PATNA, March 28 -- President Droupadi Murmu will be the chief guest at the second convocation of Nalanda University in Rajgir on March 31. The President is also the Visitor of the (NU) and it will be her first visit to the institution. Set up in 2014 through an Act of Parliament passed in 2010 after years of hard work piloted by the Nitish Kumar government and involving the likes of former President APJ Abdul Kalam in preparing the ground work, NU had held its first convocation in 2016 for the first batch of its post-graduate students. The then President Pranab Mukherjee was the chief guest on the occasion. However, the 2026 convocation will be the first on its own sprawling campus, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 19, 2024. The design and architectural elements of the nearly 500-acre campus are inspired by the original monasteries and buildings at the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara, the ruins of which are close by. Bihar Governor Lt Gen (Rtd) Syed Ata Hasnain, chief minister Nitish Kumar, external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar and and secretary (East), ministry of external affairs Periasamy will be the guests of honour on the occasion. The President will deliver the convocation address, confer degrees, and personally award Gold Medals to meritorious students....