VISAKHAPATNAM: “India is in the sixth position in scientific publications which is around 4 per cent in global standards. By 2023, we would be in the third position after the US and China, in the world,” said the secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, Ashutosh Sharma.
He was bestowed Honorary Degree of Doctrate of Science (DSc) by GITAM University at its eighth convocation.
Delivering the convoctipn address, Ashutosh said that the Government of India, through the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy aspires to position India among the world’s top five scientific powers. India had developed into a formidable power in several areas of science and technology, particularly the country had developed the Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicles, Arihant nuclear submarine, our own fighter aircraft and the ICBM AGNI-5, Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan Missions propelled us to the elite club of nations.”
India, being the fourth largest economy, has strong growth potential. India has a highly diversified population and consumption patterns, he opined that in the next 25 years, India should grow by 8-10 per cent, which will make her cross the poverty line.
Joint research
He announced that the DST was launching a scheme named Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty (VAJRA) to attract top performing scientists from abroad for conducting joint research in India. Through the programme, they would get the top professors and performing scientists from abroad for conducting joint research in India. “Our target is 1,000 professors. For that this year, we have 50 professors who would spend time, guide PHD scholars and contribute to culture by introducing new things,” he added.
Noted film actor, theatre artiste, screenwriter and playwright Gollapudi Maruthi Rao felt honoured wearing the convocation gown and getting such an opportunity to talk to a huge crowd in the last 37 years.