On the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted the science fraternity to gear themselves up to provide “time-bound” delivery of solutions.
He also sought a scientific solution to increase crop yield while taking into account the shrinking land and water resources in the country.
“I have said — per drop, more crops. We must also think about — an inch of land and a bunch of crops,” he said and suggested that it could be possible only by synergising CSIR’s activities and outcomes with all important functionaries, including the Government, industry, society and the ultimate users.
In his speech, while referring affordable technologies developed by CSIR labs such country’s first tractor called ‘Swaraj’, first of its kind anti-diabetic herbal drug being sold in the name of BGR-34 and solar trees developed for solar generation, he stressed on connecting science with the common citizens in this century which is driven by technology.
Modi also cautioned that research efforts should not be duplicated.
“There should be a platform such that scientists learn what’s happening in one lab and then orient themselves to new challenges,” he said at the gathering of heads of CSIR labs, scientists and school children.
He also exhorted scientists to be cognizant of technological solutions that needed to be immediately implemented, even as scientists worked on research that would yield fruit “50 or hundred years hence.”
He also pointed out that development of technologies enabling affordable products is the key to today’s world’s economy scenario that would not only cater to the domestic requirements but also help improve the country’s exports particularly in water-starved Gulf nations.
To ensure that the country has a rich pool of science mind, he gave a call to the scientific community to personally mentor science students to give shape to their ideas and energy and give India ‘Research Entrepreneurs’of tomorrow.
On the occasion, prestigious Shanti Swaraup Bhatnagar prize was given to 38 scientists including Shantanu Chowdhary, Suman Kumar Dhar, Govindaswamy Mugesh, Y Shanthi Pawant and Amol Dighe among others.
The CSIR Technology award-2016 was bagged by National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI)-Central Institute of medicinal and Aromatic Plants for developing anti-diabetic drug BGR-34, Indian Institute of petroleum for wax de-oiling technology.
The others were National Aerospace laboratories for lED based Drishti visibility measuring system and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology for technology transfer of a specialty chemical while Six CSIR labs were awarded under the category of S&T innovation for rural development.