Narayana Murthy appointed IT adviser to Sri Lankan president

The Sri Lankan government has appointed Infosys chief mentor Narayana Murthy to advise President Mahinda Rajapaksa on ways of boosting investments in the island nation's information technology sector.

''"Mr 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 announcement at a ceremony to launch  '2009-Year of English and Information Technology', where Narayana Murthy was the chief guest. The Sri Lankan president said he was inspired by the strides made by India in the field of information technology.

''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.