GIS Training programme begins at SMIT

Rangpo,Nov19 : Two week long training on Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System began at Sikkim Manipal Institute of Science and Technology (SMIT) on November 17. Computer Science and Technology Department of SMIT has organized the programme sponsored by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Chief Guest Dr. A Jayaram, Chief Scientist of ISRO, Kharagpur, lighted the inaugural lamp. Science and Technology Department Secretary Mr. A. Aravatia, guest of honour, and Director SMU, Dr. MV Subba Rao were present in the inaugural session.
Dr. Jayaram spoke on the importance of science and technology in modern days. Science and Technology plays a vital role in development of a country, he said. Participants from Assam, Orissa, West Bengal along with students from North Eastern states and more than 50 participants from Sikkim are attending this two week long programme.
Resource persons of national and international level will give lecture to participants. Dr. Jayaram, Senior Scientist from IIT Kharagpur, Dr. S Sengupta, Dr. S Choudhary from Kolkata, Dr. S Rohatgi from North Bengal University (NBU), Dr. K Pathak from Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, Dr. Ashok Sen, Mr. Pradeep Kumar (Forest Department, Sikkim), Mr. LP Sharma from Sikkim, Prof. MK Ghosh from SMIT, Majhitaar, and Mrs. R Pradhan, Mr. Rohit Bhatnagar, Mr. B Sen, Mr. S Mishra, Mr. Bhusan Chettri and Mr. M Pradhan will take part in the programme which will be concluded on November 23.

9th Convocation of Sikkim Manipal University held in Gangtok

Gangtok,Nov10: 9th Convocation of Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical and Technological Sciences was held at Conference Hall of SMU on November 8. Governor Mr. Balmiki Prasad Singh, Chancellor of the University and chief guest declared the convocation open.
Total 717 students of different discipline were given degrees and medals in MBBS, Medical Science MSc, BPT & B.Sc Nursing, B.Tech, M.Sc, MCA, BCA & MBA and Distance Education. Dr. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was a special guest at the convocation which was attended by Mr. NK Pradhan, Minister HRDD, Mr. KT Gyaltsen, Speaker Sikkim Legislative Assembly, Mr. MB Dahal, Deputy Speaker SLA, Professor Dr. Mahendra P Lama, Vice Chancellor Sikkim University, Brigadier Dr. SS Pabla, VC SMU, among others.
Dr. Nair, in his address said, SMU has integrated youths and learners of the country. He appreciated the University for offering graduate programme in Medical Sciences, allied healthcare, engineering and management disciplines and post graduate programmes in selected disciplines in its “phenomenal growth” within a short span of time.
Having a right mindset is a basic rule for achieving success. All great leaders reiterate that mind is the source of all success and failure in life. But, how a person can operate his mind in the way that he can eventually enjoy the results he wants, he asked. He quoted Swami Vivekananda, saying, “Take up one idea, make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it and lice on that idea. Be full of that idea and just leave every other idea”. This is the way to success - the path shown by great spiritual giants, Dr. Nair said. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai had 40 years back propelled the Indian space programme to reach the present height, ISRO chairman noted.
Governor and SMU Chancellor Mr. Singh in his address said, “Fortunately, education is in the news in India. The enactment of the Right to Education is truly historic in our country. For centuries people of certain castes and women in general were denied access to education. Our leaders during the freedom struggle rejected this deplorable tradition and we have made a decisive break with this past. We are keen to secure education for each Indian”.
He said, a good education empowers people to take responsibility for their own lives and for improving the lives of those around them. Modern technology and the forces of globalization have reduced distances and increased connectivity. “The content and quality of education have enormous potential to make an important contribution to our individual well-being and to strengthening of our nation”.“Education”, he added, “is seen as an experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. It is the process by which society transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values to its new generation. Education should also be seen as a way of producing good citizens for the society with knowledge, skills and moral values”. He further said, “It is being increasingly recognized that knowledge would be the key driving force in the 21st century and that India has the potential to emerge as a globally competitive player. Towards this, India needs a knowledge revolution to build capacity and generate quality to empower its human capital including our 550 million nationals who are below the age of 25”.
“There is lot of hope in respect of education reforms in the country. We have to move with caution and deliberation but also with speed and determination. Our democratic processes should help us in achieving our goal. Today, we are also facing a bigger human challenge: How to live?”
“In an age where even the educated youth are joining suicide squads and indulging in senseless violence, the moot question is whether the education system can be made sensitive to this challenge. The very civilization of which science, the Internet, and related sources of knowledge are the integral parts is now under threat from fundamentalism and the ignorance that underlines it. It has fuelled helplessness, hopelessness, and a distortion of religious beliefs. Many believe that we have to look beyond science and technology to the learning of religions, history, literature, and the arts”.
“Two aspects of education would, however, remain paramount. First, education must strive to create in young minds a willingness to tolerate differences of opinion and the desire to understand different points of view. Second, the massive progress in science and technology has tended to stress the intellectual rather than moral and spiritual values. What we need is a synthesis of these values spiritual and moral as well as intellectual with the aim of producing a fully integrated human being. Such a person would be both inward looking as well as outward looking, who searches his own mind in order that his nobler self may prevail at all times, and at the same time recognize his obligations to his fellow men and the world around him”.

