Balasore: Chidananda Arpita from the district, who excelled in Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) in a university of Jammu and Kashmir, has been recently felicitated by President of India Ramnath Kovind.

Chidananda Arpita, daughter of poet Abhay Das and school teacher Manjulata Bal, won three medals. She was adjudged the best student of the university, the other two medals went to her as the topper in the stream and for achieving distinction. She was given citations and a cash prize of Rs 60,000. While Rs 50,000 was given for being the best student of the university, Rs 10,000 cash prize was awarded for passing the course with distinction. She had topped in all the 10 semester during the five-year course.

Arpita was a student of architecture department of Mata Vaishnodevi University at Kakrial in Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides Kovind , the governor of the Jammu and Kashmir, N.N. Vohra , chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, ace entrepreneur founder and Bharti enterprises (Airtel) Sunil Mittal, chairman-cum-managing director and CEO of Hero group Pawan Munjal were present during the convocation programme held on April 18.

"She got admission into the B. Arch course through All India Engineering Entrance Examination. Her performance was steady throughout the course. We are highly delighted that our daughter has achieved the feat. It is a matter of pride for any parent," said Das, Arpita's father.

She is likely to go for higher studies in the field after gaining field experiences. At present, she is working in a reputed company in Bangalore.

Arpita has good writing skills and command over English and Hindi literature. Besides, she also has interest in visual and performing arts.