Dear all,
This will certainly cause major boost to science and technology development in our country. All faculty members of science faculty must be very happy with this development.
| I am pasting a very important news item that I came across today. Please read on. |
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Jammu: In major boost to scientific research
and development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday announced
projects including a National Mission on High Performance Computing and a
Neutrino-based Observatory in Tamil Nadu with an outlay of about Rs.
9,000 crore.
Asserting that government has invested in several areas to ensure
that India remains at the cutting edge of science, he also announced
that India is joining the CERN Institute, a premier Europen Organisation
for Nuclear Research, as an associate member. Addressing the Indian
Science Congress for the tenth year in succession, Singh said India
needs to leverage the ability of modern science to deliver value to
society.
"We must also seek global leadership in at least some research
and development areas. Affordable innovations for human healthcare,
sustainable agriculture, clean energy and total solutions for
water-related challenges are some areas where Indian science can seek
global leadership," he said delegates to the Congress.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, India needs to leverage the ability of modern science to deliver value to society.
The inaguration of the 5-day meet was attended among others by Union
Science and Technology Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Jammu and Kashmir
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. With "Innovations in Science and
Technology for Inclusive Development" as its theme for this year's
Congress, the five-day meet is being attended by around 500 scientists
from India and abroad, two Nobel laureates Lee YT and Ferid Murad.
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam and Principal Scientific Advisor to the
Government of India Avinash Chander will be among those who deliver
lectures. The Prime Minister said the National Mission on High
Performance Computing with an outlay of Rs.4,500 crore and considering
establishment of National Geographical Information System with an outlay
of Rs,3,000 crore.
Announcing that India will partner the international scientific
community in the establishment of some of the world's major R and D
projects, he said in the Gravitational Wave experiment, India intends to
host the third detector. A Neutrino-based observatory is proposed to be
set in Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs.1450 crore. India is also joining the
famous CERN Institute as an associate member. After some controversy
over the proposal to locate the Neutrino Observatory in the Nilgiris
following fears of environmental damage, the observatory is now proposed
to be set up in the West Bodi hills of Tamil Nadu.
Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a proposed particle physics
research project to study atmospheric neutrinos. Singh said India
intends to host the third detector in the Gravitational Wave Experiment.
He also said Indian nuclear scientists were attracting global in their
effort to develop a Fast Breeder Reactor. "I expect the prototype under
construction in Kalpakkam to be completed this year." It will be a
great day for Indian science and technology because we will be one of
the few countries in the world with leadership in a completely new area
of nuclear technology that can contribute non-polluting electrical
power."
Pitching for more funds to promote science, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh said the country's annual expenditure on science and
technology should be at least two per cent of the GDP. "To do science,
someone must pay for it. We must increase our annual expenditure on
science and technology to at least 2 per cent of GDP. This has to come
from both government and industry.
"In countries such as South Korea, where a high percentage of the
GDP goes to science, the contribution of industry is significant,"
Singh noted. Lauding Indian scientists working in the fields of atomic
energy, space and earth science, the Prime Minister said India has
occupied an "enviable position" in these fields.
"The launch of our Moon and Mars Mission are a testimony of the
giant strides we are making in space. We have now the ability to issue
alerts within 13 minutes of a tsunami-genic event," he noted. "Our
decision to set up a new Ministry of Earth Sciences following the Indian
Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and to invest in world-class tsunami forewarning
systems in 2007 has been amply rewarded", the Prime Minister said.
He said the country's advances in meteorology were evident during
the cyclone in Odisha, when "we received accurate forecasts of landfall
point that were more accurate than the forecasts of well known
international bodies. I would also like to see continuous improvement in
our monsoon prediction capability through the recently launched Monsoon
Mission so that we can avert the kind of calamities that we saw in
Uttarakhand last year", he said.
Batting for Bt crops, Singh said while safety must be ensured we
should not succumb to unscientific prejudices. "To ensure food security
and to improve and water productivity, we have to launch a national
drive for an ever-green revolution." Singh also announced institution of
25 Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowships, under which eminent scientists from
abroad will be invited to work in India for 12 months over a period of
three years.
