Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the IIT Delhi 57th convocation on the Institute's campus and inaugurated 'Param Pragya', an AI-based high-performance supercomputing and project cluster facility. He also welcomed new AI-related initiatives launched at the institute.
Modi presented the President's Gold Medal, Director's Gold Medal, Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal and Perfect Ten Medals. Congratulating the medal recipients, he said the number of women among them should have been higher. The speech was delivered in Hindi.
Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi said India's education ecosystem had become "learner-centric, research-driven, and future-ready". He said the Prime Minister regarded youth as the "foremost architects of Viksit Bharat 2047".
Modi said the world and technology are changing too fast for anyone to predict the next 20-30 years, but "those who keep learning will keep winning". An IIT degree, he said, is proof not only of exams passed, a good CGPA or a placement, but that the holder can solve difficult problems.
Exams have a syllabus but life does not, he said, urging graduates to stay curious and question what is blindly accepted. The earlier generation's goal was independence, achieved through sacrifice, he said, and today's youth should base every decision on national benefit over the next 30-35 years. India, he said, is working towards economic, technological and industrial self-reliance as the foundation of a Viksit Bharat.
He cautioned against comparing packages, companies or startups in the age of social media. "Life is not a leaderboard", he said, and the real race is with oneself. He also advised attention to physical and mental health.
The Prime Minister said modern policies have opened sectors once closed to young people. Space, once almost entirely government-run, now has youth building launch vehicles and rockets, something few countries manage. In semiconductors, he said, production has begun in the first units despite earlier doubts, and he expressed confidence that "from chip to ship" everything would be made in India.
Drones are used in agriculture, medicine delivery, defence and security, he said, and India's startup revolution, including unicorns, digital payments and fintech, has been powered by youth, with many founders from IIT Delhi. He also named artificial intelligence, data centres, critical minerals, deep-sea exploration, batteries, power storage, energy security, electric mobility and quantum computing.
On research, Modi listed the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship, the Research Development and Innovation Scheme and the National Research Foundation, referred to in one account as the Anusandhan National Research Foundation. He said funding of up to one lakh crore rupees is being arranged for research.
Under One Nation One Subscription, he said, prestigious research journals are available even in the smallest towns at no extra cost. He acknowledged that a long way remains and said progress depends on the youth's commitment to research.
With reference to the IIT Delhi convocation addressed by the Prime Minister, consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above are correct?
With reference to the research initiatives mentioned by the Prime Minister, consider the following statements:
How many of the above statements are correct?
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I: The Prime Minister said modern policies have opened sectors once closed to young people, such as space, where youth are now building launch vehicles and rockets.
Statement-II: Space was once almost entirely government-run.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
