'Youth have outstanding opportunity to bring transformative

: Youth have an outstanding opportunity to bring transformative changes into societies around the world as they are best positioned to offer a new way of thinking and conceptualisation, Niti Aayog member V K Saraswat said Monday.

"Youth have an outstanding opportunity to bring transformative changes into societies around the world.

They are at the forefront in promoting sustainable development values such as human rights and social justice.

Youth are best positioned to offer a new way of thinking and fresh conceptualisation", Saraswat said, addressing the 20th Convocation of the University of Hyderabad (UoH).

A release from the UoH said Saraswat motivated the graduating students and scholars to do well for themselves and the country.

He told them that they were graduating at a time when the nation was surging foward in all fields.

"You are empowered with knowledge. Now you will have to fortify it with your personal qualities like honesty, hard work, sincerity and integrity and top it all-with a sense of pride to serve the nation", he said.

Saraswat said the philosophy of young people of the nation must comprise design thinking and innovation.

Design, he said, was a continuous process of innovation that develops gradually, not abruptly.

"Creativity is both soul and spirit of design. Design thinking is an active process that strives for continuous reinvention and consistently challenging the existing things in a way ahead to ongoing evolution.

We need to think creatively in daily life, not only in technocratic traditions, but also in terms of enhancing the daily lives of people," the release quoted Saraswat as saying.

A total of 1,458 students were awarded degrees at the convocation.

Among them 210 were awarded PhDs, while 111 meritorious students received gold medals for exemplary performances in their respective fields.

UoH Chancellor Justice L Narasimha Reddy and UoH Vice Chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile were among the dignitaries present.