Bengaluru: Cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, musician Arjun Janya and four others will receive honorary doctorates at the 5th annual convocation of Dr Manmohan Singh Bengaluru City University Saturday.A total of 37,393 students — 21,912 (58.6%) females and 15,458 (47.3%) males — will receive their degrees at the convocation. Twenty-three PhD scholars will also receive their doctorates – most PhDs are in commerce and education. As many as 29,886 students — 18,538 (commerce), 6,912 (education), 1,664 (science) and 2,772 (arts) — will receive their undergraduate degrees. Of the 7,484 postgraduate students, 4,811 are in commerce, 55 in education, 2,014 in science and 604 in arts. Seventy-one students will receive rank certificates, 73 gold medals and cash prizes in this convocation. Lecturer gets highest no. of gold medalsSneha T from the department of chemistry will receive the highest number of gold medals — four. Daughter of a rose farmer from Devanahalli and a homemaker, Sneha is currently a lecturer in BGS Science Academy and Research Centre. “When I took science in PU, I liked chemistry the best. I was fascinated by the reactions, thermodynamics and especially organic chemistry,” said Sneha, who plans to pursue a PhD next.Abhishek Sriram from Seshadripuram Institute of Commerce & Management, Seshadripuram, and Divyasree S from Krupanidhi College of Commerce and Management, Chikka Bellandur, will receive three gold medals for securing highest marks in bachelor of commerce and the bachelor of business administration, respectively.Among the other personalities who will get honorary doctorates are educationists TK Narayanappa, Mohan Alva and Bava Mohammed Farookh and sports administrator K Govindaraj. Some syndicate members have criticised the choice of candidates for honorary doctorates, pointing out that many have political affiliations.BOX Postgraduates to receive degrees (2023–25) Arts — 604 Science — 2,014 Commerce — 4,811 Education — 55 Total — 7,484GraduatesArts — 2,772 Science — 1,664 Commerce — 18,538 Education — 6,912 Total — 29,886
