By Our Correspondent/PIB
CHENNAI/NEW DELHI:Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave away Prizes to the winners of the 36 Hour Singapore India hackathon which concluded at IIT Chennai on Monday.The Hackathon the second such one was organised in collaboration with Government of Singapore, Government of India, IIT Chennai and the Nanyang Technical University (NTU), Singapore.The First Hackathon was organised based on the idea mooted by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at NTU,Singapore in 2018.
Addressing the students and academic fraternity, the Prime Minister congratulated the winners of the hackathon.“Friends, I congratulate the winners of the hackathon. And, I congratulate each and every young friend assembled here, particularly my student friends. Your willingness to confront challenges and find workable solutions, your energy, your enthusiasm is of much greater value than just winning a competition“.
The Prime Minister said that India is among the top 3 Startup Friendly ecosystems. He said India had given great emphasis to innovation and incubation in the last five years.“Programmes like Atal Innovation Mission, PM Research Fellowships, Start-up India Abhiyan are the foundation of 21st century India, an India that promotes a culture of innovation. We are now trying to give exposure to modern technology like Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain to our students as early as in 6th grade. From school to research in higher education, an ecosystem is being created that becomes a medium for innovation.”
Urging the students to find easy solutions to the problems being faced by India, the Prime Minister said that India would like to offer its solutions to the entire globe and especially the poorest of the nations.“We are encouraging Innovation and Incubation for two big reasons, One is – we want easy solutions to solve India’s problems, to make life easier. And another, we, in India want to find solutions for the whole world. Indian Solutions for Global Application – this is our goal and our commitment. We would also like our cost effective solutions to be available to serve the needs of the poorest countries – Indian innovation in support of the poorest and the most deprived, no matter where they live.”Prime Minister will also be attending the diamond jubilee celebrations and convocation ceremony of IIT-M.
Earlier Modi arrived in Chennai to take part in the 56th Convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He addresses the media at Chennai International Airport.Speaking on the occasion, the PM said that this is my first visit to Chennai after the General Elections of 2019. I have come to attend the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of IIT Madras, but I am highly indebted to all of you for coming in such large numbers to welcome me.
When I spoke in Tamil to the Indian Community in America during my recent visit and told that Tamil is the oldest language in the World it was widely reported in all the media in the USA, he added.He said that during my visit to the USA, I realised that the World is looking up to India with great expectations and that the expectation is increasing by the day. Now it is our responsibility to not only make India a great nation but also to see to it that it meets the expectations of the World community.
Modi said that this cannot merely be done by the Union Government it can happen only through the 130 Crore Indians. It can happen only with effort of every Indian in every nook and corner of the country, either rich or poor, either rural or urban, young or old.He said that we have achieved many a success through Public Participation and in the same way we should rid the country of the Single Use Plastic. Some people by mistake are misinterpreting that I wanted India to be rid of Plastic, I did not say so, What I said was that I want the country should be rid of Single Use Plastic. This plastic can be used only once and it creates a lot of problems later.
On 2nd October, the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi we shall take up a Padyatra, and shall spread the ideals of Gandhi through these padyatras, he added.He said, “I once again thank you for coming in such large numbers to welcome me”.He will also address the Singapore India Hackathon 2019 at the IIT-M Research Park and will visit the startups at the pavilion there. He will deliver the Convocation address at the institutes’s Students Activity Centre.
