Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

India may overtake Japan in 2035: DRDO official

— Photo: M. Moorthy

Top honour: The Chief Controller, R & D, Defence Research and Development Organisation, W. Selvamurthy, left, presenting the M.K. Nambiar Oration award to IABMS president S. Rajarajan, in Tiruchi on Thursday. Left to right, the Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, M. Ponnavaikko, and the Advisor, Technology Development and Transfer, DST, G.J. Samathanam, look on.

TIRUCHI: Scientists in the country should assume an advisory role in nation-building aggressively, W. Selvamurthy, Distinguished Scientist and Chief Controller, Research and Development, Defence Research and Development Organisation, advocated on Thursday.

The Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists (IABMS), a heterogeneous and multi-disciplinary group, can set the model by telling the nation the direction it should tread in the course of its fast transition from developing to developed country, he observed inaugurating the Association’s 28th annual conference and a Symposium on Bioresources in the Development of Medicine, organised by the National Facility for Marine Cyanobacteria, Bharathidasan University.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Selvamurthy, a Founder Member of the IABMS, said the green, white and IT revolutions have put the country on a growth path. India was now in an advantageous position in Science and Technology and was poised to overtake Japan in 2035 to become one of the three major superpowers.

Urging scientists to go for researches relevant to the country’s requirements, he suggested formation of common study groups and conduct of e-conferences. He advocated a triangular link between academic institutions, research organisations and industry. Seeding of new technologies to arrive at new products should take place in academic institutions and their application should be successfully tested in organisations while industry must take up commercial manufacture of the product for wealth generation.

Dr. Selvamurthy made a presentation on ‘Life Sciences in the Service of the Soldiers’ detailing the various innovative ideas generated by the nine laboratories of the DRDO.

The guest of honour, G.J. Samathanam, Advisor, Technology Development and Transfer, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, said the need of the hour was to take up greater challenges and that scientists have to think big to make the country a developed nation. As a nation with the strength of intelligence, India can become a knowledge leader, he said and urged professional bodies to conform to performance indicators.

Presiding over, the Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, M. Ponnavaikko, said the future technologies were biotechnology, nanotechnology and wireless technology. All forms of medicine originated from Siddha, he said, and complimented the IABMS for its successes in unravelling the medicinal properties of herbs.

S. Rajarajan, President, IABMS, said the conference was a platform for all scientists, researchers, pharmacologists and practitioners of traditional medicines to share and shape knowledge. D. Sakthisekaran, General Secretary, presented the annual report.

T. Thirunalasundari, Organising Secretary, IABMS, and M. Sundararaman, Executive Member, spoke.

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

Stories in this Section

Quiz, lectures to mark Anna’s birth anniversary
Reworking social work jargon
Kurinji College wins music title
Mettur level
Special buses
DRDO’s cancer therapy to hit market by year-end
Making field trip with a difference
Ryots get refund from banks
“Revise insurance scheme for banana”
India may overtake Japan in 2035: DRDO official
Decision to increase water tax draws sharp criticism
Tiruchi Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu