Cars, jobs, sports and more

The all-terrain vehicle designed by students of the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, and (above) the innovators pose with the vehicle. Pictures by Uttam Kumar Pal

A group of students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, has designed a 360kg all-terrain vehicle (ATV) that will participate in the Baja SAE India — 2012 contest. More than 100 teams across the country would take part in the annual national-level competition from February 16 to 19 for undergraduate engineering students.

The petrol-run ATV cost Rs 1.7 lakh to make and has a 305cc engine, said team captain Anshu Jagnayak.

The objective of Baja SAE India is to test the design and engineering skills of the participants. Each team is required to design and produce the prototype of a rugged single seat, off-road recreational four-wheeler for sale to the non-professional, weekend off-road enthusiast. The vehicle must be safe, easily transported, easily maintained, fun to drive and should be able to negotiate rough terrain.

A team from KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, is also taking part in the competition and has already built its ATV, which was on display at the 99th Indian Science Congress in Bhubaneswar in the first week of January.

Placement season

The Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar, has begun its campus placement process with 103 students landing jobs in multi-national companies in the first phase. Quite a few of those selected have been offered annual pay packages between Rs 2.6 lakh and Rs 3.9 lakh, said ASBM director Biswajeet Pattanayak. Top recruiters include Nestle India, ITC, Reliance, HDFC Bank, SBI Life, Asian Paints and Vodafone. The second phase of recruitment began in the first week of February. “Several leading companies will come down and hopefully, the batch will be placed by the end of the second phase,” said assistant dean for placement and training R.K. Verma.

Campus placements in progress at the Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar. (Above) Students of Baliapal College of Physical Education in Balasore demonstrate physical activities on their campus. Telegraph pictures

For the students

A students’ forum has been set up at the Institute of Technical Education and Research (Iter), Bhubaneswar to encourage activities such as conservation of the environment and providing a platform for students to express their literary and artistic inclinations. The five components of the forum — Eco Club, Rhetorica, Wall Magazine, Bizcom and Yuva — to be headed by students, have been set up by Iter’s department of humanities and social sciences. The Eco Club will aim to bring about social responsibility among the students towards plantation and protection of the environment while Rhetorica will strive to provide opportunities to students to explore their literary capabilities and display their creations on a wall magazine. Yuva will be a platform for group discussions, elocution, dramatics and script-writing while Bizcom will be a forum to provide an edge to the business communication skills of the students. The Eco Club will be led by Sumit Kumar Karan and Sweta Kumari while Rhetorica will be headed by Ankur Anand and Lopamudra Panigrahi. The Wall Magazine will be captained by M. Siddharth and Lohitakshya Mishra and Yuva will be led by Kedarnath Mishra and Devarun Sengupta. Bizcom will be steered by Pranab Bharadwaj and Shaswat Mishra. The forum would be guided by head of humanities and social sciences department, Swayamprabha Satpathy.

Fighting deadly habits

The anti-tobacco movement at Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, received a boost as the “Tobacco-free India” campaign reached the campus last week. This campaign is being organised by the Indian Dental Association, in collaboration with the Bangalore-based charitable trust, Narain Sewa Sansthan, in which two doctors are touring 13 states of the country to spread awareness about the ill-effects of tobacco. At Ravenshaw, documentary films were screened, CDs and pamphlets were distributed to more than 250 students and members of Red Cross Society, who had assembled in the commerce block. A similar session was conducted at the Hi-Tech Dental College, Bhubaneswar, in the presence of several state government officials and doctors, at RCM Science College, Khalikote, and Subalaya High School, Sonepur, to educate the youth.

Entrance exam

Saat-2012, the national-level entrance test of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, for admission to various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes offered by institutions under the university, would be held on May 12. The test would be held at 51 centres across 47 cities of the country including 21 in Odisha. The centres outside the state include Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Lucknow, Patna, Raipur and Ranchi. Application forms and information brochures of Saat-2012 are available at the university office or its constituent institutes as well as designated branches of Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank and Central Bank of India till March 31. The last date for submission of forms is April 7. The test will be held in two sittings on May 12 at 9am and 2.30pm. The university has eight different institutes offering 19 programmes.

Sports on campus

Baliapal College of Physical Education in Balasore had recently organised various activities such as yoga, gymnastics, aerobics, pyramids and bodybuilding on its campus. Students of high schools and colleges in the district took part in the event. Managing director of the proposed Subarnarekha Port Pramod Kumar Singh gave away prizes to the winners of kabaddi and volleyball competitions for school students, which were conducted earlier and to the best marching contingent for Republic Day. In kabaddi, B.C. High School, Ranikhudi, and R.P. High School, Chaumukh, emerge winner and runners-up in the boys’ category. In the girls’ category, Baliapal Girls High School, Baliapal, and Ikadpal High School lifted the winners’ and runners-up trophies, respectively. The volleyball championship was awarded to Sankhari High School, Sankhari, and Jamkunda High School, Jamkunda was runners-up. In march past, B.C. High School, Ranikhudi, came first R.P. High School, Chaumukh, second and S.R. High School, Baliapal, third.

Shilpi Sampad and Sibdas Kundu