DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

A BRIEF PROFILE

1. Name of the department: Department of Chemistry

2. Year of Establishment: 1953

3. Names of Programmes / Courses offered Teaching of Chemistry

Post Graduation

MSc (Chemistry) No. of Seats : 40, Admission on the basis of PUPGCET

Under Graduate

B.Sc.-I (Medical & Non-Medical), B.Sc.-II (Medical & Non-Medical), B.Sc.-III (Medical & Non-Medical)

Add-on Programmes

Certificate Course in Industrial Chemistry

Diploma in Industrial Chemistry

Advance Diploma in Industrial Chemistry

4. Names of Interdisciplinary courses and the departments/units involved

MSc Chemistry (Semester I) Teaching of Biology for Chemists

Add-on Programmes with contribution from Department of Biology

Certificate Course in Industrial Chemistry

Diploma in Industrial Chemistry

5. Annual/ semester/choice based credit system (programme wise)

PG: Semester System

UG: Semester System

Add-on Courses: Annual System

6. Number of Teaching posts 05

Grant in Aid Associate Professor:02

Assistant Professor:03

7. Scholarships:

i. Chemistry Faculty Award

The award is sponsored by Faculty of Chemistry. A Rupees Five thousand scholarship, a memento and a certificate is given to the student who gets highest marks in a given year among all UG students in the subject of Chemistry. The department has distributed Rs. 30000/- so far. 6th Chemistry Faculty Award was awarded to Ms. Ishita in Prize Distrbution function held in April 2022.

ii. Professor M.S. Hundal Academic Excellence Award

The award is sponsored by Head of Department and Assoc. Prof. Ravinder Jeet Singh. The award has been constituted in memory of his teacher and mentor Professor M.S. Hundal former Chairperson and Registrar GNDU, Amritsar. A Rupees five thousand cash award is given to a student getting first position in the college. The 2nd award was recently awarded to Ms. Simranjot Kaur for standing first in M.Sc. Chemistry in the year 2021. She also stood at 10th position in the university merit list.

08. Departmental projects funded by DST - FIST; UGC, DBT, ICSSR, etc. and total grants received

 The Department has availed a share UGC Funding under Promotion of Basic Science Research (BSR), one time assistance of INR 10 lac (F.No.4- 9/2010(BSR)-15-11(23)/2010) to NAAC Accredited Colleges, for up-gradation of labs in terms of electricity supply, water supply etc.

 The Department has also availed a share of INR 6 lac for General lab Equipments out of a total grant of INR 50 lac sanctioned under UGC Scheme of Additional Assistance for Teaching-Learning Aids during 11th Plan Period.

 A grant of INR 13 lac from DST, New Delhi for organizing First Inspire Science Internship Programme (January 03-07, 2012).

 The Department has availed UGC-Grant of INR 10 lac for Career Oriented Programme of Industrial Chemistry (2011-2012). Ravinder Jeet Singh, Charn Kumar 2013 Higher Education in India: Issues and Challenges. Revitalizing Teacher Education for Nation Building: Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference of Council for Tearcher Education (CTE): 109-113. ISBN: 978-93-80144-32-0.

Charn Kumar, Ravinder Jeet Singh, 2012 Vermicomposting of organic waste using Eisenia foetida (Savigny)

Toxic Trails of Punjab: Uranium, Heavy Metals and Pesticides: Proceedings of the UGC sponsored National Seminar: 72-78. ISBN: 978-93-80144-94-8

Manpreet Kaur, Susheela Rani, Ashok Kumar Malik and Jatinder Singh Aulakh, 2013 Microextraction by Packed Sorbent- High-Pressure liquid Chroamtographic- Ultraviolet Analysis of endocrine disruptor pesticides in various matrices. Journal of Chromatographic Science doi:10.1093/chromsci/bmt 136.

Manpreet Kaur, 2012 Achadirachtin: The natural pesticide from neem tree. Proceedings of the UGC sponsored National Seminar on ‘Toxic Trails of Punjab: Uranium, Heavy Metals and Pesticides’: 120-124.

