Kolkata: St Xavier's College to start finance lab over next six months

St Xavier's College in Kolkata will start a finance laboratory over the next six months to help students undertake research in finance and accounting, college Principal Rev Fr (Dr) Dominic Savio said Tuesday. All major databases in finance and accounting will be available in the lab, the first-of-its kind in the country, he said. St Xavier's College in Kolkata is the second oldest Jesuit institution in India, founded in 1860. "There will be a state-of-the-art centre, housed in a room in the college campus, which will serve as the finance lab," he said.

The finance lab, will preempt the possibility of the students going anywhere else for collecting data. All the information required for research will be available at the lab and facilities will be there for direct interaction with stock exchangesm, the principal said. About the other important projects of the institution, Savio said to inculcate library going habit among the students who are weaned away by smartphones, the autonomous college will give away three awards to the students who are found to have spent the maximum number of hours at the college library.

While students can also access library contents on their smartphones, tablets or laptop from anywhere in the campus, "We want to encourage them to physically visit the library and spend hours by instituting such an award. May be this is also a unique initiative," the principal said. To check unauthorised copying in dissertations and researches, the college has installed an anti-plagiarism software. Savio said the college will set up a second academic building at its Raghabpur campus in South 24 Parganas district to cater to a greater number of students.

About 70 per cent of students at the Raghabpur campus are girls and the second building will be able to cater to greater number of rural students, he said. Masters course in Bengali will commence at the Raghabpur campus from the coming academic year. The college will confer 'Nihil Ultra Award', principled on the motto 'Nihil Ultra' meaning 'Nothing Beyond' to Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Prof Suranjan Das during the convocation on January 16 for his contribution in higher education in Bengal, Savio said.

(With inputs from agencies.)