Students of Ravenshaw Management Centre, Cuttack, at a plantation drive while (below) their counterparts of the business administration department of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, donate blood. Telegraph pictures

Students in green mode

Students and teachers of the Neelachal Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Bhubaneswar, celebrated World Physiotherapy Day on September 8 by forming a human chain from Master Canteen Square to Ram Mandir Square. The students exhibited posters and placards that read “Seven days without exercise makes one weak” and appealed to the people to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Later, the institute conducted a discussion on the topic ‘Utility of Physiotherapy in the Context of Indian Healthcare System’. Eminent physiotherapist Kirtisundar Sahoo addressed the students on the occasion. A seven-day free check-up camp was also organised on the campus from September 8 to 14, said NIMS chairman Damodar Pati.

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.

Campus placement drive at S.G. Women’s College, Rourkela. (Below) Students of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College attend a chemistry seminar. Telegraph pictures

Noble initiative

Members of Sandhan, the student’s wing of Swabhiman, an NGO working for the rights of the disabled, are recording study materials in cassettes for the blind students of BJB (Autonomous) College. The group, under the leadership of Anwesha Ambaly, Manisha Dash (both of final-year English honours) and Suryakanta Rout (self-financing course BITM), have taken up the task to arrange for notes and books in subjects such as, sociology, Sanskrit and Hindi and get them recorded. Around 42 blind students studying in the college will be benefited from this. Plus Two and Plus Three students can volunteer to lend their voices for the recording.

MoU inked

Arya School of Management and Information Technology (Asmit), Bhubaneswar, has started two postgraduate courses in collaboration with the Bangalore-based iNurture Education Solutions. The two courses are creative sciences and financial services, and include international study trips.

Foundation Day

Silicon Institute of Technology (SIT), Bhubaneswar, celebrated its 10th Foundation Day on September 10. IIT-Kharagpur director Damodar Acharya was the chief guest at the programme and delivered the foundation day lecture. It was followed by a cultural programme, where the SIT students presented folk, Odissi classical and modern dance, apart from songs and skits .

Plantation drive

Around 35 students and officials of the Ravenshaw Management Centre, Cuttack, organised a plantation drive at the city’s Railway Settlement High School on September 13 to create awareness about environment protection. The students planted more than 50 saplings in the afternoon. Later, a drawing competition and a Hindi antakshari were organised for the students. “Environment protection is everybody’s duty. Launching the plantation drive is just a small step but if these kind of programmes are held regularly and on a massive scale, then the city will become greener and more beautiful,” said Aradhana Mohapatra, a second-year student.

Blood donation

A plantation programme and blood donation camp were organised by students of Integrated MBA under the business administration department of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, on September 9. Surpassing all expectations, the students collected 110 units of blood this day. They had tied up with the Cuttack-based Red Cross and Bakul. This event, which was held in the department for the first time, was inaugurated by the PG council chairman P.K. Sarkar, department head J.K. Parida and course coordinator B.B. Mishra. Students Prateik Das, Pratikshya Rout, Soumya Mohanty, Satyajit Ray and Vedvyas Bharadwaj had taken the initiative for this noble cause.

Chemistry seminar

A UGC-sponsored seminar on Scientific and Economic Use of Chemistry was organised at Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College, Balasore, on September 9. The year 2011 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Chemistry to celebrate the achievements of chemistry and its contribution to the well-being of mankind. Retired professor of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Prakash Mohanty and noted physician Chaudhary Satyabrata Nanda spoke about the utility of chemistry for breakthroughs in the field of medicine. Several teachers and students from other colleges attended the seminar. Prizes were given away to winners of various competitions organised earlier. District collector A.B. Ota attended the function as chief guest.

Campus placements

Four final-year students of SG Women’s College, Rourkela, landed jobs with the BPO and HR sectors of the International Business Machines (IBM) during the campus recruitment drive on September 13. Around 70 students competed for the jobs. The successful students are Debjani Bardhan, Kakoli Mitra (both from chemistry), Purnima Ghosh of physics and Gargi Banerjee of English. Their pay package was around Rs 1.5 lakh per annum, said placement officer and reader in economics, Sanjibani Patnaik.

Nature campaign

Roland Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Berhampur, organised a Think Clean, Think Green campaign to spread awareness on nature, environment and disaster management on September 10. This was conducted in association with Brahma Kumaris of Mount Abu. More than 100 students participated in this programme. Principal M.E. Bhanoji Rao advised the students to be protective about nature and plant more trees.

Symposium

A national symposium titled “Where is Intelligent Computing?” was organised jointly by the electronics and telecommunication engineering department of CV Raman College of Engineering (CVRCE), Bhubaneswar, and International Neural Network Society (INNS), India-Regional Chapter, on September 9. Eminent people from across the country deliberated on various issues related to the failure of the scientific community to gift human beings with intelligent computers. CVRCE principal K.C. Patra outlined the importance of the symposium, which received an overwhelming response. Earlier, the college signed an agreement with IBM to equip students and enhance their skills in leading-edge software technologies to be better placed in today’s dynamic IT industry. Under a Career Education Program, the IBM will collaborate with CVRCE to make students industry-ready leading to quality employment opportunities. Targeted to handle more than 2,000 students a year, this programme aims to build competency that is in demand today. IBM would award certificates to the pass outs.

SHILPI SAMPAD, VIKASH SHARMA, SIBDAS KUNDU AND SUNIL PATNAIK