New Delhi, Feb 23: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; Minister of State PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh on Tuesday emphasised the need to incorporate the scientific achievements made in India into the country’s cultural ethos to help in laying the road map for the future progress.
Inaugurating a week-long pan India science festival titled “VigyanSarvatraPujyate” (Universal Reverence for Science), along with Mr, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of North-eastern region of India, G Kishan Reddy, he said that one should not ignore the past while marching forward. As Churchill said, “The longer you look back, the farther you can look forward”.
Tracing the legacy of scientific achievements in the last 75 years, Dr Jitendra Singh said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, technology has now entered every household and it is for the scientific community to decide how to get the optimum results from the new scientific breakthroughs. He noted that Prime Minister Modi, on numerous occasions, has highlighted the role of science and technology in achieving the country’s national and international goals and the need to nurture scientific temper and take science to people in their mother tongue.
The Minister pointed out that India’s scientific laboratories, as well as scientific manpower, now compete with the best in the world. He recalled that the world’s best corporations and companies, such as Alphabet, the parent company of Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Adobe, and IBM are being headed by Indians or Indian Origin people, who have got their basic scientific training in scientific institutions within the country.
Dr Jitendra Singh urged that to get the maximum fruits and benefits out of science and technology, there was a need to inculcate a scientific mindset and to achieve that, access to scientific information and knowledge is a must. He noted that “VigyanSarvatraPujyate” is being organised in 75 different cities across the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kachch to Kamprup, marking the National Science Week (22-28 February 2022) and popularise science among the public.
The event is part of the “AzadiKaAmritMahotsav” to pay homage and showcase the achievements of the 75 glorious years of India’s Independence. It is being coordinated by VigyanPrasar, under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) and other Ministries of the Government of India.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the Government was bound to achieve not just a 100% literacy rate but 100% scientific literacy rate and noted that VigyanPrasar had commenced an ambitious programme in this direction, Project VigyanBhasha, to communicate science in various Indian languages. Including Sanskrit, they have begun work in Urdu, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Nepali, and Assamese.
The science festival will end with a grand valedictory function. It will coincide with the National Science Day, celebrated on February 28 every year since 1987 in remembrance of Nobel Laureate Sir C.V. Raman’s path-breaking discovery of the Raman Effect in 1930. National Science Communication Awards to this year’s awardees, and prizes to the winners of various contests held as part of the Mahotsav would be presented. Information on VigyanSarvatraPujyate is available on www.vigyanpujyate.in
Dr K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA), Government of India, Dr S. Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Dr ParvinderMaini, Scientific Secretary, Office of PSA and Dr NakulParashar, Director VigyanPrasar and other senior officials joined the inaugural event. (India Science Wire)
