An air-conditioned reading room with necessary equipment will be set up in the Rama Devi Women’s University at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. The reading room will be set up in memory of the late Sakuntala Panda, who was an eminent writer and the editor of Odia magazine Sucharita. Harihar Panda, a retired civil servant and husband of Sakuntala Panda will provide the funds for the room. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the university registrar and Panda on June 24 in the presence of the students and teaching staff. The reading room will be completed by the end of 2018.
Talks on MSMEs
Srinovation, the entrepreneurship development cell of faculty of commerce and management studies at the Sri Sri University celebrated the first International Day for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) in collaboration with the National Entrepreneurship Network. Dean of the faculty of commerce and management studies Srinivas Subbarao introduced the theme to the students and emphasised the role of MSMEs in the economy. He cited data from the International Council for Small Business, which revealed that formal and informal micro, small and medium-sized enterprises made up 50 per cent of the country's GDP.
New hostels
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik recently inaugurated two new women’s hostels named Anshupa and Chilika and three other buildings in the Berhampur University. He also unveiled a statue of former chief minister Biju Patanik on the university premises.
Felicitation
The Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University recently felicitated 13-year-old Satyajeet Jena, participant of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs. Vice-chancellor of the varsity Amit Banerjee presented him a cheque of Rs 50,000 and a filigree artwork as a memento. The university will support Satyajeet in his training and extend an assistance of Rs 1 lakh. Satyajeet is a Class-VIII student at the Vivekananda Siksha Kendra at Tura in Jajpur district.
SBI branch
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated a new SBI branch on the BJB College campus last week. The SBI branch was inaugurated in the presence of industries minister Niranjan Pujari, SBI chief general manager of Bhubaneswar circle B. Venu Gopala Reddy and principal of the college Md Nawaz Hassan, among others. Reddy said this was the 895th SBI branch in the state.
GST event
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in New Delhi conducted a 10-day certificate course on goods and services tax (GST) in Bhubaneswar from June 12 to June 21. About 100 chartered accountants from the state took part in the programme. They were trained on various aspects of GST. Many renowned speakers were roped in for the programme. Commissioner of commercial tax, Odisha, Saswat Mishra addressed the valedictory session.
Lecture on rath yatra
The Academy of Yoga and Oriental Studies recently organised a lecture titled “Rath Yatra: Its Adhibhautik and Adhidaivik Aspects” in Bhubaneswar. Addressing the occasion, former IPS officer Arun Kumar Upadhyaya said Jagannath was the representation of creative form of Brahma, which is called Avyaya or Yajna Purusa. There was a question-answer session during the lecture in which scholars, researchers and students took part.
