Science & Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has urged former scientists of CSIR to join a national mission to resolve the unresolved problems of the country through science. Addressing the 76th Foundation Day of CSIR in New Delhi, he said, the laboratories under CSIR should proactively involve those scientists, who were part of its family, as “scientists never retires”.“Take a resolve on this Foundation Day, to diagnose the problems that remain unresolved during these 70 years; define specific goals and targets; make a team; develop a management plan and finally a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the action on year-to-year basis” said Dr Harsh Vardhan. The minister said, during the past four and a half years, he had visited all the 38 laboratories of CSIR and interacted with the scientists. Dr Vardhan said, he is of the firm belief that Indian scientists are among the best in the world and the labs are comparable and in some fields ahead of similar institutions elsewhere in the world.Earlier NITI Ayog Member Dr S.K. Saraswat delivered the CSIR Foundation Day Lecture on Artificial Intelligence and Humanity.
Dr Saraswat also presented CSIR Annual Awards in various categories - Innovation Awards for School Children, Young Scientists Awards, Technology Awards, Diamond Jubilee Technology Award, Award for S&T Innovation for Rural Development, GN Ramachandran Gold Medal for Excellence in Biological Sciences & Technology and Commendation Award to Indian Air Force team, which carried out the successful test flight of indigenously developed SARAS aircraft on January 24, 2018.Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary Department of Science & Technology and DG: CSIR announced Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards 2018, the highest multidisciplinary science awards in India. Thirteen scientists were selected for the award, which carries a prize money of Rs. 5 lacs and a citation.