An awareness programme for students on organ donation was held on the campus of Fakir Mohan University. The state head of the organ donation programme, Pravas Acharya, the head of population studies department, Nihar Ranjan Rout, and the NSS programme officer, Ramkrushna Pradhan, urged students to highlight the cause. They were told that organs could only be donated if one had a declaration before death. On January 30, a declaration programme will be held on the university campus and students urged to take part in it.
Helping hands
Rotaract Club of National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, a student body of Rotary International, hosted its annual housie event. Housie is a gambling game also known as bingo. Students, research scholars, professors and about 400 people took part in the event. The revenue generated from the event will be used to provide blankets to the poor. The club has decided to spend a part of the funds on the children of Birsa Munda Vidyapeeth, a rundown government school, near the NIT campus.
Varsity honours
Governor of Goa Mridula Sinha conferred the Best Innovative University Award to Odisha's Sri Sri University
at the National Education Excellence Awards 2017 held in Goa. The executive registrar of the varsity, Srinivas Subbarao Pasumarthi, received the award.Thirty awards were given to various universities, colleges, institutions and individuals for their contribution to the field of education.
Rural fair
The Xavier School of Rural Management organised their annual rural fair — Rural Living and Learning Experience Mela — on January 16. About 91 students took part in the programme. The fair aimed to showcase the experiences of the students during their 45-day stay at various rural areas of the country. The objective of the fair was to promote working at the grassroots. The event exhibited artefacts, clothing, unique ornaments and food items. It also highlighted rural culture, their means of support, governance and business.
Radio session
About 28 students of mass communication from the Xavier University, Bhubaneswar, and the faculty visited the Voice of SOA Community (90.4) radio station on January 24. The visit was intended to create awareness among the students on the working of a community radio station. Students took interest in the profession of radio jockeys and held an interactive discussion with the officer in charge of the radio station, Honey Patanaik, who answered their questions. Radio jockey KP also shared his work experiences with the students.
Awareness event
A Bhubaneswar organisation, Swabhiman, organised an event — Youth Leadership Training and Empowerment Programme — on January 17. About 25 specially-abled youngsters from six districts of the state took part in the programme.
A number of sessions on yoga, computer fundamentals, RTI norms, and communication and interview skills were conducted. An open session was held during which experts answered queries and spoke about various new government schemes available for them.
Save lives
A blood donation camp was organised at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Burla, on the birth anniversary of Veer Surendra Sai and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on January 23. The students of the institution donated blood at the Vimsar blood bank. About 64 blood units were collected.
Celebration time
The students of Sailabala Women's College are in the mood for celebrations as the college managed to maintain its grade A twice.
The college has been accorded grade A by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council this year. It was also given grade A during the first assessment in 2006.
Anwesha Ambaly