Manpreet Kaur, Ashok Kumar Malik and Baldev Singh, 2011 Determination of Phenylurea Herbicides in Tap Water and Soft Drink Samples by HPLC-UV and Solid-Phase Extraction. LCGC North America 29 (4): 338-347

Manpreet Kaur, Ashok Kumar Malik and Baldev Singh, 2011 Fourth Derivative Spectrophotometric Method for the determination of Fungicide Maneb using Sodium Molybedate. American Journal of Analytical Chemistry 2: 158-163.

Manpreet Kaur, Varinder Kaur, Ashok Kumar Malik, Neelam Verma, Baldev Singh and ALJ Rao, 2009 Development of a Derivative Spectrophotometric Method for the determination of Fungicide Zinc Ethylenebisthiocarbamate using Sodium Molybedate. Journal of Brazilian Chemical Society 5: 993

09. Areas of consultancy and income generated Skill Development Programme (2011-2012), Income Generated: INR 9300/-.

10. Faculty as members in

i. National committees b) International Committees c) Editorial Board

 Ravinder Jeet Singh is Chief Editor, Sapta Saroja (2016-2022)

 Ravinder Jeet Singh Editor, English Section, Jawan Tarang, Magazine Published by Youth Welfare Department, PU Chandigarh

 Ravinder Jeet Singh, Added Member Senate PU Chandigarh (2018-2022)

 Ravinder Jeet Singh, Member Board of UG Studies, Chemistry, PU, CHD. 2018-20)

 Ravinder Jeet Singh, Memerber BOS, Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib.

 Dr. Manpreet Kaur is Science Section Editor of Sapta Saroja, the Annual College Magazine.

 Dr. Manpreet Kaur, Added Member Senate PU Chandigarh (2020-2022)

11. Student projects

i. Percentage of students who have done in-house projects including inter departmental/programme.

 During the academic session (2011-2012) a group of 04 students from B.Sc.-II pursuing Industrial Chemistry were members of the team that undertook the designing and installation a PSLV Model in the college campus under leadership of Ravinder Jeet Singh. The students of the Department have prepared models of DNA Molecule, Water Rockets, Diamond Structure, Experimental Projects etc. (2011-2012). Some of students of the Department have also participated in Project Competitions organized by other institutions (Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh-IYC: 2011).

 Our students are working on Essential Oil Extraction and Soap Making Projects.  Workshops: Two Cheminformatics Workshops were organised in June 2021 and May 2022. 14 students participated in June 2021 and 7 seven students participated in May 2022 workshop. Students solved the primary structure of Insulin and successfully arranged 31 and 20 amino acids in Chain B and Chain A using Sanger’s method.The workshops were organised by Prof. Ravinder Jeet Singh.

12. Awards / Recognitions received by faculty and students.

 Best Poster Presentation Award; Dr. Manpreet Kaur, National Seminar on Recent Advances in Chemistry and Environment (NSRACE), Punajbi University, Patiala, Punjab (2010-2011).

 Best Poster Presentation Award; Ravinder Jeet Singh, 3 rd National Conference on Recent Advances in Chemical and Environmental Sciences, Multani Mal Modi College, Patiala, Punjab (2010-2011).

 Gagandeep Kaur, B.Sc.-I, achieved Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE), amounting INR 80,000/- per annum for Five Years (2012-2013).

 The students of the Department have bagged all the First Three Positions in Poster Presentation in the UGC-sponsored National Seminar (2011-2012).

 Karsimran Singh and Harpreet Singh, B.Sc.-III, got First Prize in [poster Making Competitions (Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh: IYC-2011).

