Follow Us
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 12
“The need of the hour is to equip our young workforce with employable skills and knowledge so that they can help in transforming India into a developed nation,” said Dr Manjit Singh, Director Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh, during the inauguration of the three-day Chandigarh Science Congress, CHASCON-2018, here today.
Dr Singh pointed towards the unprecedented economic growth that has adversely affected the relationship between mankind and nature by depleting as well as polluting the available natural resources. He gave the example of plasma pyrolysis technology developed by IPR Gandhinagar for the disposal of bio medical and municipal waste and also of bio-digesters developed by the DRDO, which is eco-friendly biodegradation technology. Bio-digesters have been installed in various locations in J&K, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh and in Indian Railways.
On the birth anniversary of Charles Darwin i.e. February 12, he highlighted his contribution and the importance of Theory of Evolution put forwarded by him, which gave rise to genetic engineering which finds applications in medicine, agriculture and forensics.
He gave the example how the Theory of Relativity was being used in everyday life in GPS through our mobile phones for navigational aids. “Scientific discoveries generally depend heavily on the needs and interest of society, but sometimes, the scientists are influenced by the cultures in which they grew up and the societies in which they live. These shape their values, belief, which in turn influence their work,” he added. He quoted the example of Joseph Rotblat, a Polish born physicist, working for Manhattan project for development of atomic weapon, leaving the team on ethical grounds and joined nuclear non-proliferation movement for which he was given Noble Peace Prize for the year 1995. He highlighted the importance of shock waves physics which originated from nuclear weapon development programme and contributed immensely in areas like high pressure material research, biomedical and industrial application.
He appreciated the efforts of the IISc Bangalore in popularising shock wave techniques for many new areas like artificial insemination of cows and activating the dormant oil well.
PU VC Arun Grover in his address informed that recently, the Department of Science and Technology had asked the CRIKC to expand and assume the role of cluster for the North Western region of India. “The need of the hour is that there should be a societal benefit of the scientific research and this can emerge only if industry-academia interaction is improved,” he said.
6