Dr Radha Nath Rath and Satya Mohapatra Memorial Fellowships awarded to IIMC students
Dhenkanal: Sahitya Akademi Award winner and former principal of Samanta Chandrashekhar Autonomous College, Puri, Prof Jitendra Narayan Dash, who is known more in his pen name Dash Benhur handed over the prestigious Dr Radha Nath Rath Memorial and Satya Mahapatra Memorial fellowships to the 2019-20 toppers of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) Dhenkanal on Wednesday. Arati Behra of Odia Journalism and Priyanka Yadav of English Journalism received the awards respectively. A certificate and a cash award of Rs 10,000 each were handed over to them.
“Dr Radha Nath Rath was the legendary editor of Odia daily, Samaja. His son, eminent economist Prof. Nilakantha Rath instituted the fellowship in his father’s name in 2002. Founding editor of Dinalipi and erudite author Satya Mahapatra’s daughters who were students of IIMC Dhenkanal, initiated the award in 2016,” said Dr Mrinal Chatterjee, Director, IIMC, Dhenkanal. “While Dr Radha Nath Rath fellowship is awarded to one studednt of Odia Journalism, Satya Mahapatra fellowship is given to a student of English journalism every year.”
On this occasion, Prof Jitendra Narayan Dash delivered a special lecture on Development Journalism: Issues and Ramifications. “Journalism is a science as it depends on the methods of verification. This also helps in enhancing the developmental process,” said Prof Dash.
He also questioned the way development and a developed country is defined by the Westerns. “Who decides which one is a developed or developing country?” he quipped. “Development is not only about economy and politics; it is also about the culture. We should look at the developmental issues from all perspectives.”
“Development must be in tune with the cultural tradition of a community in any region of the world. It should be rich and must have the essence of what the current scenario is asking for,” he added.
According to him the recent outbreak of Corona Virus has exposed the claims of the developed world. “World War III has already started and it is between human and Nature. The spread of coronavirus and its implications is one of the examples of the same war,” he said.
He stressed on the need for a strong and honest media for the development of a country. He asked the budding journalists to address the real issues from the people’s perspectives.
Monograph on Stress and PTSD released
On the sidelines of the award ceremony, Prof Dash also released a monograph on ‘How to win over stress and PTSD’ for media persons. The monograph was edited by Prof Mrinal Chatterjee, Director, IIMC Dhenkanal and Assistant Professor Sambit Pal. The monograph deals with the Journalistic stress, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The monograph will be useful for both budding and practising journalists. The articles explains why journalists face stressful situations and how to cope with it,” said Prof Sambit Pal. “The monograph has articles from the psychologists, consultant psychiatrists and media professionals.”
“The monograph will be developed into a full-fledged book in next few months,” informed Dr Mrinal Chatterjee.
Students of IIMC Dhenkanal, Akansha Snegdha Lakra, Anuradha Barik and Deepali Sharma have contributed to the monograph.
Release of Hindi translation of ‘Shakti’
The Hindi translation of ‘Shakti’, a novel originally written in Odia by Dr Mrinal Chatterjee and translated into Hindi by Itishree Singh Rathore, was released by Prof Jitendra Narayan Dash.
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