Dr. Kalam at IIM Shillong, Media report by ZeeNews

Shillong: Former president APJ Abdul Kalam Friday asked IIM-Shillong students to compile their findings and suggestions on various topics as part of their "Vision 2030 for the Dimensions of Development in India". 

"We (students) presented our views from a managerial perspective on the topics and explained how they envisioned the future of India's economy on various issues ranging from Climate Change, Robotics, Agriculture to Nanotechnology as part of 'Vision 2030 for the Dimensions of Development in India' to our former president (Kalam)," Ayushi Rohira, a student of Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Shillong told IANS. 

"He was impressed with our ideas and requested us to compile their findings and suggestions in a report that will be looked into and the most feasible solutions will be implemented," he added.

The "Missile Man", as Kalam is also known due to his background in aerospace engineering and his role in India's indigenous missile development, is one of the visiting faculty members at IIM-Shillong. 

Kalam was here since Thursday delivering lectures under a series titled "Dimensions of National Development" and guiding students individually as well as in groups. 

Another student, Yash Bhambhwani, said: "July 25, 2014 will go down in the history of IIM-Shillong as the day when young minds presented their views and recommendations for a prosperous world in 2030."

"The various facets that he (Kalam) talked about included a vision for the nation for 2030 ... He taught us that leaders of tomorrow must have the passion to transform their vision to actions," student Rohan Modi said. 

The IIM here, named after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, started in 2008 from a makeshift campus at a complex that was the erstwhile summer palace of the kings of Mayurbhanj in Odisha. The Meghalaya government has allotted a 120-acre plot on which work has begun for a state-of-the-art academic-cum-residential campus.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/

APJ Abdul Kalam praises Centre's river linking project

 Invoking renowned nationalist poet Bharathiyar at the poets' festival here, former President APJ Abdul Kalam said Bharathi had written about the concept of interlinking of rivers in his poems several years ago. Kalam hailed the Modi government for taking up the project and allocating 100 crore for it in the recently announced Union budget.

"Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar raised his voice a hundred years ago for interlinking rivers. Now the Union government has sanctioned 100 crore for the project. Bharathi's dream is becoming a reality now. Interlinking of rivers is the solution for water scarcity and it will help improve agriculture across the country," said Abdul Kalam.

He also said that Thiruvalluvar, UV Swaminatha Iyyer, G U Pope and Mahakavi Bharathi have greatly contributed to Tamil language. Thiruvalluvar explained about the life and rules in Thirukkural 2,000 years ago. Traditional poems were written in palm leaves and they were not preserved. Swaminatha Iyyer collected these poems and printed them for coming generations. GU Pope translated several Tamil texts to English, he said.

"Socio-economic gap between cities and villages should be reduced and all should get drinking water by 2020. Agriculture, industry and service sectors should work together for the development of our nation. Every one should get quality education and healthcare. India should be corruption free country by 2020," he said. Addressing the gathering, lyricist Vairamuthu said Tamil is a language that taught civilization to the world 2000 years ago. Tamil has a vital role in the world civilization. Tamil writers have raised voice against caste system since the beginning," said Vairamuthu.

He also said that Unesco has announced Tamil as one of the eight endangered languages. Latin, Hebrew and Sanskrit have become extinct, adding that Tamil is still a living language.

"If Tamil people are not interested in promoting their mother tongue, the language will die soon," said Vairamuthu.

Madras high court judge Vimala, and Malaysian deputy minister for youths and sports Dutho M Saravanan, from Malaysia also attended the meeting.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Kalam-praises-Centres-river-linking-project/articleshow/38410371.cms

Country must focus on reducing maternal mortality: APJ Abdul Kalam

Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Saturday called upon the country to focus on reducing maternal mortality rate (MMR).

Addressing the staff of Women’s Center here, he said that India ranked 142 out of 176 countries in tackling maternal mortality.

Terming preventable maternal mortality as a failure in providing human rights to women and recognising their right to life, he said that India should target a 75 per cent reduction in MMR within the next few years.

It was lower wherever literacy rate is high with Kerala and a few north-eastern states being cases in the point.

While there were multiple reasons behind MMR ranging from lack of adequate roads to high costs of healthcare, he said that Government must address all of them.

Caesarean section

Replying to Mr. Kalam’s query on increasing instances of caesarean section operations for child deliveries, Mirudhubashini Govindarajan, clinical director of the Women’s Center, said that many women were now opting to start a family late in life, mostly due to career reasons. Further, there were other reasons such as overweight, with the Center coming across pregnant ladies weighing over 100 kg almost once a week.

Many women lead a sedentary lifestyle and India, especially the southern States, had among the highest incidences of diabetes globally, she said.

Midwives

Dr. Mirudhubashini said that child birth, which was perhaps the most important event in a woman’s life, was not covered by any medical insurance scheme. She also called for reviving the system of having midwives for deliveries.

B.K. Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, spoke.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/country-must-focus-on-reducing-maternal-mortality-kalam/article6205827.ece