I extend hearty welcome to all of you on the occasion of 54^th Annual Technical Convention on the theme “ICTs in Rural Development”. The topic is of direct relevance to common man and a subject we have been deliberating for many years now.

Today I feel proud to welcome Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi, as the Chief Guest of this Convention. It is through his vision and dynamic leadership that Gujarat is known as the most progressive state of our country and has, thus, achieved the distinction of “Golden Gujarat”. Gujarat state government has framed clear policies in vital areas such as agriculture, ports, power, roads and education. This has helped creating greater certainty and consistency - the two important aspects needed for business environment. Today, Gujarat accounts for 5 percent of India’s population, but contributes 21 percent to Indian exports and 13 percent to the industrial production. Its literacy rate is higher than the national average. Gujarat can be cited as a very good example for using ICTs in rural development. This fact motivated us to come to Gujarat to hold our Convention at Ahmedabad.

Friends,

Our Institution, IETE has not lagged behind in contributing its bit in the development of this beautiful state of ‘Gujarat’. Our Ahmedabad Centre has entered into an MOU with the Department of Science & Technology of the Gujarat Govt., in January 2011 to be a partner in their efforts to make Gujarat a Vibrant State. Gujarat contributes 12% of our total students’ strength as against 5% of its population. As of now, we have three Centres of IETE in Gujarat at Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

We are committed to expand our students base and other professional activities in Gujarat. I, therefore, announce with great satisfaction and pride that IETE will be setting up its 4^th Centre in Gujarat at Surat very shortly.

Hon’ble Chief Minister Sir,

We are grateful to you for your benign presence here. We also express our gratitude to Gujarat Govt. who has provided us all support and helped us in organizing this event meticulously.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Please put your hands together to accord a warm welcome to Shri Narender Modi our Chief Guest. Thank you.

Prof D P Agrawal, Chairman, Union Public Service Commission is an eminent teacher, education administrator and institution builder. He has extensively contributed to the development of technical and vocational education. Prof Agrawal has taken a number of initiatives at national level in spreading technical education, particularly in the areas of IT & Computer education. Under his leadership, Atal Behari Vajpayee Indian Institution of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior, acquired world class reputation and has created a unique place in Industry, worth emulating.

Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University, is a renowned educator and visionary who has dedicated his entire professional life to the education sector in India. He has worked passionately to widen access to education. He gave a new director to IGNOU and under his able and dynamic leadership, IGNOU has become the largest University in the world.

Dr R R Navalgund, Director & Distinguished Scientist at the Space Application Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad, has done pioneering work for the development of electro-optical sensors for IRS series of satellites. He provided leadership in evolving and executing National Level Remote Sensing Application Programmes in various fields. He has received many awards & distinctions due to his outstanding contributions in his field.

We are thankful to Prof D P Agrawal, Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai, and Dr R R Navalgund for their gracious presence.

Ladies & Gentlemen please put your hands together to give a great applause to Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Prof D P Agrawal and Dr R R Navalgund.

Friends,

The Institution of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), founded in 1953, is a leading professional society devoted to the advancement of science & Technology of Electronics, Telecommunication, Computers and Information Technology. It serves more than 79,000 members through its 59 Centres spread all over India including one in Nepal. IETE has very close interaction with the industry and academic institutions apart from Government Organisations like Planning Commission, MHRD, TRAI, AICTE etc.

We aim at building inclusive knowledge society. We are committed to social justice, industrial development and enhancing human resources in the field of Electronics, Telecommunication, Information Technology and allied areas.

The most important initiative IETE has taken is the task of accreditation of Skill Development courses conducted by private institutions. This will address the needs of large rural/ urban youth and working professionals to enhance their skills in order to provide them better job opportunities.

IETE is globally known for its quality publications in which technical and research papers are published by authors from India & abroad. Information products of the Institution include journals, books, conference proceedings, newsletters and other publications.

India’s GDP has strong bearing on agro and rural development. This is possible through the extensive use of information and communication technologies. ICTs present innovative ways for managing our villages and help in extending information, knowledge & building a converged information society. We can certainly reduce migration of people from rural to urban areas by providing ICT facilities at their doorsteps. I, therefore, believe that the real challenge before us is to develop a strong connectivity in the villages and far flung areas by way of ICTs. In this context, IETE, which is also recognized by Govt. of India as a research organization, is playing an important role to promote the usefulness of ICTs for upliftment of rural fraternity.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I strongly feel that the digital divide is not for rural or urban population but it is about those who can have access to technology & those who cannot. We have to link ICTs with daily occupations of the rural people, in farming, fisheries, art & craft. So the primary focus of ICT should be to enable the rural people to earn more and learn more while performing their existing activities.

I place on record my deep appreciations for Ahmedabad Centre of IETE for their hard work to make this event a real success.

In the end, Ladies & Gentlemen,

I wish to inform you that the year 2010-11 has been very eventful so far as IETE is concerned. We moved with relentless pressure for enforcing student friendly measures, an area close to my heart and topmost priority. Much has been achieved; much is yet to be achieved. We have to go a long way. Therefore, let us do great things together.

THANKYOU,

JAI HIND

I extend hearty welcome to all of you on the occasion of 54th Annual Technical Convention on the theme “ICTs in Rural Development”. The topic is of direct relevance to common man and a subject we have been deliberating for many years now.

I place on record my deep appreciations for Ahmedabad Centre of IETE for their hard work to make this event a real success.

I extend hearty welcome to all of you on the occasion of 54^th Annual Technical Convention on the theme “ICTs in Rural Development”. The topic is of direct relevance to common man and a subject we have been deliberating for many years now.