were tasked with making creative memes on the themes given to them during the rounds. They were provided with full autonomy to let their imagination and skills flow as long as their entries were not offensive in any way. Each participant put his best efforts forward and delivered an outstanding and groundbreaking meme.

15 students participated in the competition. All the entries received were both innovative and creative. The winners were selected on the basis of the meme’s content and originality.

After the successful completion of the competition, the top 3 participants were declared the winners of the competition. They were namely:

Mr. Sachin Kumar Singh from TY B.Com D
Ms. Dekasha Odarkar from M.Com Part 1
Mr. Mihir Suchak from SY B.Com B

Assistant Professor Trisha Vadil coordinated the activities and Event head Ms. Ruchika Chaudhari from FY BCA A assisted her.

Online Guest Lecture “Investment In Global Securities: Traders Perspective”

The BBA(Financial Services) Department organized a Guest Lecture titled “Investment in Global Securities: Traders Perspective” for Second Year students via the Google Meet Platform on 29th June 2021 from 12:15 to 01:15 p.m. 36 students and 2 faculty members of the Department attended the same. Mr. Sunny Sureka, AVP – MNCL Global Access, was the Resource Person.

Mr. Sunny commenced the session with an introduction on the fundamental concepts of investments and stock markets. He explained the same with several examples. He made an eloquent presentation on the investments in global securities by sharing his trading screen and personal experiences and advices. He provided several examples to make the content more effective and enriching.

Mr. Sunny addressed all the queries raised by the students. Students provided a positive feedback about the lecture. The Resource Person mentioned that such activities are immensely important in bridging the glaring gap between academia and industry. Ms. Gautami Karmalkar, student of SY BBA(FS)  was the host for the session. Asst. Professors Abhinay Pai and Mayuresh Adsul organized the guest lecture.

COURSERA Certificate Course

The College has registered for the Coursera for Campus Plan in 2020-21, whereby faculty and students of the College could register and complete one free online from Coursera. On completion, the participant would receive a Certificate from Coursera. The Post Graduate Department of Commerce (M.Com) encouraged the students to register and complete any one course from Coursera from 15th April to 7th June 2021, as part of the ISA–III (10 marks). The faculty provided students with a list of available and relevant courses and students were asked to choose a course according to their requirement.

On completion of the course, the students were asked to submit the Coursera Course Details Module wise, Certificate of Completion and a report of the course completed.

The students of the Department benefitted from these courses as they could enroll and learn about any topic of their choice. The students provided valuable feedback regarding the course. They got an international exposure by registering for international universities. The videos were recorded for self-paced learning for the students. The assignments submitted to Coursera were peer reviewed and evaluated. The students joined Coursera groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, and participated in the group discussions and problem solving case studies.

44 students completed different courses in areas such as Excel for Business, Managerial Economics, Communication at the Workplace, Data Analysis, Regression Models, Marketing in a Digital World, Brand Management, Strategic Innovations, to name a few.

7-Day workshop on Front Office Skill Training

The Post-Graduate Department of VVM’s Shree Damodar College of Commerce & Economics, Margao organized a 7-day workshop for M.Com students on ‘Front Office Skill Training’ from 28th April to 12th May 2021.The training Program was a unique initiative of Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd. Skill Development Centre, Bangalore and Regenta Hotels under their CSR initiative moderated by Presidency College of Hotel Management. It was a free workshop offered to the students for 7 days. The sessions were conducted through online mode on Zoom platform.45 students enrolled for the course.

The resource person for this training program was Mr. Kushaal Sharma, Human Resource Training manager, Hospitality Operations. The course was specially designed for students who wished to pursue their career in the area of hospitality and tourism industry. The main objective of the course was to train students on professional skills, professional knowledge and employability skill related to front office job role.

The topics that Mr. Sharma covered were:

Introduction and familiarisation with Hotel Industry – general overview
Identification of front office tasks and job management skills
Develop personality, manage team work and follow organizational hierarchy
Business communication etiquettes
Personality development and customer service skills
Computing guest registration process
Conflict management with staff and guests and approaches to handle guest complaints or queries
Computer operational skills and managing coordination between departments
Preparation and practices of Pre-Arrival and Post-arrival guest activities

The trainer also discussed in brief the duties and the responsibilities of a front office service executive and the attributes of a front office assistant. He also oriented students on the need and importance of grooming, hygiene, body language, verbal and non-verbal communication skills and the power of smile in hospitality and service industry. He further explained the participants the general telephone handling etiquette, procedure of welcoming and receiving a guest, handling reservations requests, keeping personalized records and ensuring services for identified guests, use up-selling &suggestive selling techniques to sell rooms and to promote other services of the hotel.

In addition to this, the resource person also included and solved several case studies, assigned role plays during the sessions, in order to continuously monitor and evaluate students’ progress and understanding of the different concepts taught as a part of the course.