13. List of eminent academicians and scientists / visitors to the department.

 Dr. R.S. Khandpur, Director General, Pushpa Gujral Science City (PGSC), Kapurthala (Punjab)

 Dr. S.S. Parmar, Professor, Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Punjab)

 Dr. Man Singh, Professor and Dean, School of Chemical Sciences, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar (Gujarat)

 Dr. Pawan K. Sharma, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (Haryana)  Bikramjit Singh, Senior Medical Physicist cum Radiological Safety Officer, M.D. Oswal Multispeciality Cancer Hospital, Ludhiana (Punajb)

 Dr. Jagir Singh, Ex-Director, CSIR Laboratory, Jorhat (Assam)

 Dr. M.S. Kaurav, Head, Department of Applied Sciences, GGI, Khanna (Punjab)

 Dr. Narpinder Singh, Professor & Dean, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Punjab)

 Dr. Brijesh Pathak, Professor & Dean, Baba Farid Institute of Higher Education and Foreign Studies, Bathinda (Punjab)

14. Seminars/ Conferences/Workshops organized & the source of funding

a. National:

 National level seminar ‘Toxic Trails of Punjab: Uranium, Heavy metals and pesticides’ was organized in collaboration with the Department of Biology (March 01-02, 2012). Source of Funding: UGC, New Delhi.

 First Inspire Science Internship Camp was organized in collaboration with Departments of Physics and Biology (January 03-07, 2012). Source of Funding: Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi.

15. How many students have cleared national and state competitive examinations such as NET, SLET, GATE, Civil services, Defense services, etc.?

Pawanpreet Kaur, Academic Session (2010-2011), obtained her M.Sc. Degree (2012- 2013) from Panjab University, Chandigarh and qualified UGC -NET.

Our Student Sandeep Kumar has completed Ph.D (Chemistry)in 2022 uner the guidance of Dr. Tejwant Singh from Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar. Recently, in the year 2021,

Our student Bulle Shah qualified JRF, and enrolled for Ph.D.(Chemistry) in IIT Ropar under the guidance of Dr. Narinder Singh, Professor of Chemistry.

Harjinder Singh qualified JRF in 2019 and enrolled for Ph.D at Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar

16. Details of Infrastructural facilities

a. Library

 A total of 2689 Chemistry books & 09 relevant Journals/periodicals are available in the Central Library of the College.

 As many as 197 books are at students’ disposal in the Departmental Book Bank facility.

 The Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre facility provides access to 35 e-journals and 123 books in the subject of Chemistry.

 Department has established a reference library with the help of students and faculty.

b. Internet facilities for Staff & Students

 The Internet Facility is available for the staff and students in the Department itself.

 This facility is also available in the UGC-Network Resource Centre established during 11th Five Year Plan in the Central Library of the college.

c. Class rooms with ICT facility

ICT facilities: Multimedia Projector, Portable Interactive White Board System, Overhead Projector, Screens, 35mm Slide Projector etc. are available in the Department. The portable facilities can be installed in the classrooms as per need.

d. Laboratories

Two well equipped chemistry labs, an instrument room with UPS Facility and Gas Supply Unit are available in the Department.

Important Equipments:

Double Beam UV-VIS spectrophotometer, VIS- Spectrophotometer, Conductometers, Flash Point Apparatus, pH-Meter, Potentiometer, Friability Test Apparatus, Digital Tablet Disintegration Machine, Flash Point Apparatus, Digital Polarimeter, Refractometers, Digital Weighing Balances, Distillation Apparatus, Two Desktop Computers with Printing Facility

17. Number of students receiving financial assistance from college, university, government or other agencies

In order to fulfill the financial requirements of the needy students, 51 students of the B.Sc. (Non-Medical) have been provided financial help by the College (23 students), the University (12 students) and the Government (16 students).

18. Details on student enrichment programmes (special lectures / workshops / seminar) with external experts

In addition to regular teaching, the Department arranges a variety of events for further enrichment of the students. Some of the such events undertaken during the past sessions include: lectures delivered on the occasion of UGC-sponsored National Seminar ‘Toxic-trails of Punjab’ (March 01-02, 2012); series of Enrichment Lectures delivered by eminent scientists visiting the Department during First Inspire Science Internship Camp (December 22-26, 2012); Second Inspire Science Internship Camp (January 03- 07, 2013); educational trips (Chankya Dairy Products, Gobindgarh on March 22, 2013; Renuka & Paonta on November 23, 2012; Markfed Industry, Khanna on October 18, 2012; Science City Kaputhala on November 28, 2009); Quiz Contest on Periodic Table & Spectroscopy, Poster Making & Photography Competition (PSCST, Chandigarh sponsored National Science Day, February 28, 2012 & February 27, 2013); International Year of Chemistry celebrations by organizing Project & Model Competition, Photography Competition, Poster Competition (November 25, 2011); Poster Competition (March 01-02, 2012); Photography Completion on Child Labour & Pollution (2010-2011); Workshop on Mathematics in Chemistry (February 12-13, 2009). With an aim of student enrichment in terms of developing good communication/writing skills, the Department is bringing out publication of Synthon and Campus Beat since 2009. The Department also offers a short-term Course on German Language in non-formal mode.

