Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday emphasised the importance of nurturing Indian languages, calling them a "gold mine of literature."
He encouraged inclusivity, stating that India's rich linguistic diversity is a source of pride. With 22 languages used in Parliament, Dhankhar highlighted the significance of preserving and promoting every Indian language. "India is a land of rich languages. Sanskrit, Bangla, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and several other languages. Even in Parliament, simultaneous translation takes place in 22 languages," Dhankhar said while interacting with the students of IIT Hyderabad. "Our civilizational ethos tells us inclusivity. Should there be a confrontational stance on language in the land of Bharat? What a moment of pride for everyone when languages were given the classical languages status recently. We have to nurture every language. Our languages have global outreach. They are a gold mine of literature, and the literary pieces have knowledge and wisdom. Vedas, Puranas, our epics Ramayana, Mahabharat, Gita," he added. Dhankhar also stressed the value of alumni associations, suggesting that Indian institutions of excellence, such as IITs and IIMs, should form a confederation of alumni associations. He believes this would create a top-notch think tank for policy-making, driving research and innovation. Dhankhar underlined the significance of alumni associations and said, " Look at global universities, their endowment funds, billions of US dollars. I had the occasion to glance. Oh my God. Closing in 50 billion US dollars, if you see the top list. Why don't we have it?..... We have alumni. Let our alumni pour into the corpus. The amount doesn't matter. It is the spirit of contribution that will generate a connection with the Institute. A pride for them also". "I have mooted an idea. I hope someone takes it. We have institutes of excellence, IITs, IIMs and other institutes. Their alumni associations must form into a confederation of associations of alumni. It will be a top world benchmark think tank for policy making. It can spur research and innovation", he added. Furthermore, Dhankhar urged corporates to invest in research and innovation, emphasizing that this investment would benefit not only individual students but also the country's present and future. He encouraged Indian corporates to take cues from their Western counterparts, leveraging innovation and research to gain a competitive edge in global diplomacy He urged the corporates to invest in research and innovation, " First our corporates. I am not critical of them, I am critique. They must invest in research, they must invest in research for development and innovation. They must compete with global giants because this investment is not for the beneficiary student boy or girl of your institute or other institutes. It is for the benefit of our present, our future and trust me, we have had a big change in our strategic system globally. The conventional war system has collapsed; it is diplomacy that defines. Innovation and research give us a great cutting edge in soft diplomacy. We become a great power. Therefore, I appeal from this podium, corporates, examine what your peers are doing in the West. Please come closer to them." (ANI)
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