the goan I network
PANAJI
President Ram Nath Kovind did not fail to disappoint at the Convocation Ceremony of the Goa University.
He had done his homework when in his 10-minute address, he picked the two unique departments of the varsity - Marine Sciences and the one on Portuguese and Lusophone Studies - for praise.
“The potential of marine sciences is limitless,” the president said, pointing out that although the country was surrounded by ocean, it was slow to develop the blue economy.
As for the Portuguese and Lusophone Studies, he noted that it was the only such in the sub-continent and suggested it could help build networks with Lusophone nations in Africa and South America.
The Convocation ceremony was held on Saturday at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium and attended by Governor Mridula Sinha, CM Manohar Parrikar and vice-chancellor Dr Varun Sahni.
Kovind said, the potential of Marine Sciences was near limitless and that even though India had been slow to realise the wealth of the ocean, and in developing the country’s blue economy, there was a lot to work on.
“India is surrounded by ocean. It has a long coastline and a substantial marine zone. From marine biodiversity and its uses to energy sources and minerals in the sea, there is so much we can work on. India can be a leader in this field and I see Goa University as the fulcrum of our blue economy knowledge enterprise,” Kovind said in his address.
Higher education was one of the priorities of his presidency, Kovind said, reminding the scholars present that higher education was still a ‘privilege’ in India. “Do remember this, and give back to society in whatever way you can,” he urged the many students in the audience.
He also said the University had to compete with itself and advised it to focus on partnering with industry and other institutions.
Sinha, who is also Chancellor of the University, conferred Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees on close to 9000 students in various fields for the year 2016-2017.
