Daijiworld Media Network - Doha
Doha, Sep 16: Man has developed constantly, and at every step his development was essentially dependent on how easy he made daily living for himself. From inventing the wheel, to the costliest Lamborghini of today; From simple stone tools to hydraulic heavy machinery of today; All of these would not have been possible without the mind and insistence of an engineer. Yes, Scientists are the ones who dream about great things, but engineers are the ones who bring them to life. Engineers’ contribution towards the development of mankind is immeasurable. This is why they are held in high esteem among all the professions and in India even a day is specially reserved for them when their contribution to the society is recognised. This day also happens to be the birthday of Sir M Visvesvaraya, one of the greatest and pioneers engineering brains of the world. Yes, September 15, the birthday of Sir V Visvesaraya is being observed as Engineers’ Day in India.
A programme to commemorate the 152nd birthday of this genius man was held at the Ashoka Hall within the premises of the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) here on Saturday September 15 evening. It was for the first time that Karnataka Sangha Qatar organized engineers day and it has now been decided that this tradition will be carried forward and KSQ would observe Engineers’ Day in Qatar every year.
Sir M Visvesvaraya was born on September 15, 1860 in Muddenahalli village in the Kolar district of the earlier princely state of Mysore. He is known to be the greatest engineers of all times, who with his vision and dedication in the field of engineering made some exceptional contributions to India.
Owing to his contribution to the nation, he was honoured with the highest state award of India, the “The Bharat Ratna”, in the year 1955. When he reached the age of 100, the Government of India brought out a stamp in his honour. Sir M Visvesvaraya passed away on April 14, 1962 at the age of 101.
The KSQ Engineers’ day celebration began with the welcoming the chief guest of the evening Animesh Sarcar, founder secretary and adviser of Institution of Engineers India and guests V S Mannangi, general manager of Al Muftah Contracting & chairman of KSQ Advisory Board, Ravi Shetty, managing director- Advanced Technical Services (ATS) & president of Bunts Qatar, P S Pai, ex-general manager of KEMCO and advisor KEMCO, Satish Deshpande, past president of Institution of Engineers India, Qatar Chapter and Founder President KSQ.
The chief guests were escorted to the dais by KSQ president Deepak Shetty, vice-president Nagesh Rao and general secretary Mahesh Gowda. This was followed by inauguration of the event by lighting the traditional lamp by the guests.
KSQ president Deepak Shetty welcomed the gathering.
It was also announced that KSQ had collected Rs One Lac towards ‘Shuruwat’, a foundation working towards the relief works of Uttarakhand flood victims. A cheque of Rs One Lac was handed over to Uttarakhand Association president Bipin Joshi by KSQ president Deepak Shetty.
The keynote address was delivered by V S Mannangi. He came to Qatar 18 years ago as civil engineer and has grown up to be the general manager of Al Muftah Contracting through his hard work and commitment to his profession. In his address Mannangi gave a brief introduction of Visvesvaraya ‘s achievements. He also thanked KSQ president Deepak Shetty for organizing the programme. Prabhakar, former president of KSQ presented a memento to Mannangi.
The second speaker of the day was Ravi Shetty, the managing director of Advance Technical Services and president of Bunts Qatar. He is a popular personality in Qatar and is credited for having given employment for number of people from undivided district of Dakshina Kannada in his company . In his address Ravi Shetty recalled the contribution of Sir M Visvesaraya and said that he was personally inspired greatly by this genius personality. He further said that engineering community has been blessed to have Sir M Visvesaraya as a role model and person to emulate. Ravi Shetty was presented with a memento by KSQ ex-president Arvind Patil.
P S Pai, who was the general manager of KEMCO earlier and is now the advisor at KEMCO following his retirement, was the third speaker of the day. He delved upon the work of engineers and their contribution to the society. He said that every development has an engineering brain behind it. He was presented with a memento KSQ vice-president Nagesh Rao.
The final speaker of the day Satish Deshpande spoke about engineers and history of Visvesvaraya. He appreciated the present executive committee of KSQ led by Deepak Shetty for taking initiative organized engineers day.
Chief guest Animesh Sarcar was felicitated and honoured by president and committee members and guests with a peta, shawl, garland and a memento.
Chief Guest Animesh Sarcar during his address appreciated KSQ and the work led by the president.
KSQ general secretary Mahesh Gowda proposed the vote of thanks. Later an open discussion was held wherein the gathering discussed several issues and came up with the suggestions to make Engineers Day more memorable in the coming years.
Snacks were served to a crowd of around 100 attendees.