Address during the 1st Convocation of Teerthanker Mahaveer University Morababad 21 May 2012 University a partner in economic development

Ignited minds of the youth is the Most powerful resources on the earth, Above the earth and under the earth.

I am delighted to participate in the 1st Convocation of Teerthanker Mahaveer University Morababad. I am happy to know that the university established in 2008, has now multi pronged including focus covering various dimensions history, of learning science,

engineering,

biology,

political

pharmacy, nursing, medicine, architecture and many other areas all of which are vital disciplines for the socio-economic growth of our country. I congratulate all the students who are graduating from this university today. I commend the faculty members who have taken extraordinary care in shaping the young minds and building capacities in them which will facilitates the students to achieve greater heights in their professional career. This is indeed the requirement in the 21st century knowledge society. My greetings to all the students, faculty members, staff and distinguished guests participating in this convocation function. When I am in the midst of you, I would Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam www.abdulkalam.com
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like to discuss on the topic University a partner in economic development. First I would like to discuss research teaching research. Research Teaching Research University education in India in the present century will be in a competitive environment where research and teaching are to be the focus. India has number of IITs, IIScs, and many universities having arts and science college, professional colleges and commerce and humanities. The students have many choices of colleges, courses and programmes of learning depending upon their aptitude. In this environment

universities have to work for promoting research teaching research. Good teaching emanates from Research. The teachers love for research and their experience in research are vital for the growth of the institution. Any University is judged by the level and extent of the research work it accomplishes. This sets in a regenerative cycle of excellence. Experience of research leads to quality teaching and quality teaching imparted to the young in turn enriches the research. I am sure, Teerthanker Mahaveer Universitys mission is research teaching research. Technology is the non-linear tool available to humanity, which can affect fundamental changes in the ground rules of economic competitiveness. Science is linked to technology through applications. Technology is linked to economy and
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environment through manufacture of knowledge products. Economy and environment are linked to technology, which promotes prosperity to the society. We have to use innovation

to generate high value added products for becoming a global player. The foundation of academic research is creativity.

Now, I would like to present my experience of learning system design, system integration and system management, which I acquired while I was a student five decades ago.

Learning integrated system design While I was studying aeronautical engineering in MIT, Chennai, (1954-57) during the third year of my course, I was assigned a project to design a low-level attack aircraft together with six other colleagues. I was given the responsibility of

system design and system integration by integrating the team members. Also, I was responsible for aerodynamic and structural design of the project. The other five of my team took up the design of propulsion, control, guidance, avionics and instrumentation of the aircraft. My design teacher Prof.

Srinivasan, the then Director of MIT, was our guide. He reviewed the project and declared my work to be gloomy and disappointing. He didnt lend an ear to my difficulties in bringing together data base from multiple designers. I asked for a months time to complete the task, since I had to get the inputs from five of my colleagues without which I cannot
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complete the system design. Prof. Srinivasan told me "Look, young man, today is Friday afternoon. I give you three days time. If by Monday morning I dont get the configuration design, your scholarship will be stopped." I had a jolt in my life, as scholarship was my lifeline, without which I cannot continue with my studies. There was no other way out but to finish the task. My team felt the need for working together round the clock. We didnt sleep that night, working on the drawing board skipping our dinner. On Saturday, I took just an hours break. On Sunday morning, I was near completion, when I felt someones presence in my laboratory. It was Prof. Srinivasan studying my progress. After looking at my work, he patted and hugged me affectionately. He had words of appreciation: "I knew I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline. You have done great job in system design. Through this review mechanism Prof Srinivasan, really injected the necessity of understanding the value of time by each team member and brought out engineering education has to lead system design, system integration and system

management. I realized that if something is at stake, the human minds get ignited and the working capacity gets enhanced manifold. Thats what exactly happened. This is one of the techniques of building talent. The message is that young in the university, whatever is their specialization, be trained and equipped in system design,
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system

integration and

system

management which will

prepare them for competitiveness wherever they take-up work in developing new products, innovation and undertaking higher organizational responsibilities. coach like Prof. Srinivasan. Teacher has to be a

