Indian president addresses Congress, urges RP to use solar energy

Indian President Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam urged the Philippine government to emulate India by using more solar power as he addressed a joint session of Congress at the Batasan complex in Quezon City yesterday.

The Indian government has also proposed bilateral cooperation in eight other areas besides the existing defense, tourism and agriculture agreements.

Kalam said the "Indo-Philippine Cooperation Roadmap" he is proposing would help the Philippines reduce the costs of medicines, set up more small- and medium-scale enterprises, modernize the country’s electoral system and increase bilateral trade to $2 billion by 2009.

He said India’s largest off-grid power plant in West Bengal has been providing six hours of electricity to 33 villages on Sagar Island. This facility is also used to store milk and agricultural goods.

"Since the Philippines has more than 7,000 islands, I would suggest that such solar power-based electrical systems can be considered for implementation," Kalam said. "This can be complementary to the geothermal power plants or (alternative power) from any other source."

According to him, the use of renewable energy "is being replicated in many villages."

India’s fuel plants produce two tons of biodiesel annually, which is extracted from crops grown on 11 million hectares of agricultural land. Production of biodiesel generates revenues of $4 billion a year for India and employs over 12 million people as part of India’s energy independence policy.

"This is sustainable development," Kalam said. "It will reduce the foreign exchange outflow paid for importing crude oil, the cost of which is continuously rising in the international market."

Kalam delivered a 31-minute address interrupted several times by applause as he shared India’s experiences in nation building. India’s major development programs have pushed the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) up to an average growth rate of seven percent over the last few years, placing India in the ranks of Asia’s best-performing economies.

Kalam received the Congressional Medal of Achievement prior to his address from Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. for his role in India’s robust growth as the world’s largest democracy.

India is also pushing for the construction of a facility that can predict earthquakes, which occur most frequently in the Pacific Ring of Fire, within which the Philippines, India, the United States, Japan, Turkey and Iran are located, he said. This temblor prediction facility will also incorporate early-warning facilities capable of detecting tsunamis.

It will be recalled that India was among six countries severely hit by the 2004 tsunami. Last year’s killer quake in Kashmir severely hit Pakistan, India’s neighbor and parts of India.

"It is essential to forecast the earthquake using multiple parameters, using precursors such as pre-shock conditions, electro-magnetic phenomena prior to final rupture and atmospheric and ionospheric anomalies," Kalam said.

On a lighter note, Kalam also praised Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao: "You have a great boxer in Pacquiao. What a beautiful personality!"

The Indian president also expressed confidence in the Filipino’s ability to adapt as he praised the Filipino’s resilience: "With these great qualities, you can achieve (your) goals. We will work together as partners in your mission."

Kalam also donated computer software and books for a "virtual university" to the University of the Philippines (UP).

Speaking before scholars and members of the state university’s faculty at the UP Diliman campus in Quezon City, Kalam said the purpose of education is to develop and enhance the potential of a country’s human resources and to progressively transform that country through knowledge and modernization.

"Our educational system should realign itself at the earliest to meet the needs of present-day challenges and be fully geared to participate in societal transformation through innovation, which is the key to competitiveness," he said.

A country’s educational system "should also develop a global outlook," he said and should work towards "facilitating individuals and institutions to reach out and become competitive in the global market."

He urged government and educators to build into the Philippine education system five special capacities: research and inquiry; creativity and innovation; use of high technology; entrepreneurial leadership; and moral leadership. Students must also be trained to develop the disposition to do the right thing, he said.

"If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce an autonomous learner, a self-directed, self-controlled, lifelong partner who will have the capacity to both respect authority and question authority in an appropriate manner," Kalam said. — With Katherine Adraneda