IIT Kharagpur celebrates its 72nd Foundation Day under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur welcomes
Shri Amit Khare, Adviser to Prime Minister,
Govt. of India.

As the country enters its 76^th year of Independence, IIT Kharagpur also enters its 72^nd year of foundation on 18^th August 2022 which was adorned eminent personalities. Shri Amit Khare, Adviser to Prime Minister & Former Secretary, Higher Education, Ministry of Education graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Dr. B N Gangadhar, President, NMC, MA&RB (Former Director of NIMHANS) & Mr. Ranjit Rath, an Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur & CMD, Oil India Limited also graced the occasion as the Guest of Honour. The invocation started by hoisting the national flag and institute flag at the main building. Conferment of Chair Professor Awards, Faculty Excellence Awards, Young Alumni Achievers Awards, Staff Excellence Awards & Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award were presented. Institute employees were felicitated on completion of 25 years of uninterrupted service to the Institute

Felicitation of  Young Alumni Achiever Awards 2022

The Young Alumni Achiever Award was awarded to 25 young alumni of IIT Kharagpur including Arka Majumdar, Rakesh Kumar, Jayasree Chakraborty, Asish Modi, Abhinav Kumar, Swapnil Tembe, Saroj Kumar Thakur, Shashwat Singh, Arnab, Debayan Saha, Madhav Datt, Prateek Chakravarty, Dodda Raviteja, Sachin Jaiswal, Kintal Shiva Prasad, Amandeep Singh Kochar, Joy Deep Nath, Mayank Jain, Umang Jain, Abheepsa Mishra, Tejasvi Singh Kushwah, Tushar Kanti Behera, Abhishek Kumar Yadav, H R Sampreet, Kshitij Dixit and Ankit Jain for excellence in innovations, technological developments, research, community welfare, leadership, entrepreneurship, social impact, nation building, national interest and professional accomplishments.

Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award 2022 presented
to 8 inventors from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

This year a team of inventors led by Dr. Sandeep K C, Shri Sachin Kamath, Shri Saikat Saha, Shri Ashok Kumar M, Shri R M Rakate, Shri S P S Somvanshi, Shri A K Chatterjee, and Shri C K Warghat from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has bagged the most prestigious Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award 2022 for their breakthrough technical innovation in Indigenous Development of Compact Alkaline Water Electrolyzer Technology for Simultaneous Production of High Purity Hydrogen and Oxygen from Laboratory to Industrial Scale. This award has been instituted jointly by IIT Kharagpur and Dr. Akhil Sahai, an alumnus of the institute and the husband of late Dr. Nina Saxena, to commemorate the spirit and memory of its illustrious alumna Dr. Nina Saxena, who personified technical excellence to encourage young minds for innovative research in the frontier technology.

Felicitation of Institute Chair Professor Awards 2022 &
Faculty Excellence Awards 2022

A total of 10 Institute Chair Professor Awards and 25 Faculty Excellence Awards were awarded to  Prof. Debdeep Mukhopadhyay, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Samit Kumar Ray, Physics; Prof. Jyotsna Dutta Majumdar, Metallurgical & Materials Engg; Prof. Dilip Kumar Pratihar, Mech Engg; Prof. Chandan Chakraborty, Electrical Engg; Prof. Tarun Kanti Bhattacharyya, Electronics & Electrical Comm Engg; Prof. Madan Kumar Jha, Agricultural & Food Engg; Prof. Kinsuk Naskar, RTC; Prof. Sudipta Mukhopadhyay, Electronics & Electrical Comm Engg; Prof. Somnath Bhattacharyya, Mathematics; Prof. Sudip Misra, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Santanu Dhara, SMST; Prof. Nikhil Kumar Singha, RTC; Prof. Bhim Charan Meikap, Chemical Engg; Prof. Rudra Prakash Pradhan, VGSoM; Prof. Narayan Chandra Das, RTC; Prof. Mukunda Dev Behera,CORAL; Prof. Brajesh Kumar Dubey, Civil Engg; Dr. Sumantra Mandal, Metallurgical & Materials Engg; Prof. Debapratim Pandit, Architecture & Regional Planning; Prof. Shyamal Kumar Das Mandal, ATDC; Prof. Santanu Kapat, Electrical Engg; Prof. Arnab Atta, Chemical Engg; Prof. Pawan Goyal, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Chandra Sekhar Tiwary, Metallurgical & Materials Engg; Prof. Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath, CORAL; Prof. Arkopal Kishore Goswami, Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design & Management; Prof.Trilok Singh, School of Energy Sci & Engg; Prof. Bharath Haridas Aithal, Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management; Prof. Arindam Mondal, School of Bio Science; Prof. Dipankar Debnath, Electrical Engg; Prof. Aditya Bandopadhyay, Mech Engg; Prof. Sreeraj Puravankara, School of Energy Sci & Engg; Prof. Sunil Manohar Dash, Aerospace Engg; Prof. Sourav Mondal, Chemical Engg; Prof. Sudeshna Sarkar, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Saptarshi Ghosh, Comp Sci & Engg; Prof. Mahitosh Mandal, SMST; Prof. Jhareswar Maiti, Industrial & Systems Engg; Prof. Sunando Dasgupta, Chemical Engg and Prof. Ashok Kumar Gupta, Civil Engg.

                             Prof. Rintu Banerjee, AgFE  honoured with
Technology Development & Deployment Excellence Award

     Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Mech Engg honoured with
Technology Development & Deployment Excellence Award

Felicitation of Staff Excellence Awards 2022

This year the Staff Excellence Award 2022 were conferred to Ms. Juliet Karmakar Mondol, Counsellor,Counselling Centre; Dr. B Hemalatha, Dy Chief System Manager; Administrative Computer Service Support Centre; Dr. Rajeev Kumar Rawat, Senior Hindi Officer Grade-II, Rajbhasha Vibhag; Mr. M Manivannan, Assistant Librarian, Central Library; Mr. Gyan Singh Patel, System Engineer, Computer & Informatics Centre; Mr. Sanjib Halder, Technical Superintendent, Dept. of AgFE; Mr. Sankar Das Roy, Senior Technical Superintendent, Dept. of Mech Engg; Mr. Nar Singh Devra, Senior Technical Superintendent, Dept. of Electronics & Electrical Comm Engg; Mr. Prasenjit Das Gupta, Technical Officer, Dept. of Comp Sci and Engg; Mr. Rajib Bose, Asst Engineer/Asst Architect, Water Works Section; Mr. Tarun Kumar Ghuku, Senior Asst Engineer, Sanitary Section; Mr. Swapan Kumar Manna, Senior Asst Engineer, Civil Construction & Maintenance; Mr. Ajit Kumar Pal, Junior Technical Superintendent, Central Research Facility; Mr. Nandagopal Pal, Senior Executive, Dept. of AgFE; Mr. Purna Chandra Sethi, Executive, Director’s Office; Mr. B Sai Krishna, Junior Executive, Institute Information Cell; Mr. Tapan Kumar Debgoswami, Senior Executive, Deputy Director’s Office; Ms. Runu Dey, Senior Executive, Stores & Purchase Section; Mr. Prasanta Das, Senior Laboratory Assistant, Dept. of Metallurgical & Materials Engg; Mr. Tanmoy Kumar Baram, Senior Technician/Senior Laboratory Assistant, Dept. of Mech Engg; Mr. A V Rao, Senior Multi-Tasking Staff Grade-II, CWISS; Mr. Asit Kumar Kulsi, Junior Technician, Estate (Mech. & Elect.); Mr. Jagannath Dhar, Attendant, Dept. of Comp Sci & Engg; Mr. Shankar Prasad, Senior Multi Tasking Staff Grade-I, Dept. of Chemical Engg; Mr. Sisir Kumar Pal, Senior Assistant, ADTC; Mr. Mrinal Dasmahapatra, Senior Assistant Establishment & Personnel Section and Mr. Kailash Chandra Samantaray, Senior Security Inspector, Security Section were presented with Staff Excellence Awards 2022.

Felicitation of Faculty & Staff Members for
25 years of incessant service to the Institution

22 Faculty and Staff members were recognized for their incessant 25 years of service to the Institution including Prof. Anindya Sundar Dhar, E & ECE; Prof. Bani Bhattacharya, HSS; Prof. Srabani Taraphder, Chemistry; Prof. Arghya Taraphder, Physics; Dr. Bablu Sutradhar, Library; Prof. Lingadahally S Ramachandra, Civil Engg; Prof. Gour Gopal Roy, Metallurgical and Materials Engg; Prof. Kailash Bihari Lal Srivastava, HSS; Prof. Dipanwita Roy Chowdhury, Comp Sci and Engg; Mr. Tapas Singha Ray, Sr. Technician/ Sr. Lab. Asst., Electrical Engg; Prof. Siddhartha Das, Metallurgical and Materials Engg; Prof. Debapriya Das, Electrical Engg; Prof. Sirshendu De, Chemical Engg; Dr. Alok Kumar Nandy, Asst. Workshop Superintendent, Mechanical Engg; Prof. Narendra Singh Raghuwanshi, AgFE; Prof. Debjani Chakraborty, Mathematics; Prof. Probal Sengupta, Geology and Geophysics; Mr. Sudipta Das, Sr. System Engineer, CIC; Prof. Priyadarshi Patnaik, HSS; Mr. Amitava Nandi, Sr. Technical Superintendent, CET; Dr. Ramapati Samanta, Technical Officer, Biotechnology and Mr. Sanjay Kumar Sharma, Senior Technical Superintendent, Electrical Engg.

