BHUBANESWAR: “Don’t fall in trap of material goddesses of ignorance, illusion, corruption, conspiracy, diplomacy and ignore these completely. Be an icon of yourselves and never imitate others”, said Ganeshi Lal, Governor of Odisha, while addressing the graduating students of Kalinga Institue of Industrial Technology (KIIT) during its 14th Convocation here Saturday.
He also said, “India is not only a country with her land, rivers, mountains and habitations, 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 Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS is an example of this. Samanta is bringing smiles back to the faces of 27,500 underprivileged children. He loves those who have never been loved before. I regard him as an alien.”
5695 students of the 2017 batch received their degrees at its 14th Annual Convocation in the presence of Ganeshi Lal, His Excellency the Governor of Odisha, Ernesto Kahan, Sr. Vice-President, World Academy of Arts & Culture (WAAC), USA and Vice President, IPPNW (Nobel Peace Prize winner – 1985). Among them, 77 students got Ph.D. degrees in various disciplines.
In his address, the Chief Speaker Kahan said, “I have visited many places in the world, but never saw institutions like KIIT and KISS. The two institutions are indeed examples for the whole world.” Saluting Samanta for establishing institutions like KIIT & KISS, he promised to help KIIT in all ways possible, particularly in the field of medical science research. 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.
Advising the graduating students to explore entrepreneurship, Kahan said that they are lucky to have an example like Samanta, who has become an icon of India. Ved Prakash, Chancellor, KIIT Deemed to be University, Padma Shri Subrata Kumar Acharya, Pro-Chancellor, Hrushikesha Mohanty, Vice-Chancellor and Sasmita Samanta, Registrar also spoke at the convocation ceremony and expressed their best wishes to the graduate students.
Later, a delegation of World Academy of Art and Culture led by Ernesto Kahan met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the sidelines of the event. The discussion was about organising a world congress of poets in Bhubaneswar in 2019. Patnaik assured the delegation of all possible support fr the prestigious event. Noted Filmamker Kabir Bedi was also present at the discussion.