(Top) U.C.Patnaik, director of International School of Business Management and Ajay Srivastav of Tata Group's Academy for Sales and Retail Management after signing an agreement in Bhubaneswar and (above) Satya Prakash Panda, the founder of the Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology at Gunupur in Rayagada, took over as the chairman of Xavier Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar. Telegraph pictures

Students, faculty and other staff members of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, Bhubaneswar, celebrated Oriya New Year last Thursday. The event was held on the university premises. KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta along with newly appointed chancellor R.P. Kaushik and vice-chancellor A.S. Kolaskar inaugurated the event. This also marked the first interactive session of the students with the chancellor. A cultural programme was organised where the students presented their veritable folk culture with a string of dance and music shows. The occasion coincided with Baisakhi, the Punjabi New Year, and preceded Poila Baisakh, the Bengali New Year. These two events were also celebrated on the same day with much pomp and gaiety. Aptly dressed for the celebrations, the second-year students presented a skit in Bengali, which was followed by an energetic Bhangra dance by the fourth-year students. The show concluded with various bands playing back-to-back.

Case study

The Asian School of Business Management (ASBM), Bhubaneswar, is set to document a full-fledged case study on veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare, who staged a revolution that has become synonymous with social change in India. Noted management guru and group director of ASBM, Biswajeet Pattanayak recently met the social activist at his citadel, Ralegan Siddhi. After visiting the spot and having a thorough discussion with Hazare, Pattanayak said ASBM would soon come up with a team initiative where management students and faculty members would augment a process documentation with extensive video coverage. This will motivate management students to learn lessons of managerial acumen, turnaround solution, business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Pattanayak said he has requested Hazare to visit the ASBM campus to launch this innovative case study.

Annual day

The Arya School of Management and Information Technology celebrated its 10th annual day, Arya Fest-2011 last week with much aplomb. The event saw participation of hundreds of students, including those from other B-schools in town. A host of entertaining and fun-filed activities were organised and the winners in each competition were given away cash awards and trophies. Institute director, Manmath Kumar Nayak, head of commerce department of Behrampur University, Prasanna Kumar Biswaroy, professor in finance, Rudra Prasanna Mohapatra, and others were present on this occasion.

Students of KIIT University sing (and) stage a drama during the New Year celebrations at KIIT University in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph pictures

Counselling meet

A UGC-sponsored career counselling session was recently organised at BJB Autonomous College, Bhubaneswar. The session was open to all undergraduate students across three streams - arts, science and commerce - of the college. Namita Mohanty, councillor and reader in psychology at Utkal University, was the guest speaker. She made a PowerPoint presentation and stressed on the importance of choosing the right career. She also gave the students an idea about the variety of career options available in today's world. 'The session was very helpful. I received a lot of inputs regarding career opportunities available to a student like me,' said Anita Naik, a second-year student. Principal of the college, Dusmanta Sahu, was also present at the session.

MD courses

The Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), a constituent of the Siksha O Anusandhan (SoA) University, Bhubaneswar, will admit students for several M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) courses from the current academic session. The Medical Council of India (MCI) has given its approval to the institute in this regard. M.D. courses in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, microbiology and pharmacology will now be conducted by IMS. The necessary infrastructure and laboratory facilities have already been created (with the 750-bed Sum Hospital attached to it). A team that includes experts from the MCI had recently visited the institute to take stock of the facilities available there before approving the new courses.

New role

Satya Prakash Panda, founder of the Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology at Gunupur in Rayagada, took over as the chairman of Xavier Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar, last week. Panda, a renowned educationist, has played an instrumental role in setting up various technical institutes in the capital such as Gandhi Engineering College, Gandhi Institute for Technology and Gandhi Institute for Technological Advancement

Training partner

The Academy for Sales and Retail Management (ASRM), a Tata Teleservices initiative has entered into a collaboration with the International School of Business Management (ISBM), Bhubaneswar, as a corporate training partner of the B-School. 'As a training partner, ASRM will work towards building the right aptitude and enhancing professional skills of the students so that they achieve success in their respective fields. By enhancing their employability skills over a period of time, the students will be accepting multiple offers through the campus drives arranged by ISBM,' said Ajay Srivastav, national operation head of ASRM. On this occasion, a two-day workshop called 'Campus to Corporate' was inaugurated. Such workshops will be held on the college premises regularly. 'Campus to Corporate training will assist participants to meet the daily challenges of managing professional responsibilities. This training programme is aimed at handling the tricky environment of corporate setting,' said ISBM chairman Suryakanta Panda. The agreement was signed by ISBM director, U.C. Patnaik, along with Srivastav. Other members of ASRM such as Kartik Sarkar (regional head), and Sangram Samal (Orissa head) were also present.