Reducing regional divide among key priority areas for India under G20 presidency: PM Modi
Darpan News Desk IANS, 22 Mar, 2023 10:57 AM
New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that reducing the regional divide is one of the key priority areas for India during its G20 presidency.
Modi said this after inaugurating the new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area office and Innovation Centre in India at a programme in Vigyan Bhawan here.
The prime minister also unveiled the Bharat 6G Vision Document and launched the 6G R&D Test Bed.
On the occasion, he also launched the 'Call before u Dig' App.
ITU is the United Nations' specialised agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs).
"Today, when India is presiding over the G20, one of our priorities is to reduce the regional divide. Global South is making major strides in bridging the technological divide," the prime minister said on the occasion, adding that the ITU Area office and Innovation Centre will also play a key role in this.
For India, telecom technology is not just a mode of power but a mission to empower. India rolled out 5G connections in more than 125 cities within 120 days and similarly India will set up 100 5G labs in the coming years, he informed the gathering.
"Within six months of 5G, we are already talking about 6G technology. This shows the confidence of India," Modi quipped.
He went on to add that more than Rs 800 crore UPI-based digital payments are made in India every month and every day over seven crore e-authentications take place.
"More than Rs 28 lakh crore are directly transferred to citizens' bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer," he added.
Noting that India's 5G standards are part of the global 5G systems, the prime minister said that India will also work closely with ITU for the standardisation of future technologies.
Modi underlined that the new Indian ITU Area office will also help in creating the right environment for 6G.
He announced that the World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly of ITU will be held in October next year in Delhi where representatives from all over the world will visit India.
India signed a Host Country Agreement in March 2022 with ITU for the establishment of Area Office.
It will serve India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Iran, enhancing coordination among the nations and fostering mutually beneficial economic cooperation in the region.
Doreen-Bogdan Martin, Secretary General of ITU thanked PM Modi for helping develop the new ITU Office and innovation center in India, which marks a new chapter in the long history of India and ITU.
She expressed confidence that ITU's presence in the region will help in the introduction of advanced technologies, improve capacity development and foster entrepreneurship and partnerships.
The Tihar authorities said that Sisodia will remain in jail. The senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has been arrested a day before the hearing on his bail plea in the matter.
The resolution was moved by MLA Charanjit Singh during the ongoing budget session of the Assembly here. After the reply by Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh, all members present in the House passed the non-official resolution to recommend this matter to the Central government.
The Indian Army has recently cleared 108 vacancies for women officers to take command of independent units in the Corps of Engineers, Ordinance, EME and other branches following which Col Geeta Rana took charge of the EME unit. Women officers will now be able to command many different units of the army.
Describing women as the ones who decide the direction of the nation, the Prime Minister said in his video that the strength, education and skills of a daughter not only decide the direction of the family but also of society and the nation.
The gold biscuits were being smuggled from Manipur to the national capital via Guwahati. On Tuesday, 320 gm gold was seized by the railway police from the same railway station.
The police have arrested six persons in this connection, out of whom two are residents of Liluah in Howrah district, two are from Maharashtra and one from Gujarat. The police suspect that besides running the fake call centre, the arrested persons were also involved in illegal hawala transactions.
