Kalam inaugurates Children's Science Congress in Kolkata

Be unique and dare to imagine the impossible was former President A P J Abdul Kalam's message to students keen on pursuing science as a career.

Inaugurating the Children Science Congress on the sidelines of the 100th Indian Science Congress here, he said parents, teachers and society always cite examples of others and want students to emulate them.

"Why do you have to become like someone when you are unique?" he said.

Kalam said he had met 15 million youth across the country and abroad in the past decade and learnt that every youth wants to be unique.

"History has proven that those who dare to imagine the impossible are the ones who break all human limitations. In every field of human endeavour, whether science, medicine, sports, the arts, or technology, the names of the people who imagined the impossible and achieved are engraved in our history. By breaking the limits of their imagination, they changed the world," he said.

Kalam said there is a paradigm shift in science and technology and a new trend is emerging where the aspect ecology is being introduced. Presiding over the session, Science & Technology Minster S Jaipal Reddy said the future of India will be shaped by the emerging force, the youth of the nation.

He said the country has a dynamic, developed and diversified industrial and service sectors, established on the strength of its own techno-entrepreneurial talents.

"Our technological achievements are substantial and in certain areas, these are world class. The country today has over 700 R&D, technical and development centres of the top global companies, employing over 150,000 scientists and engineers," he said.

"This confidence of global majors in our youth has given fillip to some of India's best and talented young technocrats to become first generation technopreneurs. And, most importantly, all of this has been achieved in a framework of a vibrant pluralistic democracy," Reddy said.