Union Minister for Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurates 2nd SCO Young Scientist Conclave in Bengaluru

Growth of SCO depends on collaboration among Youth on science, technology and innovation sector: Dr. Jitendra Singh

The Minister says, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had coined an acronym HEALTH (‘H’ for Health-care cooperation, ‘E’ for Economic cooperation, ‘A’ for Alternate Energy, ‘L’ for Literature and Culture ‘T’ for Terrorism free society, ‘H’ for Humanitarian Cooperation)

SCO brings together the colorful and distinctive cultures of Central and South Asia and it promotes mutual assistance and team spirit

India shares close cultural and historical ties with the SCO Nations and it looks forward to deepening the SCO collaboration in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation

Motto of the young scientists should be – To Innovate, Patent, Produce and Prosper, and, these 4 steps will lead our countries towards faster development: Dr Jitendra Singh

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the growth of SCO depends on its success in science, technology and innovation sectors and there is a need to transform this landscape.

Dr Jitendra Singh, while delivering his inaugural address at the Second SCO Young Scientist Conclave in Bengaluru noted that India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, at the 19th Meeting of Council of Heads of State of SCO, had coined an acronym HEALTH (‘H’ for Health-care cooperation, ‘E’ for Economic cooperation, ‘A’ for Alternate Energy, ‘L’ for Literature and Culture ‘T’ for Terrorism free society, ‘H’ for Humanitarian Cooperation). He said that SCO brings together the colorful and distinctive cultures of Central and South Asia and it promotes mutual assistance and team spirit. The Minister added that the SCO consists of approximately 42% of the world’s population, 22% of its land area, and it contributes 20% to the global GDP. He said that the SCO countries have demographic advantage of having large number of young people.

Dr Jitendra Singh highlighted Food security as a major area of concern for SCO economies, as it accounts for a combined population of over three billion people. He said that technology will play a critical role in enhancing both, the quality and quantity, across the agriculture value chain from the use of inputs at the pre-production stage to post-production and marketing to improve the income of farmers. He added that leveraging the SCO scientific talents in this endeavor will certainly add a great value.

Dr Singh pointed out that we may organize Startup Forum and an Innovation Contest to Promote Micro-, Small- and Medium Sized Businesses,”. Stressing that the motto for the young scientists should be -to Innovate, Patent, Produce and Prosper, THE Minister said, these four steps will lead our countries towards faster development. He specially requested young scientists of SCO to come forward and join hands for developing solutions for our common societal challenges with the limited resources available.

Highlighting another area of concern for SCO, the Minister said that Environmental degradation has been a cause of concern in the SCO space for a long time, especially in Central Asian region. He said that the “preservation of the natural environment, ecosystems and biodiversity” in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is very important. Dr. Singh noted that providing every person with accessible, reliable, sustainable and modern energy sources is one of the major Goals of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda until year 2030. He said that we must boost our science and technology cooperation in fiend of energy innovations based on the principle of technology neutrality. He noted that we should encourage the development and use of various clean and low-carbon technologies in the energy sector, including the clean and highly efficient use of fossil fuels in the energy transition process. He also opined that critical and emerging technologies such AI, data analytics have pervaded all walks of life and is playing a transformative role in almost in all sectors, be it, health, education, energy, environment, agriculture, industrial sectors, etc. He said that it has become imperative for governments and industries to be prepared to adopt these emerging technologies in order to remain competitive, drive societal progress, generate employment, foster economic growth and to improve the overall quality of life and sustainability of the environment. There great huge potential in this domain for start-us and entrepreneurship.  We may organize Startup Forum and an Innovation Contest to Promote Micro-, Small- and Medium Sized Businesses.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exert a serious negative influence on people’s lives, health and wellbeing in all countries and the SCO member states must strengthen their cooperation in preventing and countering the spread of infectious diseases to remove the threat of epidemics in the SCO space. He added that the role of innovators and young researchers becomes even more important here to develop innovative & affordable solutions.

The Union Minister said that India has been progressing well in recent years in terms of its overall performance and outcome in the area of science and technology. He added that India, today, has attained the 3^rd position globally in terms of number of publications and also 3^rd in number of Start-Ups. He said that from just 400 registered startups in 2014 to 85 thousand in 2022, India’s startup ecosystem has grown exponentially.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that India shares close cultural and historical ties with the SCO nations and our ancestors kept alive this shared historical and cultural heritage with their untiring and persistent contacts. He added that people to people contact and cultural cooperation within SCO area have a huge potential for all stakeholders and that the networking of young scientists will play an important role to further deepen our relations. He said that India looks forward to deepening the SCO collaboration in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation. Dr. Singh expressed hope that this Conclave will prove to be a catalyst for fostering the collaboration among young scientists.

The Union Minister exhorted the young scientists, saying their motto should be – to Innovate, Patent, Produce and Prosper. He said, these four steps will lead our countries towards faster development. The Minister made a special request to the young scientists of SCO that for the welfare of the world, for human welfare, they should come forward and join hands for developing solutions for our common societal challenges. He said that the discussions and deliberations among SCO young scientists will provide new perspectives and they should be able to come up with a roadmap to address these challenges.

“It has become imperative for government and industries to be prepared to adopt these emerging technologies in order to remain competitive, drive societal progress, generate employment, foster economic growth and to improve the overall quality of life and sustainability of the environment. There is great huge potential in this domain for start-us and entrepreneurship.

Secretary General, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Mr. Ziang Ming hoped that work done by young scientists will promote research, education, science, technology. This collaborative research may help in bringing up the social and economic status of the member states.

Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (ER), Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India presented his message for this Conclave. He wished that interactions during this conclave will create a significant pool of young talent which will help in bringing about impactful changes.

SCO Country Coordinators also presented their addresses which were moderated by Dr. Arvind Kumar, Scientist-F, International Cooperation Division, DST, Govt. of India (Co-Convenor, 2nd SCO-YSC). The Country Coordinators Ms. Urmanova Diliyara from Kazakhstan), Mr. Wan Cong from China, Ms. Sidorenko Valeria Valirievna from Russia, Mr. Nazarov Shohrukhbek Shukhrat Ugli from Uzbekistan presented their addresses and emphasized on various ways and avenues by which the young scientists may foster research collaborations in this event and in future.

Shri S K Varshney, Head International Cooperation Division, DST and Prof G U Kulkarni, President, JNCASR along with senior officials from DST and JNCASR participated in the inaugural session.

Representatives of Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation of SCO countries, Officials, experts, and scientists from India are attending the Conclave to share their experiences and learn from each other in domain of science & technology.

Source : https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1896944