Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ virtually addresses the students at 18th Convocation Ceremony of NIT Warangal.He inaugurated the newly constructed building PanditMadan Mohan Malaviya Teaching Learning Centre, Visvesvaraya Skill Development Centre , SardarVallabhai Patel Guest House at NIT Warangal Campus and also laid the foundation for the Rudrama Devi Ladies Hostels Complex of NIT Warangal. N.R.NarayanaMurthy, PadmaVibhushanawardee, Founder of Infosys&ChairmanEmeritus, was the Guest of Honor on the occasion. Dr. NV Raman Rao, Director, NIT Warangal and Chairman Board of Governors were present in the event. Convocation was held through Motion Cap augmented Reality Virtual Technology to ensure that education is not disrupted during the Covid -19 pandemic.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister congratulated the students and said that convocation is a significant occasion when students embark on the expedition of taking the fruits of education to the outside world. He said the real test of life for all the graduating students begin today, as they are now ready to apply the knowledge and learning acquired during the course of education. The Minister said that learning never ends and a is life-long process and insisted that culture should be joined with education, so that the individual has an enduring and firm foundation for growth. The Ministercongratulated NIT Warangal for improved NIRF ranking (from Rank 26 in 2018 to 19 in 2019) and the achievements of the institute. He said the institute can render a significant contribution to the society and the country as a whole in the future. He encouraged the students to think out of the box, beyond restrictions and challenges and to bring light where there is darkness anywhere in the world. He encouraged the students to dream and to commit every moment of their life for the realization of their dreams.He added by saying that the key principles behind the education sector reforms are equity and access for students.
Pokhriyal said that the Prime Minister NarendraModi has set the goal of establishing India as the world leader in education and highlighted on the programmes and schemes introduced by the Government of India to transform the field of education. He congratulated NIT Warangal for exceptional placement record,research achievements and for bridging the Gap between the Industry and Academia through engagements and Initiatives like MOU with Powergrid, APPSIL and other companies. Stating that programmes such as Make in India, Digital India, Start-up India and Stand-up India are transformative schemes, the Minister said that India has now become the world’s favourite investment destination and we are already on the way to become the ‘Golden 21st Century India’.
N.R. NarayanaMurty, Founder of Infosys, the Guest of Honour in his address said he was delighted to be a part of the celebration of the success of the graduating class and congratulated them on receiving their degrees. He called Graduation a watershed event in one’s life, where students make a commitment to themselves and the Indian society to become intelligent, informed, discipled, enthusiastic and committed agents of progress. He said ‘Progress’ in every society requires optimal utilisation of available resources and the reason for the lack of expected progress in our country is not due to the dearth of talent or other resources but due to the lack of professionalism of Indian Citizens. He said Professionalism is the need of the hour and said everyone can become a good professional by beingtough, competent, dedicated and living by the rules and ethics of the profession. He added by saying, “He (a good professional) is fair and unbiased and starts every transaction on a zero base and therefore does not carry any bias from a prior transaction to the current transaction”.Mr. Murty quoted American Basketball Legend Michael Jordan and said ‘Talent wins games, but Team work wins championships’.Murthysaida professional should seek to gather new knowledge, new data, keep his talent sharp, his intellect and skill sharp but at the same time conforming to his value system.
Dr. NV Raman Raosaid that at present NIT Warangal offers eight programmes at UG level, twenty eight M.Techprogrammes, five M.Sc., one MCA and one MBA — totaling thirty five programmes at master’s level, which is one of the highest among the NITs. He then described the progress of education and research in NIT Warangal over the past year. Continuing he said “I am delighted to share that a series of activities spanning the period after the last convocation, include research projects, patents, notable consultancy works, procurement of new equipment, establishment of new laboratories and organising conferences, workshops, seminars and of late, webinars. He informed that according to the NIRF rankings released by the Union Ministry of Education, NIT Warangal ranks 19th and have achieved a better rank than last year. True to its legacy, based on NIRF rankings for 2020, NITW is ranked amongst the top NITs in the country. Academic exams, placements, seminars and webinars are a being conducted online, he added.
Further he stressed that the Faculty Members of NITW have been recognized at various forums for their outstanding works. 20 more patents have been filed by the Faculty, in various domains of research. He informed that during this academic year significant consultancy works have been carried out by the faculty members. A total number of 137 research projects, worth Rs.41 Crores have been sanctioned to the Institute from various funding agencies. Faculty members from Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, ECE, Mechanical Engineering departments were sanctioned with noteworthy projects related to the prevailing pandemic Corona virus. The institute signed around 18 MoUs with prestigious institutions at National and International levels in this academic year, he added. He further informed thatCenter for Continuing Education, E&ICT academy of NIT Warangal, offers various Faculty Development Programmes, through online and offline modes within and outside the Institute andMiyawaki forest has been created on the campus with about 2000 native plants in the area adjacent to the Ambedkar Learning Centre.
A record number of 1607 candidateswere awarded theirdegrees in this convocation. Out of this 119 are Ph.D. Degree awardees, 616 are M. Tech. and other Post Graduate Degree awardees and 872 are B. Tech. Degree awardees. In each branch of Engineering, topper of the B. Tech. class is awarded Roll of Honour Gold Medal and the topper of all branches put together is awarded Institute Gold Medal.ApurvaBhardwaj of Chemical &Engineering receivedthe Institute Gold Medal by the Ministervirtually in the convocation for being the student with the highest CGPA among all the branches of Engineering. Also seven other Students received Gold medals from distinguished guests. In this Convocation ceremony S.GovardanRao,Registrar NITW, Dean Academic NITW Prof. VenuGopal , Deans , Associate deans, Professors, Lecturers , Research scholars have participated in the ceremony and made it grand success.