R&D backbone of globally competitive, knowledge-driven economy, says T.G. Sitharam

AICTE Chairman T. G. Sitharam stated India's $5-trillion economy goal relies on R&D. PM Modi's vision to make India a "key partner in the global economy" requires innovation and entrepreneurship. At NIT-C's 19th convocation, 1,906 graduands were awarded degrees.

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Chairman T. G. Sitharam has stated that India’s aspiration to become a $5-trillion economy in the near future relies on research and development (R&D) as the backbone of a globally competitive and knowledge-driven economy.

He was addressing graduates of the National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NIT-C) during the 19th convocation ceremony in Kozhikode on Saturday. “At the heart of India’s push for self-reliance lies a vision to reduce dependence on imports and establish domestic manufacturing capabilities,” said Mr. Sitharam, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to establish the country as a “key partner in the global economy”.

To reach this mark, he mentioned that India needed to evolve systems and mechanisms to transform the present demographic dividend into high-quality technical human resources, capable of cutting-edge research and innovation, and deep-tech entrepreneurship. Promoting innovation through R&D should help in developing new products and services that drive growth, create jobs, and improve national welfare, he added.

An all-time high of 1,906 graduands were awarded their degrees during the convocation, including 1,159 B. Tech, 47 B. Arch, 440 M. Tech, 15 M. Plan, 53 MCA, 41 MBA, 61 M. Sc., and 90 PhD degrees. Kallupalli Sai Mineesh Reddy from the Computer Science and Engineering branch secured the highest CGPA (9.83/10) among all the outgoing B. Tech students. He was awarded the ‘Er. M L Bapna Gold Medal,’ ‘Prof. Allesu Kanjirathinkal Memorial Award,’ and ‘Vikram Sarabhai Ever Rolling Trophy’.

Among the postgraduate students, Desai Pravin Kishor from M. Tech Electronics and Communication Engineering in Signal Processing bagged the ‘Bapna Gold Medal’ with an outstanding CGPA of 10 out of 10.

Referring to Mr. Modi’s vision to transform India into “Viswaguru by 2047,” Gajjala Yoganand, chairperson of the Board of Governors of NIT-C, called upon the graduating students to give top priority to the nation’s progress.

NIT-C Director Prasad Krishna, while presenting the annual report, highlighted the achievements of the institute in the academic year 2022-23.