Manipal, 08 December 2010: Prathibha Patil – President of India arrived in Manipal on Wednesday, 08th December 2010. She was welcomed with flower bouquet by Dr. V. S. Acharya - Education Minister of Karnataka. Also, Hemalatha P. – Deputy Commissioner of Udupi District, Gladis Almeida – President of Jilla Panchayath Udupi, Kiran Kumar – President of Municipal Corporation Udupi, Mr. & Mrs. Ramdas Pai from MAHE were present and welcomed the President with flower bouquet. Karnataka Governor Hansraj Bharadwaj was also present.
Later, President Prathibha Patil participated in the convocation at the Kasturba Medical College Greens of the University. She gave away the PhD awards to research scholars and gold medals to students. In her address she said that “the University has the major responsibility of producing the future leaders. In this direction a quality education should be given. Our education system should make the overall development of the students”.
She also said “In our country we have plenty of human resources. We must make use of the curiosity and the enthusiasm of the young generation which shall be transformed into the social development. Education without quality is of no use, quality education should be provided. Take any field of education, but it is most important to learn the deeper knowledge in it” she said to the students.
President exhorted the students of Manipal University to use their ideas and innovations for the betterment of the society and stay away from drugs. Making a mention of Manipal University, she said, “Today, Manipal is one of the leading academic and education institutions in the country. I wish the University of Manipal a bright and prosperous future”.