At 1st post-Cov CU convocation, chancellor focuses on AI, making yoga part of life
Times of India | 24 March 2026
Kolkata: Calcutta University held its first post-Covid convocation on Monday. In his speech, governor R N Ravi, the ex-officio chancellor of all state universities, emphasised AI literacy and advised practising yoga and making it an integral part of life.
"Be AI-literate and be familiar with it. The world is increasingly getting divided between those who are AI-literate and those who are not, and the gap is going to widen enormously. Keep yourself abreast of the latest technology that empowers you, that multiplies your capacity to do what you are doing, or what you propose to do," he said.
IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty highlighted that human minds are courageous enough to ask questions that machines cannot, and cannot even imagine. He said, "AI is reshaping science, medicine, economics, governance, and even creativity itself. Machines can today analyse billions of data points in fractions of a second. They can simulate complex molecular systems, decode genomes, and predict the behaviour of climate systems with surprising precision. And yet, there is still something it cannot do. AI can generate answers, but it cannot generate the deepest questions."
The chancellor said India would become a world leader by 2047 in fields like science and research, and that students graduating from Bengal would play an important role in that. He highlighted that for many years, India occupied the number one position in the world in science, culture, and medicine, and was an economic powerhouse. But, since the 19th century, it has lagged behind other countries. The scenario has started changing since 2014, and he said that ‘Bharat' must reclaim its past glory. "The men and women of Bharat are crafting the destiny of the new rising Bharat, where young students will play an important role," he said, advising students to take good care of their health and make yoga an integral part of life.
CU VC Asutosh Ghosh said, "The motto of the university, ‘Advancement of Learning', is not merely an inscription. It is a living obligation, renewed at every convocation, in every classroom, and in every act of scholarship that our community undertakes."
The university conferred DLitt (Honoris Causa) on Fr Tomad Chattamparampil and Ranajit Das, and DSc (Honoris Causa) on Vijay Pandurang Bhatkar. CU presented 12 awards and medals to dignitaries, and eight distinguished teachers received ‘Eminent Teacher Awards'.