President urges students to focus on research works

At a programme held at Suri Vidyasagar College where he once studied, Mukherjee said in India only one lakh PhD students pass every year while in 2010-11 around 2.18 crore students completed their graduation and post-graduation but they are never willing to study further. "There are eight IITs in India, but the number of students passing from these institutes and engaging themselves in research work and innovation is very less," he added.

He also said that educational institutes need to upgrade the standard of education imparted to the students. "Universities need to develop scientific temperament among students and a curriculum that will encourage the growth of research and innovation," he said.

The President said that to provide greater access to quality higher education to more students, financial assistance offered must increasingly offer a mix of scholarships, education loans and self-help plans such as 'earn while you learn' schemes. Increasing the reach of education in the country, flexible models such as "open", and "distance" learning are far-reaching initiatives and should be encouraged and supported, he added.

At the inauguration of the centenary celebration of the awarding of Nobel prize to Rabindranath Tagore, which will kickstart with the international seminar on the poet, Mukherjee expressed his dissatisfaction over people's attitude towards life.

He said, "In present circumstances, we suffer from calamity of obscurity and thus, we missed the opportunity of offering hospitality to humanity."

"The spirit of India always proclaimed the ideal of unity and the ideal of unity never rejects anything, any race or any culture, he added.

Paying tribute to Tagore, Mukherjee said the poet received the Nobel award with nonchalance and humanity because it was a testament to his ideas of global harmony, exchange of culture and an assertion of joy and dignity of life.

'India, China can be fulcrum for world peace'

Pranab Mukherjee said India and China stand on the threshold of an exciting phase of global exchange, where harnessing of ideas and resources for global welfare can serve as a major fulcrum for world peace and welfare.

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