SAMBALPUR: Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Pramod Kumar Mishra took part in the convocation of the Indian Institute of Management Sambalpur in Basantpur on Saturday.
Addressing the students, Mishra said, “We are grappling with major changes in geopolitical relationships while simultaneously witnessing technological breakthroughs at an unprecedented pace. Climate issues and sustainability are key parts of this discussion. At the same time, global supply chains are facing disruptions, countries are adopting more protective trade policies, tensions between nations are increasing, and the way global trade works is shifting.”
“All these factors are adding to the complexity of the situation. But one thing is clear: the future won’t just happen on its own - it will be built. Throughout this journey, one thing is clear that the future will not simply be inherited; it will be created,” he added.
Mishra also praised the increase in the female graduates to 60 per cent in MBA class of IIM Sambalpur and suggested that it should soon increase to 80 per cent.
Chairman, Board of Governors, IIM Sambalpur and Chairman & CEO, Salesforce India & South Asia, Padmashree Arundhati Bhattacharya; Managing Director, Boston Consulting Group, Ashish Garg; Director, IIM Sambalpur, Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal, were among the dignitaries who attended the event.
This was the first instance at IIM-S where students from five different programme graduated at once. As many as 370 students including, 316 students of the 9th MBA batch of 2023-25, 38 students of the second batch of Executive MBA of 2022-24, 10 students of the first batch of MBA for Working professionals (2023-25) besides six PhD scholars, and PhD for working professionals culminated their academic journey.
An 80-year-old entrepreneur, GM Gupta, also received his degree in MBA for Working Professional Programme. Moreover, meritorious students of the graduating class were awarded with a total of seven gold medals.