Create database for traditional medicinal plants: Kalam

Mysore, Jun 27 (UNI) Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today stressed the need for creation of database of Indian traditional medicinal plants to study specific bioactivity and the development of new drugs.

Delivering a special lecture after laying the foundation stone for Rs 20 crore JSS Ayurveda College and Hospital here, he said medicinal plants offer enormous scope for development of drugs particularly in traditional system of medicine like ayurveda, siddha and others.

India has tremendous opportunities for herbal farming and research with a focus on development of invitro propagation methods for under studied and unstudied plants and development of an effective network for the spread of information, training and technology transfer and post-harvest technology, he added.

As foreign institutional investors were finding that investing in India was more attractive 'we need to accelerate this process through hassle-free single window system of clearance for investment proposals. Our industrialists are also investing abroad and opening new business ventures,'' he said.

Complimenting JSS Mutt and its institutions for their yeomen services in the field of education, Dr Kalam wished them success in their mission of developing quality human resources required for transforming India into a developed nation before 2020, which was his vision.

Later, Dr Kalam, addressed the silver jubilee celebration of the Mahahan education society and called upon the students to develop skill to use the latest technologies available for sharpening their learning knowledge.

The aptitude for entrepreneurship should be cultivated right from beginning and in the university environment, 'we must teach our students to take calculated risk for the sake of larger gain, but within the ethos of good business,'' he added.

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