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The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shri Paban Singh Ghatowar said that Science and Technology plays a critical role in the process of development. He said this while addressing the 5th Annual National Level Technical Festival-TECHXETRA 2012 at Tezpur University on 1st November, 2012. He said that its applications enable the transformation of the natural resources of a region into real economic resource for making all-round development possible. He hoped that Universities and the Institutes of Higher Learning have great responsibility in developing Science & Technology tools and strategies for this to happen.

Shri Ghatowar noted that Tezpur University has Science & Technology in its mandate for both Technology development and for creation of Human Resource in the domains of Science & Technology and the University, therefore, is poised for contributing handsomely towards effective use of the vast natural resources of the north-east India through Science & Technology.

The Minister stated that the students of Tezpur University have been making special efforts to showcase their creativity in Science & Technology through regular organization of an annual technical festival, very imaginatively named as TechXetra.

The support and cooperation, garnered by the student organizers, include such venerable institutes as United Nations Organisation, NASA, British Council, the Indian Army, DoNER, DRDO, Solar Energy Society of India, Powergrid Corporation of India Ltd., Indian Oil, OIL, NRL, etc., speaks volume about the growing popularity and importance of TechXetra over the last few years. He exhorted the young students to try to develop insights into the real issues in developing practical ways for converting the invaluable renewable resources like wind, solar and hydro into sustainable use for the overall development of the North-East and the country as a whole.

The Union Minister informed that the average age group of the country’s population will be 30 years in the next two decades. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that institutional efforts are made to equip this potential group of human resource through creation of Universities and Institutes with focus on Science & Technology. Taking into account the vast natural resources of the NE region and its relatively underdeveloped status, the Governments are coming forward for establishment of new institutes for enabling skill and knowledge development in the region. In this context, the present initiatives of the Government of India on Meta University and Community Colleges also assume special significance.

During concluding part of his address, the Minister expressed hopes that the four-day events of TechXetra-2012 will witness mind-boggling deliberations, exciting demonstrations and interactions - one involving a webinar with the astronauts from NASA, USA, and also great cultural events featuring very popular musical groups like Euphoria.

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NSK/DB
(Release ID :88805)