24th Annual Convocation of TAPMI, Manipal
Annual Convocation 2010 – Address by Chief Guest – Smt. D. Purandeswari
169 students of TAPMI’s class of 2010 were awarded the Post Graduate Diploma in Management, during the twenty fourth Annual Convocation of T.A. PAI Management Institute, which was held at the Syndicate Bank’s Golden Jubilee Auditorium in Manipal. Smt. D. Purandeswari, Hon’ble Minister of State for Human Resource Development (Higher Education) was the chief guest. The event was also attended by other distinguished guests, special invitees, dignitaries and parents of the graduating students. Mr. Manish Sabharwal, Chairman of TeamLease Services was the Guest of Honor for the occasion. It is TAPMI’s tradition to invite eminent personalities to preside over its annual convocations.
Mr. Manish emphasized the change that India has seen over the last decade and encouraged students to make the most of the current situation. He also urged the students to adopt six virtues that he felt were the most important for the current generation to adopt – Think Big, Be Authentic, Recognize the power of luck and timing, Realize the power of teams, Play to win and Take more risk. Mr. Sabharwal released the 2010 issue of TAPMI’s annual magazine ‘Update’.
In her convocation address, Smt. Purandeswari highlighted the growth that India has undergone, and said that the country was poised for a leap that has never been imagined before. Terming the 21st century, “Knowledge Century”, she pointed out that knowledge is incomplete without innovation and encouraged the students to adopt innovation as a way of life. She provided the students with three real life examples of Dr. Verghese Kurien, Dr. E. Sreedharan and Dr. Ratan Tata, highlighting their achievements as eminent innovators.
She also advised the students to focus on the three TI’s: Think India, Team India and Total Innovation, to channelize the huge force of the Demographic Dividend that the country has towards helping it achieve its goal of removing the mismatch between the islands of excellence and the sea of underdevelopment. She said that universities should produce innovators and not imitators, to realize the dreams of India. She ended the address with a quote by Mahatma Gandhi that reminded the audience to hold on to their roots at every stage of life.
Minister Purandeswari is well known for the force and vitality which she brings to debates on many issues spanning agriculture, education, public health, science & technology, mother-child welfare, natural calamities, and the problems faced by weavers and artisans in the country, in the Parliament. She has actively participated in debates on various bills such as ‘Domestic Violence Bill, Hindu Succession [Amendment] Bill, and the Bill on the establishment of special courts exclusively for trying cases of women to name a few’ and made meaningful contributions. In appreciation of her performance in Parliament, the Asian Age adjudged her as the best Parliamentarian for 2004-’05. Her speeches and addresses on different issues at the international fora give ample evidence of the force and facility with which she could project various problems concerning the overall welfare of mankind with full sense of justice to all. She was honoured with an invitation from Mrs. Laura Bush and addressed the White House symposium on ‘Advancing Global Literacy’.
In the felicitation ceremony that followed the convocation, the Minister gave away awards to top three ranking students in academics :
- 1st Rank – Vivek Didwania
- 2nd Rank – Sholina Mukerji
- 3rd Rank – (Jointly) Dheeraj Agarwal and Nirav Jitendrakumar Vora
The coveted AgrEvo Student Award for overall achievement was won by Manish Manhot. On the occasion, Dr. Ramdas Pai, Chairman of the TAPMI Governing Council, also released a compendium of all the Memorial Lectures held annually over the past 25 years of TAPMI’s existence.