

BHUBANESWAR: Professor of Odia at Viswa Bharati University, Santiniketan, Sabita Pradhan has been appointed the first vice-chancellor of Odia University by Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal. This was notified by the Governor’s office here on Friday.
She will hold the position for a period of two years with effect from the date she assumes office or until further orders, whichever is earlier. Author of seven books and two translations, Pradhan has published 132 research papers. Her expertise lies in linguistics and stylistics besides modern Odia literature.
Meanwhile, the Department of Higher Education on Wednesday organised the second syllabus committee meeting under the chairmanship of former bureaucrat Rabi Narayan Senapati to finalise the curriculum for Odia University at Satyabadi in Puri.
They analysed the draft syllabus in three subjects - Odia language and literature, Linguistics and natural language processing and Regional, Tribal Language and Heritage Studies - to be offered by the first-of-its-kind language university.
On Thursday, chief secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena and commissioner-cum-secretary of the Higher Education Department Arvind Agrawal reviewed the construction progress of the university for which the state government had earmarked 25 acres of land at Satyabadi.