NE SCIENCE & TECH BUREAU
NAGPUR, JAN 3
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday highlighted the role of India’s scientific strength in India’s story of development over the next 25 years. “When the spirit of national service gets infused in Science along with passion, results are unprecedented. I am sure, India’s scientific community will ensure a place for our country of which it was always deserving ,” he said.
He addressed the 108th Indian Science Congress (ISC) via video conferencing on Tuesday. The focal theme of this year’s ISC is “Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment” which will witness discussions on issues of sustainable development, women empowerment and the role of science & technology in achieving this.
- Abundant availability of data and technology in 21st-century India will help science
- Our thinking is not just that we should empower women via science but also empowering science by the contribution of women
- Efforts of science can turn into great achievements only when they come out of the lab and reach the land, and their impact reaches from global to grassroots, when its ambit is from journal to jameen and when change is visible from research to real life
- If the country takes initiative in futuristic areas we will be in a position to lead Industry 4.0
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the scientific community in India should work to make India ‘aatma nirbhar’.
With the growing energy needs, the scientific community should forge innovations to benefit the nation, said Modi, while inaugurating the event via video-conferencing. He pointed out that scientific attempts could turn into big achievements when it’s out of the lab and touches the ground.
“Development in science should be aimed at fulfilling India’s needs, and this should be the inspiration for our scientific community. Since India is home to 17-18 per cent of the world population, progress of such a large number of people will lead to a surge in global advancement as well,” he said.
PM Modi also noted that India jumped to the 40th rank in the global innovation index from 81 in 2015 in a list of 130 countries.
Expressing happiness about the theme of the Science Congress this year which combines sustainable development with women empowerment, the Prime Minister emphasised the complementarity between the two areas. However, he stressed, “Our thinking is not just that we should empower women via science but also empowering science by the contribution of women.”
Informing that India has been enshrined the opportunity to preside over G-20, the Prime Minister pointed out that women-led development is one of the high-priority subjects taken up by the chair. He informed that in the last 8 years, India has taken up extraordinary tasks ranging from governance to society to economy which is being discussed all over the world today. Highlighting the women who showcase their strength to the world, be it in a partnership in small industries and businesses or leadership in the start-up world, the Prime Minister gave the example of Mudra Yojna which has been instrumental in empowering women of India. He also pointed out the doubling of women’s participation in the field of extramural research and development. “The increasing participation of women is proof that women and science are both progressing in the nation”, Shri Modi said.
Several other programmes that would help stimulate scientific interest and temperament among children would also be organised.
The first session of Congress was held in 1914. This year the ISC was held at Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University.
