19 AKU toppers to be feted

Patna: Altogether 19 toppers of engineering, medical, management and other courses of Aryabhatta Knowledge University (

AKU

) will receive gold medals at the university's annual convocation to be held at S K Memorial Hall here on Saturday. As many as 12 toppers are girls.

AKU VC A K Agrawal said on Thursday that 7,330 scholars who have passed their final examinations of different courses during the last two sessions would receive their degrees. "More than 450 scholars, who have already registered themselves for the convocation, would receive their degrees in person,"he said.

Governor-cum-chancellor Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest on the occasion and education minister Ashok Kumar Chaudhary will be the guest of honour.

AKU, the state's lone professional university, has got more than 80 government and private technical institutions under its jurisdiction, with an enrolment of over 25,000 students. "The university has been imparting education to the students in medical, engineering, management, nursing, pharmacy and education streams," said registrar Ajay Pratap Singh.

Ph D coursework: As many as 38 research scholars of Patna University (PU) English department were awarded pre-Ph D coursework certificates at a function held at Darbhanga House here on Thursday. Department head Shiv Jatan Thakur presided.

The top five scholars who secured grade A in the examination were also given the rank certificate. They included Annu Prakash, Ajay Kumar, Farhain Khan, Priyam Francis and Soumya Priya. The top 10 scholars of the pre-Ph D registration test conducted by PU were also given certificates.

Besides, altogether 62 postgraduate students of semester II and IV of the department were awarded certificates for their excellence in extra-curricular activities, essay, poetry, painting, anchoring and managerial skills on the occasion.

Patna University English department teachers Shankar Ashish Dutt, Indiber Mukherjee and S M Ashok graced the occasion.