new delhi vice president m venkaiah naidu on monday lamented the fall in reading habits among children and said a wellread person is definitely better prepared to overcome challenges in lifehe also stressed on the need to teach children to navigate through misinformation and fake newsaddressing over 200 young participants at the times scholars event via video link the vice president asked them to develop the ability to analyse and the courage to accept the truth and discard lies an official statement saidthe event was hosted by the times of india and it focused on promoting reading especially newspapers among studentsexpressing disappointment at the fall in reading habits of children the vice president highlighted the need to teach them to be intelligent and discerning readers amid the limitless information available todaya wellread student is definitely better prepared to overcome challenges in life naidu saidquoting former president late a p j abdul kalam naidu asked the students to aim high and dream high describing the qualities required to realise ones dream naidu listed selfdiscipline hard work sincerity perseverance and the ability to maintain equanimity in all situations as very important the statement saidobserving that the covid19induced disruption in academic schedule has caused anxiety and stress among many students the vice president advised them to not get disturbed by events which are beyond controlall of you are young and need to develop a strong emotional quotient and the ability to weather ups and downs in life naidu told the studentshe also advised students to practice yoga regularly to improve their physical fitness mental equilibrium and overcome stress and anxietydrawing their attention towards tough competition in every field naidu advised the students to develop confidence and try to overcome all odds by striving to achieve excellenceplease remember that there are no shortcuts to success he saidexpressing the need to make youngsters aware of indias glorious past the vice president wanted them to take pride in their heritage and history and serve as ambassadors of indias lofty cultural and civilisational ideals in the worldhe exhorted the students to strive for excellence in whichever career path they chose and keep pushing the boundaries and find new frontiersnever be satisfied with the status quo always set higher benchmarks and create new and better systems wherever you go naidu saidnaidu also wanted the students to understand the problems being faced by the world such as poverty inequality violence and climate change and asked them to come up with new solutions for these