The students gained a lot of practical knowledge, especially with regards to work flow and skills required in hotel industry and also got familiar with the role and functions of a front office executive. The students appreciated the interesting and interactive training sessions and gave positive feedback about the trainer. Ms. Pooja Shanbhag, Asst. Professor in Commerce, PG Department was the faculty coordinator for the workshop.

Students’ Participation at “UTOPIA”

UTOPIA is an open event for the students of UG and PG degree programmes, organized by S.S Dempo College of Commerce and Economics under Institution’s Innovation Council. The event provided a platform for the youth of Goa to showcase their entrepreneurial skills, ideas and vision.

A team of 4 students from the Post-Graduate Department (M.Com Programme) participated in “UTOPIA” Online Business Plan Competition on 6th May 2021 and secured the Runners-Up Position. The team secured 2nd place by scoring 1069 points in the final round and were awarded a runners-up trophy, cash prize of Rs.5000/- and individual certificates of participation. The product presented was Edible Cutlery titled ‘Edible Incredible’.

The following students participated in the event:

S.No
Name of the Students
Class /Division

01
Sanjana Kamat
M.Com Part I

02
Ganesh Kumavat
M.Com Part I

03
Srishti Patel
M.Com Part I

04
Maria Elaine Christina De Piedade Sequeira
M.Com Part II

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit trafficking

The NSS Unit of the College observed  the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit trafficking on 26th June 2021 by organizing various online events. The following activities were organized

Sharing slogans on social media platform or as WhatsApp status to create awareness in the community – 86 students participated
Essay writing on the topic ”Health effects and consequences of drugs” No of participants: 12

Gender Sensitivity

The Life Skills Committee organized an Online Life Skills Session as a part of 30 Hours Certificate Course for First Year BBA(Financial Services) Students on 26th June 2021 from 11:00 a.m.to 12:30 p.m. using Google Meet Platform. The topic of the session was “Gender Sensitivity”.

The main objectives of the session were:

To create awareness about gender related issues, vulnerability of women and men.
To create awareness about government schemes, acts & rights related to women.
To bring about a positive change for communicating with each other, and creating a better and more informed society.

The Resource Person for the session was Ms. Siddhi M. Parodkar, Practicing Advocate.

At the outset, Assistant Professor Ms. Lizia V. Gomes welcomed the Resource Person followed by the Introduction of the Speaker by Ms. Ismaela Miranda from First Year BBA(FS) – A.

Ms. Siddhi Parodkar started the session with a brief introduction on the topic Gender Sensitivity. She further provided an elaborate explanation on the following topics:

What is Gender Sensitivity
Why gender sensitivity is important
How gender plays a role
Why there is a need for gender sensitization
How important is gender sensitivity in our society
Gender sensitivity issues and challenges.
The sexual harassment of women at workplace:
What is Sexual Harassment?
What kinds of behaviour are considered as sexual harassment?
POSH Act
Guidelines (“Vishaka Guidelines”) for dealing with instances of sexual harassment at the workplace.
Body Shaming:
What is Body Shaming?
Body Shaming manifests in many ways:
Criticizing your own appearance.
Criticizing another’s appearance in front of them.
Criticizing another’s appearance without their knowledge.
What are the effects of body shaming?
How to overcome and deal with body shaming?

The session also laid emphasis on Gender Sensitivity and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC) and ways to promote gender equality in daily life.

Ms. Siddhi Parodkar concluded the session by stating that gender sensitivity is a basic requirement to understand the sensitive needs of a particular gender.

25 First Year BBA(FS) Students attended the session, which ended at 12:30 p.m. with a Vote of Thanks delivered by Ms. Mashuka Rodrigues from FY BBA(FS) – A. The session was compered and coordinated by Assistant Professor Ms. Lizia V. Gomes.

Guest Lecture

The Post-Graduate Department organized an Online Guest Lecture in the subject Organizational Behavior for M. Com Part I and Part II students on 30th June 2021 from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm. on Google Meet platform. The Resource Person for the session was Ms. Caroline Stewart Silva, Corporate Trainer and Proprietor – Impact Training Solutions. The faculty incharge Ms. Sheryl da Silva, introduced the theme of the session and welcomed the Speaker. Darshan Amonkar, student of M.Com Part II, introduced the Resource Person.

The Guest Faculty commenced the session by discussing basic concepts of conflict management and stress management. Ms. Silva highlighted the positive and negative results of conflict. Ms. Silva stressed on poor communication as a major factor that leads to conflict and explained various techniques of handling conflict such as Competing, Avoiding, Collaborating, Accommodating and Compromising.

Ms. Silva then discussed the various internal and external factors that lead to stress and what can one do to deal with such stressors. The speaker addressed all the queries raised by the students at the end of the session. Students provided very positive feedback about the Guest Lecture. It was an informative and an interactive session. Ms. Mruga Naik, student of M.Com Part II proposed the Vote of Thanks. 43 students attended the session.