Sambalpur: The department of civil engineering and internal quality assurance cell of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, organised a seminar on "Keeping Safe Distance from Addictions" to sensitise new entrants against the effects of addiction.

Sachin Parab, project director of Global Initiative of Tobacco Awareness spoke about the effects of tobacco consumption. The national coordinator for the "My India Addiction Free" campaign and Adarsha Doctor Puraskar recipient said tobacco consumption was the biggest killer and more people died of tobacco addiction than cancer. Tobacco consumption causes death of about 1,200 persons a day globally, he said.

"The addiction is not related to smoking or alcohol but also it may be about consuming a particular type of food, rampant use of social media like whatsapp and facebook," he said.

To combat the menace, he proposed meditation to would calm the mind. He also gave a demonstration of meditation and explained the process of experiencing a lighter body and receiving "cosmic energy" so that a person is not affected by addiction. Parab, recipient of the Mahatma Gandhi Vyasanmukti Puraskar, answered questions put forward by the students on addiction.

The programme was attended by the students and teachers. The students pledged in writing to keep away from tobacco addiction.

Bibhuti Bhusan Pati, director of the internal quality assurance cell, and Prakash Chandra Swain of the department of civil engineering conducted the programme.