SILCHAR, Nov 2 - Technological progress is critical to the economic development of any nation, observed Dr Shashi Shanker, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Delivering the convocation address to the graduating students at the 17th Convocation of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) here on Saturday, Dr Shanker said, �technological progress is critical and crucial to economic development of any nation and India needs the expertise of its youth, which is brimming with energy and ideas. There are a lot of opportunities in emerging areas like big data analytics, nano technology, internet of things, artificial intelligence, etc., in our country which could be steered to their respective goals by the potential youth of the country. The focus on Youth as the pivot of our future development is also reflected in our Prime Minister�s initiatives.�
Highlighting the journey of ONGC, the Chairman said that the premier public sector undertaking is synonymous with the words energy and ideas.
�Our country will require significant amounts of oil and gas to power its economy and improve the living condition of millions of people. Natural gas consumption is set to more than treble from around 45-50 billion cubic metres annually to 175 billion cubic metres in 2040.�
He added that ONGC is not just a 65-billion dollar conglomerate today, it is one of the top exploration and production companies of the world contributing to more than 70 percent of India�s domestic oil and gas production.
Narrating the achievement of NIT Silchar, Prof Sibaji Bandopadhyay, Director of the institute said that as many as 886 students have been conferred degrees in the convocation. The institute has introduced Best All Round Graduate Award and Best Doctoral Student Award along with three other existing awards given to the students for their remarkable academic achievements. He informed that through the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2019, NIT Silchar has secured 51st position among the top 100 institutes and universities of the country.
Chanchal Gupta, a student from B.Tech Mechanical Engineering branch was awarded with the institute gold medal while Trisha Bhattacharjee from Computer Science and Engineering and Dr Jay Prakash Singh from Electrical Egineering were the Best All-Round Graduate and Best Doctoral awardees respectively.
Padma Shri Prof. Jitendra Nath Goswami, INSA honorary scientist, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad asked the students to think and engage themselves in original innovation instead of traditional bindings. Distinguished alumnus of the institute Sudhir Kumar Singh, former DG of the National Institute of Solar Energy and Rohit Mathur, president, electrical products USHA International Limited also encouraged the students with their inspiring words.
