Members of Bakul Foundation distribute tree for free in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

The first batch students of SoA National Institute of Law, Bhubaneswar, attend the welcome ceremony, along with their parents. Telegraph picture

Bakul Foundation reinvigorated the “My Tree Campaign” in the form of a “Tree for Free” road show on a bullock cart on July 31. Enthusiastic volunteers comprising college students and young professionals went around the capital hollering “Gachha Naba Gachha (Do you want trees?)” and distributed more than 500 saplings on that hot, sultry day. A superhero in costume called Dedi Loku (tree man in Kui, a tribal language) visited malls, schools and public places to encourage people to gift and plant trees. A Dedi Loku club has been formed where members will plant and gift trees regularly. “The response of people was overwhelming. Whenever the bullock cart was parked under the shade of trees, it was a stark reminder of how urgently trees need to be planted. In fact, statistics say that every second, a rainforest the size of a football field is vanishing,” Bhupen Chauhan, an engineering student and coordinator of the My Tree Campaign said.

The road show was organised for the first time on July 10 in which 500 saplings were gifted to people.

Disability talk

Sandhan, the student wing of Swabhiman, a leading NGO working for the empowerment of disabled persons, organised an open discussion at BJB (Autonomous) College, Bhubaneswar last week. There were about 40 participants in the discussion, the purpose of which was to promote interaction between disabled students and general students.

In the two-hour long discussion, disabled students voiced their concerns and needs. The visually impaired students raised a number of issues including the availability of a writer during examinations for which many general students volunteered to help.

The general students offered suggestions to make the college atmosphere more disable-friendly. College authorities also promised to look into problems relating to hostel-accommodation.

Law conference

A career in Law today offers students more options than it did a few years ago. But one must have the aptitude for it, legal experts said at the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar on Saturday.

“Those educated in Law have the option of joining the judicial service, or taking up teaching or even working in the corporate sector,” Hrudaya Ballav Das, former CBI Judge, said while speaking at the welcome ceremony for the first batch students of five-year integrated law course at the SoA National Institute of Law (SNIL).

Professor at the M.S. Law College, Cuttack, A.K. Srivastav and industrialist, Ram Kumar among other university authorities also addressed the freshers.

Role of leadership

A seminar on ‘Role of community leadership in water harvesting and river revival’ was organised at the FM University, Balasore on July 27 by the department of environmental science on the university’s new campus at Nuapadhi. Environmentalist and Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh expressed concern over the pollution of water bodies, especially rivers. “The growing industrial activities and discharge of untreated effluents into rivers water has threatened human and aquatic life as well,” Singh said. Drinking water, which was available abundantly, has now become a scarce commodity and is being sold in the market, he said.

“It is a Rs 25,000 crore market already and the demand for and cost of drinking water would increase in future,” he added. He also urged students to prepare a study report and offer suggestions to prevent water pollution and submit it to the government. On this occasion, Singh was felicitated by university vice-chancellor, Kumarbar Das, and head of the host department, S.K. Dey.

Pharma scope

A two-day seminar titled “Scope for pharma industry in Orissa’’ was organised at the Roland Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Berhampur. Faculty members and pharmacy students took part in the seminar. Dr M.E. Bhanoji Rao, who chaired the session, said Orissa has untapped resources and a great scope for the development of pharmaceutical industries.

He exuded hope that multinationals and top pharma companies should “utilise this potential for the general benefit of mankind”. Head of biotechnology department, S.P.S Bisht, said the core issue was that of employment and students must make attempts to enhance their employability, while the pharmacy industry needs to recognise and polish raw talent.

Subrat Kumar Bhattamisra, pharmacology department head said Orissa is becoming investment friendly which would improve the employment scenario.

Entrance exams

The entrance examinations for admission into various self-financing courses of BJB (Autonomous) College were held in mid-July.

The self-financing courses on offer are Integrated Master of Science in Electronics and Telecommunication (IMSc.ETC), Integrated Master of Business Administration (IMBA), Integrated Master of Science in Bio-Informatics (IMSc.BI), Master in Finance and Control (MFC) with 60 seats in each, Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication (MAJMC) and Bachelor of Information Technology and Management (BITM) with 48 seats each.

All integrated courses are of a five-year duration. The college, in collaboration with two trusts, is running these professional courses.

Honour for KIIT

KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, achieved the distinction of becoming the second university in the country to have Mission 10X Innovation Chair. A MoU between the university and Wipro Mission 10X for Mission 10X - Chair Professorship Scheme was signed on July 19. The university has been identified as a “concept centre” of the eastern region. The professorship grant would be awarded distinguished members of engineering faculty at KIIT University in recognition to their contribution to engineering education and enhancing employability skills among students. Sastra University, Tamil Nadu is the other university to have this chair.