The cultural and literary society of NIT Rourkela celebrated Utkal Divas on April 1 at the P.K. Parija auditorium of the institute. The former additional district magistrate of Rourkela, Mahendra Kumar Pattnaik, who was present on the occasion, spoke at length on the topic “Glimpses of Modern Odia Literature.” The other speaker was a retired faculty member of English, Pareshwar Biswal, who spoke on the evolution of Odia literature. The students staged cultural programmes displaying the state’s rich heritage.

Annual function

Students of Ganagadhar Meher University took part in several cultural programmes, which were organised during the annual function of the boys’ hostel. The students performed a number of Bollywood songs and also staged plays. Competitions such as quiz and essay writing were also held. A meeting was also organised on the occasion, where the dean of student affairs of the university, Kamdev Sahu, discussed with the students about various difficulties they faced and assured them of quick solutions. Hostel students Pradeep Ekka, Bikash Bag and Suryakanta Panigrahi co-ordinated the programme. A large number of students attended the event. 

Convocation

The ninth convocation ceremony of the Asian School of Business Management took place on its campus on April 2. Justice V. Gopala Gowda, Supreme Court judge, gave away degree certificates to the students of the 2014-16 batch. In his convocation address, Gowda said business houses must undertake to embody the spirit of the Indian Constitution within their schemes, and apart from being profit-oriented, they must serve the society earnestly. The school’s founder-director Biswajeet Pattanayak presented the annual report of the institute and said perseverance proved to be the only difference between failure and success. 

Book launch

The book Periodical Press and Colonial Modernity written by Central University of Odisha vice-chancellor Sachidananda Mohanty was launched at the Odisha State Archives in Bhubaneswar on April 2. Renowned Odia poet Ramakanta Rath launched the book. This is Mohanty’s 28th book.  

Placement drive

The Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, achieved over 85 per cent placement this year. Over 40 students from the English journalism course have been placed through a central placement process held at main branch of the institute in New Delhi in February. Around 17 Odia journalism students have also been recruited by a number of TV channels and newspapers. In another development, a seminar on the topic “Role of Folk and Traditional Media in Development” was conducted at the institute last week. Ravenshaw College’s Odia department head Gouranga Dash, state Sangeet Natak Akademi’s former secretary Manmath Satpathy and Prasar Bharati’s former deputy director-general Abhaya Kumar Padhi deliberated lectures on the occasion and interacted with the students on various folk art forms. 

Cricket league

Around 16 universities and institutions from across the country are battling it out at the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) University's premier league T-20 cricket championship, organised by the varsity on their campus. The teams, divided into four groups, will play a round-robin league with the top team in each group progressing into the semi-finals to be played on April 10 and the final the very next day. While the Utkal University, Bhagalpur University, Lovely Professional University and the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology have been placed in Group A, the Berhampur University, National Law School of India University, Guru Ghasidas University and the IIT Bhubaneswar are clubbed in Group B. The Ravenshaw University, KIIT University, Jadavpur University and the Integral University, Lucknow, are in Group C, while the IIIT Bhubaneswar, Centurion University, Biju Patnaik University of Technology and the SOA University have been clubbed together in Group D. On Tuesday, Utkal University defeated Bhagalpur University by six runs.

Alumni meet

The alumni meet of the Roland Pharmaceutical College, Berhampur, was held on April 2. Biju Patnaik University of Technology registrar Mohammad Altaf Khan, who attended the meet as the chief guest, praised the institution for its role in imparting qualitative education since the past three decades. Hundreds of alumni, who attended the meet, discussed about job prospects, project work, research and other academic aspects with the current batch of students. Director J. Suriya Rao, chairperson J. Jayalaxmi and other college officials organised the meet and reflected upon the significance of convening such meetings.

Blood donation

A blood donation camp was organised at the Balasore College of Engineering and Technology last week. Besides college staff members, the students associated with the Red Cross and the National Service Scheme took part in the camp. As many as 287 units of blood were collected. District blood bank officer Basant Upadhay, college principal Abhay Panda and many others attended the event. They encouraged the students to donate blood on a regular basis. Physicians held a discussion with the students about various aspects of blood donation and certain myths that are related to it. They also explained hereditary blood disorders and diseases that are communicated through blood.