BHUBANESWAR: Ahead of Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu’s visit to the Utkal University to grace its 50th convocation ceremony, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday started carrying out Covid-19 test of students, staff and others who would attend the event.Only 500 people, who test negative for Covid-19, will be allowed to attend the convocation to be held on Saturday.
University authorities said while all faculty members, staff and students who will be in close proximity to the dias (New Convocation Hall) will undergo RT-PCR tests, rest of the students and staff will undergo rapid antigen tests.
While the convocation ceremony for 2018-19 could not be held last year due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the authorities have decided to give away degrees and medals for both 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic sessions this time.
The Vice-President will confer Doctor Honoris Causa on five eminent Odias who have excelled in different fields in the country. They are Governor of Reserve Bank of India Shaktikanta Das, 14th Comptroller and Auditor General of India Girish Chandra Murmu, the first acting woman Chief Justice - Orissa High Court - Justice Sanju Panda, Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Dr Ajit Kumar Mohanty and founder of SAI International Education Group Dr Bijaya Kumar Sahoo.
Prior to the convocation, the university will hold a pre-convocation award giving ceremony on Thursday to award DLitt and PhDs to 130 scholars besides, gold medals to 90 students for the 2018-19 academic session. The event will be attended by NISER Director Dr Sudhakar Panda as the chief guest.
On April 3, a total of 41 PhD degrees and 90 gold medals/endowment prizes will be awarded. The convocation will also be attended by Governor of Odisha Prof Ganeshi Lal and Higher Education Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo.