Covid pandemic turned the world upside down: Devi Shetty

Shillong, April 20 Noted cardiac surgeon and Chairman of Bengaluru-based Narayana Health, Devi Prasad Shetty, said on Wednesday that the world has turned upside down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and when histor would pen the history of the world 100 years from now, there would be two distinct periods, one is B.C., i.e., Before Covid, and the second is A.C., meaning After Covid.

Virtually addressing the 13th convocation of the Shillong-based Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shetty, who is the Chairman of the Covid Expert Committee in Karnataka, urged the students to be successful in life, make a difference, and make this world a better place to live.

"Whatever you do in your life, remember that the power of your purpose is more important than all the other strategies combined. So, try to choose a purpose by which you can make this world a better place to live," he said.

This year, a total of 268 students graduated from the institute. Degrees were conferred upon 252 PGP students and 16 PGPEx students, while two scholars were conferred with their PhD degree.

Chairman of the Board of Governors, Shishir Kumar Bajoria, said that although the Covid crisis threw up several human-institutional challenges, "we as a community grew stronger".

"India as a country faced the pandemic in one of the best ways in the world... Our leadership ensured that our heads were held high. Even when the pandemic was raging all over the country, we could supply medicines and come to the rescue of many countries," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, D.P. Goyal, Director, IIM, said that the institute, which was set up in 2007, signed eight MoUs with well-known global institutions last year, and published 96 research papers in top-ranked international journals besides presenting several research papers in international conferences.