“The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is competing at the global level and not at the national level. This is why there is a crying need for government and industrial funding to the institute to grow in the coming days,” said Senapathy Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Axilor Ventures Pvt. Ltd. and co-founder, Infosys, and also the Chair of IISc Council, speaking at the convocation ceremony of IISc on Wednesday.
Mr. Gopalakrishnan said the last few years of the pandemic have given people the time to understand their capabilities. “The adaptation and usage of digital technology accelerated in the last two to three years. I hope that we do not give this up and this becomes our way of life going forward,” he said.
A total of 344 students across various branches received their degrees at the convocation ceremony. While 246 of them were PhD and Master’s degree students, 98 were undergraduate students. Of them, 64 students were conferred medals for their academic excellence.
Speaking at the event, Subroto Bagchi, Chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority, and co-founder, Mindtree, elaborated on the importance of giving (contributing) to many aspects in life, including relationships, society and building of institutions. He also recalled experiences from various stages of his life, which taught him the importance of giving.
Along with the existing courses, IISc has also introduced new programmes like MSc (Biology and Chemistry), BTech (Mathematics and Computing) and MTech (Bioengineering) this academic year. It was also mentioned that excavation has begun for the construction of the postgraduate medical college and a 800-bed hospital for which ₹425 crore were donated by Mr. Bagchi and his wife along with Radha and N.S. Parthasarathy.
