Saturday, July 29 2006 13:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Asking the youth of today to be proud of one's country, Business Tycoon and Chairman of Tata Sons, Ratan N Tata yesterday (July 28, 2006) stressed the need to build a united country, free from communal differences.

Delivering the convocation address at the 43rd convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, where he was conferred the Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa), Tata said the youth had the special responsibility of giving back to the country what it deserved.

"Use the knowledge obtained through academics to meet the challenge of technology and through this, contribute for the general uplift of people in rural India," Tata urged.

Referring to them as 'the inheritors of a new India', which was emerging as a powerful nation, he appealed to them to offer their mental prowess to India, rather than draining it in foreign nations.

"Youth should be driven by a high sense of integrity and values, and a sense of social responsibility. Technical challenge and not money alone, should be the driving force," he said.