India has been elected for the first time as the Chairman of the Inter-governmental Council of International Programme for Development of Communication, IPDC. <br/><br/>The chairmanship of this council has always remained with the developed countries since its inception. India's Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Reghu Menon won 23 votes out of 37 against the outgoing chairman Switzerland got only 14 votes. <br/><br/>The candidature of India was endorsed by Asia Pacific Regional Group and supported by countries from Africa, Arab and Latin American regions. The Chairmanship of the IPDC has always remained with developed countries since its inception and it is for the first time that a developing country has been elected for the post. <br/><br/>The IPDC was set up in 1980 and it implements national, regional and inter-regional products in the areas of promotion of freedom of expression, international partnership, development of community media and capacity building. India which is now recognised globally as an emerging economy has contributed 1.4 million US dollars so far to the IPDC programmes and is strongly committed to the council's objectives. India will chair the council till its next session in 2012.