M A I N   N E W S

PM asks scientists to ‘think out of box’
Tribune News Service & PTI

Chennai, January 3
Asking scientists to think “big” and “out of the box”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said “the time has come to produce Ramans and Ramanujams” and cross new horizons.

At the same time, he cautioned scientists on “illiberal” uses of technology and cited use of nuclear weapons, applications of synthetic chemistry in agriculture and in poison gases and “perverse use” of genetics in Nazi Germany to drive home his point.

“The time has come for Indian scientists to think big, think out of the box. The time has come to produce Ramans and Ramanujans as we usher in the decade of innovation,” he said inaugurating the 98th Indian Science Congress at the SRM University campus here. He was referring to eminent physicist and Nobel laureate CV Raman and renowned mathematician Srinavasa Ramanujam, both hailing from Tamil Nadu.

He said the year 2012-13, the centenary of the Indian Science Congress, would be designated as the “Year of Science in India”.

“I sincerely hope the Year of Science in India will unleash the energies of our young scientists and inspire a new generation of Indians to enter the world of science, cross new horizons and explore new possibilities,” he said.

He also said that Indian universities should be more open to young people abroad, who wanted to continue their research in India. He appealed to the participants to deliberate on how to make Indian universities more open to Indian talent abroad, including for those who seek temporary affiliation. Citing the Science Advisory Council’s report, he said most of the instruments available in India using Raman effect were imported, even while CV Raman won the Nobel Prize 80 years ago. “This is not an isolated example. Many of our outstanding scientific discoveries had been converted into marketable products by technologists and firms abroad. Our universities should be more hospitable to creativity and genius, and less captive to bureaucracy and procedure. They should be more open to talent and to the challenge of established ideas. I will like the Science Congress to discuss and come out with recommendations to strengthening the link between universities, laboratories and the industry,” he said.

“Unless we strengthen the base of our educational system, we can never hope to extend the height of the pyramid of excellence. We also need to create an innovation eco-system so that innovation becomes a way of life in our knowledge institutions,” he said.