A two-day photo exhibition on archaeological excavations in Odisha was co-ordinated by the students of Utkal University on April 18 and 19 to mark World Heritage Day. More than 100 pictures of different excavated sites, including pictures portraying the condition of the heritage spots before and after the excavations, were displayed. It highlighted some of the major excavation works carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the state in the last 50 years such as Ratnagiri, Udaygiri, Lalitgiri, Langudi, and Aragarh. The exhibition was held at the postgraduate council hall and was conducted by the department of ancient Indian history, culture and archaeology of the varsity in collaboration with the ASI.

Teaching methodology

The centre for teacher education at the Central University of Odisha, Koraput, organised a seminar on the topic “Digital India: Integration of technology with pedagogy” last week on the main campus of the varsity at Sunabeda. 

Speaking to the participants, varsity vice-chancellor Sachidananda Mohanty, said: “When effectively integrated into the curriculum, technology tools could extend learning in powerful ways.” 

Dhaneswar Harichandan, who had come from the University of Mumbai, discussed with the teachers and upcoming instructors on how the role of teachers has changed from delivering content to mentoring and facilitating learning. Other topics related to the integration of technology with pedagogy were also extensively discussed.  

Cloud computing

Cloud computing became the buzzword at a number of colleges in the state last week. A seminar on cloud computing was organised by the computer application department of  Khallikote University. 

Manas Ranjan Patra read out a research article on the topic. A boot camp on cloud computing was also held on April 16 at the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) by the Microsoft Developers’ Community of Odisha. 

Technical speaker Tadit Dash spoke to the students about Azure, the cloud computing platform of Microsoft, and how it could be used to create web applications with ease and demonstrated it with sample websites. A quiz on the latest technological trends was also conducted. 

Quiz time

The team from College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar, won the first prize at the Mettle Meet, an inter-state college quiz, held on April 15 at a city hotel. 

The college team won with 83 points while the team from KIIT University got 76 points and Ravenshaw Junior College got 72 points and were declared first and second runners-up respectively. More than 200 dignitaries representing different sections of the society took part in the event. 

Eighteen teams from as many educational institutions in the state took part in the event with great enthusiasm. Quizmaster Venkatesh Srinivasan plumbed the depths and captured the expanse of knowledge of the competitors through questions on an array of subjects — ranging from science and mythology to current affairs. 

Illuminated campus

New streetlights were installed on the Gangadhar Meher University campus in Sambalpur recently. Hundreds of students of the institution, who were demanding adequate lighting arrangements on the campus for a long time, were present during the installation. 

The students claimed that due to the absence of proper lights, many outsiders were taking advantage of the darkness and were loitering on the campus every evening. 

The street light system, funded by the West Odisha Development Council, was inaugurated by its chairperson Kishor Mohanty, in the presence of Sambalpur MLA Raseswari Panigrahi and other staff members of the varsity.  

Alumni meet 

The alumni meet of the Nice College of Commerce, Balangir, was held on April 13 and 14. During the event, the college authorities briefly shared the vision and specific needs of the institute. 

The alumni gave a positive response and said they were ready to extend assistance for the betterment of the college. A hasya kavi sammelan was held on the occasion with eminent poets such as Achyut Purohit, Sushil Mishra and Nitish Acharya taking part. 

Kosali poet Haldhar Nag, who was recently awarded the Padma Shri, delivered a talk on the concluding day and spoke about regional writing and the importance of promoting Kosali literature. 

Art seminar

A national-level seminar and workshop on the topic “Modern Art: A changing scenario” was organised by the postgraduate department of visual arts of Utkal University of Culture at the Rabindra Mandap last week. 

Principal secretary of culture department Manoranjan Panigrahi discussed the role of modern art in contemporary society with the students and hoped many contemporary problems could be solved through creativity. 

Painter Dinanath Pathy spoke about various aspects of modern art and urged the students to take up art and try to help the society grow. In the evening, artists from Mumbai — Prabhakar Kolte and Rajendra Patil — gave a comparative analysis of modern and traditional art. They also answered queries of the students and faculty members. 

World Health Day

The World Health Day was celebrated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),Bhubaneswar, on April 7 on the theme “Beat diabetes: Scale up prevention, strengthen care, and enhance surveillance.” A series of competitions were organised among MBBS and BSc (nursing) students on the occasion. 

Three endocrinologists — Abhay Kumar Sahoo, Sambit Das and Jaya Bhanu Kanwar — spoke to the students on various issues on diagnosing and treating hormone imbalances. A public medical camp was also held where 550 patients and attendants were screened. 

The students and staff members were sensitised about the different levels of prevention pertaining to diabetes and the importance of standard care.