Dimensions of Knowledge society and Economic Development In the knowledge economy the objective of a society changes from fulfilling the basic needs of all-round

development to empowerment. The education system will be promoted by creative, interactive self learning formal and informal education with focus on values, merit and quality. The workers instead of being skilled or semi-skilled will be knowledgeable, self-empowered and flexibly skilled. The type of work instead of being structured and hardware driven will be less structured and software driven. Management style will emphasize more on delegation rather than giving command. Impact on environment and ecology will be strikingly less compared to industrial economy. Finally, the economy will mostly be driven by knowledge and knowledge driven

institutions and industries. The emphasis in knowledge society will be on sustainable development.

Now, let me describe my visualization of the distinctive profile of India by 2020.

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Distinctive Profile of India by 2020 1. A Nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line. 2. A Nation where there is an equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water. 3. A Nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in symphony. 4. A Nation where education with value system is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination. 5. A Nation, which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors. 6. A Nation where the best of health care is available to all. 7. A Nation where the governance is responsive,

transparent and corruption free. 8. A Nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women and children are absent and none in the society feels alienated. 9. A Nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, devoid of terrorism, peaceful and happy and continues with a sustainable growth path. 10. A Nation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of its leadership.

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Integrated Action for developed India To achieve the distinctive profile of India, we have the mission of transforming India into a developed nation. We have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action: (1) Agriculture and food processing (2) Reliable and Quality Electric power, Surface transport and Infrastructure for all parts of the country. (3) Education and Healthcare (4) Information and Communication Technology (5) Self-reliance in critical technologies. These five areas are closely inter-related and if progressed in a coordinated way, will lead to food, economic and national security.

University and Moradabad district I was studying the core-competence of the Moradabad district which is agrarian based and the city of Moradabad is rich with artisan based small and medium scale cottage industry, particularly brassware and high quality bangles. This core strength can definitely be made use of for enhancing the economic and social conditions of the people in the district. Out of the 31 lakhs people in Moradabad district, 20 lakh live in rural areas. To promote inclusive growth of the entire 31 lakh population, I would suggest Teerthankar Mahaveer University to work in for the creation of 20 PURA complexes in the entire district. Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) envisages creation of three

connectivities namely physical, electronic, knowledge leading

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to economic connectivity. The PURA management system will assist in enhancing the percapita income from 21,384 rupees (2007 data) to one lakh of the citizens in the region in the next five years by providing planning support, skill development in native industry, establishment of viable small and medium scale industrial units, enhancing agricultural productivity, undertaking creation of agro-processing industry to prevent wastage and enhance value addition to the local produce. The PURA units can also consider plantation of Mentha in addition to the other conventional crops. Production of mentha can lead to creation of small industry for culinary products, medicinal and cosmetic products, insecticides and aroma therapy products. Creation of such product profiles will definitely bring in vibrancy in the industrial and economic system of the region. I would like to highlight here one example of catalyzing the brass industry. Catalyzing brass industry: The district of Moradabad has a unique international recognition in its industry of brass works and handicrafts. I researched about this industry and found that attractive brass ware is exported to countries like USA, Britain, Canada, Germany and Middle East Asia. There are about 1000 export units and 4800 industries in the district. Moradabad exports goods worth Rs. 2200 crore every year. We should aim at exporting over rupees 10,000 crore of products in five years time. For this, we have to cope with the
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international

competition

in

the

industry.

