annual report1-final.qxd - Overseas Indian

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
had to be developed.
Guru Thalapaneni, President & CEO, Remoba,
Inc. of U.S., expressing interest in the IT sector, said
that he was willing to invest and provide employment
opportunities to the youth of Jammu &
Kashmir youth. He also expressed his concerns
about the militancy in the State.
In his response, Kapur said that he would further
discuss these issues with both Pereira and
Thalapaeni.
" Karnataka
The session was chaired by the State’s Minister of
Industry, P.G.R. Scindhia. Lakshmi Venkatachalam,
Principal Secretary, Industry, in her presentation,
highlighted the messages given by renowned
Karnataka personalities like Kasturirangan, Kiran
Mazumdar Shaw, Nandan Nilekani and
Ramachandra Guha who spoke about the strides
taken by Karnataka in the fields of IT industry,
biotech industry, the cosmopolitan culture of the
State and the attempts at improving the infrastructure
situation in the State. She mentioned that
Bangalore was the fourth largest IT hub in the
world after Silicon Valley, Boston and London.
Karnataka was the highest exporter of software in
the country.
The Principal Secretary also gave a brief introduction
of the human resource capability and the
infrastructural support in the specialised areas of
IT, biotech and healthcare. She highlighted some
priority areas for investment, which were to be
spelt out in the new industrial policy of 2006.
Karnataka was also among the top five industrialised
states in India. This was made possible as the
State had brought about a single window approach
through the Karnataka Faclilitation Act to enable
easier clearance for investors.
The State was in the process of creating Special
Economic Zones (SEZs) in Gulbarga-Belgaum,
Hubli-Dharwad, Karvar-Mangalore and
Bangalore-Mysore to boost investment.
Transportation facilities in the State were good
with efforts being made to convert all the railway
lines into broad guage. Karnataka also had the
largest number of operational airports in the country,
she said.
Dr. Deviprasad Shetty, Founder, Narayana
Hrudayalaya Foundation and renowned heart surgeon,
gave a presentation on recent developments
in the health sector and health tourism with specific
emphasis on heart care. He spoke about health
insurance/micro-health insurance and its importance
in benefiting the poor and lower middle class
families in general and farmers in particular.
Presently, 2.2 million farmers were members of
Yesasvini, a unique micro-health insurance programme
initiated in Karnataka to provide health
insurance. The farmers had to pay Rs. 5 per month
and the Government would contribute Rs. 2.5 per
month, he said.
He spoke about some pilot projects in telemedicine
and micro-insurance (Rajiv Gandhi Arogya
Yojana), also known as RAY in Amethi, Uttar
Pradesh. Stating that the sector of health service
had huge potential for growth, he cited the example
of the British National Health Service, which
was the third largest employer in the world. He
gave a positive note on investment in healthcare
that would provide employment to lower middle
class and poor sections of the people, especially to
women.
Talking about cardiac problems, he said that
Indians were three times more vulnerable to heart
problems compared to other countries. But there
was severe shortage of healthcare professionals
who could provide cardiac care. While there was a
requirement of about 3,000 cardiac specialists in
India every year, presently the country was able to
produce only 100, he said. In this specific area, he
said that the telemedicine initiative could help a
lot.
Presently, ISRO was providing technical help to
23 of the 27 districts in Karnataka. He said that this
was the optimisation of technological usage.
Mobile diagnostic facility was another initiative
taken up by the Narayana Foundation to enable the
remote villagers to have access to healthcare. He
spoke about the ‘Walmartisation’ of healthcare,
where private investments were encouraged and
government becoming just the insurance provider
from healthcare provider. Before signing off, he
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