Brave ex- servicemen of Indian Army and their dependents,

I am indeed happy and proud to be present amidst you.

2. Being the President of India, it is a matter of happiness and satisfaction for me to have got this opportunity to interact with you in this beautiful city of Pokhara.

3. On behalf of the people of India, I express my deep sympathies to Nepal and its people on the unfortunate loss of lives and damage to property on account of the destructive earthquake that struck Nepal last year.

1.I am indeed very happy to join you for the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards function and present the awards to this group of creative young children of our society. My congratulations to all the awardees and their families and teachers! It is heartening to see so many creative minds trying to tackle the challenges faced by our society at such a young age.

It is indeed a pleasant occasion to me to be present amidst you on the inauguration of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of ECGC. As the then Commerce Minister, I have had the privilege and opportunity earlier of closely observing the functioning of ECGC which is completing 60 years.

1. At the outset, I compliment the air-warriors for their impeccable turnout and outstanding precision of drill movements. I am extremely pleased to be present here today, at Air Force Station, Ambala to award Standards to 501 Signal Unit and 30 Squadron. These distinguished Units have glorious past and rich traditions of professional excellence. Since their inception, both units have distinguished themselves in the service of the Nation with honour and distinction.

1.I am indeed happy and consider myself privileged to be present amidst you this morning for the inauguration of the Second International Coronary Congress. It is my privilege because I am speaking as a layman in the midst of so many experts present in this hall.

I am indeed very happy to have this opportunity to be present at the Inaugural Ceremony of the 36th edition of the India International Trade Fair (IITF). This Fair commences every year on 14thNovember, the birth anniversary of the first Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

Your Excellency, Mr. Reuven Rivlin, President of the State of Israel,

Mrs. Nechama Rivlin,

Distinguished members of the Israeli delegation,

Ladies and gentlemen,

1. It gives me great pleasure to extend a very warm welcome to Your Excellency and Mrs. Nechama Rivlin on your first State Visit to India.

2. Your visit is, indeed, significant – as it is taking place twenty years after the last visit of an Israeli President to India.

1.I am delighted to welcome you all to the second Visitor’s Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan. I extend a special welcome to those heads of academic institutions who are attending this conference for the first time. I have had the good fortune to interact with you and the institutions you represent, on several occasions – be it the eight conferences held here in last four years, the video conferences, or the convocations and other special occasions. My interface with you has enriched my understanding of the higher education sector.

1.I am happy to address this session on industry-academia collaborations. This indeed is an important component of the three-day Visitor’s Conference that has begun today. Let me thank the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for collaborating with Rashtrapati Bhavan for this particular session. CII has been active in bridging the higher education and industrial sectors. Its unique models of forging industry-institution collaborations, be it the Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research with DST or the IndPact Survey with AICTE, have been quite successful.

1.We have come to the conclusion of this Visitor’s Conference.Prior to the first Visitor’s Conference last year, I had the good fortune to host some of you inthe seven conferences held at Rashtrapati Bhavan between February 2013 and February 2015. So before I proceed with my closing remarks, I want to thank each of one of you for your association and participation in these conclaves at Rashtrapati Bhavan. You come to attend the conferences here at my request in spite of yourbusy schedule as heads of institutions you represent. I am grateful to you for that.