Architecture students of Birla Institute of Technology, Patna, headed to Gaya district last weekend (November 23-24) and explored the popular tourist sites in Gaya and Bodhgaya, albeit with an eye for detail.

The institute’s architecture department organised the tour and a group of 35 first-year bachelor of architecture students made most of the two-day educational trip. With them were BIT-Patna director S.L. Gupta and other officials.

The itinerary comprised visits to the World Heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara, 80ft statue of Lord Buddha, Thai Temple and Karma temple in Bodhgaya and the Barabar caves in Gaya.

The students carefully documented their trip in hand-drawn sketches, illustrations and photographs.

With an eye for detail, the students prepared 2D and 3D drawings of the shrine with the help of proper plans, elevations, sections and pictorial views.

Ankita, one of the students, said: “Educational tours of this nature, where both famous and lesser known sites are explored, help in discovering the heritage of Bihar in general and Buddhist art in particular. It will add a new dimension to heritage tourism in the state and attract visitors from across the world here, especially to the Barabar hills near Gaya.”

Internet security

Ashok Singh Sairam, a faculty member in the computer science department of Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, spoke on the importance of firewall in securing the Internet at a lecture organised for the students of bachelor of computer applications at Birla Institute of Technology, Patna.

Sairam helped the students get familiarised with several important network management tools and encouraged them to conduct research in machine learning, data mining and networking. The students also had an interactive session with Sairam.

Save power

Saving electricity was in focus at an interaction on environment concerns at St Xavier’s College. Members of non-government organisation Tarumitra also shared their campaign on conserving power at the programme.

The organisation had recently conducted a 15-day campaign on saving electricity in Kerala and the delegation shared their experience from the trip.

Present at the St Xavier’s event were Tarumitra founder Father Robert Athickal, Margaret Molomoo, an expert of organic farming at Tarumitra, and others.

Shweta Marandi, a student of Patna Women’s College, who has been taking part in Tarumitra’s Save Electricity, said: “The luxurious way of leading life is increasing power consumption. People should make an effort to save electricity.”

Father Athickal said natural resources are expected to become extinct in the next 20 to 30 years. “We should try to save some of these resources for our future generations,” he said, while requesting engineers to work on alternative sources to generate power.

Bridging gaps

The emerging trends in the world of industry and research were discussed at a two-day workshop organised by the computer science department of Central University of Bihar.

On the inaugural day (November 22), R. Rajesh, head of department, computer science, said industry needs people with consistent academic records and good programming and communication skills. He also spoke on recent trends in the field of image processing, sensor-based system and automation.

Delhi-based scientist D. Vijay Rao spoke deliberated on gap between academia and industry and the software crisis and the need of agile technologies.

On the second day of the workshop, Rao talked about the various necessities and requirement for cloud computing.

Atul Sinha, managing director, Beltron, said: “Students who choose the discipline of computer science get many opportunities to grow.” He spoke on different topics, including big data analysis, product development and embedded technology. A panel discussion brought the workshop to a close.

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