Nuclear scientist and former Bhabha Atomic Research Centre director Anil Kakodkar delivered a speech on innovation and eco-system in science and technology at the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, recently as part of the institute’s technical festival called Innovision. The festival is the institute’s flagship event to promote scientific thinking. Kakodkar focused his speech on technological innovation and the ecosystem and emphasised on the need to train engineering and science students to pursue research, development and technical innovation and groom them for leadership roles in production and manufacturing to curb dependence on imported technology.
Annual lecture
Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), recently held its 14th foundation day lecture at the institute’s auditorium. Kamal Bali, board member and managing director of Volvo India, spoke at the event. He shared his journey with students and threw light on what it took to be a successful leader and an ethical corporate citizen. Through his speech, Bali urged the students to take risks and be creative. All the management students, the faculty and staff members of the institute and a plethora of guests attended the event. In the past, business leaders, such as Vinita Bali, D. Shivakumar, Madhur Bajaj, Lalita Gupte, Ashok Soota, Preetha Reddy and B. Muthuraman had delivered lectures.
Ministerial visit
Union minister Giriraj Singh, during his tour of Odisha recently, visited Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) and KIIT University. He visited the varsity’s campuses and addressed 25,000 students of KISS. In his speech, he asked the students to uphold the country’s unity, sovereignty and security. Later, he joined in Chhath Puja celebrations organised by KIIT students from Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. On this occasion, he requested all to abide by their duties. A number of varsity students interacted with the micro small and medium enterprises minister on various issues, including the assistance provided by the central government to entrepreneurs.
Birth centenary
The Central University of Odisha celebrated the 141st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, popularly known as the Iron Man of India, with a seminar on “Rashtriya Ekta Sapath” on its Sunabeda campus. On the occasion, the students underlined the hardships that Patel had faced to unite nearly 565 princely states with India. They also pointed out how he had visited Odisha and convinced the zamindars and kings of that time to join and build a single nation. The varsity felicitated one of the oldest Gandhian leaders of the Koraput-Balangir-Kalahandi region, A.K. Mohanty, for his life-long dedication for rural development. An essay and poetry writing competition in Odia, Hindi and English were also organised on the occasion.
Judicial access
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission president Justice D.K. Jain delivered the second foundation day lecture at the National Law University of Odisha (NLUO), Cuttack, on November 5. Jain talked about how “access to justice” had become a “platitudinous” phrase without true appreciation of the profound constitutional, philosophical, systemic and administrative concerns that the idea embodied. Supreme Court judge Justice Dipak Misra was also present on the occasion and talked about the importance of the foundation day celebrations. He stressed on the constant changes in a dynamic field such as law. Law is never static, he said to the students. Varsity’s vice-chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao declared that the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) had awarded the university A grade recently. The students spoke to the experts on various topics, including the growing importance of consumer law and the latest reforms in judicial rights.
Coin collection
Raj Kishore Mahanta, an MBA student at Utkal University, who has a collection of coins and currency notes from 150-odd countries, took part in an exhibition hosted by the Mumbai Coin Society. His collection includes more than 230 coins from 150 countries and 50 currency notes from 100 countries. He also exhibited his collection of faulty currency notes on which the serial numbers have not been printed. More than 70 collectors from across the country took part in the exhibition and Raj was the only representative from Odisha. Mahanta’s name was included in the Limca Book of Records last year for his collection of 100 currency notes of Rs 10, the six-digit serial numbers of each denoting the dates on which cricketer Sachin Tendulkar had hit a century.
NAAC visit
A three-member NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) team, headed by S.K. Jain, visited MPC Autonomous College, Baripada to assess its infrastructure facilities, including the computer lab and the library. They also focussed on other aspects of the college, such as staff strength and hygiene standards, being maintained by the institute and prepared an evaluation report.
Oath-taking ceremony
The oath taking ceremony of the students’ union of Dr Parshuram Mishra Institute of Advanced Study in Education, Sambalpur, was held recently. The newly-elected students’ representatives, including the new president Samir Bhoi, vice-president Pujarani Mishra, general secretary Gitesh Nayak, assistant secretary Rukmini Meher, drama secretary Rohit Nag, cultural secretary Sujit Pradhan, athletic secretary Rashmi Ranjan Majhi and film society secretary Ranjan Sahu took oath during the occasion. A large number of students and teachers were present during the ceremony, where the representatives spoke about their plans for the institute’s development.
Normality restored
Normality was restored in Savitri Women’s College, Bhanjanagar, in Ganjam district that had witnessed student unrest for the past month following the students’ union election, which forced principal Sudhir Chandra Bhola to go on leave. The students welcomed the principal after he reached the college on November 5 and the students apologised to him unconditionally for creating trouble. The principal advised all the students to concentrate on studies and assured to address all their problems.
