Life science and research 

Vrice-chancellor of Presidency University in Calcutta Anuradha Lohia said young scientists should focus on building a career in science by undertaking advanced research with an overall objective to provide answers to fundamental questions in the cell and developmental biology. Lohia recently spoke on science and research on the foundation day at the Institute of Life Science in Bhubaneswar. She also said research could provide clue to the understanding of molecular mechanisms for developing target approaches and applications in the field of life sciences. They should also carry out translational research, so that its outcome is used for the benefit of human society, she said. Ankita Shresta, Debasis Deb, Sunanda Mallik, Ashish Kumar and Shefaily Parmer were felicitated for their research achievements on the occasion.

Medicine camp

The Youth for Social Development, in association with the Oxfam-India, recently launched “Access to Free Medicine Campaign” in Ganjam district. It aims to increase people’s accessibility to free medicines and accountability of the government and officials to make it and other health care facilities available at free of cost. On the occasion, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan member Gouranga Mahapatra and Oxfam-India member Santosh Kumar Patra presented updates of the Niramaya scheme and shared the quality and efficacy of them available in government health centres.
 
Office-bearers

The Bhubaneswar branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India elected its office-bearers for the year 2018-19 at its meeting here on February 28. Chiranjeebi Jena was elected the chairman, Sugyan Kumar Sahoo the vice-chairman, Siddharth Ranjan the secretary, Tarun Kumar Agarwalla the treasurer, Janhabi Deo Eastern India Chartered Accountants Students’ Association chairperson and Raja Narayan Tripathy, Amit Kumar Agarwalla and Rashmi Ranjan Mishra as committee members. The members resolved to provide best efforts in discharging their duty.

Tech talk

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar, recently observed the National Science Day to commemorate the invention of the Raman effect by Indian physicist and Nobel laureate C.V. Raman. The chief guest, former professor of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, (department of computer science and automation) L.M. Patnaik spoke on “Joys and Challenges of Doing Research” and told the scholars to focus on the fundamental understanding of the research topic and genuine innovations. IIT acting director R.K. Panda highlighted the immediate need of the IITs to be engaged in mentoring other educational institutions for inculcating fundamental understanding in the students staring from the school level. A presentation session was held. Ajay Babu Kambhampati bagged first prize, Anil D. Pathak was bagged second prize and Paltan Laha bagged third prize for the presentation.

Yoga time

The North Odisha University, Baripada, recently organised a workshop on research methodology for masters students of naturopathy and yogic sciences. Kamala Kanta Dash of the Kalinga Kusum Foundation was invited to train the first-year and second-year students. Dash, who is a certified yoga educator and a social science researcher, covered basic topics in social science and health research in a four-hour workshop. He advised students to read original yogic texts in Sanskrit and use Odia translation when facing difficulty to understand, analyse and inter-connect. He combined his training in soft skills, yoga, theatre and media to entertain students and inspired students to think creatively about the issues.