The Children Science Congress was today inaugurated by former President of India Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam here inKolkata at S.N.Bose National Center for Basic Sciences today. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Kalam said the this Indian science congress standing is on the shoulders of great scientific minds SN Bose, JC Bose, Meghnath Saha, Sir CV Raman, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai and many great scientists.He said would like to share few thoughts on the topic “Excellence in thinking and actions”.
Dr. Kalam asked the young buds present on the occasion to take science as a life mission with excellence in thinking and action by striving to work with their utmost potential . I would like to focus on importance of two great needs: Value to science and scientific magnanimity. He also spoke about energy conservation and building scientific temperament.
Dr. Kalam said “History has proven that those who dare to imagine the impossible are the ones who break all human limitations. In every field of human endeavor, whether science, medicine, sports, the arts, or technology, the names of the people who imagined the impossible and achieved are engraved in our history. By breaking the limits of their imagination, they changed the world.”
The former president also shared his interaction with students in State Children Science Congress (2012) Uttar Pradesh State Science Congress at Barabanki, Southern Regional Science Congress at Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, Mega Science Fair at Darbhanga (Bihar) and National Children Science Congress at Varanasi..
He also referred to the recent development by two teams at the CERN Laboratory towards the discovery of the “God Particle” , a popular name for an elementary particle called Higgs Boson, named after a great scientist Peter Higgs and Already some progress is being made in this direction in 2011, and it may be possible that within the next few year, we would be able to understand better about the God’s Particle and unravel the mystery of why matter exists and how universe came into being. Dr. Kalam said ,I am sure, some of you, as scientists of tomorrow would be finding such sub-atomic, fundamental physics as a research area for your scientific pursuits and would play a vital role in discovering more about this unique area of particle physics.
Presiding over the session Union Science & Technology and Earth Science Minster Dr. S.Jaipal Reddy said the future of India will be shaped by the emerging force, the youth of the Nation and in the words of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, as he quoted in the “Discovery of India” -.“Old as we are, with memories stretching back to the early dawns of human history and endeavour, we have to grow once again, in tune with our present time, with the irrepressible spirit and joy of youth in the present and its faith in the future.
Shri Reddy said Dr. Kalam, apart from making signal contributions in the field of technology and public life, has made abstruse subjects like science and technology inspiring for children and youth in their impressionable years. Nobody has proved to be a greater source of positive energy and soaring inspiration than him in recent years.
The Minister impressed upon the need to invest in today’s youth, both in terms of resources and mentoring support, as our first Prime Minister Pt. Nehru did in setting up such temples of learning as Atomic Energy Commission and IITs. Our Government realizes the inestimable value of such investments. He urged senior scientists of today to extend all the mentoring support to budding researchers. He said “Let us together build an India which is a leader in science and technology in the world”.
The Minster said we have a dynamic, developed and diversified industrial and service sectors, established on the strength of our own techno-entrepreneurial talents. Our technological achievements are substantial and in certain areas, these are world class. The country today has over 700 R&D, technical and development centres of the top global companies, employing over 150,000 scientists and engineers. This confidence of global majors in our youth has given fillip to some ofIndia’s best and talented young technocrats to become first generation technopreneurs. And, most importantly, all of this has been achieved in a framework of a vibrant pluralistic democracy.
Shri Reddy referred to the scheme “Innovation in Scientific Pursuit for Inspired Research” INSPIRE launched by the Department of Science and Technology and said that Under this scheme around nine lakh awards for youth in the age group of 10-32 years has been provided. Besides this INSPIRE supports science camps for top 1% performers at class level across all school boards. It also provides high value scholarship for study of science courses at undergraduate levels, offers research fellowships for doctoral research and creates assured opportunity for careers with research by providing faculty awards for 5-year contractual assignments and research grants..
Referring to the newly announced Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, Shri Reddy said it conveys India’s aspiration to emerge as one of the top global knowledge powers. The new policy also stresses the importance of research that culminates in innovation. It seeks to highlight the need to integrate science, research and innovation to develop valuable technologies. He said we have also initiated a PM Doctoral Research Fellowship in partnership with industry .Already 30 fellowships have been awarded to doctoral students. To me this is a landmark initiative and I hope that in coming years the young recipients of the Fellowship will be instrumental in shaping a glorious future of science in India, the minister added.