India's Foriegn Development

[Guest guest]

India to set up IT centre in Ghana

George Joseph in New York

 

"India wants to use Colombia as a gateway to the South American

continent, and the visit has opened new doors."

 

India will set up a technology training center in Accra, the capital

of Ghana, in United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's name.

 

India's information technology ministry has allotted $2 million for

the Indo-Ghana Kofi Annan Institute of Technology. Annan will lay

the foundation stone for the institute in May/June, India's

Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan, who led a business

delegation to New York, told reporters on Friday.

 

Mahajan met Annan at the UN on April 4 and sought the secretary

general's permission to give his name to the institute. "Annan is

the greatest son of Ghana. We thought his name is the most fitting

one for such a venture," he said.

 

Currently, students from Africa travel to several countries

including India for technology studies, Mahajan noted. "We asked

Annan's help to send these students to the new institute which will

become a hub for technological development in that part of the

world."

 

The minister also discussed the possibility of future cyber wars and

the UN's role in preventing that phenomenon with the secretary

general. Cyber wars, Mahajan added, could bring about more

destruction than actual wars by breaching computer systems used by

public facilities. If somebody could damage the computer system at

an airport, it could create havoc with the lives of several thousand

people, Mahajan pointed out. In such an eventuality, planes may not

be able to land without getting directions. "If people could use

passenger planes to destroy the World Trade Centre, they could use

cyber technology for more nefarious things," he noted.

 

People are not aware of such dangers, hence an international

convention under the UN's auspices to discuss such dangers would be

beneficial to all, he felt.

 

"The cyber war threat is like a bullet. To protect oneself from a

threat from the bullet we need a bulletproof jacket, in this case

software to resist such attacks," he said.

 

The minister, who also traveled to Colombia, said, "India wants to

use Colombia as a gateway to the South American continent, and the

visit has opened new doors." India, he said, needed to explore new

avenues for growth and South America is a potential market for

Indian technology.

 

The visit to New York was to promote India's image in the corporate

world. The National Association of Software and Service Companies --

NASSCOM -- brought together several Indian business leaders to

present Indian achievements and explain the benefits of investing in

India.

 

The New York visit was a confidence building act by India, assuring

the US business community that recent domestic developments have had

no impact on the economy, NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik, who was

present at Mahajan's press conference, said.

 

The delegation conducted network meetings at NASDAQ and at the New

York Stock Exchange. Major companies like General Electric attended

the India Technology Forum organized at the NYSE on April 5 and

exchanged views on business relations with India.

 

Within five years the number of Indian companies listed on these

stock exchanges would be more than hundred from the current 12,

Mahajan emphasized in his speeches at NASDAQ and NYSE.

 

The minister rang the famous opening bell at the NYSE to declare the

market open on April 5. This is the first time an Indian minister

has rung the bell at the stock exchange.