Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that along with "gross national income", we must focus on how science and technology can foster greater “happiness” and better quality of life as well as harmonious inclusive societies.

Addressing the gathering after conferring Adi Shankara Young Scientist Awards 2018 at the Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering & Technology, in Kochi, Kerala, he said this.

The Governor of Kerala, Justice (Retd) P. Sathasivam and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Vice President said that the Adi Shankara Young Scientist Awards 2018 is an eloquent testimony to the inquisitiveness, ingenuity, and innovative initiative inherent in our young India.

He further said that this is what gives us hope and optimism that India will be able to regain its rightful place in the comity of nations.

Advancement of human knowledge has occurred in our country because of the “spirit of enquiry”, the ability to question, the ability to research and the ability to arrive at the truth, he added.

Naidu mentioned three qualities to achieve excellence: First is the willingness to learn from each and every person, institution and learning resource we can access; The second is the ability to probe, analyse and synthesize; The third quality is to search for a completely out of the box solution that answers the problem at hand.

The Vice President said that Adi Shankara was not only a great philosopher but an extraordinary poet.

He expounded the "Advaita" philosophy as per which, human beings can become divine through knowledge and the ultimate goal is to experience the Sat-chit-Ananda, the state of bliss consciousness that emanates from truth and higher consciousness, he added