Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates 4TH National Media Conclave

Bhubaneswar: The fourth edition of National Media Conclave (NMC), eastern India’s biggest and most stimulating platform, was inaugurated virtually by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday.
The two-day conclave being organised by Institute of Media Studies (IMS) under Utkal University is a tribute to former Chief Minister of Odisha Dr Harekrushna Mahtab and his journalistic works on the occasion of his 121st birth anniversary.
Inaugurating the most celebrated event in media academic realm, Pradhan highlighted the developmental journalism practice of Dr Mahtab through his column ‘Gaon Majlis’. Dr Mahtab was a great freedom fighter, diplomat, politician, administrator, writer, social reformer and to top them all – a great journalist. He was fondly known as the “Lion of Odisha” or Utkal Keshari by the people. Through the Prajatantra, he created a platform for the budding writers of Odisha that laid the foundation stone for the development of future Odia literature, he said.
For the inclusive and holistic development of Odisha at large he left no stone unturned with the support of his contemporary leaders that created massive public support for him, he added. The Union Minister also released the logo of Dr. H.K. Mahtab Resource Centre.
Member of Lok Sabha and Editor of Prajatantra Bhartruhari Mahtab also spoke on the occasion. Among others, Vice-Chancellor of MGM University Prof. Dr Sudhir Gavhane, Vice-Chancellor of Haridev Joshi University of Journalism & Mass Communication, Jaipur Prof. Om Prakash Thanvi, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Adamas University, West Bengal Prof. Ujjwal K Chowdhury and Professor of Eminence, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Tezpur Central University Dr. Sunil Kanta Behera were present in the inaugural ceremony.
The conclave will deliberate on ‘Communication for Social Change’ which is the theme of this year’s conference along with four plenary sessions during the two days.
In three plenary sessions on ‘Participatory Communication and Participatory Media’, ‘Cross Cultural Dialogue: The Shared Awareness’ and ‘Communication Technologies and Social Change’ on the first day, noted academicians and communication experts emphasised on participatory and ‘horizontal’ communication – such as stakeholder dialogue and consultation and bottom-up community media for creating spaces in which people can define development and give meaning to and claim their citizenship.
Founding Director of Centre for Culture, Media and Governance of Jamia Millia Islamia, Prof. Biswajit Das, Senior Professor of Communication & UNESCO Chair on Community Media, University of Hyderabad Prof. Vinod Pavarala, Professor of Communication and Performance, Department of Communication, California State University, USA Prof. Devendra Sharma, Professor and Head, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Gujarat University Prof. Sonal Pandya; and Professor and Dean of DME Media School, Noida Dr. Ambrish Saxena, Associate Professor and HoD, UIMS, Chandigarh University Dr. Fakir Mohan Nahak, Professor, Dept. of Communication and Journalism, University of Mysore, Mysore Prof. N. Usharani, Advisor (Communication & Development), Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad Prof. Arbind Sinha, Course Director in the Department of English Journalism at IIMC, New Delhi Prof Surbhi Dahiya and Head of Press & Communication, British Deputy High Commission, Kolkata Amit Sengupta and Senior Lecturer, School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing, Massey University, New Zealand Dr. Debalina Dutta participated in the first and second plenary sessions.
Similarly, retired Professor of University of Hyderabad and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Central University, Tamilnadu Prof. B P Sanjay, Professor of Department of New Media, School of Journalism, Mass Communication and New Media, Central University, Himachal Pradesh, Prof. Pradeep Nair, Professor & Head, Dept. of Mass Communication & Journalism, Tejpur University, Assam Prof. Dr. Joya Chakraborty and Assistant Professor, School of Media Communication & Fashion, Adamas University, Noveena Chakravorty spoke in the third plenary session.
On Sunday, more than 100 academicians and scholars will read out their research papers in different parallel sessions. The entire conclave is being live streamed on Facebook (inmc2020) and YouTube (imsodisha) pages of the conclave, said conclave chairman and Director of IMS Prof. Upendra Padhi.