Bhubaneswar, May 22: Utkal University plans to join hands with premier government universities and policy makers to rope them in as knowledge partners.

The objective of the initiative is to facilitate new research and capacity building at the varsity.

Last week, an MoU (memorandum of understanding) was signed between the varsity and Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited (NLC) to work together for research and development activities. The MoU has been signed for five years as a part of industry-academia interface.

NLC India Limited is a government enterprise engaged in mining of lignite and generation of power through lignite-based thermal power plants.

"The world is undergoing fast changes cutting across various fields and the changing paradigms are evident and prominent. The future will be driven by knowledge and technology-centric solutions. Such collaborations will be an integral part of our planning process to make the varsity one of the best in the country," said vice-chancellor Ashok Das.

The psychology department of the varsity will also tie-up with the Unicef tomorrow for mutual support towards strengthening childhood care and education in Odisha.

Recently, Nalco signed an MoU with the varsity to collaborate on research and development, baseline and impact assessment survey for CSR (corporate social responsibility) projects, industry and institution interactions, and skill development.

More such partnerships are in the pipeline, the vice-chancellor said.

Buddha statue

Students of Utkal University have discovered an idol of Lord Buddha and a seven-headed snake at Govindapur near Banapur in Khurda district.

Touted to be around 1,400 years old, the varsity researchers have sought assistance from the Archaeological Survey of India and state archaeology department for more research on the idol.

The ancient idol was discovered by Dakhineswar Jena, a student of the department of ancient Indian history, culture and archaeology, under a banyan tree during an excavation.

Thereafter, he informed the teachers of his department about his discovery.

"We started digging near the tree and after digging about three feet we found the seven-headed snake and the Buddha idol with it," said professor of the department Anam Behera.

Behera and his three students, Minaketan Sundar Ray and Ramakant Pradhan and Jena, were involved in the project.

"The idol has similarities with the statues discovered earlier from Ratnagiri and Lalitgiri in Jajpur district. The recent discovery shows that the Buddhists were residing in this area as well," Behera said.