HP University should focus on research and development to overcome ecological challenges: President Murmu

NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh University should focus on research and development to address and overcome the ecological challenges causing climate change, President Droupadi Murmu said on Wednesday. Speaking at the 26th convocation ceremony of Himachal Pradesh University here, she exhorted farmers to shift to natural farming and said the university should become instrumental in providing state-of-the-art technology to farmers through research and innovations.

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She said the university should focus on research and development to address and overcome the ecological challenges causing climate change. "I am happy to see women participation and progress as 70 per cent of the students in higher education in Himachal Pradesh are girls and the same was reflected in the number of students who were awarded gold medals today," she added. As many as 111 students bagged gold medals and 99 students were awarded PhD.

Ten gold medallists were awarded by the president. Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla said India is emerging as a strong nation and the youth have opportunities to excel in various fields. He also gave a call to root out the menace of drugs from the hill state.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said his government was committed to successfully implementing the National Education Policy and Himachal Pradesh University would play a significant role in this. He exhorted students to learn from their experience. Sukhu said he had spent eight years of his life in this university and also mentioned the name of BJP president JP Nadda, another alumnus of the institute.