Patna: The three-day annual technical fest of Birla Institute of Technology (BIT-Patna) will kick off on Friday.

On Friday, the event will be inaugurated by chief guest Anant Kumar, joint director (Science & Technology department), while Fr Robert Athickal, director, Tarumitra Ashram, Digha Ghat, will be the guest of honour. The college has received confirmation of participation from students of National Institute of Technology (NIT) Patna, and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna.

The technical fest christened Abhivyakti is being organised by the students' branch of BIT-Patna (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). IEEE is the world largest technical professional organisation for the advancement of technology.

Aashi Akriti, a BIT-Patna student and member of IEEE students' branch, said: "The three-day technical events will have array of competitions through which students can exhibit their technical skills." The student claimed that this year the institute has decided to include such events in the competition which directly affects an individual.

One such event is the video/photo competition where participants either through video presentation or photographs have to bring out their imagination on the topic of pollution. Akriti said: "We have decided to keep pollution as one of the topics in the event as many major Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Patna and others grapple with air pollution. In the name of technological advancement we are forgetting environment and disturbing the ecological balance."

The student said during the competition, students will have to prepare videos or through photographs the main causes of pollution and how it can be reduced. The topic assumes importance as recently the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, involving over 40 international health and environmental authors, reported that air pollution killed 1.09 million in India in 2015. The report also estimated about 95,000 deaths in India - among 500,000 worldwide - from exposure to lead which can cause high blood pressure, kidney failure and heart disease.

Pratyush Ranjan, another student, said: "There will be poster presentation of topics related to technology in 2020. App development, coding and other technical events will be held."

In non-technical events, there will be group discussion on current topics. The events will run till November 5 and it will be judged by experts comprising faculty members from BIT and other institutes. The first, second and third participants will be awarded.