Calling Could 11, the day the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee authorities carried out nuclear checks at Pokhran in 1998, one of the vital prestigious days in India’s historical past that “not solely helped India show its scientific capabilities but in addition boosted the nation’s world stature”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mentioned that he nation considers expertise “as a device of the nation’s progress, not a way to claim its dominance”.
“I can always remember the day Atal-ji made the announcement of India’s profitable nuclear testing…. In Atal-ji’s phrases, now we have by no means stopped on our journey and by no means surrendered to any problem that has come our method,’’ Modi mentioned whereas inaugurating the Nationwide Expertise Day occasion at Pragati Maidan right here.
Modi mentioned measures taken since 2014 have resulted in massive modifications within the subject of science and expertise. “The Begin-up India Marketing campaign, Digital India, and Nationwide Training Coverage have helped India acquire new heights within the subject…. The variety of patents has elevated from 4,000 per yr 10 years in the past to greater than 30,000 immediately. Registration of designs has grown from 10,000 to fifteen,000 on this interval. The variety of logos has grown from lower than 70,000 to greater than 2,50,000,” he mentioned.
On the event, Modi laid the muse stone for a number of tasks associated to scientific and technological development price greater than Rs 5,800 crore. These embrace Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory in Hingoli, Maharashtra; Homi Bhabha Most cancers Hospital and Analysis Centre in Jatni, Odisha; and the Platinum Jubilee Block of Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.
The PM additionally devoted to the nation tasks such because the Fission Molybdenum-99 Manufacturing Facility in Mumbai, Uncommon Earth Everlasting Magnet Plant in Visakhapatnam, Nationwide Hadron Beam Remedy Facility, Radiological Analysis Unit and the Ladies and Kids Most cancers Hospital Constructing in Navi Mumbai.
In the course of the programme, he inaugurated the expo showcasing scientific and technological developments made in India.
Speaking about LIGO-India, he known as LIGO one of many foremost science and expertise initiatives of the twenty first century. The observatory will carry new alternatives for analysis for the scholars and scientists, he mentioned.
He mentioned greater than 10,000 ATAL tinkering labs in 700 districts have turn into innovation nurseries. Extra importantly, he famous, 60% of those labs are in government-run faculties and in rural areas. Modi identified that greater than 75 lakh college students are engaged on greater than 12 lakh innovation tasks in these labs.
The PM emphasised that the variety of tech incubation centres within the nation has grown from roughly 150 in 2014 to greater than 650 immediately, and that India’s International Innovation Index Rank has risen from 81 to 40.
He additionally identified that the nation had solely 100 start-ups in 2014, which has gone as much as greater than 1 lakh recognised start-ups, making India the biggest start-up ecosystem on this planet.