The four-day All India People’s Science Congress, which was held at the National Institute of Science Education and Research near Bhubaneswar, concluded recently. Education minister Badri Narayan Patra assured the audience members that the state government incorporate some of the innovative ideas generated from the congress in its future programmes to popularise science. All India Peoples Science Network general secretary T. Ramesh announced the names of new office bearers of after the election that was held on February 8 and also resolutions new passed.
CRICKET CHAMPS
Ravenshaw University outplayed hosts Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (deemed university) by 59 runs in the final to win the SOA Premier League at the SOA Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Electing to bat after winning the toss, Ravenshaw scored 178 for five in 20 overs on the back of Liladhar Pradhan’s 75 runs. SOA began the chase tentatively and kept losing wickets at regular intervals before ending up with 119 for eight. Pradhan, who won the man of the match award, was also adjudged the man of the tournament and best batsman. The winners won Rs 1 lakh while the-runners up won Rs 50,000. Former Odisha Ranji skipper Rashmi Ranjan Parida was felicitated on the occasion.
WORKSHOP
DAV School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar, organised a workshop on “Meditation: Recreating Persona (Better Style, Better Life)”. UNFPA’s state programme coordinator Deepa Prasad, who was chief guest, discussed the challenges and potential of being an Indian youth. She explained how youths are prone to psychological disorders and, thus, appealed to the budding managers to stay positive and recognise their strengths. B.K. Alekh and B.K. Geeta from the Brahma Kumaris Centre conducted their respective sessions on meditation. Keynote speaker Shishir Grahacharya spoke about the vision of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited and its strategy towards improving the lifestyle of residents, especially youths.
FOUNDATION DAY
The Institute of Life Sciences celebrated its 27th foundation day on February 11. Finance minister Sashibhusan Behera released the institute’s annual report on the occasion and complemented its high quality and outstanding research in cancer biology, infectious diseases and plant and environmental biotechnology. He hoped that it would take the lead in developing the Bhubaneswar Biotechnology Cluster that aims to contribute to development of skilled human resources in biotechnology and life sciences. Director Ajay Parida stated that the institute had plans for immune-genetic profiling of the state’s tribal population, enhancing productivity of pulses, developing chemo-sensitive cancer cells, diagnostic and drug discovery against dengue, and Japanese encephalitis as well as structured outreach programmes for farming and tribal communities for enhancing production and health.
MEDICAL PROGRAMME
The Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences organised an Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme recently to discuss these issues and create awareness. The programme was spearheaded by PGIMER, Chandigarh, department of pharmacology professor Nusrat Shafiq. The institute has been one of the centres
that actively pursues this programme. Among the solutions debated were eliminating antibiotic from livestock feed and decreasing antibiotics for human infections that are self-limited or likely to have been caused by viruses.
RESEARCH CELL
Ravenshaw University has decided to set up a special cell to promote research activities. The cell will work to boost research in the varsity by focusing on resource generation and make efforts to attract more research projects and funds from national and international agencies to carry out proper study. It will facilitate teachers and researchers to prepare better proposals to ensure that Ravenshaw attracted more research projects. Officials said Ravenshaw was working on 62 research projects at present and had managed to collect around
Rs 20 crore to work on these projects.
