Bhawanipatna, YNN: The District Education Office organised the Kalahandi district-level Smart Odisha Hackathon 3.0 at the local Town Hall premises. The inaugural ceremony was chaired by District Education Officer Radhakanta Chhatri. The event saw the presence of Kalahandi MP Malvika Devi as the chief guest, former MP Arka Keshari Deo as the distinguished guest, and Dr Subhranshu Shekhar Dash, Principal of the Government College of Engineering, Kalahandi, along with Shakyasingh Mahapatra, MD of Sek Robotics and representative of IIT Bhubaneswar, as the guests of honour. Additional District Education Officers Shubhalakshmi Nayak, Hemsagar Mahananda and Tapimani Jani, alongside District Science Supervisor Dusmanta Sekhar Padhi, were also seated on the dais.
Under the direction of teacher Nilanchal Pan, students of Talbelgaon High School performed the opening musical piece. This was followed by an Odissi dance performance by student Amrita Sahu and a folk dance by pupils of the Govt Girls High School, Bhawanipatna.
On this occasion, 49 selected projects from 23 higher secondary schools and OAVs across the district were put on display. A total of 147 young scientists participated alongside their guide teachers, showcasing their respective science projects. The judging panel, comprising National Award-winning science teacher Santosh Kumar Kar, Dr Ashok Kumar Bhoi, Assistant Professor at the Govt College of Engineering, and IIT representative Shakyasingh Mahapatra, evaluated the students’ projects. The top four projects were subsequently selected to advance to the state level.
At the valedictory ceremony, ADM Tanmaya Kumar Darwan graced the occasion as the chief guest. He was joined by guests of honour, including District Culture Officer Vivekananda Mahananda, Kalahandi Tehsildar Khirod Chandra Nag, MY Bharat District Youth Officer Vansh Sharma, State Award-winning retired science teacher Rabindra Pattnaik, and District Physical Education Officer Rupsing Raut, who jointly presented awards to the winning participants.
The event was co-ordinated by Birendra Kumar Acharya, Prashanta Nanda, Soumendra Pattnaik, Harishchandra Mund, Amaresh Negi, Pradeep Negi, Om Prakash Naik, Pramod Sahoo, Bibhu Panda, Aditya Acharya, Smita Choudhury, Pratibha Rath, and Sruti Silva Panda, along with the dedicated staff of the District Education Office.