Sikkim High Court today stayed Sikkim Manipal Medical Student's discharge

Gangtok , Oct 22 The Sikkim High Court today stayed the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS); aposs decision to discharge three second-year students enrolled in an MBBS course for failing to secure 50 per cent marks in the entrance test.

The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justice A P Subba and Justice S P Wandi on a writ petition filed by the aggrieved students - Tekhelnayum Sayon Singh, Rohit Tiwari and Monalisa.

They have challenged the SMIMS notice discharging them from the institute with effect from today after they failed to secure 50 per cent marks in an entrance test held last year.

The students say that they had been given admission by the institute through a proper procedure during which they were intimated in writing by the authorities about their selection in the MBBS and asked to appear for counseling before being given admission after payment of fees of about Rs four lakhs.

Indian Psychiatric Society to hold conference in Sikkim on 'substance abuse and suicide'

Gangtok, Oct 7 (PTI) About 400 participants from across the country will deliberate on 'substance abuse and suicide' at the three-day national conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) from October nine.

Hosted by Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS) at Tadong, the delegates will dwell on various aspects of (drug) substance abuse and suicide from socio-economic and medical point of views, Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) Vice-Chancellor Brigadier (Rtd) SS Pabla said today.

The experts opinion on the twin vices will be relevant for Sikkim in particular, since the state has been dogged by the growth in the number of suicide cases over the years and its youths taking to abuse of banned substances.

Pabla said representative of government hospitals, Primary Health Centres (PHCs), NGOs, have been invited to attend the conference to update themselves about various initiatives at the social-medical level against suicide and drug addiction.

26 SMIT students suspended for rioting & Clash

GANGTOK, October 6: Classes in Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) at Majitar resumed from today after almost one month since a clash broke out two groups of students.

The SMIT had suspended classes on September 8 after a volley ball match issue snowballed into a major clash and full scale rioting by the students that required strong measures from the police. The authorities also ordered the suspension of the classes, prematurely, for the Puja vocations and the institute resumed classes from today on a peaceful note.

Meanwhile, 26 students have been identified by the SMIT authorities as those who instigated the clash and rioting.

Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) Vice Chancellor Brig (retd) Surjit Singh Pabla said today that 26 students of SMIT have been identified for suspension for their involvement in the incident as per the interim report of the seven member empowered committee. The committee had been constituted to probe into the SMIT students’ clash.
Out of the 26 students, suspension orders for 17 have been issued and their concerned guardians have been intimidate for the decision of the institute, said the VC. Suspension orders for the remaining students involved in the incident are under process, he said.
The suspension order ranges from two to four weeks.
Brig Pabla said that a number of other students of SMIT have still to depose themselves before the committee and final action will be taken after that. Submission of the final report by the committee is still pending and action against some more students in future cannot be ruled out, he added.
At the same time, the VC asserted that the SMU administration is very much conscious in dealing against those responsible for the September 8 incident since they are students.
Brig Pabla said that a number of steps have been taken by the SMU in consultation with the State government to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future.
A chief security officer and a chief hostel warden for the both the campuses have been appointed. Brig (retd) SR Mazagavankar is the chief security officer for SMIT and he joined duty from the third week of September, it is informed.
Fifteen private security guards too have been deployed at the SMIT campus. The management is also keen to recruit more security personnel in future.
A special operation procedure has also been formulated by the university to prevent re-occurrence of such incidents, said the VC. He added that several teams of teachers have been constituted at SMIT to keep a watch on the activities of the students in the hostels and in the campus as well.

Sikkim Manipal (SMIT) reopens for academic activities

Gangtok,October5: Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) today reopened after nearly a one month-shutdown, following violence between two groups of students.

Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) vice-chancellor Brig (rtd) SS Pabla told PTI "academic activities resumed in the SMIT campus here from today and almost all outstation students have returned for studies".

On the measures to maintain law and order in the SMIT campus, Pable said that a three-tier set up had been put in place to address the grievances of the students.

About the investigation into the clashes between rival group of students that left seven injured, the vice-chancellor said that an inquiry was on and the final report would be submitted soon by the seven-member committee.

"Apart from the inquiry, we have suspended about 25 students, ten of them for their direct involvement in the brawl with fellow students and seven-eight others on charges of damaging properties in the campus and the rest for indiscipline"", Pabla said.

Further action will be taken against all those found guilty of various charges of offence, he said

Sikkim Manipal sends 2,000 home after student clashes

Nearly 2,000 students from across the country have been sent back home after clashes between “local students” and those from other States forced the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology at Mazitar in Sikkim to shut down indefinitely.

“A skirmish between two students after a volleyball match on September 6 escalated into a major clash between two student groups on the campus,” Deputy Inspector-General (Range) Sridhar Rao told The Hindu over telephone from Gangtok. The police had to resort to tear-gas and lathi-charge to disperse them, he added.

The situation deteriorated to such an extent that one group put up roadblocks to prevent students from leaving the campus even after the decision to shut it down had been taken, said Mr. Rao.

Nearly 350 students from West Bengal were unable to get back home on Tuesday night, said West Bengal’s Minister for Youth Service Kanti Ganguly.

“I had to get in touch with the Home Secretary (Ardhendu Sen) and Inspector-General of North Bengal (K. L. Tamta) to ensure that they were escorted back safely,” Mr. Ganguly added.

The institute, located near Rangpo on the border between West Bengal and Sikkim and affiliated to Sikkim Manipal University, attracts students from across the country. Twenty per cent seats are reserved for government quota which is available for Sikkimese students only.

“Minor scuffles between local students and those from other States do take place sometimes, but this time the situation went out of hand,” said the Director of the institute, Dr. N.V.S. Reddy.

As the disagreement between the two groups grew violent, the management of the institute asked the police to intervene on September 7, Mr. Rao said, adding that the police were able to bring the situation under control and adequate police personnel were stationed at the campus through the night.

However, the next morning students went on the rampage again, even attacking policemen, at which point the police resorted to lathi-charge and tear-gas. Later in the evening, at a meeting between student representatives and the management, mediated by the police, it was decided to shut down the campus, Mr. Rao said.
(The Hindu)

Assam Health Minister Dr. Hemant Biswa Sharma satisfied with SMIT situation

Gangtok, September 9: Assam Health Minister Dr. Hemant Biswa Sharma has expressed his satisfaction over the SMIT clash between the two groups student were found normalcy after the local administration has enterfered into the matter on September 8.
Dr. Sharma reached Sikkim this evening for personally assesses the situation and has taken stock of the situation prevailed from last Monday over the clash between the two groups of students with in the college premises.
He said that the situation is under control and satisfactory over the situation that panic the parents of North-eastern states especially from Assam where large number of students are studying in SMIT adding that the state administration effort to resort the situation normalcy was appreciated.
Dr. Sharma has first met the senior police officials and district administration at Rangpo Tourist Guest House where SP East M S Tuli along with District Collector D. Anandan, SDM Gangtok AB Karki and SDPO Rangpo H P Tewari has briefed on the situation.
The district administration further briefed the condition of injured students that they are admitted in Central Manipal Referral Hospital yesterday.
Later on, Assam minister has visited the engineering college and has discussed with the college administration on the situation.
It is informed that health minister Dr. Sharma has also discussed on the law and order situation and security measures with the CM Ravindran, Director General of Police (DGP) and other top brass for further security measures

No security on Manipal campus, say those leaving Sikkim Tech school

Rangpo & Siliguri Sept. 9: Nearly 400 students of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology came down to the plains today and said they would return only if the authorities promised security on the campus.

The institute, 44km from Gangtok, which had been rocked by clashes between hostel residents and local day scholars over the past few days, became a war zone yesterday with police storming a hostel at one point after being hit by stones.

The tech school was shut down indefinitely after the incident but students could not leave hostels on the campus as local people laid siege to the campus till late last night.

After the siege was lifted, the Sikkim government arranged for buses and taxis to ferry students wanting to leave for Siliguri.

“We have paid a huge amount for our courses and we will return to the SMIT only because of that. The management of the institute will have to ensure our security on the premises,” a first-year student of applied electronics and instrument from Bandel in Hooghly said at the bus stand in Siliguri.

