The 13th convocation of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, was held on the institute campus last week. Pradosh Pritam Dash was declared the best graduate of the institute. Karan Grover, the principal architect of Karan Grover and Associates, was the chief guest and his presence on the campus motivated the students. He advocated the need to look at India’s culture and heritage that has an impact on contemporary architecture. The graduates were also given certificates on the occasion. School students were invited to the institute and they also took part in the celebrations and interacted with the students of the institute.
Socio-cultural fest
The annual socio-cultural fest of IIT, Bhubaneswar, held at Janata Maidan, was an extravaganza of energy, excitement and celebration. The fest, titled Alma Fiesta, took place from January 15 to 17. With its motto “Redefining Festivity,” the three-day festival solely organised by the students of the premier institute, was an attempt to celebrate Indian culture. It also induced a wave of environmental and social awareness among the youngsters. A number of workshops on clay modelling, paper quelling, self-defence and Salsa were conducted. For the first time this year, the students, in association with Souls for Solace, the social responsibility student cell of the institute, also introduced Bachpanka Rangmanch for slum children. It was a perfect platform for the underprivileged kids to showcase their creativity. Students from more than two hundred colleges from all across Odisha took part in the fest. Popular singer Nikhil D’Souza also performed at the fest.
TEDx talks
After a couple of stints in previous years, Xavier University will organise the third edition of TEDx on January 24. TED is a non-profit organisation devoted to spreading ideas usually in the form of short, powerful talks. While journalist Tathagata Satpathy, a member of the 16th Lok Sabha, will try to deconstruct the Indian politician, Masako Ono, a renowned Odissi dancer from Japan will talk about seven ancient methods of classical dance at the event. TED global speaker and social entrepreneur Joe Madiath, who is the founder of Gram Vikas will also deliver a talk on inclusive sanitation. Other speakers include Vijayendra Mohanty, a member of the online mythological channel Epified, and he will talk about the evolution of mythological storytelling and the need to present mythology in an attractive way to the young generation and Deep Mukherjee, who heads talent-commentary and broadcast at Star Sports.
Mukherjee will enlighten the attendees about the initiatives for popularising of sports in India. The students of the varsity are excited to interact with the speakers.
Criminals and politics
Political science students of NAC College, Burla, co-ordinated a seminar on the criminals entering mainstream politics. The adverse effects of criminals entering the political arena was discussed at length in the seminar. The students also presented papers. They created a chart on the proportion of MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha facing criminal charges and observed that it was quite high and had increased manifold times between the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabhas. A final-year student of the department, Koushalya Behera, co-ordinated the seminar while the seminar secretary Sumita Bag delivered a talk on the topic.
For clean air
Amidst the clamour for clean air and an environment free of pollution, Gitanjali Kar, a chest physician, said chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had emerged as a serious health problem among the elderly. She was speaking at the 12th Chestcon, the annual conference of experts on pulmonary medicine, at the Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital on January 16. The theme of the two-day conference was pollution free air. Quoting a WHO report, Kar said around 2.4 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution.
She said carbon dioxide was one of the main pollutants of the ambient air, the source being automobiles, industries and other activities such as burning of fossil fuel. Experts at the event interacted with the medical students and asked them to utilise the expertise and diagnostic modalities available with pulmonary medicine specialists.
Art matters
Students of Dhauli College of Art and Craft organised a watercolour painting competition on the occasion of Shishupalgarh Mahotsav on January 20. The students drew various historic monuments situated in the state such as Dhauli peace pagoda, Dhauli elephant statue, Mukteswar and Siddheswar temples, the Mukteswar gate and Khandagiri-Udayagiri hills along with other beautiful monuments based on Kalinga architecture. Around 50 canvasses by 30 students were made using various mediums, such as watercolours, sketch pens, acrylics and crayons. The festival that concludes on Thursday provides a platform to students to portray their imaginations and garner their aesthetic interests. On the concluding day of the festival, the paintings will be exhibited for public viewing.
Remembering Swamiji
The Central University of Odisha celebrated Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary and National Youth Day in a befitting manner on January 12. On the auspicious occasion, a lecture programme, titled “Relevance of Swami Vivekananda’s teaching for the youth today”, was organised. By putting light on the importance of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, Amulya Ranjan Mohapatra, founder of the Ramakrishna Ashram in Koraput and a social thinker, spoke for the need for value-based education. He said: “Education should aim towards man making and character building.” The students spoke about the ideals of Swami Vivekananda and how they derive inspiration from the saint. Students also recited various famous quotes of Swami Vivekananda at the event.g rules and academic rules.