19. Teaching methods adopted to improve student learning

 Regular class tests & emphasis on practical work

 Student assignments, seminars and classroom discussions

 Use of different teaching-learning aids and multimedia

 Making available the reference books for thorough understanding of concepts

 Efforts to adopt Project Based Leaning (PBL) techniques

 Field study tours/ industry visits for as prescribed in the University syllabi

20. Participation in Institutional Social Responsibility (ISR) and Extension activities

The students and teachers of the Department are actively involved in the Institutional Social Responsibility and Extension Activities carried out during every academic session. These activities include NSS Camps, Blood Donation Camps, Cycling Expeditions, Vanmahotsava, delivering extension lectures in other institutions, projects involving interaction with society etc. The Department is providing/has provided free consultancy for water quality analysis and creating social awareness about ill effects of poor water quality. During the NSS Camps (December 25-31, 2009; December 22-28, 2010; December 21-27, 2011; December 22-28, 2012), Departmental volunteers have extensively interacted with the villagers and have undertaken several social welfare/awareness works. Head of the faculty, Ravinder Jeet Singh himself has led the the Annual Cycling Expeditions (March 01, 2009; October 31, 2010; March 20, 2011) undertaken with an aim of spreading awareness about AIDS, Drug Addiction, Environmental Pollution, Deforestation and Energy Conservation. On the occasion of Blood Donation Camps (November 07, 2009; October 30, 2010; November 22, 2011; January 30, 2013) the students of the Department have donated their blood. For cause of social welfare and awareness, extension lectures are also delivered (Ravinder Jeet Singh: ‘Fast Food & slow Poisoning’, Govt. High School, Dehru, Ludhiana on May 30, 2013; workshop on ‘Chemistry through Experiments’, Asian College, Patiala on January 07, 2012; ‘Popular Science Lecture on Nuclear Energy’, NSS Camp at Govt. Senior Secondary School, Chajjli on December 27, 2011; ‘Past & Future of Nuclear Energy’, NSS Camp, A.S. college for Women on October 03, 2009).

21. SWOT analysis of the department and Future plans

The Department of Chemistry is playing a pivotal role in the science stream of The Department of Chemistry is playing a pivotal role in the science stream of the institution, as the subject is being pursued by both the medical, as well as, the nonmedical students. The dedicated team of seven members is committed to maintain a mutually cooperative and efficient work culture thus providing a resourceful learning atmosphere to the students. After the First Cycle of Accreditation, utilizing the financial assistance rendered under different schemes of UGC, New Delhi, the Department has undertaken many infrastructural improvement and upgradation steps including the installation of a Gas Supply Unit for its Labs; renovation of lab flooring, water supply & electrification and purchase of new equipment items. Recently, one of the faculty members, Manpreet Kaur has achieved her Doctorate Degree from Punjabi University, Patiala in 2013. The Departmental faculty is contributing in the core assignments of the institutions in academics and other co-curricular spheres. If there had been no ban imposed on recruitment of the sanctioned posts by the Government, the Department might have had the PG Programme by now. The Department had to stop the enrolment of students in UG Programme for want of some more classrooms with a greater seating capacity. In nutshell, there exists a scope for further expansion of the activity arena of the Department. It is expected that the Government is going to lift the ban on recruitment and the institution is determined to provide 02 more classrooms to the Department. The same has also been proposed in the XII Plan Proposal of the UGC, New Delhi. M.Sc Chemistry was introduced from the session 2018. Admission to MSc Chemistry is done on the basis of PUPGCET. In the first, second and third batch at least one of our students was ranked among top 10 positions of the University.