Students urged to strive to make the world a better place

Delivering the key note at the 13th convocation of K.L. Deemed to be University, Prof. Quarraisha said though the COVID pandemic created physical distance between people, it had spurred collaborative research work across the world.

We are still living with COVID-19, even if cases seem low, said Quarraisha Abdool Karim, an infectious diseases epidemiologist and president, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), UNESCO, Italy.

Delivering the key note at the 13th convocation of K.L. Deemed to be University at Vaddeswaram on Saturday, Prof. Quarraisha said though the COVID pandemic created physical distance between people, it had spurred collaborative research work across the world.

Prof. Quarraisha, who is also the Associate Scientific Director of Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), pointed to the fact that scientists across the world had developed six effective vaccines in less than a year and that the vaccines relieved people of fear and anxiety and gave them hope.

In all 4,465 graduating students were awarded degrees. These included 219 Ph.D degrees, 449 Post-Graduate degrees and 3,797 Under-Graduate degrees across various disciplines.

Bharat Ratna recipient and honorary Professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, C.N.R. Rao, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru G. U. Kulkarni and Telugu film actor and industrialist Murali Mohan were conferred with honorary doctorates.

Addressing the students, president of K.L. Deemed to be University Koneru Satyanarayana said now that they would embark on a new journey, they should strive to make the world a better place to live in. He said education is a powerful tool that could be utilised to usher in a positive change.

University Vice-Chancellor G. Pardha Saradhi Varma urged the students to work and create a positive impact in the world. He wanted them to leverage their knowledge and skills for positive change and stressed the need to be bold, innovative and consistently strive for excellence with dedication.