Students of ASBM, Bhubaneswar, perform Dalkhai folk dance during their annual day celebrations

Minister of health and family welfare Damodar Rout advocated for the creation of a skin bank to ensure better treatment of burn victims while inaugurating a national seminar on burns at the Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital, Bhubaneswar, on October 5. Expressing concern that the number of burn cases was on the rise due to social conflict, he said there was an urgent need for excision and skin grafting, harvesting of skin and its preservation. Rout talked about a case in New Delhi when skin donated by a young man, who died in an accident, benefitted nearly 14 burn victims. Exuding hope that the skin donation would shortly become a reality here, he said: “The mindset in Odisha is gradually changing.” The seminar was conducted in association with the National Academy of Burns, India. Senior plastic surgeon from New Delhi Dr Prabhat Shrivastava said the number of burn accidents was second only to road mishaps while fire accidents were endemic to the Indian sub-continent. The minister announced that 800 ambulances would be pressed into service to exclusively cater to ferry expectant women to designated hospitals for delivery free of cost. The person needing the service would have to dial 102.

Hop and skip

A student of SoA National Institute of Law walks the ramp during a fashion show organised as part of their annual fest

Budding sportspersons from various parts of the country are displaying their skills in an array of games that are under way at the KIIT University, Bhubaneswar. The six-day central zone inter-university tournament was inaugurated on October 7. Apart from KIIT, Utkal, Ravenshaw-Cuttack and Berhampur University in the state, more than 30 varsities from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states, too, are taking part in the event. While basketball and badminton are being held for both men and women, tennis games are being exclusively played in men’s category and volleyball in women’s section. The matches are being held from 7am to 2pm and 3pm to 7pm every day. The semi-final league match will be played October 11. The responsibility of refereeing the event has given to Prabin Kumar Nayak.

Rural exercise

Rural management students of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), moved from the comfort of their air-conditioned classrooms to a more quaint setting during Gramotsava. The three-day event, which was launched on October 4, was an initiative of the Rural Managers’ Association of the XIMB. The launch witnessed unveiling of the official banner of Gramotsava as well as the new avatar of the official mascot Bonnie Bhaina, an Olive Ridley Turtle. The association also launched the first edition of their annual magazine on rural management, Dhwani. The core aim is to expand the learning potential of the students by offering them a platform wherein they can apply the theoretical concepts to the practical domain of the rural marketing world. This fest was held at Begunia in Khurda district and Salepur in Cuttack district. On October 8, the institute organised a leadership summit on campus by hosting eminent industrialists, pioneers across various industries. Distinguished speakers shared their views on the theme, Business in Today’s Challenging Politico-Economic Times, highlighting important ways in which modern companies are beating the adverse macroeconomic factors to stay competitive and ensure growth.

Students from IMIS, Bhubaneswar, with children of Ashakiran orphanage. Telegraph pictures

Joy of giving

A group of students from the Institute of Management and Information Science (IMIS), Bhubaneswar, brought a smile on the faces of less fortunate children by organising Saharsh, a weeklong festival of philanthropy. The aim of the event, which started on October 2 coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti, was to engage people from the corporate and government sectors, NGOs, school and colleges through “acts of giving” — time, money and resources. The students raised funds by selling tickets of various cultural programmes on campus to reach out to needy children at an orphanage named Ashakiran for their education, food and clothing.

Youth power

The city finals of IDFC Foundation’s youth campaign titled, In Our Hands, were conducted at Gandhi Engineering College, Bhubaneswar. More than 2,000 students from 35 colleges took part in the event. This year, the theme was Environment and Sustainability, which covered three major environment issues — carbon footprint, land and water. Sourav Das and Ankush Kumar Sharma from KIIT University won the debate competition while Saaransh Mohaptra and Jyoti Prakash Panda from Silicon Institute of Technology bagged top honours in the quizzing session. The campaign aimed to bring perspectives and opinion of the youth to decision-makers and simultaneously increase awareness of the deep and systemic challenges that the country is faced with.

Career guidance

The Institute of Higher Secondary Education, Bhubaneswar, hosted a career counselling workshop, which was inaugurated last week by Binod Madhab Samal, chief technical officer of Apollo Hospital-Hyderabad. Addressing students, he outlined the critical situation in health services in remote areas of the state due to scarcity of doctors. He stressed on the need for interaction of patients with qualified doctors through Internet and videoconferencing while urging private institutions and the state government to establish medical colleges to meet the huge requirement of doctors.

Law course

The SoA University is planning to introduce BTech LLB course from the next academic year. This was revealed during the inaugural function of Legal Spectra-2013, the three-day law school festival organised by the SoA National Institute of Law. The events conducted over the three days included moot court competition, poster competition, fashion show, debate competition, dance, singing and duels in carrom and table tennis. Sixty-odd students from seven law schools in Odisha, Assam and Chhattisgarh took part in the event. Justice R.K. Patra, former chief justice of Sikkim High Court and former chairman of State Human Rights Commission, who graced the occasion, advised students not to aim for corporate jobs but take up legal practice in courts. Another guest, Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patasani, spoke on media’s apparent influence on public opinion and on court rulings.

Annual revelry

The Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar, celebrated its 7th annual day, Moorchhana, on October 5 by organising a blood donation camp. More than 150 blood units were collected. The students and faculty members then visited Bhola village in Chandaka on the city outskirts to plant 600 saplings of mango, guava, teak and other varieties of trees. A cultural extravaganza added zing to the event. Winners of various competitions, including musical chairs, dance, song, quiz and sport, were awarded. Guests on the occasion, Sunil Shreekrishna Dadhe, who is the principal accountant general, and Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patasani addressed the students.