A blood donation camp, Divya Daan, organised by DAV-Rajabagicha school in collaboration with Red Cross, witnessed collection of as many as 185 units in Cuttack on Saturday. Parents, staff and local residents turned up in large numbers to donate blood.Cuttack MLA Sofia Firdous inaugurated the camp and appreciated participation of the school community in the initiative. She urged people to make voluntary blood donation a regular practice, stressing that a single donation could help save lives in emergencies.School headmistress Sujata Mishra also appealed to people to come forward and donate blood regularly. “Blood cannot be manufactured and can only be obtained through voluntary donation. Every unit donated can make a difference to someone fighting for life. We wanted to use this initiative to create greater awareness among our students, parents and the community about importance of regular blood donation,” she said.Suicide prevention webinarAround 2,000 students from 17 colleges across Odisha took part in an interactive webinar on suicide prevention organised by Ama Gaurav Ama College on Thursday. Held on the theme ‘Changing the Narrative on Suicide: From Silence and Stigma to Conversation and Hope’, the programme focused on mental health awareness and creating supportive campus environments. Nirlipta Dash, consultant neuropsychiatrist and assistant professor at IMS & SUM Hospital, sensitised students on recognising early signs of emotional distress, supporting those facing trauma and seeking timely help. He stressed the need to break stigma, encourage open conversations and foster empathy among students and faculty.MoU on disaster resilienceFakir Mohan University signed an MoU with All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI) to promote interdisciplinary research and strengthen disaster resilience. The agreement was signed during a daylong workshop on ‘Coastal Commons’, bringing together academics, researchers and disaster-management experts.The MoU will facilitate joint research, training, field studies, knowledge exchange and capacity-building in disaster risk reduction and climate resilience. Vice-chancellor Prof Santosh Kumar Tripathy stressed the need for universities to translate research into societal action. AIDMI director Mihir R Bhatt highlighted the role of academia-civil society collaboration in developing evidence-based solutions for resilient communities and sustainable development.
