Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for adoption of five E’s, namely economy, environment, energy, empathy and equity, to develop desi scientific research.
Addressing the 103rd Indian Science Congress in Mysuru he said he was encouraging greater scientific collaboration between Central and State institutions and agencies as part of cooperative federalism.
“We will make it easier to do science research in India,” said Modi, as the annual five-day mega science event began on the Manasa Gangotri campus of the University of Mysore with over 500 eminent scientists and experts from the country and abroad scheduled to address the meet.
The Prime Minister raised the challenges of rapid urbanisation and asked the scientific community to address them as it would be critical for a sustainable world.
“Cities are the major engines of economic growth, employment opportunities and prosperity. They account for more than two-thirds of global energy demand and result in up to 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emission,” he said.
“What we do on land, but also on how we treat our oceans”, he said, adding the Government had increased focus on ocean or blue economy. “We will raise the level of our scientific efforts in marine science,” he said.
Modi said better scientific tools must be developed to improve city planning with sensitivity to local ecology and heritage and affordable and practical solutions found for solid waste management.
Noting that yet another revolution of empowerment and opportunities in India had been launched, Modi said, “We are once again turning” to the country’s scientists and innovators to realise the goals of human welfare and economic development.
“Our success spans from the core of the tiny atom to the vast frontier of space. We have enhanced food and health security and, we have given hope for a better life to others in the world,” he noted.
As the level of our ambition for our people was being increased, the scale of the efforts would also have to be increased, the Prime Minister said. In this context, he referred to good governance and said it is about integrating science and technology into the choices to be made and the strategies to be pursued.
“Our digital networks are expanding the quality and reach of public services and social benefits for the poor,” he said.
Underlining that innovation must also drive the scientific process, Modi said, “We succeeded in bringing innovation and technology to the heart of the climate change discourse.”
“Innovation is important not just for combating climate change, but also for climate justice. We need research and innovation to make clean energy technology available, accessible and affordable for all. We need innovation to make renewable energy much cheaper, more reliable and easier to connect to transmission grids,” he said.
The five-day science carnival, Indian Science Congress is returning to Karnataka after a 13-year hiatus with Mysuru hosting the event after a 34-year gap at a time when the University of Mysore is celebrating its centenary.
The Congress’ focal theme is “Science and Technology for Indigenous Development in India” in tune with Modi’s big push for “Make in India” programme.
later in the day, Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of a new helicopter manufacturing unit of Hindustan Aeronautics limited (HAl) at Bidarehalla Kaval in Tumkur district in Karnataka and made a strong pitch for Make in India programme. He said the new HAl factory would produce desi helicopters to safeguard the borders of the country.
“In an era where defence forces required the best and latest equipment to firmly secure the borders of the nation, this village in Gubbi taluk would be producing the helicopters for the Indian forces,” he said.
Modi hoped that Rs 5,000 crore Helicopter Manufacturing unit of the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics limited would create job opportunities to many and said first helicopter will be airborne by 2018.
He recalled former Prime Minister lal Bahadur Shastri’s famous slogan - ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ and said that in the last fifty years, a lot of progress had been made in agriculture, and the country is now self-sufficient in food grains.
lauding the Indian Armed Forces, he said that they were second to none, and now the time had come to ensure that the weapons and equipment they carried and used were also the best in the world.
“For this India needed to end dependence on imported weaponry, which is expensive and is not of the latest technology,” Prime Minister Modi said. He added that the Union Government has decided to lay stress on manufacturing of defence equipment and that the helicopters manufactured in Tumkur will serve soldiers stationed in remote locations.