PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh averred that indigenous Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be a key driver of inclusive growth and nation-building while addressing the sixth convocation ceremony of Doon University as the chancellor on Monday. The Education minister Dhan Singh Rawat was present at the event.
He highlighted that AI has emerged as a powerful force for building a developed India while noting that the country is steadily establishing its leadership in the AI domain. “Such innovations would play a transformative role in education, health and governance by reaching every individual in their own language,” he said. He urged the graduating students to draw inspiration from these efforts and contribute to developing AI solutions for local and national challenges.
The keynote speaker from IIT Bombay and lead professor in-charge of BharatGen, Ganesh Ramakrishnan emphasised that India is entering an era shaped by AI and underscored the need for building sovereign AI through the BharatGen mission. He said that the mission, supported by Rs 988 crore under the IndiaAI Mission, aims to ensure technological, economic and infrastructural independence for the nation. He spoke in detail of the transformative role of AI in agriculture, governance and education, particularly through Indian language technologies.
The vice -chancellor of Doon University, Surekha Dandwal introduced the theme of this year’s convocation: “AI by Bharat.”
A book titled “Sanvardhan: A Roadmap for Development of Uttarakhand – Vision 2025”, edited by the Centre for Public Policy at Doon University, was released on the occasion.
Notably, 484 undergraduate, 241 postgraduate and 13 doctoral degrees were conferred to students and scholars for the year 2025 during the convocation ceremony. Besides, 42 students who were top performers in their respective courses received gold medals while five alumni were honoured as “Distinguished Alumni of the University” for their remarkable contributions in their fields. A student, Agranshu Grover from the School of Languages was awarded “Nagrik Kartavya Samman,” while Jaya Sharma and Swastik Gondhi received “Prof. Gajendra Singh All Round Best Student Award” for their overall outstanding performance. Along with this, Shivankur Thapliyal and Anshi Kothari were awarded the “Chancellor’s Future AI Award.”
