10 life lessons we learned from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

10 life lessons we learned from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

Former President & eminent scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam passed away in Shillong on Monday. Kalam collapsed during a speech at IIM Shillong and was immediately rushed to the nearby Bethany Hospital.

Here are some of Kalam’s inspirational sayings through which he will be remembered forever…

“You have to dream before your dreams can come true.”

“If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.”

My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people.”

“To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.”

“Let me define a leader. He must have vision and passion and not be afraid of any problem. Instead, he should know how to defeat it. Most importantly, he must work with integrity.”

“Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.”

“Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.”

“Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success.”

“Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.”

“You see, God helps only people who work hard. That principle is very clear.”

Launch of skill mission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the National Skill Development Mission in Delhi, where he said if the IITs earned a name globally in the previous century, the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) should achieve international recognition for producing quality skilled manpower in the 21st century. 

At the launch, he introduced the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), a skill loan scheme and the national policy for skill development and entrepreneurship, 2015, as well. 

PMKVY is meant to incentivise skill training by providing financial rewards to candidates who successfully complete approved skill training programmes. It is expected to skill about 24 lakh youth around the country over the next year. Young people without formal certification, such as workers in the unorganised sector, can have their skills recognised for the first time. 'Recognition of Prior Learning' (RPL) would allow 10 lakh young people to be assessed and certified for existing skills. 

Under the loan scheme, amounts ranging from Rs 5,0001.5 lakh would be provided to 34 lakh youth who wish to attend skill development programmes over the next five years. The scheme was rolled out with sanction letters being handed out by the PM to aspiring trainees. 

The PM awarded skill cards and skill certificates to trainees who had completed training during the pilot phase of PMKVY, started in May 2015.Every skill card and skill certifi cate carries a quick response code (QR Code) which can be read through a QR reader on mobile devices. 

Experts and industry representatives appreciated the measures, adding that much depends on implementation. Kumar Kandaswami, senior director, Deloitte in India, said, "While these intentions are noble, the key will be execution. It is important to define and sustain a level of quality that is sought by the end-users. It is hoped that the quality and integrity of the initiative are not sacrificed for meeting number targets. Faulty execution would potentially create a crop of youngsters who are now aspirational but not good enough for what they are trained for."

Launch of skill mission