Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Sept 1: Addressing the 25th Foundation Day of “Technology Development Board” (TDB) of the Govt of India, as chief guest, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today categorically told the officials and members of TDB, “Reach out to Start-Ups and promote them, instead of they reaching you for support”. He said, TDB must discover and nurture the Start-Up ecosystem for successful product developments.
The Minister said, though there is no dearth of talented human resource in the country, the main challenge is to channelize it for evolving new paradigms. He said, the confidence of self-reliance will percolate down to the next generation and will help in attracting the best brains in the field of Science and Technology.
Referring to Prime Minister’s 75th Independence Day speech, where he said, “We should not limit the occasion of 75 years of Indian independence to just one ceremony. We must lay the groundwork for new resolutions and move forward with new resolutions. Starting from here, the entire journey of the next 25 years, when we celebrate the centenary of Indian independence, marks the Amrit period of creation of a new India”, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the roadmap for the next 25 years will be determined by scientific and technological innovations in all walks of life.
The event was graced by Dr. VK Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, Dr. Shekhar C Mande, Secretary, DSIR and Director General, CSIR, and Board Member, TDB, Secretary DBT, Renu Swarup, Rajesh Kumar Pathak, IP&TAFS, Secretary, TDB, Rajesh Jain, Director, Technology Development Board andProf.Ashutosh Sharma, former Secretary, Department of Science and Technology. Prof. K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India participated through virtual medium. Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech and young entrepreneur Ms Akshata Kari, Co-founder and COO, Coco lab also addressed the event in person.
Lauding the role of TDB for its successful journey of 25 years, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the roadmap for next 25 years should be to make India a World Leader in emerging fields like Artificial Intelligence, Astronomy, Data Science, Solar Energy, Green Hydrogen, Semiconductor, Quantum Computing Climate Change mitigation technologies and Cyber Physical System as desired by Prime Minister for his New India Vision. The Minister also released the TDB journal on the occasion.
In his address, Dr V.K.Saraswat said, R&D ecosystem has changed in India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and now there is more focus on translational research and commercialisation. He said, there are more than 5,000 Start-ups working in India with nearly 50 of them headed by Women entrepreneurs. Dr Saraswat said, even Multinational Companies have started pitching up with funds for Indian Innovations and setting up R&D facilities in India, which he said is a welcome change.
Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology and Department of Biotechnology emphasised on the efforts of TDB for its crucial role in innovation ecosystem while Shekhar C Mande, Secretary, DSIR and DG, CSIR and Board Member, TDB underlined the efforts and initiatives undertaken by TDB and their importance for India’s future. Prof Ashutosh Sharma, former Secretary, DST, highlighted the role of TDB in harnessing the new and emerging areas of science, technology and innovation for the benefit of society.
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