Industry & Economy
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Science & Technology
Govt sets up scientific advisory council
Our Bureau
Ahmedabad
,
Jan. 3
THE Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Monday announced the setting up of a Scientific Advisory Council chaired by Dr C.N.R. Rao. The Council will advise the Government in addressing the challenges facing Indian science.
Addressing the 92nd session of the Indian Science Congress at the Nirma University on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, the Prime Minister said that the Government would ensure that a "supportive policy environment" is in place to give a boost to scientific activity in the country.
In an effort to improve people's health, especially in the rural areas, Dr Singh said that the Government is formulating programmes to launch a National Rural Healthcare Mission. He asked the scientific community to come forth with practical solutions to address the healthcare needs of the rural population.
The Government, he said, is ready to fund efforts to produce new drugs for the poor to correct the pharmaceutical companies' heavy slant towards profit-maximisation and asked the pharma companies to move from mere imitation to innovation.
The Prime Minister also asked the scientific community to enhance the "predictive capability" to better understand natural phenomena and avert disasters like the tsunami that claimed thousands of lives in India and other Asian countries.
Later, addressing presspersons here, he said that the Government would make an effort to "de-bureaucratise" the scientific institutions so that they could function independently and carry out research.
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