The Tenth Convocation of the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, a Deemed to be University under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, was held virtually on March 10, 2021. During the Convocation 2070 students received their degrees. Out of which 02 students were conferred their PhD degrees, 1181 students were awarded MBA degrees. In the other streams, 4 LLM, 84 BBA-LLB (Hons), 141 B. Tech and 574 BBA degrees were awarded. MMS degrees were awarded to 84 students.

Dr C Rangarajan, Chancellor of the University, presided over the function and delivered the Convocation address. Congratulating the graduating students, Dr Rangarajan said, “This is an occasion for celebration for all of you, as your academic efforts have come to a successful fruition. As you enter a new stage in your life, your future is intertwined with the future of this country. But, at the same time, you have the opportunity to shape it. Youth is full of idealism and ambition. Idealism without ambition may not achieve much. On the other hand, ambition without idealism is dangerous. May you combine the two in the right proportion!”

Commenting on the state of the economy, Dr Rangarajan said, “If only the Indian economy grows at 8.7 per cent in 2021-22, will we be compensating for the decline in 2020-21. We will then be where we were at the end of 2019-20. As the sayings goes ‘we need to run fast to stay where we are’. The recent Budget has projected the growth rate for 2021-22 at 10.5 per cent. It sounds a little optimistic. We as a nation really need to organize ourselves to get back to the high growth path as early as possible.”

He added, “looking at the recent discussions on agricultural marketing reforms, the best course of action for the central government now may be to leave to each state to decide whether they want these measures or not. That will set the stage for experimental economics and farmers themselves will be able to see the best possible course of action with respect to agricultural marketing reforms.”

Prof J. Mahender Reddy, Vice Chancellor, highlighted the University’s endeavors towards promoting online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the transition from offline to online has been smooth and that the faculty, students, and support staff have adapted to this change quite well. Prof Reddy said that the University plans to start online MBA program shortly, which will provide opportunities to the eligible students across the country and eventually globally.

Prof Reddy also informed that The UGC Expert Committee has recommended approval of the 12-B status to the University. With the ratification by the UGC, the University becomes eligible to receive financial assistance under all UGC and government schemes for research and teaching.

Medals:
Medals were awarded to students for academic and all-round excellence. Aditya Bhat received the gold medal (first rank holder) and Arabaze Ali the silver medal (second rank holder) for academic excellence in the MBA program. Palak Kamra received ‘The Saurabh Sharma Memorial Gold Medal’ for securing the first rank in MBA – Marketing stream and Sreenivas Kireeti Amudala received ‘The Faiyaz Ahmed Khan Memorial Gold Medal’ for securing the First rank in MBA – Finance stream. Rohit G and Rajyashree Kanodia received the gold medal and silver medal respectively for academic excellence in the BBA program while Kommalapati Abhiroop Tejomay and Basireddy Ravichandra Reddy received the gold medal and silver medal respectively for academic excellence in the B.Tech. program. The gold medal and silver medal for academic excellence in BBA-LLB (Honors) program went to Prerona Bhattacharjee and Nikita Agarwal respectively.

The NJ Yasaswy-Apollo Hospitals Best Student Award:
Rajyashree Kanodia of BBA, Class of 2020 received The NJ Yasaswy-Apollo Hospitals Best Student Award for All-Round Excellence. The second prize went to Mayur Bhargava of BBA, Class of 2020.

The N J Yasaswy-Apollo Hospitals Award for the Best Teacher:
Dr. G Sudhaamsh Mohan Reddy of the IcfaiTech won The N J Yasaswy-Apollo Hospitals Award for the Best Teacher which consists a cash reward of rupees one lakh.