Brace up for huge challenge to manage the Earth: Sivan

Secretary of the Department of Science and Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation K. Sivan called upon young graduates to brace up for the challenge to manage the Earth and its outer Space to make it sustainable for human habitation.

Delivering the virtual address for the 19th annual convocation of the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, here on Saturday, Mr. Sivan said global challenges like climate changes and natural disasters are going to dramatically change the face of the Earth and the humankind. “This is going to impact our lives. This is going to be the biggest challenge to our future generation and we need to sustain in this changed scenario,” he said.

In order to respond to these challenges, there was need of strategies that will enable humans to adapt to this unprecedented situation. It was not only through science and technology but also through social, economic, cultural, and other related characteristics of society, he said. The world was fast evolving post the pandemic and this was impacting several facets of the society. Science and technology have been the key elements in this tranformation process. Youngsters have to contribute to develop a new blueprint to manage the Earth and its outer space and make it sustainable for human habitation.

Calling upon the young engineers to make good use of the immense possibilities in India to become start-up entrepreneurs, Mr. Sivan said many youths were doing good in space start-ups in the country. Young graduates should make good use of these opportunities.

Lauding the NITK for continuing its association with ISRO’s research activities, Mr. Sivan said this association would be expanded in the future to a larger scale as sectoral reforms in Space has opened huge opportunities for the institution.

As many as 1,681 were awarded degrees, which included 120 PhD, 766 postgraduates, and 795 BTech students. Nine BTech students and 30 postgraduate students received gold medals and medals.

The Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) degree for the first time was awarded to Suhas L. Yathiraj, an alumnus of the institution and presently the District Magistrate of Gautham Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, who was the silver medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics.