Union Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurates DST Mission centres at IIT Madras on Friday | Martin Louis
CHENNAI: Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan on Friday, launched three Department of Science and Technology (DST) Mission Centres on Solar Energy and Water Treatment at Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
These centres, which have been established at a collective investment of `50crore, have the mission of providing state-of-art research led innovative technological solutions for prevalent and emerging water and energy challenges facing the country.
After launching the centres, the minister called for coordination among the scientists. He asked them to improve upon the technology already built by fellow scientists rather than starting from the beginning to achieve significant results.
To a specific query, the minister said, “The Central government has already sent a proposal to hike the stipend for research scholars. After getting the clearance from the finance department, it would be implemented soon.”
He also said the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), premier research and development organisation in the country, was ranked among the top 10 best institutions in the world. “It was ranked 9th among 1207 such institutions in the world,” Harsh Vardhan said.
Sanjay Bajpai, head, Technology Missions Division, Department of Science and Technology, IIT Madras director Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Professor Ravindra Gettu, dean, Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research, IIT Madras, participated in the function.
