Summary
Over 3,000 students were awarded degrees at the convocation ceremony
Students will be allowed back on campus from January 2022, IIT Kharagpur director V K Tewari said during his speech at the event
Eminent space scientists K Kasturirangan, Tessy Thomas and HC Verma received the Doctorate of Science (Honoris Causa) for contributions to their respective fields at IIT Kharagpur's 67th convocation on December 18.
M A Ramlu, founder head of the department of mining engineering at IIT Kharagpur, received the lifetime achievement award, while five distinguished persons were given the life fellow awards. Degrees were given to the graduating batch of 2021 comprising 1573 undergraduate, 1253 postgraduate, 333 research scholars and more.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan was present at the event as the chief guest. Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group and chairman of board of governors at IIT Kharagpur, was also present on the occasion.
Pradhan congratulated all the students and distinguished alumni who have received medals and awards. The minister said, the institute should take further its activities in the fields of semiconductor technology and healthcare carried out during the COVID situation and complimented it for them.
"I am confident @IITKgp will be the epicentre in adding momentum to the spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and in situating India at the top of the emerging new world order. The intellectual prowess and excellence of students here will make them pioneers of new thought leadership,” Pradhan said on his Twitter handle.
Despite the Omicron scare, students will be brought back on campus from January 2021, IIT Kharagpur director V K Tewari promised this while speaking at the convocation ceremony. He described the physical convocation as the first step towards normalisation.
The institute has made 75 innovations so far to help the industry and as part of its Interdisciplinary role the B C Roy MBBS College will start with 100 students in the campus by this month. Sixteen faculty members have joined the super speciality hospital named after Shyamaprasad Mukherjee which is expected to start soon, he added.
Kasturirangan expressed his gratitude for receiving the honorary degree through a video sent to the authorities.
Kasturirangan, who is also renowned as the craftsman of the National Education Policy 2020, changed the face of the country's education system in India and has been rightfully named the ‘Game Changer of Indian Education’, the statement said. "His contribution in the field of astronomy, astrophysics and space sciences is remarkable and an exemplar of human brilliance. As an astrophysicist, he led many path breaking projects in the Indian diaspora of satellite missions," it added.
Thomas, the first woman scientist to head a missile project, was present to receive the honour from Pradhan. She said that she was honoured to receive it from the first IIT in the country. She added that the award would encourage her to work in the field of missile and unmanned aircraft.
Verma is the national coordinator of the National Anveshika Network of India, a flagship programme of the Indian association of physics teachers. He has developed more than 600 low cost Physics experiments employable by teachers in classrooms and authored popular textbooks on the subject for various graduate and undergraduate programmes. His online lectures in Hindi and English have benefitted hundreds of thousands of students including those in the remotest areas. the statement said.
Last updated on 20 Dec 2021
