‘Focus on renewable energy sources’

The former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has emphasised the need to look towards renewable sources to meet the country’s future energy requirements. Speaking after giving away the “Manthan 2009” awards to students with best original research papers and business plans as part of a competition organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) here on Sunday, Dr. Kalam said fossil fuels like oil are not expected to last forever. Dr. Kalam spoke on bio-fuels and their importance in the present-day context after complimenting a team of students from Nitte Institute of Technology, Udupi, who bagged the first prize for their presentation “Efficacy of bio-ethanol production from different biological wastes,” during the competition. Earlier, chairperson and managing director of Biocon Limited Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw complimented the three teams of students that made it to the final round of the competition. She called upon students to look at entrepreneurship as it was the best way to generate jobs in the country. Chairperson of Women Entrepreneurs, IT&BT Committee of FKCCI Raj Bhasin said a panel of eminent jury, comprising both academics and industry experts, perused all the entries submitted by the students and short-listed 20 of them for the second stage. (June 22, 2009)