Khulna University, the highest seat of learning in the southern region, on Thursday celebrated its 31st University Day with a variety of programmes and a colourful rally. Vice-Chancellor (VC) Professor Mahmud Hossain inaugurated the University Day, the day of its founding, by releasing balloons and festoons, followed by a rally that paraded through the campus. In his inaugural speech the VC said, "Khulna University is moving forward with reputation. We will continue to work to uphold this tradition." The university's director of student affairs, teachers, staff, and students were present. KU, the highest educational institution in the southern region, started its journey on November 25, 1991, with only four disciplines and 60 students. Now more than 6,000 students are studying in 29 disciplines. The university was set up at a radio station on the banks of River Mayuri, the Pakistani army used as a centre for torturing Bengalis during the 1971 War of Liberation. KU has renamed the place as Shaheed Nazrul Islam Bhavan. The university takes pride in its achievements in past three decades. Twenty-nine scientists and researchers from KU have been included in the list of world scientists based on the citations of more than 7 lakh scientists from 13,531 universities of 206 countries. Professor Mahmood was ranked fourth in agriculture and forestry in the country, 151st in Asia and 825th in the world. In the 2020 Institutional Rankings of SCImago-Scopus based on science and research, Bangladesh has been in second place in the overall category for two consecutive years. In the innovative category, it is 26 steps ahead of last year, ranking 421st globally and first among the country's universities. It is to be noted that in the research conducted by this international organization conducted in 2019, for the first time among the universities of the country, it got first place in innovation, second place in research and 6th place in social research. The confidence of foreign students is increasing towards Khulna University. In the 2019-20 academic year, 19 foreign students got admitted, which is the highest at the undergraduate level in the university so far. Students from India, Canada and Nepal study in biology schools and science, engineering and technology schools here. KU remains colourful and festive in one way or another throughout the year. More than 22 organizations are active here for social and cultural activities, practising skills like debate, song, dance, recitation, research and photography, educating street children, helping the needy or donating blood.