CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi announced on Tuesday that steps are being taken to introduce a Tamil diploma course at the Gauhati University in Assam.

Delivering a keynote address at Tamil Nadu's Hindi Sahitya Academy's national seminar and award ceremony in DG Vaishnav College here, Ravi highlighted Mahakavi Bharathiyar's lines 'Seppu Mozhi Pathinettudayaal Enil Chinthanai Ondrudayal' and emphasised India's spiritual and cultural unity.

Lauding the Tamil language, Ravi said, "Tamil is an ancient, powerful, and sweet language. It should be taken all over the world. I have contacted the Gauhati University in Assam and urged them to start a Tamil Diploma course. I've been learning Tamil for the past three years. I'm just a beginner. I can understand someone speaking in Tamil within my earshot," he added.

The Governor said that today in India, there are around 1,25,000 startup firms and 20 per cent of them are unicorn firms and more than 25 crore people have come out of poverty in the last 10 years.

Commending the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, "Today, the entire world is watching India. Many countries took lessons from us on how to fix their economy and administration."

Ravi further stressed the importance of 'Nari Shakti' and encouraged the youth to excel in their fields with a vision of contributing to a strong and self-reliant India, while upholding the Sanatana value of 'Yathum Oore Yaavarum Kaelir' ('To us all towns are one, all men our kin') for a peaceful, equitable and inclusive world.

He also highlighted the climate change crisis, noting that, "The unified philosophy and vision that worshipping the trees and animals and others is the heritage of our Bharat."