From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Nov 17: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu called upon innovators and entrepreneurs to focus on solving the issues of the agricultural sector of the country is facing and create ideas to better the life of farmers.

Inaugurating the 24th edition of Karnataka state’s flagship three-day technology event ‘Bengaluru Tech Summit-2021,’ themed ‘Driving the Next’ in Bengaluru on Wednesday, he said Bengaluru is at the forefront of India’s knowledge wealth and is rightly called the knowledge capital of India.

The Vice-President said it has become necessary to transform IT and BT “by doing our duty to become mighty” in creating knowledge wealth for the country.

He said ultimately the aim of technology and innovation should be to bring happiness to the people and their lives.

The Vice President said there is a need to share and care when it comes to knowledge and ideas which is at the heart of India’s philosophy.

Naidu said the summit should also focus on agriculture which is facing turbulence and the challenges that are being posed to mankind by climate change notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic that the world is undergoing.

“We should come up with new ideas through innovation to encourage the growth of knowledge economy and ensure that we reform and perform better to transform India into the new economy,” the Vice President said.

Naidu also called upon private entrepreneurs to create jobs in the new economy even as government initiatives were crucial to its growth.

He started his speech in Kannada and later switched over to English after uttering quite a few sentences in the local language.

In the beginning, the Vice President paid condolences to departed Kannada actor Puneet Rajkumar.

Earlier, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said: “Man is an innovator and the creator of man is a greater innovator as man is blessed with intelligence, independence, capability to travel in space at the speed of light and sound and also the ability to express himself better.”

He said the sky is not the limit in today’s world as far as technology and innovation are concerned. He said there is a need to think as an individual, as a country and as a group of innovators.

The Chief Minister said the use of technology should reach the common man and the poorest of the poor and he pointed out the government of Karnataka is committed to ensuring that ‘Make in Karnataka’ is adopted to contribute to the ‘Make in India’ concept.

Minister for IT & BT, Science and Technology as well as Higher Education Dr C N Ashwath Narayan said Bengaluru is the hub of future technologies and Karnataka state is the leader in IT, BT and is truly the knowledge capital of India.

He said Karnataka is the first state to implement the National Education Policy and expressed confidence that the new policy will take the state to newer heights. He also expressed happiness technology is now reaching other cities of Karnataka.

Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett, in his virtual address, said the future belongs to the innovators.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who also attended the event virtually, said Australia is working on setting up the consulate general office in Bengaluru which will help forge stronger economic ties with the tech capital of India.

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot also spoke on the occasion.

Several Industry leaders including Kris Gopalakrishna, Kiran Majumdar Shaw, Prashanth Prakash, B V Naidu, E V Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary Department of IT/BT, C N Meena Nagaraja, Director, Department of IT/BT were among the dignitaries who were present.