Technology Day should be a day for young people: Kalam

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Tuesday said Technology Day, celebrated every year since 1999, should be a day for young people who can be inspired to take science as a career.

Speaking at a function to mark the occasion, Kalam said technology was important for the economic development of the country and building a better nation.

"Technology Day should be a day of young people. They should be called at functions like this as it will help them choose a career in science," he added.

The former president said core competency, system integration and system management was needed to realise the dream of making the country a developed one.

He said every individual should play a role in making sure that there is no urban-rural divide, healthcare is available to everyone and the country is devoid of terrorism and is the best place to live in.

Technology Day is special for Indian science as the country achieved a huge technological advancement on this day. While indigenous aircraft "Hansa-3" was test flown at Bangalore on the day, the country also performed successful test firing of the Trishul missile on the same day. It also conducted successful nuclear tests at Pokhran in Rajasthan May 11.

Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that on this day the country came of age to showcase indigenous technologies.

He said the focus was now on research, international cooperation, public-private-partnership to tackle the challenges that the country is facing in energy and food security, climate change besides national security. Science and technology will help tackle these problems, Chavan added.