More than 250 graduates proudly crossed the stage to receive their degrees from the Chancellor at the John Batman Theatre, Melbourne Convention Centre on Wednesday December 12.

This semester's diverse graduates represented 20 countries including Chile, Russia, Tanzania and Zambia as well as Nigeria and Cambodia.

Guest speaker Anita Nayar with Chancellor Rennie Fritschy and Vice-Chancellor Professor John Rickard

The Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor were also in the stage party and joined the Victorian State Director Associate Professor Ken Bruce, who hosted a luncheon prior to the ceremony.

The guest speaker for this ceremony was the Consul General for India (Victoria) Anita Nayar, who has only recently taken up her posting in Melbourne and was delighted to meet graduates from her own country and many others.

*Anita Nayar, BA(Hons) Delhi was born in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, and is the Consul General for India in Melbourne.  Anita grew up in Delhi where her father was a civil servant with the Ministry of Finance, and her mother a primary school teacher.  Her natural fascination by Movements around the world and the ideas that influenced people over the years led her to study history and she obtained her degree in 1982.  She was attracted to the Indian Foreign Service because working there offered her the opportunity to see the world and experience different cultures and, for the last 25 years, she has served in the Indian missions in several countries.  Her experience in managing numerous aspects of diplomatic work from political and commercial to culture and information have provided her with a breadth of knowledge in relation to international matters.

Piping in the graduation

In 1984 Anita went to Hong Kong as Third Secretary before undertaking the position of Second Secretary and Head of Chancery in Beijing for two years.  This was followed by two years on deputation to the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on the EEC/Europe Desk; before she returned to the Ministry of External Affairs for a year as Deputy Secretary in the Consular Division.

An appointment as First Secretary (Economic and Commercial) in Tel Aviv then ensued, after which Anita went to Budapest in 1997 to take up the position of Counsellor (Political, Information, Economic and Commercial).  Between 2000 and 2002 she was the Deputy High Commissioner in Singapore, before returning to Delhi, as Director (China) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Immediately prior to taking the position of Consul General in Melbourne in July this year, Anita was the Consul General in Mandalay for two and a half years.