Sanidhya-15, the annual alumni meet of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), was organised in six cities - Chennai, Hyderabad, Calcutta, New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai - recently. The event is held every year across major cities of the country and provides a platform for the alumni to reconnect with their alma mater. The event saw massive participation from the alumni that included entrepreneurs, CEOs, COOs, GMs and directors, from various industries and domains. The event presented a golden opportunity for the current students, who are in different locations for their summer internship, and also aspirants who look forward to join XIMB. The event enabled them to network with the esteemed alumni and to know about the expectations of the corporate houses and gather insights. Suggestions given by the alumni have been of a great help in taking the institute to greater heights and further strengthening brand XIMB. This also improves the alignment of the institute curriculum with the industry and helps enhance the industry interface of the institution. Interactions with entrepreneurs and business leaders also foster the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst the bright minds of the institute. The director of the institution, Paul Fernandes, and other faculty members were present at the event in different cities. Various aspects of the activities at the institute and progress plans were shared and discussed with the alumni. Eminent guest speakers were also invited in some of the cities.
Faculty training
A one-day faculty-training programme on scientific lab development was organised at the College of Engineering and Technology in Bhubaneswar on June 5. It was held under the active initiation of S.S. Patnaik, the vice-chancellor of BPUT (Biju Patnaik University of Technology). Around 61 faculty members from different constituent and affiliated colleges of BPUT attended the event. The workshop was followed by a hands-on laboratory practice at the computer centre of CET. The laboratory practice was conducted by experts from Chandigarh. The workshop was useful for research work in engineering. Patnaik promised to conduct more faculty development programmes in the future and stated that NITTR (National Institute of Teacher Training and Research), Chandigarh has agreed to adopt Odisha for conducting more such programmes. Patnaik also plans to conduct a NBA (National Board of Accreditation) workshop in July.
Graduation success
The graduation results of the Ispat Autonomous College were declared last week. Ispat Autonomous College is one of the leading colleges in Rourkela that provides graduation degrees. It has student strength of over 3,000. The results were declared after due approval of the vice- chancellor of Sambalpur University. The college offers courses in Arts, commerce and science. Swagatika Mishra, a physics honours graduate, was adjudged first this year. Pratap Kansari from the department of Odia secured the highest marks amongst the students graduating in Arts while Santo Suara topped the commerce stream. Recently, the college participated in the National Assessment and Accreditation Council accreditation and a three-member team visited the campus.
Librarians' meet
The 3rd Librarians' Development Programme was held at the KIIT University on June 5. More than 200 participants from Odisha and other parts of the country attended it. Library scientists of many reputed institutions from different parts of the country discussed recent trends in librarianship. Veteran library scientist H. Anil Kumar, who is from IIM, Ahmedabad, spoke on the problems and prospects of university curriculum and research and stressed the need of librarians to support the process of teaching, learning, and research. The chief guest of the inaugural session, Sasmita Samanta, who is the registrar of KIIT University, emphasiased the role of libraries and librarians in augmenting the quality of teaching and research in academic institutions. She also stressed that librarians should play a proactive role in identifying and meeting the information needs. G.K. Manjunath from Tata Institute of Development Research, Bulu Maharana from Sambalpur University and R.K. Mohapatra from SMIT, Berhampur also addressed on the different facets of digital age librarianship.
Catering certification
The Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Bhubaneswar, conducted skill testing and certification programme for street vendors, cooks, waiters, bakers and housekeepers who have been working in different hotels, restaurants and other food outlets for years together without formal education and certification of their expertise. In addition to the training, the programme also incorporated the importance of hygiene and food safety aspects to the trainees so that safest food can be served to the tourists and devotees during Nabakalebar. The event was held on June 8. It was an initiative of the institute that functions under the ministry of tourism.
Admission plan
Khallikote University has chalked out an action plan for admission of students in Plus Three (graduation) as well as postgraduate courses in the coming days. A meeting was held at the college under the chairmanship of officer on special duty Manmath Padhi on June 8. The meeting was attended by principals of five affiliated colleges of the cluster university that included Bijaya Kumar Mahanty (Khallikote College), Mahendra Mishra (Binayak Acharya College), L.P. Nayak (representative of the principal of Sashi Bhushan Rath Women's College), P.K. Dwivedi (Chatrapur Science College) and L. Patnaik (Gopalpur College). The admission process would start with the notification on June 12.
Environment awareness
An awareness programme was organised on the campus of Rairangpur Women's College jointly by the NSS wing and the eco club. It was held on June 4 on the eve of World Environment Day. The speakers highlighted the ill effects of global warming. They stressed on the urgency of afforestation and other measures that are needed to protect the environment. The event was co-ordinated by NSS officer Bijay Kumar Ram while Kanak Giri and Basanti Sengupta were the resource persons and they addressed the students. The students participated in large numbers and carried out various activities for protection of the environment.
Patenting seminar
KIIT Technology Business Incubator, KIIT University conducted a one-day seminar on European Patenting System and IP commercialisation on June 3 in association with EBTC (European Business Technology Centre) and NRDC (National Research Development Corporation). With the intention of supporting the Indian government's "Make in India"s initiative, EBTC and the European Patent Office (EPO) conducted the seminar. It was conducted in co-operation with different Indian chambers of commerce and government institutions. "KIIT-TBI is promoting several technology based start-up companies which are engaged in filing several IPs and such workshops will bring understanding of patent regimes followed in Europe," said Mrutyunjay Suar, CEO of KIIT-TBI.
Results declared
Girls outshone boys in the toppers' list of the final degree examination of Gangadhar Meher Autonomous College. Of the 22 subjects, the girls have topped in 12. Chandralekha Panda topped in English honours, while Sushree Sudhamayee Sahu topped in Hindi. The toppers in the other arts honours subject were: Smrutee Ranjan Bharasagar (economics), Bhojaraj Pradhan (education), Khusbu Meher (geography), Milan Kumar Sahu (history), Bharat Padhee (mathematics), Shantilata Sahu (Odia), Sachin Kumar Baboo (philosophy), Aneesh Kumar Meher (political science), Puja Ghadei (psychology) Gadadhar Pradhan (Sanskrit) and Mini Nayak (statistics). In science honours subjects, Jogindra Nayak topped in botany, Radhika Sharma topped in chemistry, Romeo Kumar Sahu in computer science, Ashis Mishra in mathematics, Khusbu Agrawal in physics and Chetana Mishra in zoology. In commerce honours, Bhabana Agrawal topped the exam. Lupshita Dash was the topper in BBA.
