A Joint initiative by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology and Delhi Journalists’ Association to educate masses about the country’s scientific inventions
Enjoying the tag of a preferred nation by the US to launch its satellites in bulk, 12th position among Government-funded 1,200 global scientific institutions, 99th position among 5,000 global privately funded scientific institutions, 13 per cent growth in scientific publications, India is ready to lead the world’s biggest telescope project. With these and many other feathers in the cap, India heads towards emerging a global leader in science and technology by the year 2022.
The scientists of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and other labs are seriously and rigorously working to find out solutions to the immediate problems faced by people and many of their inventions have made the life of the common men easier and comfortable. But the problem is that most people in our own country are not aware of these inventions.
In order to educate the masses about the scientific inventions, the Union Ministry of Science and Technology and Delhi Journalists Association (DJA), the premier journalists’ body of the National Capital representing journalists from various leading newspapers, news channels and web portal, organised an Interaction of Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan with the mediapersons on June 23.
Hailing the country’s scientists as among the best in the world, Dr Harsh Vardhan said the world”s biggest telescope coming up in India would enable the astronomers to observe the intricacies of the universe from the comfort of the earth. The site for the telescope—a multi-million dollar project being developed by an international consortium including India—is to be finalised shortly, though Hanle in Ladakh has been explored as one of the sites for the purpose. He said India”s contribution to the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) project would be ‘more in terms of hardware’ than money and India would spend Rs 1,300-crore on it. It is to be built by an international consortium consisting of institutions from India, the US, Canada, Japan and China. The gigantic telescope is scheduled to be ready by 2020. The project would be led by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, with the help of the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital, and Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune. “I have been to several scientific laboratories and research centres in the country and have met top scientists in the US too. But, I can tell you, that our scientists are far superior to those people,” he added.
Director General of CSIR Dr Girish Sahni apprised the mediapersons of the inventions made by CSIR scientists from mobile RO plant to Ayurvedic medicines and technology to enhance farmers’ income.
Mentioning the impact of Pulse Polio campaign started by Dr Harsh Vardhan in Delhi as Health Minister, DJA president Manohar Singh said Dr Vardhan has set milestones in the Ministry of S&T also. DJA general secretary Pramod Kumar assured Dr Harsh Vardhan that the journalists
associated with the DJA would sincerely help in taking the inventions from lab to the masses. Prior to it, general body
meeting of the DJA, held at the same venue, decided to go digital and make minimum use of paper. It also reiterated the demand for the constitution of a media council. —Organiser Bureau
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