NCC cadets clean the Chandrabhaga beach. (Below) Indian Idol participant Puja Chatterjee performs at the National Student Convention hosted by National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. Telegraph pictures

A week in active voice

An all-India coastal trek camp was organised by the NCC Directorate, Orissa, from August 22 to September 7 in Puri. About 1,250 senior and junior division cadets from across the country participated in the camp, which was conducted by 6 Orissa Battalion, Puri. The participants were divided into eight groups of 150 cadets each. They began trekking from Puri to Astarang and covered a distance of 35km, halting during the night at places such as Balipatna, Konark, Kandahar and Kakarpur. At the camp, the cadets also took up the initiative of cleaning the sea beach. “The main objective of the camp was to promote national integration and highlight the coastal rural life of the state,” said wing commander Debasis Nayak, camp commandant of the Konark group. The cadets were later taken sightseeing to the Dhauli peace pagoda, Pipli, Khandigiri-Udaygiri caves and other tourist spots.

Social work

Second year students of the personnel management and industrial relations (PMIR) department of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, have started visiting NGOs and care homes. This is part of an initiative to equip themselves with sound theoretical knowledge about social work, social welfare and development concerns of the poor and underprivileged sections. A group of 28 students led by the head of the PMIR department, Santosh Kumar Tripathy, visited the Open Learning Systems (OLS) at Mancheshwar Railway Colony on August 30. “We spent time with the visually impaired children at OLS and studied the infrastructure facilities, funding, control and management mechanism, and ways in which vocational education is imparted. “On this basis, we have to prepare a report and submit it to our teachers,” said Ranjan Kumar Sahoo, one of the participants. The students have decided to visit the care homes and NGOs every month. The trips will be organised by the department. “This programme would help us develop skills and insights into working with people at the individual, group and community levels and network with other professionals working on similar issues,” said Sahoo.

Second year personnel management and industrial relations students of Utkal University. (Below) Participants at a seminar at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. Telegraph pictures

Cultural exchange

As part of its golden jubilee celebrations, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, hosted a two-day National Student Convention (NSC-2011) on September 3 and 4 in which students from various institutes and universities of the country got together for a cultural exchange. They took part in various activities to flaunt their mental and physical agility — from quiz contests, paper presentations and robotics to swimming, kabaddi, football and table tennis. On the cultural side, a number of events, such as street play, rangoli, instrumental music, film quiz, song and dance competitions were conducted. The programme was inaugurated at the Bhubaneswar Behera auditorium of NIT and the different events took place in various locations on campus. NIT director, S.K. Sarangi, joint secretary of Rajya Sabha secretariat, S.N. Sahu and eminent civil engineer, B.S. Suhir Chandra, attended the NSC-2011. Indian Idol participant Puja Chaterjee was also one of the guests who enthralled the audience with her melodious renditions of popular Bollywood songs. The institute began its 50th anniversary celebrations from August 15 with a number of national and international conferences, seminars and workshops.

Operations seminar

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), hosted Ashwamedh, a national level operations seminar on August 28. The event was organised by Xops, the operations committee of XIMB, and the theme this year was Managing Operations and Marketing Interface. Speakers invited for the event were Jayant Ambast, vice-president (supply chain), Perfitti Van Melle, Saral Mukherjee, associate professor at IIM Ahmedabad, and Mohan Singh, plant manager of Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, Khurda. They discussed various strategies and challenges in establishing a successful alliance between operations and marketing. The topic was discussed specifically in the Indian context with deliberations on the current scenario in the industry. The purpose was to strike optimum balance between marketing and operations functions to meet common goals. The challenges of introducing dynamic changes in the standard practices of the industry were also discussed. W.S. William, professor of operations management and decision sciences, XIMB, moderated the programme. The event also saw the release of the Ashwamedh journal and prize distributions for various competitions organised by Xops.

Sports day

National Sports Day commemorating the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand, was observed at Baliapal College of Physical Education, the only professional college of Balasore imparting physical education. The students and staff went around town with a photograph of Dhyan Chand, placards depicting benefits of physical fitness and sports, and shouted slogans for the development of sports and physical education in the country. The participants also demanded that Bharat Ratna be awarded to the hockey star. Later, a meeting was held on the college campus. The photograph of Dhyan Chand was garlanded and lecturers spoke about the importance of the day and highlighted the impact of physical activities, sports and games, said college principal, Shakti Mishra.

Management convention

The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), USA, inaugurated its Region-10 South Asia Council for Business Schools and Programs in Bhubaneswar on August 25. On this occasion, a workshop on the accreditation process was jointly organised by the Regional College of Management (Autonomous), Bhubaneswar, and Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS). Directors and deans from top B-schools of the USA, Canada, Switzerland, South Africa and South Asian countries were invited as speakers, while directors and deans of leading B-schools of India participated as delegates. Reputed academicians and prominent industrialists of the country deliberated on emerging issues of management education. Conducted on the eve of the 23rd AIMS Annual Management Education Convention, the workshop was attended by minister of forest and environment Debi Prasad Mishra.