Bhubaneswar: The 80th Independence Day was celebrated with patriotic fervour across educational institutions in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, with students and faculty participating in flag-hoisting, parades and cultural programmes.At KIIT-DU, vice-chancellor (VC) Saranjit Singh hoisted the national flag. Urging students to contribute to building a developed India, KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta said the nation would progress when they progress.DAV Public School, Kalinga Nagar, marked the occasion with a parade by NCC, scouts and guides, Junior Red Cross and house students. School chairman Arun Kumar Rath called upon students and staff to dedicate themselves to nation-building, while students paid tribute to freedom fighters through speeches. Similarly, at DAV, Pokhariput, school management committee chairman Madan Mohan Panda hoisted the national flag, and urged students to remember the sacrifices of freedom fighters and work with dedication to enhance the school’s reputation at the national level.At Aditya Birla Public School, celebrations featured a march past, flag formation, cultural performances and felicitation of board toppers. Despite rainfall, students and parents participated enthusiastically.FMU outreach programmeFakir Mohan University (FMU) organised an Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) Outreach Programme to sensitise faculty members to India’s traditional knowledge and its contemporary relevance. Delivering a special lecture, Dharmapuri Vedaratna, assistant coordinator, IKS division at ministry of education, highlighted the need to preserve, document and research indigenous knowledge and integrate it with contemporary education and scientific perspectives. FMU VC Santosh Kumar Tripathy stressed universities’ role in preserving and academically interpreting India’s intellectual heritage. He hoped that FMU would emerge as a regional IKS hub.NIFT begins orientationNational Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bhubaneswar, began a three-day orientation programme for its 2026-27 batch on July 30. The programme introduced students to campus life, academic practices and the institute’s learning ecosystem. The inaugural session featured addresses by NIFT director Vibhavari Kumar, handicrafts director and Boyanika MD Nivedita Prusty, IMMT director Ramanujan Narayan and Utkalamrita founder Amrita Sabat. Speakers urged students to embrace discipline, creativity, heritage and social responsibility. The programme also included document verification, hostel registration and departmental induction, followed by alumni, industry and sensitisation sessions.