Govt investing heavily in science, R&D: Kasturirangan

Introduction

The Government is investing heavily in science and technology during the Twelfth Plan period and it has drawn up an ambitious agenda, according to K. Kasturirangan, the eminent space scientist and a member of the Planning Commission.

He was speaking at the convocation of Gitam University (a deemed university) here on Tuesday as the chief guest, after a honorary doctorate was conferred on him.

He said, “The Government opened 51 new institutions of higher learning in the previous plan and it is proposed to increase the number of full-time researchers/scientists from the present 1.54 lakh in 2011 to 2.50 lakh by the end of the current plan.”

He said science and technology held the key for India's progress in future and “there are many new challenges stemming from scientific fields such as nuclear energy, genetic engineering, synthetic biology, nano technology and stem cell research. Let me mention two areas of research in particular: synthetic biology and nuclear energy. There is a need to devise a proactive process to be adopted for assessing public attitudes on the one side and the level of risk acceptable in a social context of evolving policy.”

He said that “one of the key issues for India's growth is energy security. We are the fourth largest consumer of energy in the world after the US, China, and Russia, but we are not endowed with abundant energy resources. We cannot rely too much on imported energy. Therefore, we have to develop carbon-free technologies for power including nuclear power. The nuclear power industry has matured over the years, but still public perceptions on the risks persist. We have to address these issues and make the difficult choices.”

The university also conferred honorary doctorates on N. Chandrasekharan, CEO and MD of TCS, Devinder Singh Rana, eminent nephrologist, and Prasad Thotakura, CEO of ekNazar.com, Dallas, the US.

Source

India Brand Equity Foundation , October 09, 2013