(From top) Singer Mohammed Irfan Ali at the techno fest of International Institute of Information Technology, Bhubaneswar, participants perform at Zephyr, the cultural festival of Odisha Engineering College, Bhubaneswar, and students and guests at the KIIT School of Management’s seventh national management convention. Telegraph pictures

Advaita 2014, the techno-cultural fest of the International Institute of Information Technology, Bhubaneswar, concluded on February 17. The five-day fest had began with Xtermination, an event where students from various institutes showed the robots designed by them. Then there was Tusk 2.0, a debate competition. The following day had fun-filled events such as archery and singing. Rockathon, the battle of rockbands, was the highlight of Day Three.

Other major events included Ultimate Literatti, Crime Scene Investigation and Footloose. A Salsa workshop saw couples dancing at choreographer Sneha Kapoor’s guidance. The fest concluded with hundreds of participants, members of organising committee, faculty and staff members listening to the beautiful renditions of singer Mohammed Irfan Ali.

Technical fest Zazen and cultural festival Zephyr of Odisha Engineering College, Bhubaneswar, concluded on February 20. The technical festival saw the students exhibiting their talents through various project-based competitions such as robotics, quad copter and solar car. The solar car developed by students of mechanical engineering department was well appreciated.Sashikant Nayak and Monisha Mishra were adjudged Mr and Miss Zephyr, 2014, respectively, by a panel of juries. The dignitaries released Yantrik, a magazine, on the occasion.

Invest wisely

A discussion on investor awareness programmes was organised by the department of business management of Fakir Mohan University last week. The speakers said more investment in the global market by Indian investors would not only bring more returns, but also enable them to compete with investors overseas. They also gave tips for safer investments and suggested the investors to keep an eye on the changing trends of the market, while asking them to abstain from chit fund schemes.

Alumni meet

The annual reunion and seminar of the department of zoology, Berhampur University, was organised on February 22. Vice-chancellor Deepak Kumar Behera, who addressed the gathering as the chief guest, said such reunion paved the way for a cordial relation between the present and former students, teachers and the varsity authorities.

Panelists at a national seminar organised by Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management and (above) a guest speaking at the 35th Annual Session of Odisha History Congress held at KISS on February 22. Telegraph pictures

Management convention

KIIT School of Management’s 7th national management convention on “The Dynamics of the Education to Employment Journey: Opportunities and Challenges”, was hosted on February 21 and 22. It attempted to capture the practical challenges and emerging opportunities in bridging the seemingly large gap between education and employment, through research papers, case studies, and conceptual studies. Shobha Mishra Ghosh, senior director (education) of FICCI, and Debabrat Mishra, director of Hay Group, delivered the keynote speeches. More than 60 selected papers were presented on sub-themes such as “Challenges Faced by Educators in Management Education/Technical Education/Life Sciences”, “Challenges Faced by Employers in Manufacturing and Services”, “Developing Viable Talent Management Models in Educational Institutions” and “Redefining the Education to Employment Journey: Voices of the Youth/Students”.

Reaching out

Central University of Odisha, Koraput, organised an outreach and mentoring programme on February 21 at Kendrapara Autonomous College. On this occasion, a seminar entitled “Higher Education: Our Challenges Today” was organised, in which Pradosh Kumar Rath, head of the varsity’s journalism and mass communication department, delivered the keynote address. “Education played a key role in development of society as well as nation,” said Rath. He expressed his concern that no Indian universities featured in the top 200 best university list in the world. He emphasised upon the quality of education in a higher educational set up in India.

Tourism and history

Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management organised a national seminar on “Special Interest Tourism: Contemporary Practices in East India” on February 22 on its Bhubaneswar campus. It stressed on the potentials and prospects of special interest tourism in east India. Renowned academicians, research scholars and industry experts graced the occasion. Utkal University of Culture vice-chancellor Debendra Nath Jena inaugurated the seminar.

In his address, he said India’s position in Human Happiness Index and revealed the potential of Indian tourism to deliver quality service and augment satisfaction and happiness of tourists who had been visiting India. Md Sabir Hussain, the organising secretary of the seminar, chaired the first technical session that was themed on the “Traditional Practices in Special Interest Tourism”. The second technical session explored new arenas and challenges in special interest tourism, which was chaired by T.K. Pany, an associate professor of Ravenshaw University.

The 35th annual session of Odisha History Congress was held at KISS on February 22. D. K. Ganguli, retired professor of Visva Bharati, who has worked on historical geography of Odisha, the Mahabharat and ancient Indian history, delivered the keynote address.

Howzzat!

The 5th edition of the SOA Premier League inter-university cricket championship was inaugurated at the SOA University on February 22 with a dozen teams from within and outside the state vying for top honours in the weeklong event. The tournament was declared open by Odisha Ranji Trophy team’s pace spearhead Basant Mohanty. The tournament, with prize money of Rs 1 lakh for the winner and Rs 50,000 for the runner-up, has split the teams into four groups.

SRM University, Chennai, is the defending champion. Other teams include last year’s runner-up Lovely Professional University, Jadavpur University, Calcutta University, Delhi Technological University, Andhra University and Gitam University. SOA University, Utkal University, Ravenshaw University, Vir Surendra Sai University of Technology and Biju Patnaik University of Technology are spearheading the local challenge.