Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar, and Birla Institute of Management and Technology – the two Bhubaneswar-based institutes are focusing a lot on having a green campus. Both organised a sapling plantation drive where hundreds of students and faculty members participated. At Gandhi institute, more than 350 saplings of amla and baula and many such varieties of saplings were planted. The saplings were provided by the forest ranger of Khurda division. Birla institute did it on a grand scale with students, teachers and staff members planting around 2,000 saplings on their campus. Vinod Kumar, project director of Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project (OFSDP), was present on the occasion. Kumar later promised to assist in further plantation drives. The NSS wing of Khaira Women’s College, Balasore, also planted sapling on their college premises.

Freshers’ welcome

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, celebrated an orientation programme called Parichay to welcome the new batch of 2014. The celebration was organised by second-year students for first-year students. An annual feast was also organised to officially welcome the new students and introduce them to the culture and spirit of the XIMB. There were wide varieties of solo as well as group performances. The event started with a scintillating solo musical performance by Mayank Srivastava, a second-year student and was followed by a number of musical and dance performances. The highlight of the event was a western musical by Vandana Hebbar that left the audience spellbound. Between the performances, stand-up comedian Varun Pandey supplied comic relief to 600-odd exuberant freshers. The show ended with juniors joining the revelry.

Emulating UN

With the support of Utkal Federation of United Nations Association (UFUNA), Gandhi Engineering College, Bhubaneswar, is organising an international conference on Model United Nations (MUN) from August 15 to 18. The MUN has been named as Manthan-14 meaning “churning the process of thoughts which leads to ideas”. The overall theme of the conference will be “Post-2015 Development Scenario”. The conference will be a platform for the youth of India as well as delegates from other countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa, Pakistan, Singapore and Indonesia to discuss current global affairs, its challenges and scopes for advancements. The discussion will also focus on roles of various councils of United Nations such as the UNGA, the UNSC, the UNHRC, the UN WOMEN and the ILO. The conference will be divided into substantive sessions and working groups. (For Online registration visit www.gec.edu.in/MUN).

(From top) NSS wing of Khaira Women’s College in Balasore plant sapling on the college premises, students of Sri Sri University perform on the occasion of varsity’s commencement day

Strike for better books

Students of Sambalpur University staged a demonstration in front of the Professor Bhubaneswar Behera Central Library on July 21 with a demand to improve its facilities. The students also locked the gate of library for around two hours. The students demanded purchase of competitive books and magazines. They also asked for automation of library and participation in the book selection process. However, the students withdrew the agitation after discussion with the authority. On June 10, the students had met the varsity vice-chancellor and demanded to improve the facility of the central library. They had also submitted a memorandum regarding their demand to the librarian on July 14 and had threatened that they would lock the library if their demands were not met.

Grand welcome

Sri Sri University welcomed its third batch of MBA students last week at their commencement day celebrations. Beginning with a short meditation, the session was followed by inspirational talks by eminent guests. Attended by freshers, parents and faculty, the evening provided insights into the broad range of training and skills development activities that students will undertake in next two years. The event concluded with a cultural performance by the students. The “commencement week” included talks, value-added workshops and youth empowerment skills seminar, as well as several dance, debate, mime competitions and other cultural activities.

Being app-smart

Think of a smart phone that can anticipate anything ominous coming your way — be it a tornado, cyclone, tsunami or heavy rainfall, and issue a warning before it hits you. Raj Reddy, a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence in the world, shared this thought and its practicability with students at SOA University, Bhubaneswar. Reddy, presently associated at the Carnegie Mellon University, USA, was delivering a talk on “Guardian Angel Technologies: Providing Right Information to Right People at Right Time”. Guardian Angel is a concept taken from the Bible that means that every person in the world has been assigned with an angel to protect that person. The technology, using big data analytics, however, is a costly factor, he pointed out. He asked the students imagine and build more apps that will make life easier.