India to showcase Aakash tablet at United Nations

The Indian mission intends to distribute a limited number of Aakash tablets to some member states

Yoshita Singh/PTI | November 6, 2012



India, which assumed this month's rotating Presidency of the Security Council, will showcase its low-cost Aakash tablet at the United Nations, highlighting the country's innovation involved in the "most competitively priced" tablet computer.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said a presentation on the tablet will be held on November 28 at the world body's headquarters here to which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be invited.

Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Canada-based Datawind, which had won the Indian government's tender for making and supplying the tablets, will also be present on the occasion.

Aakash has been "described as the most competitively priced tablet computer by an Indian-origin entrepreneur," Puri said at a news conference yesterday to outline the Council's monthly agenda under India's presidency.

He said while the tablet would be called "frugal innovation" in UN terminology, it is a "competitively priced innovation."

Later talking to PTI, Puri said the Indian mission to the UN took the initiative to showcase the tablet at the world body and other UN member states as well as mediapersons will be invited to the event.

Tuli would make a presentation to the UN audience on Aakash, which was launched in October last year by the Indian government to make available computing devices to students at subsidised rates.

The Indian mission intends to distribute a limited number of Aakash tablets to some member states.

Datawind had won the tender in 2010 to supply one lakh Aakash tablets for a price of around USD 49 per unit. The project had run into controversy following the Indian Institute of Technology at Rajasthan rejecting the devices manufactured by Datawind.

A new version of the tablet PC, featuring one Ghz processor, four-hour battery time, capacitive screen and Android 4.0 operating system, is expected to be launched in India on November 11.

The Indian mission will also organise a cultural event at the UN on November 26 featuring the Shahi qawwals, who will be flying in from Ajmer for a Sufi music concert at UN on occasion of India's presidency.

Comments

 

Other News

Govt, RBI announce major reforms to attract FPI

The finance ministry on Friday announced a series of measures aimed at enhancing the ease of investment for individual Persons Resident Outside India (PROIs) and Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), and to attract stable long-term foreign capital flows.   Building on the recent in

Lessons in climate adaption from world’s largest inhabited river island

Majuli Island, perched between the Brahmaputra River to the south and east, the Subansiri River to the west, and a branch of the Brahmaputra to the north, has been severely affected by recurrent flooding and intense riverbank erosion. Despite its global importance in acquiring UNESCO tentative status for

Careless whispers and the impossible trinity

Time can never mend, the careless whispers of …    As the RBI marches ahead, for the upcoming monetary policy meeting this June, whispers from the corridors echo around several policy options to defend the rupee – by deploying forex reserves, raising in

Bullet Train Project: Third mountain tunnel breakthrough achieved

A major engineering milestone has been achieved in the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project with the successful breakthrough of the third mountain tunnel (MT-07) at Ambesari village in Dahanu Taluka of Palghar district, Maharashtra.   With this achievement, three mountain

Supreme Court gets five new judges

Five new judges were appointed to the Supreme Court of India on Monday. "Vide Notifications of even number dated 01.06.2026, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the Hon’ble President of India is pleased to appoint (i) Shri

Astonishing breadth and depth of ancient Indian knowledge systems

The Greatest Books of Ancient India: Incredible Ideas about Science, Music, Maths, Art and More By Dr. Pradeep Chakravarthy and Dr. R. Thiagarajan Hachette India, 208 pages, Rs 399  





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter