Voice of the SoA Community 90.4 FM, the first community radio station of Bhubaneswar set up by Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, was recently inaugurated by renowned flautist Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia.
Painter Jatin Das was the chief guest at the programme where veteran Odia actor Bijoy Mohanty, Odisha Cricket Association president Ranjib Biswal and local MLA Ashok Panda were guests of honour.
University vice-chancellor R.P. Mohanty said the varsity had provided a voice to the community by launching the radio station.
The radio station will broadcast programmes for eight hours daily and air music, discussions on education, health, environment and sports.
The programmes, mostly talk shows, interviews and music, on 90.4 FM can be heard within a 20-km radius.
The station, for which the ministry of telecommunications provided the licence, has been set up by the state-run Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited.
n Music is an integral part of life: Pandit Chaurasia exhorted students to develop an interest in music. He recalled his long association with Odisha and said he had started his career as a musician at the All-India Radio, Cuttack, decades ago and continued his foray into music ever since.
n Lack of patrons: Jatin Das lamented the lack of patronisation of classical arts and music by the people. While a ghazal performance would draw thousands of people, any event involving classical art or music attracted few people, he said, adding: “Industrialisation and synthetic culture is bringing us down.”
n Radio revolution: Congratulating the university for the new venture, MLA Panda said in the beginning of 2004, the community radio idea in India had turned into a revolution. SoA University, he said, had been contributing to the intellectual development of Odisha, which had become a “happening state.”
n Enrich culture: Actor Bijoy Mohanty said the community radio had the potential to invigorate cultural activities in the city and could create an interest for art and culture in students.
n Return gift: Former Team India manager and politician, Biswal recalled that the SOA University was the first to launch a campaign to wish success to the Indian World Cup team in 2011, which had culminated in India winning the coveted title for the second time. “I hope the community radio station will go a long way in achieving the aims with which it has been launched,” he said.
Razzmatazz
The evening was all about high fashion and oomph as students from various colleges across the country strutted down the ramp at Kolosseum ‘12, the annual bash of KIIT School of Management, Bhubaneswar.
The catwalk saw a variety of colours, textures and style statements hitting the runway with the young fashionistas carrying off their chic outfits with poise. While some went the ethnic way, opting for traditional attires, others donned more western and funkier clothes.
The highlight of the evening was girls flaunting their headbands, which seemed to have been inspired by Alia Bhatt aka Shanaya from Karan Johar’s latest film Student of the Year.
The runway rockstars oozed confidence and their coquettish body language made the crowd cheer.
The three-day Dare to Defy fest was lined up with biz events and creative dos that kept the budding managers and entrepreneurs on their toes.
A high-octane performance by Bollywood singer Kunal Ganjawala on the final day enthralled the audience.
Felicitations
The personnel management and industrial relations department of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, organised the third Professor Abhay Kumar Memorial Lecture to reminisce the contribution of the academic, who was the head of the department for nearly two decades.
V. Balmohandas, former vice-chancellor of Acharya Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh delivered the lecture on “Leadership - Explore, Empower and Excel.”
Utkal vice-chancellor P. K. Sahoo offered tips to excel in life, managing director of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited, S.P. Pattnaik discussed the effectiveness of leadership.
Pooja Khandelwal, the department topper received the Professor Abhay Kumar Gold Medal for 2012. More than 200 delegates from corporate and academic sector and several HR students from different institutes across the state attended the lecture.
Medical genius
Jignyasha Ipsita Pattanaik, a student of Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, has topped the final M.B.B.S. examination of Utkal University. Students from four colleges, including a government medical college, had appeared for the final examination of the five-year M.B.B.S. course of Utkal University, the results of which were declared last week.
Jignyasha also secured honours in three subjects — surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology and paediatrics. Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences students have been securing top positions in semester examinations conducted by Utkal University for the past five years.
First lady
Sanghamitra Mishra, professor in anaesthesiology at the Institute of Medical Sciences of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, has been elected as president of the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists (ISA), Eastern Zone. She is the youngest and first woman to head the eastern zone of the ISA.
Clean drive
Students of Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, all members of the Youth Red Cross, undertook a massive cleaning drive last week at Debighat where idols of goddess Durga had been immersed.
The aim was to sensitise people about water pollution. Vice-chairman of the varsity Youth Red Cross unit, Sanjay Satpathy, said the drive was conducted for the second consecutive year.
He talked about waste material in the form of plastic flowers, straw, thermacol and other plastic and non-biodegradable items being used to decorate idols, which subsequently pollute the water bodies where they are immersed.
In memory
Eminent educationist Dhirendra Kumar Samantaray passed away on Sunday following a cardiac arrest.
He was 78. A former registrar of Utkal University, Samantaray, a highly acclaimed teacher of English, taught at many colleges and was principal of the Banki College and Kendrapara College for 11 years.
He retired after officiating as director for all the aided non-government colleges in the state in 1994.
