A student performs at Hunar fest at National Law University Odisha in Cuttack and (above) winners of SOA QuizWiz at Institute of Technical Education and Research in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph pictures

National Law University Odisha students in Cuttack had a blast during a three-day intra-fest, Hunar, organised at the premier law school that concluded on the occasion of Diwali.

The second edition of the annual fest saw an active participation of nearly 400 students in various events ranging from singing, dancing, quizzes and other fun events. The Hunar fest saw students from all the batches competing with each other. The event aimed at testing the talent, intellect and sportsmanship of the students, said faculty advisor Arjyalopa Mishra.

The highlight of the fest was the paintball competition, which was organised by the Calcutta Paintball Club in association with the cultural committee of the university. To encourage students, few of the faculty members also performed and joined the celebrations. Hunar had tie-ups with various food joints such as Subway, Dominos, Cookies and Munnu Maa Ki Pyaar.

Alumni meet

Former students of College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (CAET) organised an alumni meet along with a technical discussions on climate change on October 26 at MS Swaminathan Hall of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT). Over 500 agricultural engineers attended the event from various parts of the state as well as the country. They represented government, private and other sectors. The participants discussed on Climate Resilient Agriculture: Role of Agricultural Engineers. With the ever-changing climate in the country and need for better food production, the discussion enlightened the current students, who were also present in the event. Chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati was the chief guest of the event while Manoranjan Kar, vice-chancellor of OUAT was guest of honour and R.K. Panda, dean of Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy (SRIC), IIT, Bhubaneswar was the chief speaker.

Scholarships

In its effort to encourage and inspire young talented students for higher studies, Posco India Limited and T.J. Park Foundation conferred Posco T.J. Park Foundation Scholarship-2014 to 11 students that include six from Utkal University and five from KIIT University.

Each student got 500 USD worth around Rs 30,000 for his or her higher studies. Posco T.J. Park Foundation has been rewarding individuals and organisations that have made extraordinary contributions in the categories of science, education and community development and philanthropy.

Since the announcement of the proposed Posco India project, the award instituted by Posco T.J. Park Foundation is being distributed every academic year in Odisha for students of Utkal University, KIIT, Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) and Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and in New Delhi.

Participants at the inter-college archery competition under the aegis of North Odisha University at Jashipur College in Baripada of Mayurbhanj and (above) students who received Posco TJ Park Foundation Scholarship-2014. Telegraph pictures

Quiz time

A national-level quiz contest for college students, SOA QuizWiz was organised at the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) on October 26. In the fourth edition of this quiz competition the organisers had included students from Plus Two level. Earlier, only undergraduate students were taking part.

The ITER Quiz Club conducted the event in which more than 150 teams from various institutes across the country had taken part. Syed Mustafa Hashmi and Syed Murtaza Hashmi (Hashmi brother) from Chhattisgarh won the first prize and cash award of Rs 1 lakh.

Archery competition

An inter-college archery competition under the aegis of North Odisha University was held at Jashipur College in Baripada of Mayurbhanj district. The competition in the categories of 30metre and 50metre among boys and girls was held on the college campus that concluded on Sunday. The best three players in each category were awarded at the closing ceremony. The champions in overall performances in boys and girls categories are respectively Phagu Tudu of Dhirajlal College, Bahalda and Sarathi Murmu of MPC College, Baripada.

Freshers’ welcome

A freshers’ party was organised in the Girls’ Hostel-1 of the Gangadhar Meher Autonomous College of the city on Saturday to welcome new students, who have taken admission in the hostel for this year. The senior students of the hostel extended a warm welcome to the newcomers through an extravagant fun-filled event. After each new student was introduced to the seniors, cultural events started. Both seniors and juniors of the hostel showcased their talents in music and dance programmes. Two students, Geetanjali Behera and Asha Arya, coordinated the entire event, including the formal meeting presided over by college principal Smita Devi.

Cleanliness camp

Students of Swosti Institute of Management and Social Studies organised an NSS camp at Nandankanan on October 25 to sensitise vendors and tourists about cleanliness. The theme of the event was ‘Safety, Security, Cleanliness, Hygiene and Food Safety’. Students along with the faculty members discussed about food with vendors in and around the zoological park. They explained to them about the need of cleanliness while serving food and how to maintain hygiene. They provided hand gloves and head gear and demonstrated how to use these to maintain hygiene. Besides, the hawkers were also educated about not littering everywhere and put the waste at one place to increase beauty of the tourist destination. Vice-chancellor of Utkal University of Culture, Debendra Nath Jena, along with deputy secretary of state higher education department Upendra Sahu had participated in the event to boost the morale of the students. Principal of the institute Hemant Suar supervised the entire event.

Problems galore

Students of Khalikote Autonomous and Junior Colleges and Sashi Bhushan Rath Women’s College complained about various problems faced by them on the campus to the higher education minister Predeep Kumar Panigrahi, who was on a surprised visit to these educational institutes. The students highlighted how shortage of faculty had been affecting their studies. Besides, they also face lack of drinking water facilities. Panigrahi, who was accompanied by Berhampur MLA Ramesh Chandra Chau Patnaik, said he had come to see the infrastructure facilities and the conduct of classes in these colleges. He assured the students and college authorities to take steps to sort out the issues.

Sandip Bal