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ARRIVAL AT BEGUMPET AIRPORT:(10:50 am)
The President of America
landed here in Hyderabad at about 10.50am in a lear Jet.
March 24th ,2000 will forever remain a red letter day in the 400 years History of Hyderabad as it is for the first time that an American President is
on a Visit to South India and Hyderabad has got the rare honor
to have been considered in the itenary of the American President.
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THE PRESIDENT DRIVES TO MAHAVEER HOSPITAL:(11:15am - 12:30pm):
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After the customary welcome he drove down to Mahaveer Hospital ,Masab
Tank .The President's convoy consisted of 45 vehicles and Bill Clinton
was seen weaving his hands to the crowd lined up to have a once in a
lifetime glimpse at the American President.
Bill Clinton spent almost an hour at the hospital on the occasion of the World Tuberculosis
Day. He administered final dose of medicine to two patients and declared them
tuberculosis free. In his speech he lauded the efforts of the Indian government
in making the country Polio free and he pledged all possible American
help to contain infectious diseases in India. |
THE PRESIDENT AT THE HITECH CITY:(12:45am - 3:20pm):
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On arrival at the Hi-tech city, the President was taken
straight to an exhibition where some of the leading
companies of India had put up their stalls. Mr.
Clinton also had one to one meeting with the CM .He
also witnessed the video conference between CM and the
district administration. Meanwhile a host of guests
from all parts of India were waiting for the
President's address organized by the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) The theme of the meet was India
& USA: Leaders in Science &Technology. Chelsea
was the first to arrive at the hall and later when the
President walked in ,the entire hall rose up to give
him a rousing welcome.
Mr.Rahul Bajaj, the President of CII welcomed the
guests and invited Mr.Chandrababu Naidu to speak.
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The CM's SPEECH:
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Mr.Chandrababu Naidu welcomed Bill Clinton to
Hyderabad and humorously corrected himself
by referring to it as "Cyberabad". Naidu
mentioned in his speech that 1/3rd of American
software professionals and 1/3rd of Silicon valley
professionals are Indians and that 23% of Indian
American software professionals are from AP.
Mr.Clinton had a hearty laugh when Naidu commented
that his Golf T-shirt is manufactured in Hyderabad.
Naidu also spoke on Vision 2020, Janmabhoomi and other
welfare programmes of the state government. When
it came to Information Technology, Naidu mentioned
that I.T means Idea Transfer to the Common man and
that the government's ambition was to eradicate
poverty through IT. Mr. Bill Clinton was also seen
appreciating and making a note when Mr.Naidu
spoke on the establishment of Indian Institute of
Information Technology(IIIT), Indian School of
Business(ISB) etc.. here in Hyderabad. Finally the AP
Cm requested Mr. Clinton to see a 3 minute
presentation about GIGA( Global Institution of
Governance) in the Information Age which is
scheduled to be established in Hyderabad. After the
video show ,Mr.Chandrababu Naidu ended his fantastic
presentation by quoting the government's punch
line," Dare to dream, strive
to achieve". Thereafter Mr. Ramalinga Raju
,chairman, Satyam Computers spoke and then
called
upon Mr. Bill Clinton to speak on the
occasion.
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THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS:
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MR. Bill Clinton began his speech by first mentioning about
the wonderful facility at Hi-tech city and he complimented
Naidu by saying that he is becoming quite popular in America.
"I wish i had brought some slides-a picture is worth a
1000 words" is what he had to say about the presentation of
Mr.Naidu. "we know a lot about our future" said Mr.
Clinton. The decimal system was invented by Indians and
without it today's computer chips would not have evolved"
said the President. With regards to Internet ,Mr. Clinton
recollected that when he became the President of America in January 1993 there were only
50 web-sites and seven years down the lane, today there are
around 50 million site. Mr. Clinton acknowledged the
remarkable success of Indian Americans over there. "Indian Americans run more than 750 companies in the
silicon Valley alone. "said the President. He was
very happy with the American companies coming in waves to
India. He also made a special mention on Naidu's comments that
in India Today there is a move from "Brain Drain" to
"Brain Gain" with all the useful contribution from
Indian Americans to India. Mr. Bill Clinton called upon this
city to lead the nation in energy conservation programmes and
the evolution of pollution free energy sources. He appealed
that environment and Biotechnology are the need of the
hour. The President also appreciated the state in doing a
remarkable job in Internet penetration to every village. He
commented that then only overnight the poorest of the schools
in villages will have access to the richest resources of the
world. Mr. Clinton remarked that the exceptional growth in IT
today should not be confined only to profit making ,but also to be passed on for the welfare of
common people.
At the end of the day the President struck the right chord by linking IT as the right partnership with India for the future.
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The
President Leaves(3:30pm)
Later at the Airport
Mr. Clinton was given a warm send off . Mr.Naidu presented him with
the customary angawastram (shawl) which the President did not remove till he got into the
Air Force One. Mr.Clinton's daughter Chelsea was also presented with an Hyderabadi Pearls
set and before departing she was photographed with Naidu's son
Lokesh.
All in all it
has been a wonderful short visit to this part of the world
which will be cherished by Hyderabadis for a long long time to
come. Thank you Mr. President for Visiting
Hyderabad.
Reachout's
coverage on Clinton's Visit...
Clinton's
visit : An Analysis By Reachout's critic, Ajay Goka
Clinton's
visit : Hyderabad wears a new look
Hyderabad
awaits Clinton's Visit
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