Prime Minister Narendra Modi today outlined the vision for science for the next 25 years, urging researchers to make the country self-reliant and focus on transforming their knowledge to bring about change in everyday life.
At the opening of the 108th Indian Science Congress in Nagpur, Prime Minister Modi also emphasized on strengthening scientific processes, focusing on emerging fields such as quantum technologies, data sciences, developing new vaccines, stepping up efforts to oversee Newer Diseases and Encouraging Young People Research.
“Science efforts can only become great achievements when they come out of the lab and reach the land, and their impact reaches from global to grassroots, when the scope is from journal to zameen (country, daily life) and when change is visible from research to real life,” the prime minister said while virtually addressing the event.
The five-day Indian Science Congress was inaugurated at Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University here in the presence of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Jitendra Singh, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The Prime Minister also made a strong pitch for creating an institutional framework and a mentor-mentee (guru-shishya) system that could build on the successes of talent shows and hackathons to attract young people into science. He highlighted the opportunities for private companies and start-ups by associating with research laboratories and academic institutions.
He urged researchers to focus on quantum computing and emerge as world leaders in the emerging field. “India is rapidly moving towards quantum computing, chemistry, communications, sensors, cryptography and new materials,” Prime Minister Modi said while urging young researchers and scientists to gain expertise in quantum and become leaders.
The Prime Minister urged researchers to put topics such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality on their priority list and also to come up with innovations in the field of semiconductors.
“India is taking several initiatives in the field of semiconductors. New innovations will be needed in the field of semiconductors. Shouldn’t we help make the country future-proof in this field?” said Prime Minister Modi.
He mentioned India’s growing energy needs and urged the scientific community to forge innovations in the field that could benefit the country.
As India is home to 17 to 18 percent of the world’s population, the advancement of such a large number of people will also spark a wave of global progress, he said.
India is using scientific resources for progress and the consequences are visible, he said, noting that India jumped to 40th place in the global innovation index from 81st position in 2015 in a list of 130 countries.
“Today we live in such an era when humanity is faced with the threat of new diseases. We must identify diseases in a timely manner through Integrated Disease Surveillance and take measures to address them. Several ministries will have to work together to achieve this goal,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi also stressed the need to promote research and development to prepare new vaccines.
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