Students of SG Women’s (Junior) College, Rourkela, attend a yoga training camp on their campus. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Grand celebrations

The weeklong commemoration day celebrations at Ravenshaw University in Cuttack came to an end on Tuesday. The celebrations saw a lot of cultural programmes and lecture series that were attended by a large number of students and faculty members. Padmashree and Padma Bhusan awardee Teeja Bai weaved magic with her mesmerising tales from the Mahabharata on the concluding day of the celebrations. Earlier, eminent journalist M.J. Akbar inaugurated the art gallery at Ravenshaw University and later delivered the sixth memorial lecture on November 13. Delivering the lecture titled “The Idea of India: A template of modernity”, Akbar said the British conquered India as it was a rich nation. India had accounted for 24 per cent of the world's manufacturing output, while China constituted for 32 per cent in 1950. However, with the passage of time and after the post-independence era, India has moved towards the path of development. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the renovated Kanika library on November 12. Naveen had also unveiled the new sundial and later laid the foundation stone for two separate hostels for boys and girls of the varsity.

Participants walk the ramp at Carnival de Vogue, a fashion show organised at XIMB during its annual fest, Xpressions. Telegraph picture

Talent hunt

A range of activities had been organised at the Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (XIMB) for its annual festival, Xpressions-2011, which concluded on November 13. The most interesting events were Carnival de Vogue, a fashion show and Mr and Ms Xpressions, a talent hunt which was open to students from all participating colleges at the fest. More than 20 boys and girls walked the ramp in stylish outfits for the fashion show while the talent hunt contest and the winners earned a direct entry into the Channel [V] Nokia India Fest 2012, to be held in Goa. The talent hunt contest offered contestants the opportunity to show off their talent, wit, personality and confidence. It attracted participation from nearly 70 students. Siddharth Ranjan from Birla Institute of Management Technology (Bimtech), Noida and Purbasha Dalabehera from XIMB were adjudged Mr and Ms Xpressions respectively.

For a noble cause

The students of Purushottam Institute of Engineering and Technology, Rourkela, celebrated Children’s Day by visiting an orphanage at Basanti Colony in the Steel City on November 14. They distributed sweets and gifts among the children, played games with them and watched children’s movies at the orphanage. In a separate event, NCC cadets of Rourkela Municipal College (as part of community service) cleaned the waste lying around the DAV pond on November 13.

Honour for VC

The school of social sciences and the journalism and mass communication department of the Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, had organised a lecture in the honour of vice-chancellor Devdas Chhotray, who will retire at the end of this month. The topic for the lecture was “Media History: Colonial discourse and microwave politics in India, 1924-47”, which was delivered by Biswajit Das, director of Centre for Culture, Media and Governance at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. “The current enthusiasm in India for both new communication technology in broadcasting and for a market place environment have recurred in various forms in the past and dominated the thought of policy makers since the birth of radio broadcasting in the 1930s in India. The apparent gap between the stated goals and intentions of policy makers and the institutional reality of radio broadcasting today is symptomatic of an often-repeated historical pattern. This pattern — apparently non-competitive, state-controlled and centralised structure - still continues in spite of the hype about liberalisation and privatisation of media in India,” Das said.

Dignified citizens

More than 100 students from various colleges of Sambalpur gathered at the district auditorium and pledged to become dignified citizens of the country. The oath-taking ceremony had been organised by a social organisation, which is offering a fellowship programme for the poor, but meritorious students of the district. “We have selected 102 students from across the district through a written test and viva voce. They would be provided financial support for their higher education. Today, they had assembled here for the formal oath-taking ceremony,” said Balgopal Panigrahi, an employee of the social organisation.

Students of ASBM, Bhubaneswar attend the National HR Conclave-2011 organised at the B-School. Telegraph picture

Human resources

The role of human resource (HR) personnel has undergone a drastic change with time and as the profession becomes more challenging, future professionals need to be prepared for the competition, says Devinder Kumar Banwet, president of the Indian Society for Training and Development (ISTD). He was addressing the “National HR Conclave-2011” on the theme of “HR in the new era — emerging frontiers and challenges” organised by the Asian School of Business Management (ASBM), Bhubaneswar, on November 12. Subramanian J, chief group (HR) of Gati said: “Human resources is all about knowing how to maintain relations”. A book titled “HR Intervention in the age of Competitiveness” authored by former chief managing director of Nalco, G. Upadhaya was also launched during the event. B.N. Swain of Nalco, Subhendu Das of Paradeep Phosphates, Biswajeet Pattanayak, director of ASBM and several other guests from the industry also spoke on the occasion.

Yoga camp

A weeklong yoga training camp has been organised by the S.G. Women’s (Junior) College, Rourkela, for its students. More than 100 girls participated in the camp and performed various asanas (body postures) to keep their body fit. Instructions on pranayam (breathing exercises), dhyana (meditation) techniques, and introversion exercises have also been included. “We hope the initiative would go a long way in promoting physical and mental health of students,” reader in economics, Sanjibani Patnaik said, adding that yoga for a healthy lifestyle and yoga therapy will be promoted at the camp.

Shilpi Sampad, Vikash Sharma, Subrat Mohanty