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`Be part of biotechnology revolution'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI Aug. 9. The Union Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, today asked scientists and technologists to participate in the biotechnology revolution, which held great promise for solving hitherto unsolved problems.

Delivering the 40th convocation address of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Dr. Joshi said all IITs had started a biotechnology programme. ``Just as we were part of the information technology revolution, we should be part of the biotechnology revolution.'' The focus should be on using biotechnology for developing vaccines, treatment systems, bioseeds, biofertilizers and biogenetic engineering. The participation in biotech revolution could be achieved only through investments in research and development and enabling accelerated commercialisation of useful findings. Another area that held promise for Indian technologists was nanotechnology.

Commending the IITs for their achievements in the past four-five decades, he said the success of IIT alumni had given an aura and brand equity to the institution's name. They also contributed immensely to human resource development in other institutions, research labs and industry.

Instead of Indian students going abroad for higher education, foreign students should come to IITs for postgraduation and research, he said.

The Government's Technology Policy had a provision to double the intake in IITs in postgraduate and research programmes and take steps to accommodate foreign students in challenging and emerging areas.

The Minister explained his priorities: ensure Indian students slowly turned `technology creators' and not remain ``technology adopters'; technology should have a human face, address concerns of the masses, and remain ethical, gender sensitive and region as well as context specific.

The IIT-M Director, M. S. Ananth, who recorded the institute's academic and research achievements in 2002-03, said it was playing a lead role in improving the quality of teachers in engineering colleges and in creating video- and web-based educational modules (under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning) which could be used by engineering college students. A project proposal for `Suryajal' - a solar PV-based seawater desalination technology demonstrator that could address in a cost-effective and sustainable solution for power and water scarcity, prepared by the IIT, the Academic Staff College of India, BHEL and Air Cdr (Retd) R. Gopalaswami, would soon be submitted to the Centre for funding.

He said this year's distinguished alumni awardees were: Dipankar Banerjee (Director, DMRL, Hyderabad); R. Mahadevan, Director, India Pistons; M. Natarajan, Chief Controller, R&D, DRDO, New Delhi; C. Mohan, IBM Fellow in the U.S and George Verghese, Professor of Electrical Engineering, MIT, U.S.

K. Kasturirangan, chairman, IIT-M's Board of Governors, said the institute envisioned being an academic institution with its social, ecological and economic environment striving continuously for excellence in education, research and technology services. The fact that global industries were looking towards India for establishing R and D centres to exploit the intellectual capital here, augured well for the IITs.

Seventythree Ph.Ds, 109 M.S, 417 M.Tech, 40 MBA, 86 M.Sc, 66 Dual Degree and 355 B.Tech degrees were awarded.

The President of India prize went to Vyas Sekar of B.Tech Computer Sciences and Engineering and the Governor's Prize (for all round proficiency) to S. Sriram of B.Tech Civil Engineering.

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