The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `Science academies should speak out on public issues'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 25, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Science academies should speak out on public issues'

Special Correspondent

They are duty-bound to create awareness

CHENNAI: Academies of science should speak out on critical issues of public importance, the chairman of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes Management, G. Thyagarajan, said on Friday.

The organisations of scientists should provide guidance to people when the country faced problems such as bird flu. Those running on public funds were duty-bound to do so, Dr. Thyagarajan said, delivering a lecture in memory of T.R. Govindachari (1915-2001), acclaimed as the Father of Natural Products Chemistry in the country.

Similarly, such institutions should create awareness about opportunities available in pursuing science.

Speaking on trends in international mobility of science and technology professionals at a meeting organised by the Madras Science Foundation, Dr. Thyagarajan, a former Director of the Central Leather Research Institute, explained findings of two surveys carried out on the subject.

Quoting the findings of one of the surveys, he said that one section of respondents felt that mobility was not an issue.

To absorb all the Ph.Ds., the country had to achieve 10-fold increase of jobs.

This section of the respondents favoured the idea of "let people learn, earn and return if they want."

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