Injecting

international competitiveness will involve provision of better processes, reduction in wastage during processing, use of waste material for re-processing, facilitating reduced manual intervention through partial mechanization, promoting short and long term safety of the artisans will have to be addressed in an integrated way. As this university witnesses its first graduation, it is paramount for the students and faculty to participate such national programme, that will enrich

university environment, particularly students and faculty members can direct the academic results for the progress of the state. This has to come in two forms better technology and better management. Recently, I was at the CSIR-CECRI at Karaikudi, Tamilnadu where I was presented about Cluster Innovation system for promoting innovation in brass cluster. Their technology mainly focuses on creating better methods for electroplating and metal finishing for safer and faster metal finishing. Moradabad district can benefit from this technology addition, better brass products, better production and better earning capacity. The other aspect is that of bringing better marketing and inventory management to the brass industry of Moradabad. Marketing will involve design to suit the taste of national and international customer and should be assessed by

participating in national and international exhibition. Based

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on the feed back, the educational institutions can provide design change support of the products. This would require a concentrated effort on developing fast information flow from the market to the designer and production centers. Another aspect could be the realization of a cooperative framework within the brass artists for the production, value addition and marketing of the brass products. There will be need to train the brassware artisan with new technology and safety standards. A dedicated website to cater to the needs of the international and national customers can also be developed for online ordering, customization and purchasing of the

brassware from Moradabad. Another important aspect is the management of the safety and health of the brass workers and their families. It is a known fact that the environment in which brass work is conducted can be toxic. Long term exposure can cause serious health problem. The Teerthankar Mahaveer University has to plan and execute this mission using the students and faculty members of the university, district authorities, few large scale

industries, research and development institutions like CECRI Karaikudi, Tamilnadu, National Institute of Design,

Ahmadabad, Gujarat. Such a holistic development strategy will provide, hands on experience to the students and faculty members and enhance the value of education through direct contribution to national development. For this purpose, it is
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essential to start Teerthanker Mahaveer University a centre of technology and technology transfer for economic development of the citizens. Now I would like to discuss about the mission of ten billion trees. Birth of a Global Mission: Ten billion trees

Dear friends, you would know about the process of photo-synthesis in the plant and tree family. When the Sun shines, the green plants breakdown water to get electrons and protons, use these particles to turn carbon di-oxide into glucose and vent out oxygen as a waste product. Each mature tree in a year absorbs 20 Kgs of carbon-di-oxide and transforms into wood and reinforces the branches of the tree. At the same time, it lets out into the atmosphere and surrounding 14 kgs of oxygen which is the nature gift to the mankind. Thats why I have been administering during the last seven years to everyone of the 12 million youth I have met, a ten point oath, one of which emphasizes the need for plantation of trees. The oath reads: I will plant ten trees and ensure their growth. I understand that this oath has resulted in the plantation of millions of trees in different parts of the country during the last seven years. I would like to see in the year 2012 a green mission, billion trees from billion people of India. I am sure, every participants of this convocation would be an active partner in this green mission for the district, for the state and for the country.
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Conclusion: what I will be remembered for? Friends, finally I would like to ask you, what would you like to be remembered for? You have to evolve yourself and shape your life. You should write it on a page. That page may be a very important page in the book of human history. And you will be remembered for creating that one page in the history of the nation whether that page is the page of invention, the page of innovation or the page of discovery or a page of making the district economically developed or the page of creating societal change or a page of removing the poverty or the page of fighting injustice or planning and executing mission of networking of rivers. Once again, let me congratulate all the graduating students. My best wishes to all the members of Teerthanker Mahaveer University success in their educational mission. May God bless you. Oath for the Students 1 I will have a goal and work hard to achieve that goal. I realize that small aim is a crime. 2 3 I will work with integrity and succeed with integrity. I will be a good member of my family, a good member of the society, a good member of the nation and a good member of the world. 4 I will always try to save or better someone's life, without any discrimination of caste, creed, language

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religion or state. Wherever I am, a thought will always come to my mind. That is What can I give? 5 I will always protect and enhance the dignity of every human life without any bias. 6 I will always remember the importance of time. My motto will be Let not my winged days, be spent in vain. 7 I will always work for clean home, clean planet Earth and clean energy. 8 As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my tasks and enjoy the success of others. 9 I am as young as my faith and as old as my doubt. Hence, I will light up then, the lamp of faith in my heart. 10 My National Flag flies in my heart and I will bring glory to my nation.

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