Students of drama department of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya stage a play in Bhubaneswar Telegraph picture

Thomas Pogge, professor of philosophy and international affairs, Yale University, visited Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, to deliver the extra-mural lecture. He spoke on global justice on April 30. The German philosopher stressed on new rules of society to bring equilibrium, so that human rights of people across the world are protected. He said: “At present, the planet houses 7.2 billion people, out of which 868 million are malnourished, 783 million do not have access to safe drinking water and 1,600 million do not have adequate shelter. This is mainly due to existing gaps in the international order.”

Fun time

Students of Integrated MCA, Utkal University, celebrated their annual event titled Evolve and organised its farewell event Adios for outgoing students on May 3 and May 4, respectively. As the tradition goes, the fourth semester students organise the event, which took place at MKCG auditorium in the varsity with a lot of pomp and show. A DJ Night, various computer games and many more fun competitions were organised for the event. Several students took part in the annual event of College of Agriculture and Horticulture, Sambalpur, last week.

Beat the heat

The student NCC wing of Rama Devi Women’s College, Bhubaneswar, received the essential know-how to tackle the sweltering heat that causes sunstroke, dehydration and heat cramps. The group of 32 young cadets took part in a workshop held on the college campus last week where programme officer of the National Environment Awareness Campaign and health specialist Pravat Kumar Das asked the students to drink plenty of water, even when they do not feel thirsty. The workshop also focused on recycling of waste materials, minimum use of polythene and importance of trees.

Bank on capacity

World Bank delegates Put Larsen and Somni Saha visited Berhampur University on May 6. “We have been working for the past one decade with the government of India, supporting 200 engineering colleges in 20 states, including two in Odisha, for development of faculty and laboratory. We are also supporting the poor students,” said Larsen after an interaction with VC Dipak Kumar Behera and heads of the departments. Somni Saha stressed on the need for capacity-building training for teachers that is not followed by any university in Odisha. The VC presented the perspective plan of Berhampur University for the next 20 years.

Play-ful event

Students of the drama department at Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Bhubaneswar, sweated it out to produce brilliant productions. The mini auditorium of the college became a playground for young artistes as they practised in the morning and performed in the evening. The cultural soiree had taken place for three days and concluded last week. The annual cultural affair also holds importance as the students get to don the hat of directors. Some of the plays enacted were Sesare Dharama Kahila, Sesare Dharama Kahila, Biswasa and Eka Abastaba Galpa.

Art for cause

BK College of Art and Crafts, Bhubaneswar, organised its 28th annual art exhibition. The three-day exhibition, held at Jayadev Bhavan, concluded on May 1. Students showcased their creativity by using various media and painted on the theme of Art and Culture of Odisha and India. Tourism and culture secretary Arvind Padhee and culture director Sushil Kumar Das inaugurated the exhibition. “It is our responsibility to protect the monuments, which have been in ruins for decades,” said Padhee.

Spotlight on leader

People should be the focus in any enterprise and a leader should inspire the followers to think differently to achieve greater success, said Ashok Kumar Balyan, managing director and CEO of Petronet-LNG. He was delivering a talk on “Building Leadership Capability for Business Performance” at SOA University on May 6. Former UP director-general of police Chandra Bhanu Satpathy was the chief guest. Stating that mentoring and coaching were the traits of a true leader, Balyan, who had worked with ONGC for 30 years, said: “A true leader would always admit his mistakes. He should strike a balance while managing the new world order in business by managing the present, selectively forgetting the past and creating the future.”

Research hour

Knowledge Centre of Bimtech, Bhubaneswar, in collaboration with the Ranganathan Society for Social Welfare and Library Development, Greater Noida organised a seven-day national workshop on research methodology. About 52 participants from 10 states, along with one participant from United Arab Emirates, took part in the workshop. It concluded on May 3. Supported by ICSSR, Calcutta, the workshop was one of the major steps towards providing an opportunity to students in the field of research methodology, said A.P. Padhi, former vice-chancellor of Berhampur University. The dignitaries asked the participants to take up research.

Sanskrit connect

The opinion — contributions of great literary personalities of undivided Balasore towards enrichment of Sanskrit literature are unparalleled and more research is needed in this field — came from the speakers in a seminar organised by the Odia department of Fakir Mohan University. The event was held last week. The speakers put emphasis on the contributions of great iconic personalities such as Sridhar Swami, Pundit Baladev Bidyabhusan and others to the language. Guests on the occasion were Mina Shukla of Ranchi University, Chandrakant Shukla of Darbhanga University and Kumar Chandra Mishra of Amrut Vani Sewa Prathisthan.