Bappi rocks & friends bond

Bappi Lahiri performs on the concluidng day of ITER’s annual fest in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

The annual celebrations of the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), Bhubaneswar, came to an end on December 24 with Bollywood music director Bappi Lahiri belting out some of his latest hits. He sang the chartbuster Ooh la la from the movie The Dirty Picture. Lahiri, with his trademark gold ornaments, sizzled the stage with one foot-tapping hit number after another. The students, who had a hectic four days of action in “Chakravyuh 2K11”, the two-day annual technical fest, and then “Genesis 2011”, the institution’s cultural highpoint of the year, enjoyed every moment with the Bollywood celebrity. Not wanting to be left behind, the students also showcased their singing and dancing talent. Lahiri was greatly impressed with the students’ energy level and said he planned to hold a talent hunt contest in Odisha to be named as “Voice of Odisha”. Vice-chancellor of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University R.P. Mohanty, ITER’s dean R.K. Mishra, director (admission) M.K. Mallick and additional dean R.K. Hota also enjoyed the star-studded evening.

Christmas No. 2

Nearly 100 young volunteers, who made the Anjali Children’s Festival a roaring success last month, gathered at a hotel in Bhubaneswar to celebrate Christmas on December 25. The festival had earlier been celebrated with aplomb at the Anjali camp where more than 1,000 children from Odisha and 17 other states participated. They had camped at the Adivasi Ground in Bhubaneswar for five days. The youngsters got down on the dance floor and swayed to the music, hopping, skipping and partying like never before. They played games such as dumb charades, musical chairs, tongue twisters and so on. They recounted their memories of the camp after which disability rights activist Sruti Mohapatra — the person behind the success of the annual Anjali festival — cut the cake and felicitated some of the volunteers for exceptional work.

Energy and automation

The three-day IEEE International Conference on Energy, Automation and Signal (ICEAS-2011) concluded at the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) on December 30 with experts calling for more deliberations on futuristic systems with practical application. The conference, deliberated on power system engineering, energy systems, intelligent systems and image processing, power electronics, communication engineering, power system stability and control and signal processing with researchers presenting over 150 papers. “We delved into research systems which included renewable energy systems, power system dynamics, control and analysis and power electronics during the past three days”, Prof. Pradipta Kishore Dash, general chair for the conference and director (research and consultancy) of the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, said at the valedictory function. The conference was technically co-sponsored by the US-based Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Department of Science and Technology, government of India and Union ministry of information technology. Prof. R.P. Maheswari of IIT, Roorkee, who addressed the concluding function, highlighted the progress made in the area of smart grid. “We may soon be using contraptions like the sim card of a mobile phone in household energy systems where a consumer can draw power as long as he has balance and the power will go off when the balance is exhausted,” he said.

Friends’ reunite

The “old boys” of the 1990 batch of Utkal University organised their sixth alumni meeting on December 25. This time, a record number of 65 members attended the meet. They discussed ways to make their group more active and create a website “www.vanivihar90.org”, to be made functional from the first day of the New Year. They also decided to register their group at the earliest, provide financial assistance to the needy students of the university every year, undertake campus-based welfare programmes/activities such as safe drinking water, extending library facilities for general use and reach out to more of their batchmates.

Consumer affairs

The Students’ Consumer Club of Ravenshaw Junior College, Cuttack, celebrated National Consumers’ Day on December 24. During the programme, elocution and poster-making competitions on ‘Role of Youth in Consumer Movement’ was held among the first year students. In elocution, Indrajeet Sahoo (commerce), Rahul Mohanty (arts) and Rohit Kumar Sahoo (commerce) won the best three. On the other hand, a poster by Ankit Dharewa (commerce) bagged the first prize. The second place went to Priyanka Mohanty (science) while all-rounder Rahul won the third. Certificates and trophies were distributed to the winners. Chairperson of the club, Gayatri Devi, principal in-charge headed the meeting, while other teachers and student members of the club were present at this occasion. Guide teacher Neelam Bhatt enlightened the students about the activities of the club. In another event on December 21, Ravenshaw University’s philosophy department organised a seminar on “Mahima Dharma and National Reconstruction” to mark World Philosophy Day.

Empowering women

Students of the Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, Balasore, debated on how economic independence can lead to empowerment of rural women at a national seminar titled “Women empowerment through self help groups” organised on the campus on December 27. Paper presentations were followed by a brainstorming session involving the students, including a large number from other colleges, teachers and academicians from different parts of the country. “As most women in rural areas lack assets that can contribute to their empowerment and general well-being, economic freedom through self-employment and therefore, entrepreneurial development must be paid attention to,” said a student participating in the seminar. It was hosted by the commerce department of the university and funded by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi. Among the guests, professor of North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Nagari Mohan Panda, and professor of Vidya Sagar University, Bengal, Arindam Gupa, were present. College principal Abhay Kumar Panda and some others also presented their views on the given topic.

NCC training

The annual training camp for NCC cadets in progress in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

The annual training camp (ATC) of NCC Air Wing cadets concluded last week at Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1 in Bhubaneswar under the guidance of wing commander Bikash Kanungo, commanding officer of the 1 Orissa Air Squadron, Bhubaneswar. The camp began in the third week of December. Over 500 cadets from senior and junior division (boy cadets) and senior and junior wing (girl cadets) from different colleges and schools of the state took part in the camp. They were given technical aviation and ground weapon training at the 10-day camp and an opportunity to fly microlite aircraft besides learning the nuances of drill, arms drill, aero-modelling and special subjects. For the cadets from Phulbani, Aska, Jatni, Rayagada and other remote areas of the state, flying was like a dream come true. “I never got a chance to look at an aircraft from such a close range and today NCC has given me an opportunity to fly,” said a visibly elated Pramaya Sahoo of Government Girls High School, Jatni, after her sortie. The cadets were also taken to the Sainik School where they met the parasailing team and Air Warrior Drill team of the Indian Air Force.

Shilpi Sampad, Priya Abraham and Sibdas Kundu