Awarding young minds, President Pranab Mukherjee calls for innovation from compassion

Mukherjee called the Ignite 2015 awards named after former President APJ Abdul Kalam a ‘fitting tribute’ to his memory and stressed on innovation as the key to economic development. “As the Visitor of 114 central institutions, I have been asking the institutions to establish strong industry-academic inter-linkages. This is one of the ways to readily bring the innovations in the market. For this to happen, I have been encouraging the institutes of higher learning to collaborate with the institutes and industry within India and abroad for creating a conducive ecosystem for nurturing innovation and research. In the recently held Visitor’s Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Indian academic institutions concluded 43 MoUs with the industry in diverse fields,” he said.

In his speech, Mukherjee spoke of the NIF and IIMA having given a global identity to the ‘Indian model of social innovation’ and lauded IIMA’s leadership efforts in governance, public policy, innovation, higher education and entrepreneurship.

He said, “It (IIMA) must strive to be a beacon of knowledge, nurture other institutions with generous mentorship, and maintain a culture that blends the drive for excellence and performance with the spirit of collaboration and compassion… Today, this institute has taken a leadership role in making suggestions for improving higher education system in India and for nurturing innovation ecosystem. The suggestions made today here show the commitment of this institute in two very important and critical drivers of the economy – higher education and innovation.”

At the event, CM Anandiben Patel took note of two innovations displayed at the exhibition — a solar seeder (tractor)and an adjustable handcart, and asked her Cabinet ministers to take the innovations forward so as to aid farmers and underprivileged sections of the society.