Bhubaneswar, Oct. 31: The Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) will conduct its semester examinations of BTech, BPharm, MCA, MBA and BArch courses for 2013-14 on November 13.

The authorities today deferred the scheduled dates of November 4 and 5 for holding the tests of III, V and VII semesters because of Phailin and floods that wrought havoc in 13 districts affecting more than three lakh people.

In another development, minister of technical education Pratap Keshari Deb today held a discussion with officials on various proposals to improve the technical education.

The discussions were held on augmentation, retention and enrichment of teaching faculty, improvement in areas of research and innovation, achieving academic and administrative excellence and need for infrastructure investment.

It was also discussed that setting up zonal centres in Bhubaneswar, Balasore, Berhampur and Sambalpur could reduce the burden on BPUT.

Similarly, the need for a grievance cell in each college with a dedicated staff and creation of a digital library at the state-level was also emphasised.

Regular curriculum update with focus on introduction of demand-driven job-oriented courses, infusing internship programmes and central placement cells were also discussed.