From scare show to cheer

A wave of spooky, paranormal activity was unleashed on the Utkal University campus recently with zombies, mummies, vampires, goblins and Draculas scaring the wits out of students and professors. Don’t panic! It was just the university’s MBA students in ghoulish costumes celebrating their annual function on the Halloween theme! Titled Crossroads, the event was arguably the most creative affair ever witnessed in any college or university in the capital. The students of the integrated MBA department deserved full marks for the décor that gave one a haunted feeling as well as their macabre costumes and make-up. A dummy skeleton and a fiery-eyed devil stood at the entrance to welcome the students and guests at the event! The students had also placed the traditional Jack-o’-lantern pumpkin at various points of the auditorium, which had transformed into a haunted house. Though the event started on a lighter note with girls and boys in glamorous Indian and Western outfits sashaying down the ramp, the Halloween parade took the cake, sending chills down the spine. Dressed in costumes strewn with fake blood and holding various scary props in hand, at least 16 students participated in the parade as bloodcurdling music played in the background. The event on this unconventional theme received rave response from all quarters. “This was one party where all of us freaked out like never before,” said Prateik Rahul Das, a student of integrated MBA. Poster boy nAnsuman Panda, a young IT professional from Sambalpur who is currently based in Bangalore, has featured in the latest advertisement campaign released by IT major Infosys on the theme “Future is built by the restless'. The advertisement, which appeals to young talents to join the company, has also received wide appreciation on social networking sites.

Poster boy

Ansuman, who is working as a testing engineer for Infosys, Bangalore said: “I am overjoyed. The company has around 1.5 lakh employees and I was among the lucky few to represent it. He said several employees of Infosys had participated in an event for being selected as the face of the theme. “However, only two were shortlisted, and finally I was chosen,” said Ansuman, who is a gym enthusiast. He had completed his engineering course from KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, and joined Infosys in 2009.

UN(ique) conference

UN(ique) conference nOver 100 students from different parts of the country participated in a three-day Model United Nations (Mun) conference, the first-ever to be held in Odisha, which concluded at Siksha O Anusandhan (SoA) University, Bhubaneswar, on April 15. The programme, aiming to involve students in the study and discussion of world issues, was designed to encourage development skills in them including research, writing, public speaking, problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution and achieving mutual cooperation, the organisers said. It simulated the proceedings of the UN General Assembly, UN Human Rights Council and the European Council at three separate venues. Each participant was assigned a country at the beginning of Mun depending on his or her debating experience. Those participating in the mock general assembly debated on the subjects of “Establishing a nuclear weapon free world” and “World post the Jasmine Revolution” while the issues “Combating child labour” and “Censorship of the internet as a form of expression” were debated at the simulated Human Rights Council. The simulation at the European Council involved the subject “Consequences of the sovereign debt crisis on the future”. The conference was organised by the Odisha Debating Society in collaboration with the humanities and social sciences students’ forum (HSSSF) of the university and United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan. SoA students Kumar Abhishek (president of HSSSF), Sumit Kumar Karn, Pritish Sahoo, Abinash Kumar and Saswat helped in organising the unique event. Alma mater calling nSrikumar Misra and Rashima Misra, two former students of the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), who left their corporate jobs in London and moved back to India in 2009 to set up Milk Mantra - a milk packaging and distributing company - have retraced steps to their alma mater. They have entered into an agreement with the premier B-school to be its incubation support partner, which will house the company’s start-up corporate office on its campus. XIMB will provide a fully networked office space and an opportunity for the Milk Mantra team to bounce off their ideas to the students, get them to join in and seek advice from the professors. “Milk Mantra’s presence on having the start-up corporate office on our campus will have a positive impact on the students. The incubation centre also marks a change for XIMB, being in sync with the shifting aspirations of MBA students and moving beyond a corporate career and being entrepreneurs,' said XIMB director Father P.T. Joseph, who had supported the collaboration. The incubator christened as “Manjee” was born, led by professor Shridhar Dash, professor Shambu Prasad and professor Rajeev Roy. Milk Mantra, which calls itself “a little company with some big ideas about offering natural, healthier milk products that would have a sustainable development impact on the rural farmers of Odisha”, has its manufacturing plant at Konark. Science talk nSeveral eminent scientists interacted with teachers of the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), Bhubaneswar, discussing the nuances of physics, chemistry and mathematics at a faculty development seminar held on April 19. Organised by the Centre of Excellence in Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences, set up by the Siksha O Anusandhan University, of which ITER is a constituent college, the seminar aimed at combining the three science subjects to disseminate the message of interdisciplinary research for the mutual benefit of the faculty members. The seminar was addressed by eminent mathematician Gokulananda Das, professor of physics at Michigan State University professor S.D. Mohanti and professors from capital-based institutes, including Laxmidhar Satpathy from Institute of Physics, Narahari Parhi from National Institute of Science Education and Research (Niser) and Kulamani Parida from the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology.