President Pratibha Patil today said that the importance of nations in the 21st century would be judged not by economic strength alone, but the power to conceptualise scientific inventions and bring benefits to the people.
"A store of scientific knowledge can only be useful when it is used for the betterment of the life of the people," she said at a function to mark the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Indian National Science Academy here.
"The quest for knowledge, however, is unending and research for new discoveries must continue as we cope up with change and new challenges which the world is facing today," Patil said.
Stating that the world was moving forward rapidly and decisively into an era where societies and economies were incrementally based on knowledge, she said this emphasised the need for an education system which encouraged the study of science among the younger generation.
For this, India has launched a 'second wave' of investment in higher education with an expansion of facilities and setting up of more institutions like IIT and central universities, she said.
