Narendra Modi at Singapore-India Hackathon 2019 in IIT Madras: Both countries have moved from 'competition to collaboration'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Chennai on Monday to address the 56th annual convocation of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and participate in the prize distribution ceremony of Singapore-India Hackathon. While addressing the participants of the Singapore-India Hackathon 2019, which concluded on Sunday, Modi congratulated all the winners of the competition and said, “Hackathons are great for youngsters, participants get access to state of the art technology for the solution of global problems. I firmly believe that the solutions found in today’s hackathon are the start-up ideas for tomorrow.” [caption id=“attachment_7424881” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi speaking at the Hackathon in Chennai. Twitter/ANI[/caption] He spoke about the “strength” between India and Singapore and claimed how the Hackathon has helped both countries move from “competition to collaboration”. “This time, each team consists of students of both countries, who have worked together to solve problems. It can be safely said that we’ve moved from competition to collaboration.” He spoke about the fact that India has been doing the Smart India Hackathon for the last few years. “This initiative brings together the government departments and people associated with premier industries,” he added. Modi also urged all the international students present at the event to take the opportunity to visit places like Mahabalipuram, which are famous for their stone-carvings and stone-temples that are classified as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Modi earlier on Monday said the world has “great expectations” from India and asserted his government will lead the country to a path of ‘greatness’ where it will be beneficial to the entire globe. On his first visit to Tamil Nadu after retaining power in this year’s Lok Sabha polls, the prime minister reiterated his campaign against single-use plastic. “During my (just concluded) US tour I saw the world has great expectations from India, which is growing. It is the responsibility of all — we will certainly ensure the welfare of India, and swiftly, but we will make it such a great nation that it will be useful for the world,” he said. Making the country great was not the job of the Central government, but that of 130 crore Indians, he said addressing BJP workers at a felicitation function organised by the party at the airport. This was the job of citizens settled in every nook and corner of the country and “whether those who live in city or village, the rich or poor and young or old”, and the nation will become great from the contribution of all these, he said. Reiterating his campaign against single-use plastic, he said its usage “creates a big problem”. While some mistakenly call for a “plastic-free” India, he had been stressing only against the use of single-use plastic, Modi said, pointing out it cannot be used further and therefore “creates a big problem”. Many schemes have been successfully taken forward with public participation and so should be the case with single-use plastic also, the prime minister said. Pointing out at the proposed ‘padayatra’ by BJP MPs coinciding with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2 October, Modi said it will be helpful in exploring “these philosophies” on the ground, apparently referring to making India great and the campaign against single-use plastic. Referring to his remarks in Tamil in his public addresses during his US tour last week, Modi said he had pointed out that it was an “ancient language” of the world. “Now Tamil is echoing in the US,” he added. Earlier, Modi was received at the airport by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Paneerselvam and cabinet ministers.