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Pitroda moots State maritime university BY HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MARCH 10 — Chairman of the Knowledge Commission of India, Sam Pitroda has said that Goa with a large number of seafarers offers an ideal place for a maritime university. He further said that a highly literate State like Goa could offer a perfect place for knowledge institutions, including a knowledge city. "I agree that Goa is ideally suited for a maritime University given the host of maritime institutions in the State. Submit the proposal and the Knowledge Commission of India will push the idea", Pitroda maintained. He was delivering a talk on "Knowledge Economy" organised by the Goa unit of the Action India Movement here this evening. Pitroda, who pioneered a transformation in the telecom sector, underlined the need to shake up the existing system and a change in the mindset to build a knowledge society. "The Knowledge Commission is looking at long term perspectives. We can't expect miracles overnight, but there's a need to restructure the institutions from ground zero", he said. Lamenting the absence of creativity in India, he emphasised the need to focus on innovations to solve problems plaguing the country in the spheres of health, water, sanitation, education etc. Saying that the Knowledge commission would look into all kinds of needs in the education sector, Pitroda said "there's a need to bring research back in the universities. More students need to go back to maths and physics". He said that the country with a population of one billion ought to have had atleast 2000 universities including 100 of international standard. "The quality of education is poor and the quantity is also not adequate", he added. Calling for a need to revive libraries, he said the Commission wants to bring about a network of schools, institutions and universities to share resources, adding the Commission has taken up the task of creating portals on various subjects. Earlier, the Goa unit of the Knowledge Commission, Peter D'Souza said that Goa can host knowledge institutions in maritime, hospitality, pharmaceuticals, and design. Action India Movement co-ordinator, Vijay Sardessai suggested that Pitroda make Goa a global knowledge destination centre. -- TUMCHER AXIRVAD ASSUM; DEV BOREM KORUM. Gabe Menezes. London, England
