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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

“Knowledge is the currency of progress, create, share and apply it”

SAM PITRODA DELIVERS SIKKIM UNIVERSITY’S 4TH FOUNDATION DAY LECTURE
GANGTOK, 05 Aug: Dr Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister on “Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation” and the chairman of the National Innovation Council, delivered the 4th Foundation Day Lecture of Sikkim University on ‘Towards a New Knowledge Paradigm’ through video-conferencing today here at Chintan Bhawan.
The function has Major General BK Sharma as the chief guest. 

In his lecture, Dr Pitroda stressed that “knowledge was the currency for progress and prosperity of the country and that knowledge needs creation, dissemination, application and utilization”.
He added that knowledge should be “conceptualized, developed, testified, processes, deployed and promoted”, arguing that without it there, was difficult to build economies.
Dr Pitroda pointed out that India was the fount of knowledge in the past and had best of the best universities like Nalanda and Takshila but had not invented much. He stressed on the need to knowledge based society in the country.
He also stressed that traditional knowledge needs to be documented, structured and organized properly and role of knowledge was important for improvement of governance.
Dr Pitroda mentioned that one cannot compete in the global market without proper knowledge and it was important to accept and recognize the fact the concept of knowledge has changed.
He stated that knowledge network will play an important role in creating new knowledge. He also briefly spoke on the Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation and the National Innovation Council of the central government and its activities.
He also stressed that the Indian model of innovation will help cater to the needs of the country.
Dr Pitroda stressed the significance of new knowledge to catalyze and bridge disparity in the country and said it should provide equal opportunities to every citizen to fulfill their hopes and aspiration.
In this regard, he rued that people with the best knowledge were busy solving the problems of the rich and had no time for the poor.
He stressed that Sikkim University and other universities have a major role to play in recreating knowledge as it was the key driver for the future. 
The chief guest for the day appreciated that the Sikkim University has become a model of excellence. He further stated that the ground performance, achievements and activities of the university show that it is moving to its mission statement.
He further appreciated that the university has been doing ‘laudable task’ in providing education in unique programmes and issues for the students from Sikkim and other states.
Mr Sharma mentioned that the present age the knowledge society and innovative break-throughs, so one should work on where the technology is going.
He further mentioned that different challenges in the world can be addressed and solved through the instruments of knowledge.
He also stressed the people need to build an attitude of winners, emotional intelligence and personality development. He also stressed on the skill enhancement of the youth who need to deliver an important role for the development of the society.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mahendra P Lama, detailed the various achievements, activities and programmes of the universities. He also highlighted the college level reforms initiated by the university in the 10 colleges under it.
He also spoke about the next 5 year projections of the SU.
Another highlight of the day was the Book Discussion on Siddhartha Mukherjee’s “The Emperor of all Maladies”, PG Tenzing’s “Don’t Ask Any Old Bloke for Directions” and Chetan Bhagat’s “Five Point Someone”.
The session was chaired by Prof Mohan Rao from Centre for Social Medicines, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
The discussants were Medical Advisor to the Chief Minister, Dr MR Kotwal, Director, Centre for Public Affairs, Prof Ajay Mehra, SDM [Chungthang], Tashi Chophel, Gangtok based writer, Chetan Shrestha, Dr Payal Banerjee from Smith College, Massachusetts USA, a student of SU, Rashmi Potawary, Principal of Taktse International School, Phinsto Lauenstein and Dr Archana Tiwari from Sikkim University.





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