Chennai: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras will mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi by organizing a series of webinars on rural development.
Named ‘Self-reliant India: Discussions and Dialogues for Humane Innovations (SIDDHI)’, the fortnightly webinar will kick off from August 14.
The webinars will focus on themes like socially relevant technologies, technologies for self-reliance, technology and rural development.
The event, conducted by the office of Global Engagement, will be live streamed on the YouTube channel of the institute, reported NDTV.
“The objective of the SIDDHI webinar series is to disseminate the science behind technological solutions for societal problems among the general public, while also initiating a dialogue to identify socially relevant problems that need to be addressed,” said Dean (Global Engagement), IIT Madras Prof. Raghunathan Rengaswamy.
The webinar will be open to all and will feature a panel discussion on ‘Food Security, Retrospect and Prospects’ on the opening day.
“The Gandhian approach complements many worldwide human development programmes such as the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development is a major component of the vision and mission of IIT Madras,” stated an official release.
SIDDHI is a collaborative effort of the faculty members, students and researchers involved with projects sponsored by the government of India under the Scheme For Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC), Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) and socially relevant projects approved by the government of India such as Unnat Bharat Abhiyan and New India Internship, added IIT Madras.