A medley of dance and music was on show at Vasantika-2013, the two-day annual cultural festival of Dhaneswar Rath Institute of Engineering and Management Studies (Driems) at Tangi, Cuttack, last week. Rhythmic tinkling of ankle bells echoed in the auditorium and hip-hop beats brought the crowd to its feet as students presented a wide array of dance forms. A high-on-style ramp show followed, in which students flaunted trendy casual and ethnic wear on stage. The highlight of the event was high-voltage performances by reality show singers — Manisha Karmarkar and Amit Sana of Indian Idol fame and Soumen Nandi from Sa Re Ga Ma Pa — that held the audience in a thrall. Biju Janata Dal MP Baijayant Panda and Tangi-Salepur MLA Chandrasarathi Behera were the guests on the closing day and distributed prizes to the winners of different events.

Reel memories

Forty students of Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), Bhubaneswar, have joined hands to form Virtual Showreel, a broadcasting crew consisting of photographers, cinematographers, editors, anchors and co-ordinators. They will record campus activities and uploading them on social networking sites. They will also screen movies and organise photography workshops. Recently, the team conducted an audition for the female lead role for an upcoming art film. They are also the official broadcasting crew of SoA Premier League, the cricket extravaganza of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, of which ITER is a constituent college. Virtual Showreel, a member says, is a bridge between amateurs and professionals, who have learnt their craft outside the college. The self-funded group will also cover Basudha — an upcoming cultural soiree. Founding members Suman Saurabh Mohanty and Saswat Pujari said that to ensure growth, they need to experiment and learn with better equipment, which they don’t possess. So, they wish that their college management assists and promotes their club, which has ‘Untamed and Uncut’ as its motto.

First century

Sweets and hugs were exchanged on the campus of Dhaneswar Rath Institute of Engineering and Management Studies (Driems), Tangi, Cuttack, as its management programme had registered record placements. Institute authorities said all their students, who were yet to appear for their final semester exams, had landed jobs with many of them bagging multiple offers. Some students, who had just appeared their first-year end-term exams, have already joined work. Some of the headhunters included Maruti Suzuki, HCL, XL Dynamics, Capital IQ, Spandana Sphoorty, Decimal Point, United Parcel Service, White House Group, One Roof Global, ICICI Securities (South), Ceasefire West and East, India Infoline Bettina Wuerth, Shopper Stop, Pantaloon, Synergy Universal, Jaro Education, BMA Wealth. Golden touch nFive MBBS students of Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Bhubaneswar, bagged gold medals in the 45th annual convocation of Utkal University. The students received the medals from Utkal vice-chancellor Prasant Kumar Sahu at the function, which had President Pranab Mukherjee, governor S.C. Jamir and chief minister Naveen Patnaik as guests. The students are among the first and second batch of MBBS students of KIMS to have bagged 10 medals for securing highest marks in the exam conducted by Utkal University.

Leadership tips

The personnel management and industrial relations department of Utkal University hosted an international seminar on “Corporate Leadership – Issues and Challenges” on May 11 and 12. Varsity vice-chancellor Prasant Kumar Sahoo and Nalco chairman-cum-managing director Ansuman Das inaugurated the seminar. Monica Forrett from St Ambrose University, USA, delivered the keynote address, quoting Mahatma Gandhi, that at one time, leaders relied on muscle power, but now they had to bank on public support to be effective. Head of Tata Steel human resources (industrial relations) Rudra Narayan Mishra talked about qualities such as teamwork, collective decision-making and long-term vision. Over 25 papers were presented during the technical sessions. Distinguished alumni of the department – R.N. Mishra of Tata Steel, P.C. Panigrahi of Nalco and Santanu Rath of Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited – were felicitated on the occasion.