Mysuru: The year-long centenary celebrations of the University of Mysore (UoM) will culminate on July 22 with the Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari set to deliver the valedictory address at the Amphitheatre, Manasagangotri at 5pm. It was exactly 100 years back, that is on July 22, 1916, Maharaja of Mysore, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar established the University of Mysore.
Following the centenary celebration which was inaugurated by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on July 27, 2015, the year saw many events including Indian Science Congress, lecture series from Nobel Laureates, Inter-university National Youth Festival, national-level Inter-university wrestling championship and south zone inter university hockey competition for women.
On the occasion, a life-size statue of the former ruler of erstwhile Mysore, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, which according to UoM Vice Chancellor, Prof K S Rangappa was a long-felt need of Mysurians and the students of UoM, will be unveiled by Hamid Ansari at the Crawford Hall premises. The statue which has already been installed is being given the final touches. KS Rangappa said that the statue was made of bronze and weighed 600 kgs. “The eight feet statue was made by a Hyderabad-based artiste at a cost of Rs 6.5 lakh. The pedestal on which the statue is installed is also eight feet,” Rangappa said.
Governor Vajubhai Rudrabhai Vala, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former Prime Minister H D Devegowda, PWD and District In-charge Minister H C Mahadevappa, Minister for Higher Education Basavaraja Rayareddy and Chairman, University Grants Commission, Ved Prakash are expected to take part in the event. The entry to the valedictory function on July 22 is free. However, it is restricted to pass holders only. The passes will be issued at the Office of the Centenary Celebrations from July 19, on a first-come-first-served basis.
Bharat Ratna UoM Centenary Awards
University of Mysore has produced three Bharat Ratnas, the founder of the University M. Visvesvaraya, the teacher S. Radhakrishnan (he taught at the University from 1918 to 1921) and the student C.N.R. Rao. The University decided to institute three awards in their names in three fields – Innovation in Technology, Social Sciences and Science. After a lot of deliberation by a Committee set up with the Vice-Chancellor as the Chairman, the three names that came for the award were that of A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO – he is being conferred the Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya Centenary Award for Innovation in Technology; Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal, with the Bharat Ratna S. Radhakrishnan Centenary Award for Social Sciences and H.G. Sharat Chandra, Honorary Director, Centre for Human Genetics, with the Bharat Ratna C.N.R. Rao Centenary Award for Science. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh, a citation and a gold medal.
