Oh OK, the disclaimer. I am a BE-ite, a proud one at that and therefore, I am biased, towards Bhawanipur Education and towards Umang – not that it really matters, Umang, being what it is, would have topped the charts, in any way.

Now that it is almost mid-December, the Fest Season is just about getting ready to begin, as always with a Bang. See? Even bang rhymes with U-mang! Umang will set the ball rolling, or whatever you guys are “rolling” this year (no pun intended). The dates? December 15^th to 18^th, 2016.

During the course of these three days, BESC will roughly witness a footfall of 9000 +, welcome participants from more than 50 institutions as a spectacle unfolds – glamour and glitz, the kind of which will make even the ramps go g with j. Umang will also continue to be the platform that will help a fresh batch of movers and shakers showcase their raw talent, cheered by friends, booed by enemies but appreciated by all. It will not be out of place to mention here that Umang stands apart, among many other things, in the manner the management of the institution opens up the purse strings to support the students as they go about in their eternal quest to present to the City of Joy, a bigger, better, more spectacular show. The point to be highlighted here is that the management believes that the organisation of mega events like Umang (and Communiqué and MUN to mention a few) really help turn the boys into men.

In Xavotsav the story is slightly different, in as much that instead of the Management, it is the Alumni Association that lends its full support to the students. Add Alumni might to the 150 plus year legacy of the Institution and the advantage of being the prime mover in the Kolkata fests scene and Xavotsav becomes what it is, the undisputable(?) leader of the pack. If you ask me, and again this is my personal take on the thing, the fight for supremacy is between the students of BESC and the students plus ex-students of SXC.

And there are the also-fests. Sanskriti of JU (Liberal Arts and Engineering). The content is excellent, but Ananda Bazaar Patrika types (that is if Xavotsav is the TT and Umang is the TOI of Kolkata fests). Forgive me guys, I do not make the comparisons in any pejorative sense, but am taking the references just to hint at the cosmopolitanism of the events and the participants – from concept to communication, through creativity and creation. The Mileau of the Presidency University (hang on, they are about four and a half decades older than SXC) is another destination event that is a must attend for college students. The programmes eclectic, the ambience laid-back to the point of being intellectually disdainful and the overall experience as wholesomely heavy (as opposed to “heabby”, in Bengali) as the institution itself.  Rhapsody of the Kolkata Medical College too makes the cut to the Big Five, though personally speaking, the stench of disinfectants and the prospect of doctors in housecoats belting out Hindi-movie songs somehow gives me the kind of creeps that I’d rather avoid. Sorry Doc to be, nothing personal about that and I hope you don’t hold that against me like you hold your stethoscope.

However, it will be wrong to draw a line here and not mention about the other happening fests of Kolkata – Elcecia of the Heritage Institute of Technology is also doing a fast catch up as is the Phoenix of the Future Institute of Engineering and Management. Keep up the good work buddies, the least I can say is that you guys are on track.

Pardon my intransience, but you must have noticed that I did not mention the grand daddy of them all, the Spring Fest of IIT Kharagpur. Well, the piece is about Fests in Kolkata, besides, there’s too much smoke in the air to be written about objectively (wink,wink).

PS. Umang spends an obscene amount over the four days. Xavotsav spends about twice that. And both the events are well planned out extravaganza’s that are backed by near professional execution by teams of dedicated warriors ready to sacrifice their all for God, Country and the College banner. They are not mere fests that students organise between classes, but are much, much more than that in the truest sense of the term. That’s the power of the brand that brings in the sponsors in search of captive audiences and eyeballs. Now compare your college fests budget – does that explain the rankings?

Twinkle Sinolia has done her graduation from BESC and is currently running her own business – Aditi Creations, a boutique that makes bespoke greeting cards. She is also into custom creation of Birthday treats and helps organise exclusive theme based parties and events. She is currently pursuing a course in Corporate Communications in the BESC.

A regular in the college fests scene, she misses her canteen years: the marathon adda sessions, endless pile on’s, disregarded parental guidance and everything that came with it . Her advice to the gen-next? Live it up friends, you will go through this only once, YOLO!

As for the college fest scene she is categorical – don’t miss any one of them. The talent is raw, the sheer creativity maddening and the camaraderie that they help foster is what makes the Nation tick not to mention the spirit that is Kolkata!

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~ MoU aimed at fighting back oral carcinoma and aid in development of Biomaterials based Oral Implants~

Kolkata, 24^th October, 2016: Guru Nanak Institute of Dental Sciences and Research (GNIDSR) – an institute under the aegis of JIS Group Educational Initiatives, IIT-KGP and IIEST (Shibpur) today has taken a historic yet a humanitarian step to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to conduct interdisciplinary research in contemporary fields of oral healthcare for the 1^st time in India. The occasion was graced by Ms. Chandrima Bhattacharya, Hon’ble Chairperson, West Bengal Medical Services, Govt. of West Bengal who graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Also stalwarts of the Indian Oral and Dental industry and academia as well as other eminent personalities such as Dr. S.K. Bhattacharya, Deputy Director IIT – KGP; Dr. Ajoy Roy, Director, IIEST Shibpur; Dr. Suranjan Das, Vice Chancellor, Jadavpur University and Dr. Dibyendu Mazumder, President – Dental Council of India, Prof. (Dr.) R.R. Paul, Deputy Director & In-Charge (R&D), GNIDSR and Prof. (Dr.) T.K. Pal, Principal, GNIDSR were present for the commemoration of MoU signing occasion.

Oral cancer – basically a genetic disease that is modulated by epigenetics, metabolism and oral habits- affects people around the globe and has the highest incidence in India. Statistics say that every year more than 3 lacs of new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed all over the world, while approximately 80 thousands of Indians are afflicted with the disease annually. It has also been reported that more than 5 people die every hour in India because of oral cancer. The picture is equally gloomy even in USA, where approximately 30 thousands of Americans are affected annually and about 10 thousands of them die every year.  It has been estimated that India has the highest number of oral pre-cancer patients. There are more than 25 lacs of such victims at any given point of time and a significant number of them will develop oral cancer in due course of time, if not precisely diagnosed and treated at the initial phase.

However, when we talk about the management of oral cancer, it is noteworthy to mention that the process is an extremely expensive super-speciality treatment procedure. In spite of tremendous amount of technological advancement in diagnosis and management in recent times, the ‘five year survival rate’ has not changed since decades. In day to day clinical practice, oral pre-cancers and cancers are diagnosed on the basis of qualitative methods such as clinical-radiological-histopathological and immunohistochemical observations. But none of these modalities can spell affirmatively the malignant potentiality and prognosis of these complex disease processes. Understanding this, along with the fact that concentration is required more on early diagnosis and treatment including assessment of the malignant potentiality of oral precancerous diseases rather than oral cancer itself, this memorandum of understanding was signed between the three centres of excellences, each well known in their field of expertise across the nation.

Sardar Taranjit Singh, Managing Director, JIS Group Educational Initiatives, commented, “Millions of people, especially from the economically underprivileged sections of our society, today suffer from oral and dental diseases – particularly from oral pre-cancer and cancer but no breakthrough has yet been achieved towards treatment and management of these malignant diseases resulting in the loss of millions of lives. Taking into consideration this dire situation, GNIDSR a research oriented institute and a hospital catering to oral healthcare has taken the initiative to conduct advanced multi-disciplinary research in the areas of oral cancer and pre-cancers, stem cells,  tissue engineering , biomaterials,  implants & sensors by entering into this MoU jointly with IIT-KGP and IIEST (Shibpur) .”

The MoU signed between these three institutes will encompass the following salient characteristics:

1. PhD programme under JIS University in Oral and Dental Health Services

2. Early Detection and Prevention  of Oral Pre-cancers & Cancers

3. Precise Molecular Pathology based Grading of Oral Cancers

4. Therapeutic Target Identification for Oral Pre-cancers & Cancers

5. Non-invasive Diagnostic Methods for Malignant Potentiality of Oral Pre-cancers

6. Oral Stem Cells & its Therapeutic Application

7. Tissue Engineering based Therapeutic Support for Oral and Dental Diseases

8. Development of Biomaterials based Oral Implants

9. Bio-sensors for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications

Dr. S.K. Bhattacharya, Deputy Director IIT – KGP was of the view that it was necessary to take cancer gnomonic and image analysis to the next level and in future we are planning to conduct advanced research in stem cells.

Dr. Ajoy Roy, Director, IIEST Shibpur that was of the view that dental caries and periodontal diseases are the most common oral pathoses for tooth loss making an individual orally and facially crippled. Biomaterial, bio-sensors and tissue engineering research will be of immense help to manage dental caries and/or to fabricate cost effective artificial prosthesis and implants.

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Mumbai, October 3, 2016: SBI is India’s leading financial institution, which in multiple modes is promoting innovation and collaboration with Fin-tech companies. The wider programme includes ideation, incubation, experimentation and commercialization of new technology driven products and services for the banking sector.

IIT Kharagpur, one of the premier technology institutes of the country and having a number of initiatives and for spotting, incubating, setting and channelizing new technology ideas and start-ups has been taking collaborative steps with industries to further the national cause of “Make in India” and “Start-up India”.

The above institutions of national importance have come together to bring the benefits of synergy and complementing each other’s capabilities to take Innovation and Fin-tech for the benefit of Indian citizen.

For this purpose, an MOU was signed between the State Bank of India and IIT Kharagpur at Mumbai on 03^rd Oct’2016 delineating broader roadmap of detailed cooperation. The action plan includes collaborative research, Centre of Excellence (CoE) and running proof of concepts in various areas.

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It is estimated that 40% of all the food produced in India is wasted. That’s a ridiculous figure in a country where 40% of the population is either underfed or is starving. There has been endless discourse on the subject and a glut of grandiose announcements by public leaders at different levels about setting up cold storage chains and warehouses but nothing ever got implemented. Things are about to change though – a team greenhorn engineers from IIT Kharagpur successfully demonstrated their innovative portable solar-powered cold storage for agro-produce.

