President to attend Nalanda University convocation on March 31

Patna: President Droupadi Murmu will arrive in Bihar on March 31 to attend the second convocation ceremony of Nalanda University at its permanent campus in Rajgir. Murmu, who is also the Visitor of the university, will be the chief guest at the ceremony, an official said on Friday.

The event will mark a historic milestone for the revived university, as it will be the first convocation to be held at its permanent campus after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jun 2024.

The upcoming convocation is also significant as it will be only the second such ceremony since the university’s revival, the first having been held in 2016.

“Besides Murmu, Bihar governor Syed Ata Hasnain, CM Nitish Kumar, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and secretary (east), ministry of external affairs, Periasamy Kumaran will attend the ceremony,” an official of Nalanda University said.

Murmu’s visit to Rajgir will mark her first visit to Nalanda University as the President of India. During the ceremony, she will deliver the convocation address, confer degrees and personally award gold medals to meritorious students.

She will also inaugurate the university’s newly built 2,000-seater auditorium, “Vishwamitralaya”, the official said.

“Graduands from postgraduate and doctoral programmes have been invited to receive their degrees in person, representing countries like Vietnam, Bhutan, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Myanmar, Serbia, Ghana, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The convocation will witness the award of 10 PhD degrees and 36 gold medals,” the varsity official told TOI.

Besides this, the event will also see the launch of “Manjiri”, a special alumni magazine curated, designed and developed by the current students of Nalanda University. The publication captures the journeys, experiences and achievements of alumni since the university’s pioneer batch.

In addition, the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies will be formally launched. Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 22nd ASEAN-India Summit, the centre aims to strengthen research, academic collaboration and cultural exchange between India and ASEAN member states.

“The convocation, being held after a gap of nine years, is expected to witness participation from students, families and dignitaries from across the world,” the official said.