Murthy appointed IT adviser to Lankan President

In a bid to increase investments into the IT sector, the Sri Lankan government has appointed the chief mentor of Infosys, Narayana Murthy, as the international adviser on information technology to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"N R Narayana Murthy was appointed as the international adviser to the Sri Lankan President and he has accepted it," Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said.

Rajapaksa made the appointment after inviting Narayana Murthy as the chief guest to the ceremonial launch of '2009-Year of English and Information Technology' at the Presidential Secretariat here yesterday.

Speaking at the event, Rajapaksa said the great success of India in the field of Information Technology in the recent years has highly inspired Sri Lanka.

"It is for this reason that we have turned to India in addition to other countries for technical support to strengthen our own endeavours. We are honoured by the presence today of Narayana Murthy, 'the father of IT in India' and the chairman and mentor of the world famous Infosys," President Rajapaksa said yesterday.

Padma Vibhushan awardee Murthy has stepped down as Infosys CEO but continues as its chief mentor and board chairman.