Shri Amit Khare, Adviser to Prime Minister addressing the 72nd Foundation Day of IIT Kharagpur

Shri Amit Khare, Advisor to Prime Minister & Former Secretary Higher Education, Ministry of Education addressed the 72^nd Foundation Day of IIT Kharagpur. He remarked, “The idea of Gurukul which we had 1000 years ago is the same Gurukul with a modern outlook and new technologies that exists in IIT Kharagpur where you have all the faculty, staff, alumni and students working as a team to innovate and create, trying to bring something new everyday. We are in the Amrit Kaal and as Team India we have to work together and encourage institutions like IIT Kharagpur working in the direction of Prime Minister’s vision for the country. The institute withstands at the Hijli Detention camp, faced many challenges as well as many achievements from Faculties & Alumni hailing from various backgrounds and receiving highest civilian accolades like Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri & Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards. From IAS officials to Young Technocrats, District Magistrates, Collectors, Superintendent of Police, Forest Officials to CEOs of top companies in the world, IIT Kharagpur’s Alumni are renowned in every field. Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five visions for making India a developed nation, he said that overall development of the youth will be an important focus area with NEP 2020 which is designed to ensure that every child is able to achieve whatever potential he/she might have. It is not necessary that everyone possess the same potential in the field of science and technology, it could be music, sports, literature, administration, emerging technologies, delivery of services, social reforms etc. The main pillars of this policy is enhancement of capacity compared to other developing countries, and so far we have done well. We have almost 100% enrollment at the school level and 27.5% enrollment in Higher Education but we should not be satisfied with these figures. We should not only go for accessibility and figures but also the quality, accountability and regulation, working as a team. The focus should be more and more on research and innovation. In the context of NEP,  seven major areas have been identified where IIT Kharagpur plays an important role.

First and foremost is the Innovation & Research – Quoting Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan and Jay Anusandhan, he said though we are an IT Superpower, we need to be a superpower in Intellectual Property (IP) because knowledge is power. We cannot borrow technologies and indigenize it, we need institutions like Nalanda and Vikramshila. We have to be the creator of that knowledge. IIT Kharagpur did a good job by collaborating with the industry and establishing Research Parks to bring practical solutions.

Second will be the Multidisciplinary Approach which is essential as knowledge is created at the intersection of different disciplines. New frontiers of knowledge with Biomedical Research and interface between Bioscience and engineering along with devices that are used to detect large data so as to help formulate policies be it social sector or in the area of health welfare, should be adopted.

Third is linking our Past Knowledge with the Future – we are 100 years old civilization, we have a past of knowledge and can develop it to test it empirically with the help of institutions like IITs. The tribal & village communities had the knowledge of Haldi for 100 of years, it is surprising that we are only aware of it after it becomes turmeric in the western countries. The Indian knowledge System of IIT Kharagpur has taken a good lead in that area. We are not forcing to blindly follow what old presumptions and myths were but the IITs are the places where we can empirically test them and then use them for the future. Being a global citizen, there are exchanges in the form of goods, migration of people, internationalization but even though only those societies develop who remain connected to their ground. You cannot become rootless.

Fourth is the Social Responsibilities that is attached to every institution, to collaborate with local institutions and help them by fostering local development and technical assistance.

Fifth is bringing back Internationalization in education by having a peer group learning interaction between faculty members and students from different countries and genres.

Sixth is the Alumni Connect which not only encompasses donations for development purposes but should also indulge in  mentoring students and educating them with what kind of research should be undertaken along with favorable industry experiences should be exchanged. IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay has the best Alumni connections among other IITs.

Seventh is connecting the institution and the society with each other. Inquisitive mind of the society needs to be developed. Equal awareness among industry and society is required. The Trinity of Academia with Industry and Society is a must.

Lastly, he concluded that, “I hope IIT Kharagpur improves its rankings and the institute develops niche areas of specialization to excel and be among the top 10 universities in the world.”

Shri Amit Khare, Adviser to Prime Minister & Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur
felicitates Mr. Saripalle Satyamurthy with Distinguished Alumnus Award 2020

86 year old Saripalle Satyamurthy, an Alumnus from the second batch of IIT Kharagpur after its formation in 1951, inspired everybody with his presence and was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2020.

Prof Virendra K Tewari, director IIT Kharagpur remarked, “IIT Kharagpur supported the nation to excel the standards of globalization with domestic innovations, finest scientific research and affordable technologies that contribute for a Self-reliant India. The initiatives of IIT Kharagpur towards Indian Knowledge System and NEP 2020 shaped the higher education system and set its course for a new age of becoming the Vishwaguru and boost the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. Seven niche areas comprising of Advanced Manufacturing Systems for Industry 4.0, Safety Engineering & Analytics, Quality and Reliability, Healthcare, Precision Agriculture & Food Nutrition, Smart Infrastructure and Advanced Transportation have been identified by the Institute that will drive its growth trajectory to become one of the top 10 universities in the world. Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he said – Education is the manifestation of perfection already existing in a man. I urge you to take a pledge and start working towards this goal, with our collective efforts we shall bring glory to the nation and ourselves.”

Media Coverage : 

Coverage in Bartaman newspaper

Content Writer : Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
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