00 National Seminar at Mahant College, 
Raipur. Speaking at a national seminar organized today under the joint aegis of Mahant Laxmi Narayan Das College, Raipur, and the Chhattisgarh Council for Science and Technology, State Finance Minister OP Choudhary stated that to make India a developed nation, there is a need to promote technology- and innovation-based education and new start-ups.
Addressing the inaugural session of the seminar, Mr. Choudhary stated that for sustainable development, we must implement and encourage innovation at every level. Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resolve to make India a developed nation by 2047 as revolutionary for the entire country, he said that Mr. Modi has already formulated a concrete plan and begun work on this. Mr. Choudhary added that as Prime Minister, Mr. Modi has taken decisions that may not be liked by the public but are beneficial for them. The solar power plant launched in the Kutch desert at a cost of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore is an example of this. He pointed out that during the UPA regime, the state-owned airline Air India was incurring losses of Rs. 20 crore per month. That's why Mr. Modi decided to hand it over to private hands as soon as he became Prime Minister. Mr. Chaudhary said that during the UPA's ten-year tenure, India remained at number 11. Today, under Mr. Modi, India has risen from number 11 to number 4.

He said that today, all the countries that are emerging as developed economies are leveraging innovation and technology. He cited the examples of China, Russia, and the United States. He explained that India was the world's largest economy for the first 1700 years of the last 2000 years. However, during the 300 years of slavery, India continued to lag behind. He said that under the Prime Minister's leadership, efforts are now underway to move India forward again. Mr. Chaudhary said that while today's major universities like Cambridge and Harvard are talked about, major institutions like Nalanda and Takshashila in India were even more influential. Citing the examples of Elon Musk and Bill Gates, he said that technology has made them the most powerful people in the world. He said that Apple phones are used worldwide and their turnover exceeds India's total GDP.

Earlier, in the inaugural session of the seminar, Principal Dr. Devashish Mukherjee gave the welcome speech, while IQAC head Dr. Prem Chandrakar threw light on the topic of the seminar. In the program, Education Promotion Committee President Ajay Tiwari, Secretary Anil Tiwari, Vice President RK Gupta, invitee Pushkar Nath from Ranchi University, former Vice Chancellor of Durg University Dr. Aruna Palata, Ravindra Brahme, former Chairman of Private University Regulatory Commission Anjani Shukla, senior journalist Ram Avtar Tiwari, former Principal of Durga Mahavidyalaya Dr. SS Khanuja, Principal of Vipra Mahavidyalaya Dr. Meghesh Tiwari, Prof. Pradeep Dubey of Peloti College and other experts were present