CHENNAI: Union Minister of State for Law and Parliamentary affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal, speaking at the 16th annual convocation ceremony of the Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies at its Pallavaram campus in Chennai on Friday, said that in order to realise India’s dream for 2047, the nation must continue to advance on the path of science and technology.
He stressed science must play a crucial role in making India self-reliant. Referring to the 108th Indian Science Congress, he recalled how India is growing rapidly in the field of science.
Tracing the history of industrial revolutions, he said, “Industry 1.0 began in the 1780s with the invention of the steam engine, Industry 2.0 came in the 1870s with electricity and mass production, Industry 3.0 emerged in the 1990s with computers and electronics, and today, we are in Industry 4.0, marked by Artificial Intelligence, 3D printing, machine learning, and ChatGPT.” He urged the graduating students to take responsibility for advancing science and technology, saying it is their duty to build on these developments.
Quoting Tamil poet-saint Tiruvalluvar, he added, “Learn what should be learned, and once learned, live by it.” Highlighting India’s growing global position, the minister said India is currently the world’s fourth-largest economy and is poised to become the third-largest by 2030.