Declining interest in pure sciences worries govt

No takers

“More and more young people are going into other disciplines. The declining interest in science and math is alarming, because these are critically important to India’s global power aspirations,” Kumar said at the National Institute of Oceanography where he was on an official visit on Sunday.

The government wants more centres of scientific education to come up, particularly in avant garde areas like nano and biotechnology, but the allocation for research and development (R&D) is a mere 0.98 per cent of the GDP, said Kumar.

More research fund

His ministry has recommended that research funding be hiked to 1.5 per cent of GDP in the 12th Plan, he said. The minister who is currently touring major public sector scientific institutions in South India said he hoped to identify systemic failures that can be addressed through planning allocation.

But the private sector, too, needed to increase its R&D spend to take the country forward, said Kumar. “The private sector has gained from public sector-funded research. It needs to come proactively forward now in the fields of biotech, earth sciences, nano technology and aeronautics development,” he said.

Centre to go ahead with Jaitapur project

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Ashwani Kumar said here on Sunday that the Centre would go ahead with the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra with all safeguards in place.

“The prime minister himself is aware of the concerns being raised, let me assure you, no quarter will be given as far as public safety is concerned,” Kumar said to persistent prodding by the media.

The 9,900 MW nuclear plant to come up in Madban in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra got a conditional environment clearance in November and the Centre has already ruled out a review of this. Kumar said though lessons can be drawn from the Fukushima case after the tsunami disaster in Japan, the possibility of a similar threat to Jaitapur was remote.