BHUBANESWAR: KalingaInstitute of Social Sciences (KISS) has been granted deemed university status by the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) to become the first tribal university in the world. Though Indira Gandhi National Tribal University was established earlier, it admits students from all categories. KISS, where students are provided residential education free of cost, is however exclusively for tribals. Sources said KISS has been declared a Deemed University under De-Novo category.
The university will introduce seven new innovative departments in the first phase to provide impetus to research on tribal studies. Overwhelmed with the announcement, Founder of KISS University Achyuta Samanta said it was possible due to the blessings of Almighty and good wishes of people. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for their continuous efforts to improve tribal education.KISS was founded by Samanta in 1992-93 in a rented building in Bhubaneswar with only 125 poor tribal students. It underwent massive growth with a gradual increase in the students’ enrolment, Samanta added.
Laughter yoga session
Noted laughter guru Dr Madan Kataria arrived here on Saturday to conduct a five-day laughter yoga session at KIIT and KISS. He is also scheduled to attend laughter sessions at different parks in the capital city during the period. As the country is observing National Sports Day on Tuesday, KISS is planning to go for an official record attempt for ‘largest laughter yoga class’ for Guinness World Records. Laughter yoga is an element of yoga which is getting popular as science discovers the importance of laughing.