"Next decade belongs to India, do things differently"

"The next decade belongs to India," Sandeep Maini, Chairman, Maini Group told the graduating students on the second day of the 25th Convocation of Manipal University here at KMC Greens on Sunday.

"We will have only ourselves to blame if we do not make good use of this opportunity. Use this opportunity to fulfill your dreams, work hard and passionately and nurture your ambitions. This is the time to do things differently, innovate and pioneer, take calculated risks and enjoy the experience while learning," he advised the students.

Maini, an alumnus of MIT said he perceived two key changes taking place in the world over the next decade- a time when the present lot of youngsters will be active in making a positive change in this world. And because of the changes on the horizon, the youth of the future will have tremendous power in their hands to make a difference.

"And we being the youngest country in the world will wield this power in the years to come. This tremendous power and potential of the youth if channelized positively and cohesively can change the destiny of our nation and the world in the years to come. We can chart a course of progress be it political, social, economical or spiritual," he said.

As for the changes which he envisioned, one is, "IOT (Internet of Things) and automation will take over a large part of how we live, work, commute and engage. Like all technologies and innovation, this will have a both positive and negative impact while being disruptive. You all will have a key role to play in understanding the negative impacts and finding the right solutions to mitigate this," Sandeep Maini said.

"And the other is, the concept of resource sharing from a convenience and economy point of view. We have seen initial glimpses of this with UBER, OYO, WeWork, and many such forms of shared economy. You will experience a higher level of disruption in the years to come," he said.

Another suggestion he had for the students was to ask themselves, "What can I give back to my society and country. Today companies call it CSR. The wealthy across the world have committed a large portion of their wealth for this purpose. But, I believe in PSR -- personal social responsibility -- we start early, start small by committing resources that we can in terms of time, personal efforts and finances. It goes a long way in making a big difference," he said.

On the second day of the three day convocation 1,264 under and post graduate students received their degrees. Also, 22 of the 82 PhD scholars were awarded degrees and five best outgoing students presented gold medals.

Pro Chancellor, Mangaluru Campus Dr V Surendra Shetty welcomed the gathering and Pro Vice Chancellor, Dr Poornima Baliga gave an overview of the progress and activity of the university in the last year.

Gold medals for best outgoing studentes: Sharal Niveditha DSA, BSc Nursing (MCON); Anisha Mariam Daniel, Allied Health Sciences (SOAHS); Vaishali Todi, Biotechnology (SOLS); Tejaswini MS, Post graduate in ME Embedded Systems (SOIS); Umanshu Dhingra, M Phar (MCOPS).