Members of Alive Creations, a youth group, and students of the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), a private engineering college, celebrated International Youth Day on August 12 by turning waste products into art. Taking cue from noted Bollywood art director Sukant Panigrahy’s art installation named Kapala, a large human skull made of electronic waste, members of ITER’s art club Srishti and photography club Virtual Showroom, in association with artists of Alive Creations, made art installations from metallic, plastic and electronic waste in an initiative titled Think Free Think Beyond. These installations, including a miniature replica of Kapala that was inaugurated by Panigrahi via video conference on Monday, will remain in the college for exhibition. The aim behind the workshop-cum-exhibition was to create awareness about working towards a clean and green tomorrow using the medium of art. Some short films by aspiring filmmakers were also shown to the students. The day ended with a seminar on designing by Amiya Singh, an alumnus of ITER, during which the engineering students were taught about the use of art in the industrial and the automobile sectors. Save girl child nShoppers were caught unawares as a bunch of youngsters dressed in black appeared at BMC Bhavani Mall, Bhubaneswar, raising slogans against female foeticide. It was part of a street play by Prayas, the dramatics club of Xavier Institute of Management-Bhubaneswar (XIMB), on World Humanitarian Day on August 19. he aim of the exercise was the spread the message to ‘Save the girl child’. Woven around a rural household, the story portrayed the agony and pain that a woman, who faces the wrath of her family and eventually has to abort her child. Road safety seminar nA two-day national seminar on “road traffic accidents” was held at IMS and Sum Hospital, Bhubaneswar, which highlighted that India, with 30 crore vehicles, had accounted for 1.3 lakh road accidents in 2012. The four major reasons for road accidents were bad roads, speeding drivers, drunk driving and refusal to use safety measures such as helmets and seat belts and inefficient law enforcement, said neurosurgery professor Pradipta Tripathy. Health minister Damodar Rout inaugurated the seminar. US-India lecture nRavenshaw University, Cuttack, hosted a special lecture on “The United States and India: Public Policy, Antitrust Policies and Social Responsibility” last week. Professor Ba-Shen T. Welch of Miles College at Birmingham, Alabama, addressed a range of complementarities and challenges that India and US face as strategic partners. Focussing on antitrust and competition laws in India, she discussed corporate social responsibility (CSR) and arguments that have been put forward in support of and against the CSR policy. Talking about FDI in multi-brand retail, she appreciated the Indian government’s policy to strike a balance between malls and local stores and expected that the proposed compulsory 30 per cent local procurement would remedy much of the imbalance being debated about at the moment. She stressed on the need of global business and industry leaders to appreciate local laws and culture as there could be significant differences in legal and cultural practices in both countries. Annual Day n The centre for Apparel Training and Design Centre, Bhubaneswar, celebrated its sixth anniversary with a garment exhibition and cultural programme. Students displayed their artistic skills by decorating the college walls with “bheenth chitra” (tribal wall art). A few students visited Asha Kiran orphanage and distributed uniforms and goodies to those staying there. Director of the centre Lopamudra Ghosh led a plantation drive on the campus. Parade prize nNSS volunteers of the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), the faculty of engineering of SoA University, Bhubaneswar, received a shield for finishing first in the state-level parade held on the occasion of Republic Day from chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the Independence Day function in the capital. Varsity security nDirector general of police Prakash Mishra inaugurated an e-surveillance system at KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, on August 16. Some cities of the country have adopted this system for public security, he said, adding that the e-surveillance system would be introduced in Bhubaneswar on a priority basis and in many towns of the state in subsequent phases. Biodiversity meet nA three-day international conference on “Conserving biodiversity for sustainable development” was held at National Institute of Technology (NIT)-Rourkela from August 16 to 18. It provided a common platform to scientists, academicians, and industrialists of India and foreign countries to discuss strategies in conserving biodiversity for sustainable development. More than 100 research papers were presented. Recommendations made at the conference will be communicated to the government and policy makers for taking effective steps for conserving biodiversity. Go green n Students and teachers of the International Management Institute, Bhubaneswar, planted saplings on campus to mark India’s 67th Independence Day. They adopted a plant each and have taken the responsibility of nurturing them. Another city-based institute, Star Engineering College, spread the message “Trees are our best friends” through a plantation programme on the eve of raksha bandhan. Ragging awareness nAuthorities of Dhaneswar Rath Institute of Engineering and Management Studies at Tangi, Cuttack, conducted an awareness campaign against ragging on campus on August 17 by inviting lawyers to speak on the legal implications of the offence. Pamphlets on what constitutes ragging and punishment for indulging in it were distributed among students.