Odisha Governor Enlightens Audience Through His Oratorical Brilliance
In all 5695 students of 2017 – 18 graduating batch of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar received their degrees at its 14thAnnual Convocation in the presence of Professor Ganeshi Lal, His Excellency the Governor of Odisha, Prof. (Dr.) Ernesto Kahan, Sr. Vice-President, World Academy of Arts & Culture (WAAC), U.S.A. & Former Vice President, IPPNW (Nobel Peace Prize winner – 1985) and other dignitaries on November 10, 2018. Among them, 77 students got Ph.D. degrees in various disciplines.
The University conferred Honoris Causa Degrees of D.Sc. upon Prof. (Dr.) Kahan and Prof. Dinabandhu Sahoo, Director, Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Imphal, and D.Litt. upon The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Usha Kumari Prashar, CBE, PC, U.K.; Mr. Niklaus-Samuel Gugger, Hon’ble Member of Swiss Parliament, Switzerland; Prabhu Gaur Gopal Das, Life Coach, Monk & Spiritual Motivational Speaker; Shri Kabir Bedi, Renowned Indian Film Writer, Producer, Director and Actor; and Dr. Md. Sabur Khan, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Daffodil International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
“India is not only a country with her land, rivers, mountains and habitation
KIIT 14th Annual Convocation
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s, but for Indians, she is much beyond these things – she is the divine Goddess. Odisha is the state for humanity at large. Son of the soil Prof. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) is an example of this. KIIT & KISS are divine creations through him. Prof. Samanta is bringing smiles to 27,500 underprivileged children. He is loving those who have never been loved before. Therefore, I regard him as an alien”, said the Chief Guest Professor Ganeshi Lal in his address.
“You are going to face a world divided by the lines of religion, regions, colour, languages, etc. and the biggest challenge before you is to vanquish these divisions”, the Governor of Odisha told the graduating students. As they advance in their chosen careers, they should not forget to smile, be kind and find peace in the laps of nature, he advised.
In his address, the Chief Speaker Prof. (Dr.) Kahan stated, “I have visited many places in the world, but never saw institutions like KIIT and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS). Two institutions are indeed examples for the whole world”. Saluting Prof. Samanta for establishing institutions like KIIT & KISS, he promised to help KIIT in all ways possible, particularly in the field of medical science research. Prof. Kahan, who is a well-known litterateur besides a physician, also read a poem he had written on conflict in Middle East and relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings.
In her acceptance speech, The Baroness Prashar said, “This institution has inspired me the most in whole of my working career. Prof. Samanta’s vision has made it a reality and by emphasizing on women empowerment, he is following Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals”. Thanking KIIT for the honour, Mr. Niklaus-Samuel Gugger, who was born abandoned in a Kerala village and adopted and raised by a Swiss couple, said that his journey of life had taught him many lessons and his experience in KIIT & KISS is among the most important ones. Prof. Samanta’s work for the underprivileged children is the top level service to humanity, he stated.
Calamities can be turned into opportunities and students can learn this lesson from the life story of Prof. Samanta, said Prabhu Gaur Gopal Das. “He has the combination of leadership with compassion and empathy. He is emphasizing on the standard of giving at a time when the world is busy with the standard of living”, the celebrated motivational speaker said. Accepting the Honoris Causa D.Litt. Degree, Shri Kabir Bedi expressed gratitude to KIIT, it founder, all the teachers of the world because “knowledge is the best gift a human being can receive”.
Advising the graduating students to explore entrepreneurship, Dr. Md. Sabur Khan said that they are lucky to have an example like Prof. Samanta, who has become an icon of India. Accepting the Honoris Causa D.Sc. Degree, Prof. Dinabandhu Sahoo said, “This honour is very special to me as it comes from a top university of my home state”.
Prof. Ved Prakash, Chancellor, KIIT Deemed to be University, Padma Shri Prof. (Dr.) Subrata Kumar Acharya, Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Hrushikesha Mohanty, Vice-Chancellor and Prof. Sasmita Samanta, Registrar also spoke at the convocation ceremony and expressed their best wishes to the graduate students.
Karan Khandelwal, MBBS, Pritam Samantaray, M.Tech. (CE&M) and Nirmal Pandey, B. Tech. (Civil) won Founder’s Gold Medals for their outstanding all round and academic performance. Similarly, 20 students were awarded Chancellor’s Gold Medal, while 21 students got Vice Chancellor’s Silver Medal. P.K. Bal Memorial Gold Medal, PPL Gold Medal and Nanibala Memorial Gold Medal were also given away on the occasion.