About a third of the institute’s 4,000 boarders are from Bengal.

The students complained that no security had been arranged for them on the way down. “We saw two police constables, carrying sticks, seated in one of the buses that brought the students down. If this is security, we have nothing more to say,” said a first-year mechanical engineering student from Upper Assam.

One of the students stuck in hostel last night had said: “We are being targeted by outsiders.”

The vice-chancellor of Sikkim Manipal University, S.S. Pabla, today said in Gangtok the institute was approaching the police for a permanent picket on the campus. “I thank the police and the state government for defusing the situation. I also appeal to the police to take up the investigations sensitively as the future of students is at stake. We will open the institute soon,” he said.

Many of the boarders stayed back in their hostels.

The clashes had started on Sunday over a foul during a volleyball friendly. Three hostel residents were thrashed allegedly by local students accompanied by outsiders during the brawl, which then assumed a different colour altogether.

In Sikkim, East district superintendent of police M.S. Tuli said 130 taxis and 18 buses had been arranged to ferry the students to Siliguri. “They started vacating the hostels from early in the morning.”

North Bengal inspector-general K.L. Tamta said police stations on the students’ route had been put on alert.

Students flee Sikkim cradle clash

Students board a bus to Siliguri on the SMIT campus around 10am on Wednesday.
Ranchi/Jamshedpur, Sept. 9: A day after the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology was shut after a series of clashes, students from the state have started leaving the campus near Gangtok even as Governor K. Sankaranarayanan directed the chief secretary to talk to the Sikkim government to ensure the safety of boarders from Jharkhand.

At least eight students were injured in the clashes between boarders and day scholars that was triggered on Sunday after a minor dispute during a volleyball match.

On the instructions of the Governor, state chief secretary Shiv Basant spoke to his Sikkim counterpart Jasbir Singh, who said that only six students from Jharkhand sustained minor injuries. All were released from hospital after proper treatment.

At least 90 per cent of boarders at the institute were from Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, Singh confirmed. Around 300 of them belonged to Jharkhand.

According to a Raj Bhavan communiqué, Basant was also told that the situation was under control and instructions had been given to the Singtam district administration to provide security to, and ensure the safety of, all students, including those from Jharkhand.

The hapless students — several of them studying in first semester — who left the campus this morning were now on their way back home.

The Telegraph tracked one of them, Nirmal Kumar (name changed), in New Jalpaiguri.

“Following the dispute in the match, a junior local student called goons from outside and launched an attack on us with hockey sticks and iron rods on Monday afternoon. The situation on the campus was tense though policemen were deputed. This morning, we took a taxi to reach Gangtok, which is 35km from our college,” the son of a Jamshedpur doctor said, relieved after having reached Bengal .

“Other day scholars also stopped the ambulance carrying injured students to hospital. They dragged them out and beat them up again,” Nirmal alleged, adding six of his friends were also coming back to the steel city.

The college administration — which failed to broker peace even after involving the local administration — had arranged two buses for taking the students to Gangtok from the campus at Mazitar.

But the terrified students refused to board the bus as they were told that they could be attacked on their way to Gangtok, said one of them. They later organised a taxi to reach New Jalpaiguri.

Meanwhile, Ramgarh deputy development commissioner Paramjeet Kaur today rushed to Mazitar, as her son Harshpreet Singh, was reportedly injured in the clash. “I will be in a position to talk in detail only after I see my son hail and hearty,” Kaur said.

Former Indian Medical Association vice-president Ajay Kumar Singh supported Kaur saying several of his relatives and friends had admitted their wards in the institute. “Sometimes labourers of the state going to earn their breads come under the attack, sometimes students,” Singh said.

(The Telegraph)

Manipal shuts down after clash for 10 days

Gangtok, Sept. 8: The Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology has been shut down till further orders after a series of clashes between boarders and day scholars since Sunday culminated into a raging brick battle this morning, forcing police to burst tear-gas shells and conduct a lathi-charge on the campus.

Eight students were injured. All of them were released from Singtam District Hospital after first aid.

The police stormed a boys’ hostel this morning after a constable was injured by a brick missile hurled from one of them, sources said. The SMIT authorities said arrangements would be made for those wanting to leave the hostels. Those unwilling can stay back.

Throughout the day a 300-strong mob blocked the roads leading out of the campus, making it impossible to shift the boarders — 4,000 of them — from the two boys’ and one girls’ hostel, the police said. They said if needed the transfer of the boarders would be done with the help of the army. However, the army has not been called yet. Personnel of the Sikkim police, Sikkim Armed Police and the Indian Reserve Battalion have been deployed.

