Universities not mere degree factories: Ram Nath Kovind
Hyderabad, Aug 5 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said that the best scientific universities and institutions of learning are not just teaching shops or degree factories but increasingly they are sources of innovation and incubators of technology and technology-driven start-ups.
He was speaking at the seventh convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad at Kandi in Sangareddy district near here.
"The knowledge ecosystem of public investments in science, academic institutions and universities, research laboratories, commercial applications and private enterprise has an almost magical potential. Its best example is, of course, Silicon Valley in the US. At the core of Silicon Valley are basic science and technology campuses and their talented faculty and students," he said.
The President advised IIT Hyderabad to remain relevant to the fourth industrial revolution that he said will write the script of the 21st century. He said that as a second generation IIT, it should borrow from as well as learn from the models of the past.
Kovind was happy to note that IIT Hyderabad had made a start by setting up a network of centres for research and promotion of entrepreneurship.
The President said that IIT Hyderabad had been set up in a city and in a metropolitan area where several elements for knowledge ecosystem already exist. Hyderabad had a long tradition of scientific discovery and application, he added.
He noted that in Hyderabad there were as many as 19 research facilities and laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Biotechnology, the Department of Atomic Energy, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Indian Space Research Organisation.
The President said that individually, many of these entities were doing excellent work but there was a need for cross-pollination.
"IIT Hyderabad is not envisaged as just an add-on to this ecosystem. Rather, it needs to be the hub of this ecosystem. It must be the connecting tissue and the catalyst for a greater synergy."
Kovind urged IIT Hyderabad to break out of silos and to encourage others to break out of silos. He said that India will judge the success of IIT Hyderabad by the vitality and the output it can ensure for not just itself but for the entire Hyderabad knowledge ecosystem.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali, Irrigation Minister Harish Rao and others attended the convocation.
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US warns shipping firms they could face sanctions over paying Iranian tolls in Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): The United States is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The alert posted Friday by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control adds another layer of pressure in the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
About a fifth of the world's trade in oil and natural gas typically passes through the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in peacetime.
Iran effectively closed the strait to normal traffic by attacking and threatening to attack ships after the US and Israel launched a war on Feb. 28. It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through alternate routes closer to its shoreline, charging fees at times for the service.
That "tollbooth” effort is the focus of the US sanctions warning.
The payment demands could include transfers not only in cash but also “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments,” including chartibale donations and payments at Iranian embassies, OFAC said.
“OFAC is issuing this alert to warn US and non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of payment method,” it said.
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The US responded to Iran's closure of the strait with a naval blockade of its own on April 13, preventing any Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Iran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
The US Central Command said 45 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.
Trump rejects Iranian proposal
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The warning came as US President Donald Trump swiftly rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war between the countries.
“They want to make a deal, I'm not satisfied with it, so we'll see what happens,” Trump said Friday at the White House. He didn't elaborate on what he saw as its shortcomings but expressed frustration with the Iranian leadership.
“It's a very disjointed leadership,” Trump said. “They all want to make a deal, but they're all messed up.”
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Iran handed over its plan to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night.
The shaky three-week ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be holding, though both countries have traded accusations of violations. The standoff is increasingly putting pressure on the global economy, driving up prices and leading to shortages of fuel and other products tied to the oil industry.
Negotiations continued by phone after Trump called off his envoys' trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. Trump this week floated a new plan to reopen the critical passageway used by America's Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has briefed many of his regional counterparts on the country's initiatives to end the ear, according to his social media. He also held talks Friday with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is in contact with the EU's Gulf partners.
China's UN envoy urges Iran to lift restrictions
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Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassdor to the United Nations, said Friday that maintaining the ceasefire is “the most urgent issue" as well as bringing together the sides to resume good faith negotiations “to make sure that the ground is laid for reopening of Hormuz.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi “has been on the phone almost constantly” with representatives from all sides, Fu said, adding that China supports Pakistan's efforts to mediate between the parties.
Fu stressed the root cause of the tremendous suffering in Iran and neighboring countries and the growing turmoil in the global economy, especially in developing countries, “is the illegitimate war by the US and Israel.
