Tuesday March 12- OSU Alumni & University day

Today, OSU Alumni Day and Meeting for Universities interested in exploring some sort of partnership with OSU. Busy day for the Deans & their representatives.  The ladies explored a bit if Hyderabad-Some going to a Zoroastrian temple, a handicrafts bazaar, and a boutique for kurti, salwar kameez and Saris. Now off to meet members of government and industry from Andhra Pradesh at a farm retreat in the countryside.

Our day on Monday was busy from dawn til moonrise with meetings, ceremonies and the previously mentioned evening at Taj Falakmuna. We met with  OSU alumnus IT Minister of Andhra Pradesh state Sri Ponnala Lakhsmaiah at his office, and met the press.  We were very warmly welcomed by the minister and his staff. There is lots of active press in India from live 24 hour TV news, radio, and myriad newspapers in several languages.  This made the press meet, a little overwhelming & surprising for some--Mary W. was seated practically in the middle of all the camera lenses.

 In the afternoon President H. and Mrs. H helped Minister Ponnala present achievement awards to juniors and seniors in the engineering & tech fields, partner schools and businesses that have supported a success initiative for these students.  Each of the delegation was surprised and please to receive an award for friendship and cooperation with the Andhra Pradesh Society of Knowledge Networks, which sponsored the awards and with which OSU signed a Memorandum of Understanding that morning.