The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu graced and addressed the 69th convocation of IIT Kharagpur on December 18, 2023.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that our IIT system has a reputation all over the world. IITs are considered incubation centers of talent and technology. She stated that IIT Kharagpur has the distinction of being the first IIT of the country. This institution has nurtured great talents in its journey of almost 73 years and its contribution to the development of the country is unmatched. The President was happy to note that in line with the Government of India’s policy of internationalization and globalization of IITs, IIT Kharagpur is working on alliances and collaborations with other global institutions. She said that this step will not only help in establishing IIT Kharagpur at the international level but will also be a big step towards giving global recognition to the Indian education system.
In her speech, the President also shared her concern by saying , “It is a matter of concern that not even a single educational institution of such a vast country with the world’s oldest knowledge tradition is among the top 50 educational institutions of the world. The race for ranking is not more important than imparting a good education. However, good ranking not only attracts students and good faculty from all over the world but also increases the reputation of the country. Therefore, I would like that IIT Kharagpur, being the oldest IIT in the country, should make efforts in this direction.”
BHU Convocation 2023 : 14600 degrees were conferred to UG , PG students
President Murmu also congratulated over 3,200 students who received their degrees at the convocation and hoped for better participation of women in the field of science and technology. President emphasised the use of technology for promoting social justice and equality. She also lauded the digital payment systems technology for simplifying the lives of people.
IIT Kharagpur director V K Tewari, chairman of board governors T V Narendran, state minister Manas Bhunia, and other dignitaries were present at the event.
IIT Dhanbad conducted its 43rd Annual Convocation with Vice President Dhankar as Chief Guest
This year, IIT Kharagpur bestowed the DSc Honoris Causa to reputed Sanskrit scholar Mahamahopadhyaya Bhadreshdas Swami, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, electrical engineering entrepreneur Ravinder Nath Khanna and entrepreneur Ajit Jain. The Lifetime Achievement Award-2023 was bestowed upon Prof Ramchandra Prabhakar Gokarn.
Eight Life Fellow Awardees of the Institute were Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Prof Ravikumar Bhaskaran, Prof Prem Vrat, Dr Samir V Kamat, Shri ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan, Dr V Narayanan, Dr Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, and Dr Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe. Nine students were awarded the Institute gold medals in their respective fields of study.
