Rokiah Mahmud
High Commissioner of India to Brunei Darussalam Alok Amitabh Dimri hoisted the Indian national flag in conjunction with 74th Republic Day of India during a ceremony at the chancery’s premises in Kampong Sungai Akar yesterday.
The event also saw the singing of the national anthem, followed by an address from Indian President Smt Droupadi Murmu, delivered on the eve of the Republic Day by the high commissioner:
“When we celebrate Republic Day, we celebrate what we have achieved together as a nation.”
The speech also shared the National Education Policy introduced with ambitious changes: “It rightly addresses the two-fold aims of education; as an instrument of economic and social empowerment and as a means to explore truth.
“The policy makes our civilisational lessons relevant for contemporary life, while also preparing the learner for 21st Century challenges. The National Education Policy appreciates the role of technology in expanding and deepening the learning process.
“As we have come to realise since the early days of COVID-19, technology offers life-changing possibilities. The Digital India Mission is striving to make information and communication technology inclusive by bridging the rural-urban divide.
“For this, more people in far-flung places have been reaping the benefits of the Internet and services provided by the government as the infrastructure expands.”
The speech also touched on global warming and climate change solutions for global challenges.
“Global temperatures are rising and incidents of extreme weather are increasing. We are faced with a dilemma – to lift more and more people out of poverty, we need economic growth, but that growth also comes from fossil fuel.
“Unfortunately, the poor bear the brunt of global warming. Developing and popularising alternative sources of energy is one solution. India has taken a commendable lead in this direction by giving a policy push to solar energy and electric vehicles.
“However, at a global level, emerging economies need a helping hand from advanced nations in the form of technology transfer and financial support.
“To maintain balance between development and environment, India has to look at the ancient traditions with new perspective.
“With the outbreak of the pandemic, the world changed within a matter of days. During those three years, whenever we felt that we had finally put the virus behind, it raised. However, we learnt in this period that our leadership, scientists and doctors, administrators and ‘Corona Warriors’ will make every possible effort to meet any situation.”
Meanwhile, members of the Indian diaspora and friends of India attended yesterday’s event.
