M M Jasim :
The 49th convocation of Dhaka University (DU) will be held today (Tuesday) at the Central Playground of the university.
The decision came from a meeting over the convocation programme in DU Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban on Sunday.
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Director General Francis Gurry will deliver the speech as the convocation speaker. He will also be honored with the Doctor of Laws degree at the convocation. Australian national Mr Gurry is also Secretary-General of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).
President Abdul Hamid, also Chancellor of the university, will preside over the graduation ceremony of the country’s leading public university.
The programme will begin at 11:00am and the main entrance to the venue will open to the participants and invited guests at 9:00am.
Meanwhile, the DU authorities have completed distribution of convocation gowns and will also organise a rehearsal programme at Curzon Hall ground in the morning on the day.
A total of 6,104 students will get graduation certificates in the convocation.
Of them, 42 PhD and 20 MPhil researchers and 49 MD-MS would be conferred degrees at the convocation. A total of 29 students will also receive gold medals for their outstanding results.
The campus has already turned lively and vibrant with new graduates, faculty members and many alumni who are going to take part in the convocation.
Cabinet members, MPs and diplomats, among others, will attend the convocation.
DU Vice-chancellor Prof Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique told The New Nation yesterday that they have already completed all preparations to make the convocation a success. He also said that the strict security measures have been taken on the occasion of convocation.
The convocation can also be watched in http://livestream.du.ac.bd/ convocation2015.
The first convocation ceremony of DU was held on February 22, 1923. After the Liberation War in 1971, the first convocation of the university was held on December 18, 1999.