This is precisely the kind of product that small scale farmers in India have been waiting for although the cost needs to get rationalized to a level where it will make commercial sense. Like most other solar-powered products it offers excellent long term financial benefits but the initial investment at this point of time is not practical and certain techno-economic loose ends need to be integrated to get the market price down to rational levels. The capacity ranges from 3.5 to 10 metric tons while the cost of ranges from Rs. 6 Lakhs to to Rs. 9 Lakhs.

The students responsible for coming up with this innovation are Vivek Pandey and Rahul Sharma, both from IIT Kharagpur. They along with other team members developed this innovation at the Technology Entrepreneurship Park of IIT Kharagpur. According to Pandey, “The thermal storage concept does not depend on grid electricity and after a two-year break-even, can generate over 40 percent increase in profits. Normally cold storages work on electricity and require battery back ups. But with our innovation, the solar powered ones does away with need for battery backups and eliminates running cost”.

The portable cold storage units have a modular rack system which helps convenient storage of the produce which is designed to ensure proper flow of air. This is important for maintaining the freshness of the agro-produce to be stored in these units. The cooling system is based on the vapor compression cycle and is powered by rooftop mounted photo voltaic panels. Refrigeration during the night needs no battery and is equipped with a back up system based on thermal storage technology. The unit has an estimated lifespan of around 15 years and easily fits in a truck or hooked to a tractor which suits the needs of the farmers perfectly.

The duo of Pandey and Sharma won the Rs. 10 Lakh ‘DuPont: The Power of Shunya’ award for their innovation and have already filed for four different patents for their revolutionary agro-foodstuff storage facilities that come in capacities of 3.5, 5 and 10 tons at present with more capacity variations to be added in future. They have already sold a few units of their innovative product in Karnataka and have set up their business in Bengaluru under the name and style of Ecofrost Technologies. Their immediate objective is to lower the cost and scale up production capacity and they are primarily eying the western Indian market with its rich agricultural hinterland.

India wastes a staggering 21 million tons of wheat every year which equals the total quantity produced by a major wheat exporting country like Australia. In a country where 250 million people survive through varying levels of starvation and semi-starvation, this colossal wastage points to the harsh realities of the bottlenecks that paralyzes India’s national reconstruction and development efforts. The best answer to such inefficiency is the kind of innovation that young techno-entrepreneurs like Pandey and Sharma brought about. Such effective home-grown technologies will help India leapfrog out of the shameful and indiscriminate wastage of millions of tons of food simultaneously with millions of her citizens going to bed hungry every night.

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-Will take place across Ten Indian Cities this year –

-National champions win a trip to Sweden –

September 2, 2014.Kolkata: The Sweden India Nobel Memorial Quiz, the annual intercollegiate quiz competition commences its 10-city course across India from Kolkata on September 5, 2014 at the Presidency College at 10:00 am. The competition, which is a part of The Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week organised by the Embassy of Sweden along with Swedish industry in India, increases its footprint further this year and takes place in Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune over the month of September to culminate in the national finals in New Delhi.

The National champions will win an all-expense paid trip to Sweden, where they will get to visit headquarters of global Swedish companies, Swedish Universities and the Nobel Museum among other things.

In an endeavour to make the Quiz bigger and better and to build up the excitement in advance a few new elements have been introduced:

• Official Quiz Trailers, through Question of the Day on www.facebook.com/swedeninindia.
• Weekly Quizzes and Downloadable Quizzes on www.justquizz.com, which can be used as practice sessions, since there will be questions from here in the Preliminary Rounds at the venues. Participants stand a chance to win prizes and feature on a Leader board that would facilitate self-assessment.
• The rules of the quiz have been amended this time around to ensure greater democratisation of the process. Students will be allowed to participate only in their own city. Only if prelims are not happening in the home city, will a team be allowed to participate in the nearest Venue City. A team will be allowed to participate in a Live Round (prelim) only ONCE. This ensures a level playing field and will also ensure that the team that wins in a certain city actually represents that city!

Interestingly, last year’s National Champions – Somosish Ghoah, Ajaya Biswanathan, Saswata Panigrahi who won a trip to Sweden were from from IIT Kharagpur.

This year the quiz will be conducted for the first time by Kunal Savarkar, a mastermind semi-finalist and Content Editor for Kaun Banega Crorepati. The Quiz is one of the activities of the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week which targets students. Other activities include lectures, seminars and round tables, exhibitions and cultural performances. The Embassy of Sweden in India, along with prominent Swedish businesses is organise the Week each year, to further enhance the positive image of Sweden in India by commemorating the spirit of the Swedish innovator, entrepreneur & philanthropist Alfred Nobel through knowledge, innovation, creativity, Swedish contributions to the development of the world and the strengthening of relations between the two countries.

Partnering Swedish companies for this year’s Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week are ABB, Atlas Copco, Ericsson, IKEA, SAAB, Sandvik, Scania, SEB, SKF, Tetrapak, Volvo Cars, Volvo India and the Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai.

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