For the second time in a week, Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy did not participate in a convocation, which was attended by Governor-Chancellor R.N. Ravi.
He had previously announced that he would boycott the convocation of Madurai Kamaraj University held on November 3. On Wednesday, he did not participate in the 14th convocation of the Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU), but without notice. Mr. Ponmudy is the Pro-Chancellor of State-run institutions. Mr. Ravi presided over the convocation, in which over 9,776 graduands were presented degrees.
Speaking at the event, Ashuthosh Sharma, president of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), said the real challenge for those who graduate was to understand, sort, and analyse data into useful information to arrive at knowledge and wisdom.
“Last year alone, 97 zettabytes of new data was created, which is more than what was created in the last 5,000 years. The exponential technologies that make use of this data are predicted to grow at a rate of 23% annually, but it may be of limited value if we do not understand and leverage the whole knowledge pyramid,” he said. The data could help in meaningful synthesis, discoveries, inveitions, innovations, planning, decision making, governance, and problem solving given that India had “multiple deep strengths to build on”, he added.
As a young nation, India’s strengths are a median age below 30; huge, diversified markets; excellent research and development and educational institutions; and rapidly expanding infrastructure, Mr. Sharma said.
TNOU Vice-Chancellor S. Arumugam said the diverse group of graduates comprised 5,302 undergraduates, 3,318 postgraduates (PG), 1,042 vocational diploma holders, 82 diploma holders, and 24 Ph.D recipients. Among them, 485 graduates received medals and certificates in person, while 9,291 candidates were honoured in absentia, he added.
Nine postgraduates received the KPR Endowment Awards and one candidate, N. Menaka, pursuing a PG in computer science, was selected for a prize of ₹25,000 for her outstanding performance in information and communication technology. The recognition came from the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, a subsidiary of the Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada.
