Tribute to alma mater

The alumni association of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, celebrated the annual reunion and alumni induction event to welcome the graduating students into the family. The programme opened with a hymn to the alma mater presented by Ashis Pradhan, Ankesh Anand and Premdepon Nayak with the institute’s band. This was followed by a sand animation on the story of the city by artists from Puri. Biswajit Mishra, general secretary of the alumni association, outlined the plan of regular events to be conducted throughout the year across the globe to mark the institute's golden jubilee. A souvenir was also released on the occasion. Ansuman Das, Nalco chairman-cum-managing director, who is an alumnus of the 1976 batch, graced the event as chief guest.

On this occasion, one alumnus and one student of the current BTech course were conferred with the Sailalata memorial award and the Asim Choudhury memorial award respectively. The Sailalata memorial award was conferred on Chandan Giriya, a doctorate from IIT, Bombay, who has also founded Matru Chemicals in Ankleswar. Anamika Sinha, a final-year BTech student, received the Asim Choudhury memorial award. Pop artiste Ajit Singh from Mumbai performed on the occasion.

Right to justice

A symposium on disability rights and equality was organised by the centre of disability law and advocacy of the National Law University on April 19. At the event, concerns were expressed on the lack of awareness on problems faced by differently-abled people. Faculty members of the varsity highlighted the importance of equality and opportunity for differently-abled people. The speakers talked on how these people can get their share of justice in society. The state commissioner for persons with disabilities Minati Behera stressed on the introduction of law reforms to change the mindset of the society, which is essential in ensuring access to rights and equality. All speakers unanimously agreed on the point that the society needed to change its approach to differently-abled people. Besides, the speakers released a newsletter on people with disabilities and their right to justice.

Journalism Day

To mark the 150th anniversary of journalism in the state, members of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication Alumni Association (IIMCAA), Odisha chapter, has decided to hold events across the state. On August 4, they will celebrate Odia Journalism Day, which is when Utkal Deepika, the state's first newspaper, was published in 1866. "The members have been celebrating this day since 2013," said Jyoti Prakash Mohapatra, general secretary of IIMCAA, Odisha chapter. The alumni association held its first preparatory meeting of the grand ceremony here at Ekamra Haat.
"It was unanimously decided efforts would be taken to publish a memorial postal stamp and a souvenir to mark the on the occasion. The celebrations will also include felicitation of personalities for their valuable contribution to the field of journalism," said IIMCAA treasurer Sanjay Sahoo.

Tech workshop

A group of students enrolled in a master's degree in social work course, demonstrated outside the Fakir Mohan University old campus on Monday to protest against the department and university management. The students alleged that the authorities had not published the results properly. One of the students said that their marks were between 40 and 50 in the hard copy of the results, but in the website, they had either been declared fail or the space was blank.

Result row

A workshop on the use of virtual instrumentation was organised by the electronics and telecommunication department of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology last week.  The two-day workshop was held at the golden jubilee seminar hall of the varsity. Many students from BTech, MTech and PhD courses took part in the workshop. Dean of sponsored research and industrial consultancy of the varsity, P.K. Hota, attended the program as chief guest. The electronic and telecommunication department head D. Mishra was the convener of the workshop. The basic techniques of virtual instrumentation were discussed in detail. Students shared their thoughts and ideas and discussed the various aspects of the topic with the professors.

Award for merit

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) awarded Basu Suman, a forth-year mechanical engineering student of the Institute of Technical Education and Research, the best student title for the current year on April 17. Various other awards were presented to Jagyan Mohapatra, Ankit Bhargav, Prateek Pattnaik, Debasish Dash, Anurag Kirti and Divakar for their leadership and achievements in the fields of social activity, creative art and literary flair. Academic relationship manager, India (East), of TCS, Kushal Banerjee presented the award to Suman in the presence of the institute's dean P.K. Sahu and associate dean R.K. Hota at an event here. Students had a great day knowing about the employment scenario and know what employees look for in a candidate.Banerjee also said that job skills, qualification, communication skills, image and appearance of a person are the essential tools to be successful in the corporate sector.

SANDIP BAL