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Teach Students About The Indian Who Invented Plane Way Before Wright Brothers, Says Minister Satya Pal Singh

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The newly inducted Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satya Pal Singh has advised engineering colleges across the country to include mythology and puranas as part of the syllabus, reports Hindustan Times.

Singh recently said that students lack knowledge about the Indians who have contributed tremendously in various researches and inventions.

"Why are students not taught that before the Wright brothers, an Indian called Shivakar Babuji Talpade was the first to invent the airplane. This person invented the plane eight years before the Wright brothers. Are students taught these things at IITs or engineering institutes? They are not, but they should be," Singh said an event organized by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to give away Chhatra Vishwakarma awards to the winning students on Monday evening.

Not just that, Singh also wants engineering students to learn about the 'Pushpak Vimaan' -- a flying chariot which finds a mention in Ramayana.

He said that despite producing around 40,000 PhD scholars every year, India is lagging behind in the field of research and innovation. And according to him, teaching them about the country's "rich culture and civilisation" will change that.

Singh is a former IPS officer who was posted as the Mumbai Police Commissioner from 2012 to January 2014. He is a BJP MP from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.