20th convocation of Tezpur University held

HT Correspondent
TEZPUR, Dec 30: Tezpur University organised 20th convocation on Friday where a total of 1362 students were conferred degrees and diplomas. Prof Sankar Kumar Pal, member, European Academy of Sciences & Arts, National Science Chair, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and president, Indian Statistical Institute was the chief guest, while Governor of Assam Prof Jagdish Mukhi presided over the convocation as the chancellor of the university.
Speaking on the occasion as chief guest, Prof Pal explained the emerging areas of Data Science Research. “We are amid what is popularly called the Information Revolution and are living in a so-called world of knowledge where a great volume of data is constantly being generated all around us,” Prof Pal said.
He added that Data Science and Machine Intelligence is a cutting-edge research area and has enormous relevance in the context of national development. He, however, cautioned that doing Data Science Research is not straightforward as the large data are highly complex in nature.
Prof Shekhar C Mande, distinguished professor, Bioinformatics Centre Savitribai Phule Pune University, speaking as the guest of honour said that society has many demands and universities need to continuously evolve relevant programmes and courses to meet those demands. “I am glad to know that Tezpur University has been very proactive and responsive to these demands as it has been able to come up with such programmes and courses,” Prof Mande added.
Advising the students, Prof Mande said that a student should decide for himself/herself what is important for her. “As you embark on this journey, it is time to pause and introspect about what is important to you, and not what is important to your parents or your friends or your teachers and that way you would contribute to society and humanity in general,” Prof Mande said.
As Prof Jagdish Mukhi, Governor and chancellor of the university had to leave early, his address was read by Prof Dhruba Kumar Bhattacharyya, vice chancellor (Acting). In his address, Governor Mukhi urged the students to utilise the knowledge, skills and experiences gained at Tezpur University to find solutions to the individual and collective problems of the society. His address highlighted the role of a university in nation-building and responsibility of disseminating knowledge, honing skills and encouraging research to enable all-round progress of the nation.
Out of 1362 students who were conferred upon degrees and diplomas in the 20th convocation, 70 received their PhDs; 873 received their postgraduate degree; 386 received their undergraduate degree and 11 received PG diploma and 22 were awarded degrees/diplomas through distance/open learning mode.