The International Yoga Day was celebrated at PES University in virtual mode. Over 60 yoga enthusiasts participated online on a video platform, some of them were joined by family members. A demo video was shared with the registered participants before the event. 21 Surya-Namaskaras each comprising 12 asanas were followed by 10 minutes of Shavaasana. Mr. Santosh Katti and Ms. Deepthi, Asst. Professors from the Department of MCA, anchored the event. The event hosted by the Department of MCA was held on June 21, International Yoga Day.

Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) organized “Decypher: A Better Tomorrow”, a 48-hour virtual hackathon in association with the Entrepreneurship Cell (ECell) for all students at PES University. The hackathon started at 5 PM on Jun 12 and ran 48 straight hours ending on Jun 14 evening. The objective of Decypher was to enable cross-disciplinary teams to come up with innovative product &/or solution ideas that could make a difference in the post-COVID world.

Amul India hosts talented chefs to present unique native cuisine on its social media sites. Prof Sivaram was invited by Amul India to demonstrate the recipe of a native cuisine. He rustled up a Chettinadu dessert called Kavuni Rice Halwa, black rice pudding, a Chettinadu delicacy for Amul’s global audience. Encouraged by the response to the show, Amul expressed interest in hosting more culinary shows curated by the department of the university. Prof. Sivaram R is an Asst. Professor in the department of BBA-Hospitality and Event Management. The session was held on June 15, 2020 on Amul Facebook Live for #SimpleHomemadeRecipes series garnering over 125 K views.

Prof M R Doreswamy, Chancellor, PES University and advisor (education reforms) to the Government of Karnataka, has suggested to the Chief Minister to promote a digital mode of education to continue the bonding between teacher and student even during crisis situations like COVID-19. He submitted a set of recommendations to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

Understanding consumer satisfaction, consumer and service recovery and service recovery paradox are key to success in the hospitality industry. Covid-19 pandemic has thrown up new challenges in this area. Prof. Ashish Parthasarathy conducted an online session on understanding guest satisfaction and handling guests' complaints. He addressed the students of School of Hospitality, Tourism & Events, Faculty of Social Sciences Leisure Management, Taylor’s University, Malaysia. The session concluded with a comparison of Covid-19 impact on both the countries. The interaction was part of PES University’s international collaboration with Taylor's University, Malaysia. The interaction was hosted on Zoom video platform on June 9, 2020.

The new normal, brought in by the Covid-19 pandemic, seems to be settling a decades-long debate on how best to deliver education, especially technical education, to students.

Prof Sridhar K S, PES University, said a few companies have agreed to visit the campus in June-July depending on the situation.

The phone-in programme had avid readers from various parts of the country calling in to know about PESSAT online exam for admission to PES University, the placement and research opportunities for students in new circumstances and the social initiatives undertaken by the university. 

To tackle the difficult situation due to the pandemic PES University conducts live online classes. A special time table with multiple teaching sessions everyday, each session of 40 minutes, is followed by students of all courses. By May 22, as part of this initiative, 488 subjects were taught by the faculty by conducting 4443 sessions which were attended by 8326 students online. The live streaming of online classes and recorded sessions are accessible through the PESU app which is supported by Impartus video platform.

Dr. M R Doreswamy said that 25,124 applications for admission to PES University were received till date for the academic year 20-21. Dr. M R Doreswamy informed the callers about the elaborate planning for the PESSAT exam for admission to PES University’s campuses in Bangalore on Ring Road, in Electronic City and in Hanumanthnagar. He announced that the PESSAT online exam for BTech programme will be held in 42 test centres across the country. He spoke about the planned dates for: registration - July 15 to 24, on-line examination - July 25 to Aug 9 and slot booking starting from July 20. He further added that the results of PESSAT for BTech programme will be announced on Aug 11 and counselling will commence from Aug 14 with the last date of admission being Sep 5, 2020.

Dr M R Doreswamy mentioned that for the other under-graduate and postgraduate programmes of the university, PESSAT tests are scheduled from January 15 to August, and the results are announced 3 days after the test is taken, with Sep 5 for under-graduate programs and Sep 30 for post-graduate programs as last date of admission.

On the R&D front, Dr MR Doreswamy listed out some of the path-breaking solutions developed in the labs of the university, initiatives of the students and exemplary research projects of alumni. The projects undertaken on the campus includes indigenous ventilator e-Prana, PISAT nano satellite, work on development of drug against Covid-19, silico-vaccinology studies, research on network pharmacology of ayurvedic formulation that can work against SARS-Cov-2, validation of recently developed lateral flow immunoassay, and analytics of incidence of Covid-19 in the state of Karnataka. The outstanding work of the students include Covid-19 clinical trial studies, C-19 support initiative enabling safety measures for frontline personnel, technical paper in international journal about using machine learning to identify potential drugs for effectiveness against coronavirus, development of Covid-19 neighbourhood dashboard, and webpage with Covid-19 related and general information. Some of the alumni of PES University pursuing higher studies in India and abroad are closely associated with research on diagnosis of Covid-19 and prediction of drug targets. 

PESU has instituted scholarships to encourage and recognise talent at various levels. Prof CNR Rao Merit Scholarships in all programs of study offer 25% tuition fee waiver to top 20% of students who have secured more than 9 CGPA. Prof MRD Scholarships are offered to the top 20% of students securing more than 8.5 SGPA. Under distinction award, students with an SGPA of 8.00 and above receive scholarships. The merit scholarships every semester have been awarded for eight times since the inception of the University and the amount disbursed is over 27 crores till date.

The class of 2020 bagged placement offers from 115 companies including multinational corporations, with average annual compensation of over 8 lacs with highest offer of over 50 lacs. 1174 offers were extended with 317 students undergoing full time internship. 75 students are working virtually as summer interns during the lockdown period. The pre-final year students are interning with Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Intuit, Samsung R&D Institute, CureFit, Texas Instruments, Akamai Technologies, Groww, Analog devices and Doubtnut.

PES University undertook the reconstruction of 4 schools in Chikkodi and renovation of 5 schools in Bagalkot districts and supports 12 schools for the underprivileged in Bangalore. 

The one-hour phone-in programme was organised at Vijaya Karnataka office in Bangalore on May 23, 2020. 

Job opportunities in the post pandemic times stand disrupted. Mr. Kallol Saha, alumnus of 2006 batch and Director of Human Resource Radisson Blu Dwarka shared his views on evolution of opportunities and scope of work of support staff in the hospitality industry in areas of housekeeping and maintenance. He underlined the importance of up-skilling to make the most of the opportunities in sales and marketing. The webinar was organised by the department of hospitality and event management on May 27, 2020.

Dr M R Doreswamy, Chancellor of PES University and advisor to GoK on education reforms requested chief minister and higher education minister to direct vice chancellors of all universities to integrate mentoring in the academic framework