Some of the injured students at the Singtam district hospital.

A fourth year BTech student of mechanical engineering and a resident of Calcutta’s Lake Gardens, not wanting to be named, said: “We have been told that we will be escorted to Siliguri at 4.30am tomorrow by the army. I have been in touch with my parents and I will return to Calcutta either by flight or take a train. We had examinations till September 24, but now as the institute is shut for the next few days we will return only after Durga Puja.” The student said around 30 per cent of the boarders is from Bengal.

Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen said if the SMIT authorities want the Bengal government’s help to evacuate students from the state, it would be extended.

“However, we have not received any such proposal till now from them. If students from Bengal face any problems, we are there to help them,” Sen told The Telegraph in Calcutta.

Senior police officers and S.S. Pabla, the vice-chancellor of Sikkim Manipal University to which the SMIT is affiliated, were busy negotiating with the students to restore normality on the campus, 44km from here at Mazitar near the Bengal-Sikkim border town of Rangpo.

According to senior students of the SMIT, trouble first broke out on Sunday afternoon over a volleyball match being held as part Swasmitnam, an inter-departmental festival. The fight started with a squabble between a boarder and a day scholar over a foul committed in the match.

“It was a trivial issue, but soon snowballed. Three students, Ujjwal Kumar, Jitender and Gautam Jha, were beaten up by day scholars (on Sunday) who had brought in outsiders. The police instead of taking the three boys to the hospital for treatment, took them to Rangpo police station,” a fourth year student of the electrical and electronics department alleged.

He blamed hostel superintendent Kamal Thakur, and chief warden A.C. Mishra for not taking care of the injured students. “We are being targeted by outsiders and the authorities are blind to this,” the student said.

There was violence last night as well when a mob stormed the campus and another clash broke out.

The police had claimed the situation was under control, but there was another brick battle at 8am today.

A senior officer of the state armed police said last night a battalion of 115 policemen was posted on the campus and more forces were deployed after the morning’s violence.

A constable who was injured in the brick battle

“At present we are negotiating with the students and we do not want to use force on them. The institute will be shut till further orders. The trouble started with an altercation between a local boy (day scholar) and a boarder over a friendly volleyball match,” said N. Sridhar Rao, the deputy inspector-general (range) who is camping on the campus. The superintendent of police of East Sikkim, M.S. Tuli, is also there.

An officer said the local boys have been demanding that 20 of the boarders involved in the clash be identified and rusticated. “Eight students from both sides have been injured,” the officer said.

Sikkim human resource development secretary R. Telang said the situation was being monitored. “We will intervene only if the SMIT authorities fail to restore normality,” Telang said.

Vice-chancellor Pabla said the institute would be shut till further orders. “But it is likely to open within 10 days. An inquiry will be conducted against all involved in the incident.”

The Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS) denies Swine flu report

SMIMS denies reports of patient infected with swine flu symptoms, says it was rumour

GANGTOK, August 12: The Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS) today strongly denied reports of any patients infected with H1N1 swine flu symptoms being admitted in the Central Referral Hospital (CRH) here.
Stating that it was nothing but a rumour to create panic among the people of the State, Sikkim Manipal University (SMU), Vice Chancellor Dr. Surjit Singh Pabla said no such cases have been reported at CRH till date.
“The rumour spread like a wild fire after one person from Faridabad dropped at CRH on August 11 to inquire whether test for H1N1 was being carried out at the hospital,” Dr. Pabla said.
He further said that the hospital authorities today met with the State Health Minister DN Thakarpa and State Health Secretary VB Pathak and clarified about the rumour making rounds in the Capital.
It may also be mentioned here that a meeting was held today in the Capital under the chairmanship of the State Health Minister to discuss precautionary measures against the swine flu pandemic. The meeting was attended by the Health Secretary, officials from the department and doctors from both STNM and CRH Hospitals.
Sources in the department also informed that the State Government has formed a Rapid Response Team and Task Force headed by eminent doctors to tackle the situation in case of swine flu outbreak in Sikkim.

