Students at Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar organise Envision 2010. Telegraph picture

The third International Humanitarian Day was observed on August 19 at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), in association with Concern Worldwide India to pay homage to those who dedicated their lives to save and protect people in conflict zones or affected by natural disasters. Father P.T. Joseph, director of XIMB, started the function with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp and gave the welcome note. The chief guest on the occasion was Mr S.N. Patro, revenue and disaster management minister, government of Orissa. Dignitaries present at the function addressed the gathering. In his keynote address, Mihir Bhatt of All India Institute of Disaster Mitigation spoke about the inclusion of and investment in skill, knowledge, experience and exposure among AIDS workers. Ambika Nanda of United Nations Development Program (UNDP) shared his experiences as a volunteer and also recited an Oriya poem in commemoration of humanitarian expert Late Shivnarayan Mishra, who was posthumously felicitated by the dignitaries. During the event, Atlas of Development Trends, Orissa by Foundation for Ecological Security, Anand (Gujarat) was released by Rabindra Nath of FES, Anand. The Social Responsibility Cell (SRC) of XIMB that organised the event also conducts other social initiatives all year round, including a blood donation camp, in association with the Rotary Club of Bhubaneswar and the Red Cross Society; a Baal Mela for local school dropouts and tree plantation drives around Bhubaneswar. Also present at the event were Dr. Mangala Prasad Mohanty, honourary secretary, Indian Red Cross Society, Orissa and Deepankar Dutta, country director of Concern International.

Yoga session

The students of KMBB college of engineering in Bhubaneswar were recently given a lecture demonstration and training in yoga (see picture right). The Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY) organised the programme. The five-day camp began on 17th August and a number of students and staff members of the institution were taught yoga and given necessary tips on stress management. They were also given precautionary tips on swine flu.

Special classes

BJB College has introduced special classes (see picture left) for training its students for the country's topmost civil service examination. The classes, which started from August 12, are conducted three days a week in the college premises. Though they were initially planned for the SC/ST, OBC and minorities, later even general candidates have been allowed to participate. The classes are free. About 40-50 students from second and third year college attend these special classes. Prof. Jenamani Sanjib Kumar of the college's geography department and Prof. K.C. Das of economics department have taken the responsibility to guide the students in eight subjects. The students are briefed on various aspects of the civil services examination in the class, which lasts for one hour. “The main problem of our students is they lack self-confidence. “By conducting these classes, we want to make sure that our students clear the examination in the first attempt,” said Dr Jenamani Kumar.

Women’s football

Selection camp for the ongoing 7th under-16 National Sub-Junior Women Football Championship, Orissa, was held on Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) campus. While 20 players were selected for the Orissa women's football team, Ratani Hembram and Jayanti Kisku of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) have been selected in the team. The engineering students of KIIT gathered in large numbers to witness the ongoing proceedings. “Football is always interesting. We are here to cheer the girls so that they perform well and make it to the finals of the tournament,” said Bhavna, a computer science-engineering student, who enjoyed the watching the matches with her friends at the training-cum-selection camp at Haldwani of Uttarakhand.

Fresher ceremony

Final-year students of the Asian School of Business Management (ASBM) held a grand welcome for the new students on the campus premises on Wednesday. The college faculty was also present during the fresher ceremony, which was called Akanksha. There were quizzes and games held for the freshers. School and mass education minister Pratap Jena and Prof. Biswajeet Pattnayak, from the management board of ASBM were present during the occasion. Both extended their congratulations to the students to had organised a ragging-free function.

Envision 2010

Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB) hosted Envision 2010, a national level Information Technology (IT) summit on August 21. The event was organised by Xsys, the systems association section of XIMB. The theme of the discussion was Vision, practices, IT strategies: steering innovation.

The panel of speakers included Srijat Mishra, MD and CEO, Kalingasoft, Abhijit Sen, DC Head, Infosys Bhubaneswar, Asit Mahapatra, CEO, Dhanei KGFS, representing IFMR Trust, Ananta Rao Mangalagiri, CGM (IT), Orissa Power Transmission Corporation Limited and Dr. Gopal Krishna Nayak, professor, Information Systems, XIMB and director, IIT Bhubaneswar. The interactive summit stressed on the importance of innovation in the IT sector and the impact of technological progress in diverse fields.

The needs for innovation, challenges to IT applications and various innovation prospects, the role of IT in rural financial services (stressing on usability and accessibility), and the necessity of IT infrastructure in the electricity sector were also discussed. The speakers answered questions posed by the audience on topics such as financial literacy in rural areas and relevance of online medical services.

The event concluded with the dignitaries distributing the certificates to the winners of various competitions conducted by Xsys.