President asks varsities to create two global cadres

Mumbai, Dec 23 (UNI) President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam today asked the universities to create two cadres of personnel- a global cadre of specially skilled youth and another from the field of higher education.

''These two cadres will be required not only for powering the manufacturing and services sector of India but also fulfilling the human resource requirements of various countries'', he said while inaugurating the fourth PanIIT 2006 conference here.

He asked the IITs to be able to identify ''hidden Ramanujans'' beyond its selection process and nurture them for the world.

He further said the PanIITians have a unique experience of entrepreneurship which could be used to enable every IIT and every university to become an employment generator by converting their technology into a product and marketing it.

He also stressed the need to concentrate and develop the solar energy, thorium based reactors and bio fuel to attain energy independence by 2020.

Dr Kalam said the age of oil and natural gas would be over within the next few decades and as per the predictions of the world energy forum, fossil based oil, coal and gas reserves would last for another 5-10 decades only.

In this situation, solar energy, use of thorium, which is abundant in India, as well as bio fuel would prove to be the best alternative as a source of energy, he said.

UNI JM ADG RR RAI1831