SIKKIM MANIPAL MEDICAL STUDENTS CONFERRED WITH DEGREES

GANGTOK, September 25: About 21 medical students were today conferred with the distinction award along with 124 for awards of degree in the concluding day of two days long convocation programme held at auditorium hall of Sikkim Manipal Institutes of Medical Sciences, 6th Mile.
The Governor V Rama Rao attended the convocation aschief guest along with Justice Rana Jois, former Chief Justice of Haryana and Punjab.
Placing his brief remark the Governor said the youths are considered to be the pride and back bone of the nation and is necessary for them to be optimistic, creative and focused. The youths should always strive for better in making the nations proud, he said.
Likewise the special guest Justice Rana Jois said, Manipal is very much well known for its medical excellence and services all over world. He said that the dynamic leadership of the Governor and the pro chancellor Ramdas Pai has added a new chapter of success in the history of Manipal group. “In Sikkim, Manipal is successful in setting up a quality and secure education for the medical and para medical services,” he added. He also urged the youth to come forward and join hands in nation development which is infact hardly seen now a days.
The Vice Chancellor Dr K Jaya kumar, placed the annual report of the University. The medical students also presented patriotic songs and dances during the valedictory function.

CONVOCATION HELD AT MANIPAL MEDICAL COLLEGE, SIKKIM

Prof CNR Rao conferred with distinction of Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa
GANGTOK, September 24: The convocation of the first MBBS batch of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS) was held today morning at the college campus.
Governor V Rama Rao also the Chancellor of the SMIMS administered the Hippocratic Oath to 45 MBBS (Bachelor in Medicine and Bachelor in Surgery) and nine BPT (Bachelor of Physiotherapy) graduates in person and to 25 MBBS and four BPT graduates in absentia here today morning at the university campus.
He also granted the permission for 26 MBBS graduates who will be completing their prescribed requirements in near future to participate in the proceedings of the convocation and receive their degrees in person or in absentia after the completion of prescribed requirements.
Amongst the MBBS graduates, Dr Arjun Khanna was conferred with a gold medal followed by Dr Shilpa Roy with silver.
Similarly, Bunty Agarwal and Pragya Gautam were awarded with gold medals for having topped the BPT examinations and Jagdeep Kaur and Kavita Devi with silver medals in the same.
While Dr PG Shivananda, Dean, SMIMS administered the oath of Hippocrates to the aspiring medicos, Dr BK Kanungo, Medical Superintendent, Central Referral Hospital announced the gold and silver medalists for their academic excellence.
The four hour long convocation also witnessed the release of the annual report of SMIMS for 2006-07 by the Chancellor and the presentation of Doctorate of Science, honoris causa by the Chancellor to Professor CNR Rao, Chairman, Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. Prof CNR Rao has already been conferred the rare distinction of Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from the university of Oxford, the first Indian scientist to get this honour. The honorary degree was presented to him on June 26, earlier this year in a special ceremony at the University of Oxford, UK by the Chancellor Lord Patten. Prof. Rao has just been elected as Honorary Fellow of St. Catherine's College, Oxford, which is another signal honour.
It may be mentioned here that the degrees under the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Management will be awarded on September 25 here at the same place.
Speaking on the eve of 7th edition of convocation for graduates of SMIMS, Governor V Rama Rao expressed the significance of education and its role in developing the country.
He emphasized on the need to develop skills as a self-directed learner, as also select and use appropriate learning resources, to be up to date in their respective profession.
Governor Rao quoting from the former Indian president during his visit to the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) campus- ‘Courage to think different, Courage to invent, Courage to discover the impossible, Courage to travel into an explored path and Courage to combat the problems and succeed concluded his presidential address.
Earlier the chief guest, Professor CNR Rao, in his convocation address voiced that at a time when other states across India are dwelling amidst its past glory in education, Sikkim definitely has a future provided the state government takes care of its educational sector in a proper manner.
According to him, the Sikkim Manipal University in Sikkim is one of finest institutions of higher learning, serving the people of the state and the north-east in the field of medical and technological sciences in a manner which is unprecedented.
Likewise, the vice chancellor, Dr K Jayakumar on his part presented a report on the activities of the university and the constituent college-SMIMS wherein the same he highlighted on the recognition for the medical qualifications of SMIMS from the Medical Council of India and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India in the current year alongside resourceful developmental activities related to academics, research, admissions, placement, upgradation of infrastructure, teaching and training facilities and faculty development.
The hosts of dignitaries present at the convocation included, BB Gooroong and Sanchaman Limboo, political advisors to the Chief Minister of Sikkim, OT Lepcha, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Nakul Das Rai, MP, Lok Sabha, Karma Gyatso, Principal Secretary, Health Care and Family Welfare Department, Sangay Basi, Principal Secretary, Raj Bhawan Secretariat and KP Adhikari, Secretary, Human Resources Development Department.