The Hindu : National : Go beyond Indica, Manmohan tells Tatas

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004

National

National

Go beyond Indica, Manmohan tells Tatas

By Our Special Correspondent

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, presenting the CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award to the Chairman of the Tata Motors, Ratan Tata, in New Delhi on Monday. - Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

NEW DELHI, SEPT.13. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today made an appeal to the Tata group to go beyond the development and commercialisation of India's first indigenous car, Indica, and take the lead in the establishment of an indigenous production base in the civilian aircraft sector also.

Dr. Singh paid tributes to the Chairman of the Tata Motors, Ratan Tata, and his team of engineers for setting ``a major milestone in the Indian auto history,'' with Indica making a mark in the British market too. He urged that the group follow up on the recent achievement of scientists at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)'s National Aerospace Laboratory in successfully launching a prototype for the 14-seater Saras civilian aircraft.

``To me, Saras is not [merely] an aircraft, just as Indica is not [simply] a car. Both stand for India's determination to win in the global technology race. It is this spirit that must propel us forward.''

Dr. Singh was speaking at a function, where he presented the CSIR's diamond jubilee technology award to Mr. Ratan Tata. Mr. Tata is the first recipient of the award, which was instituted last year in commemoration of the CSIR's diamond jubilee. The award consists of a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs and a shield, conceptualised and designed in association with the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

Award for scientists

Dr. Singh also presented the CSIR's Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prizes to 13 scientists for their exemplary contribution to the progress of science and technology.

He assured that the Central Government was fully committed to give science and technology a place of pride in all national endeavours. In particular, it was committed to increase funding for frontier areas of scientific research, and creation of career opportunities and putting in place measures to retain talent in the science and technology sector.

Science base

Special measures would be taken to rebuild the science base in the universities, as due to the ``deteriorating health of our universities in the past two decades,'' the country's scientific research base has not grown fast enough. While a few good scientific institutions have come up in recent years, they cannot be a substitute for the spread and vibrancy of the university system.

Reconstruction of our university system must be a top priority and the issue has to be addressed comprehensively, not in a piecemeal fashion.

``New strategies need to be developed to induct, nurture and retain young talent in the science stream. In particular, science education at 10, +2 and undergraduate levels need special attention. Dr. Singh also announced that he would soon constitute a Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister that would be headed by a distinguished scientist.

The mandate of the Council would be to provide advice on strategies, policies and programmes for using S&T as an essential input for all developmental processes.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National