Even after leaving the office, ex-president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is continuing his favorite work of igniting young minds towards making the ‘Vision 2020‘ a reality. On May 10, Dr.Kalam was addressing at the first convocation ceremony of Ravenshaw University at Cuttack, Orissa, where he appealed to the young students to work coherently for converting dreams into reality, thereby making India a best place on earth by 2020.

“Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts into action and with knowledge all problems would be defeated and goals achieved”, Kalam reminded the audience present there. Mentioning Pokhran-II of May 11, 1998 (incidentally completing 10 years today), he justified the then NDA government’s action saying it was necessary to fortify India’s nuclear capability and added that present nuclear negotiation with US will not affect India adversely. Remembering sanctions imposed on the nation on aftermath of Pokhran-II, he commented that such incident has helped India to become more self-reliance.

To emphasis his dream of transforming India into an ideal place by 2020, Dr. Kalam said, “India in the next 12 years would have a very thin line dividing urban and rural areas, abundant quality energy, best destination for science and technology research, quality health-care facilities and a responsive government”.

The function saw some 50 graduates receiving awards and medals from the ex-president. Mr. M C Bhandare, governor of Orissa and Chancellor of the university, was seen present at the function along with other state dignitaries.