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NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT Introduction Entrepreneurship has been considered the backbone of economic development.

It has been well established that the level of economic growth of a region to a large extent, depends on the level of entrepreneurial activities in the region. The myth that entrepreneurs are born, no more holds good, rather it is well recognized now that the entrepreneurs can be created and nurtured through appropriate interventions in the form of entrepreneurship development programmers. In the era of liberalization, privatization and globalization along with ongoing IT revolution, capable entrepreneurs are making use of the opportunities emerging from the evolving scenario. However, a large segment of the population, particularly in the industrially backward regions/rural areas generally lags behind in taking advantage of these opportunities. Therefore, there is a need to provide skill development and entrepreneurship development training to such people in order to mainstream them in the ongoing process of economic growth. IIM-Ahmadabad Professor and Founder of India's Honeybee Network, Anil Gupta, has selected the seven most powerful rural Indian entrepreneurs for a compilation in Forbes magazine."India's villages have become a hot bed of innovation, as its rural poor develop inventions out of necessity. Several of the people on this list have no more than an elementary school education," Gupta says. Mansukhbhai Jagani developed a motorcyclebased tractor for India's poor farmers, which is both cost effective - costing roughly $318, and fuel efficient (it can plow an acre of land in 30 minutes with two liters of fuel). Patel who studied up to Class X, invented a cotton-stripping machine in 1991. Patel's machine helps in removing cotton from semi opened and unopened shells of various cotton varieties. The machine has won a U.S. patent.

Objectives This conference is aimed at research organizations, universities, government agencies, policy-makers, public policy advocates, nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and corporate representatives from all over the country. This conference can serve as a meeting point for scholars and stakeholders to interact and exchange ideas. It is also an opportunity for both the paper presenters and the participants to exchange ideas and disseminate new research findings to be used as guidelines in future policy-making. It is also in the best interest of the organizer to further generate innovative thinking pertaining to rural development and to identify elements of a longer term research agenda to fill critical gaps in knowledge on these issues. CONFERENCE THEMES AND FOCUS AREA This conference is a multi-disciplinary conference focusing on rural development and entrepreneurship. The sub-themes for this conference include, but is not limited to, the following: Enhancing services sector in rural areas Rural poverty eradication & reaching the rural poor Quality of life and social capitals of rural households Entrepreneur education and skills attainment Entrepreneurship as an economic development vehicle of rural communities Environmental and tourism sustainability of rural areas The rural way of life and quest for development Impact of ICT development on rural communities Micro financing and small-and-medium enterprises Islamic economics, business and accounting

WHO SHOULD ATTEND THIS CONFERENCE?

Researchers, educators and practitioners in entrepreneurship from all over the world, who wish to present their research and discuss their findings with colleagues

Representatives of governmental organizations, business and trade associations concerned with the promotion of entrepreneurship Senior officials in entrepreneur development, economic policy-making, regional development, sustainability and administration Suppliers of education and training services All those interested in entrepreneurship

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