Narayana Murthy appointed IT adviser to Lankan President

T V Sriram

Colombo, Feb 14 (PTI) In a bid to increase investments
into the IT sector, the Sri Lankan government has appointed
the chief mentor of Infosys, Narayana Murthy, as the
international adviser on information technology to President
Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"Mr N R Narayana Murthy was appointed as the international
adviser to the Sri Lankan President and he has accepted it",
Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said.

Rajapaksa made the appointment after inviting Narayana
Murthy as the chief guest to the ceremonial launch of
'2009-Year of English and Information Technology' at the
Presidential Secretariat here Friday.

Speaking at the event, Rajapaksa said the great success
of India in the field of Information Technology in the recent
years has highly inspired Sri Lanka.

"It is for this reason that we have turned to India in
addition to other countries for technical support to
strengthen our own endeavours. We are honoured by the presence
today of Narayana Murthy, 'the father of IT in India' and the
chairman and mentor of the world famous Infosys," President
Rajapaksa said Friday.

Padma Vibhushan awardee Murthy has stepped down as Infosys
CEO but continues as its chief mentor and board chairman.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajapaksa said adequate
knowledge of both English and IT is a compelling necessity to
access the opportunities available in today's society.

The President thanked India for assisting in training of
English teachers in the island nation.

"I take this opportunity to thank our neighbour, India
for the ready assistance given to the training of English
teachers...as well as looking to Sri Lanka for expansion of IT
related services that have contributed much to India's
economic expansion in recent years", he said.

Rajapaksa said the rapid development of technology and
the advance of globalisation demand a competitive edge in the
moves towards rapid economic progress.

"Our aim is to provide English as a life skill to our
youth as well as those already in employment to increase
employability and advance in their chosen fields of activity",
Rajapaksa said.

The combination of English with IT will open new avenues
of employment for individuals and entirely new spheres of
employment generation in the country, thereby improving living
standards of the people, he said.

"We have already taken an important step in this
direction with the setting up of the Presidential Task Force
on English and IT last year", he added. PTI