Bhubaneswar, April 29: The Odisha government on Sunday signed five MoUs with leading academic and technological organisations in various fields on the sidelines of Odisha Skills 2018 here, an official said.

All the MoUs were signed in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The first MoU was signed between the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Innovation and Enterpreneurship (CIE) and Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) and Robotics.

The second was signed between the Central government's Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC), and the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) in the field of super computation, artificial intelligence and high-end research, said an official.

Another MoU is inked between C-DAC and Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM) in the similar field of super computation and its use for skill development and research, the official added.

The next MoU was signed between Director of Technical Education and Training, Odisha and Central Tool Room and Training Centre (CTTC) for establishment of five mini tool rooms in five of the leading ITIs at Berhampur, Balasore, Cuttack, Talcher and Hirakud for imparting professional training to ITI cleared students in handling high-end machines and technology.

The last MoU was signed between Odisha Skil Development Authority and Eye Mitra 2.5 New Vision Generation, a division of Essilor India for sector-specific skill development for self employment in vision care.

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Tehran (AP/PTI): A methane leak sparked an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran, killing at least 19 people and injuring another 17, Iranian state television reported Sunday.

The report said the deaths happened at a coal mine in Tabas, some 540 kilometers (335 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.

Authorities were sending emergency personnel to the area after the blast late Saturday, it said. Around 70 people had been working there at the time of the blast.

Oil-producing Iran is also rich in a variety of minerals. Iran annually consumes some 3.5 million tons of coal but only extracts about 1.8 million tons from its mines per year. The rest is imported, often consumed in the country's steel mills.

This is not the first disaster to strike Iran's mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people.

Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed for the fatalities.