Groom students to become future scientists, Modi tells teachers

Kick-starting the first of its kind Nobel Prize Series in the country in conjunction with the biennial summit of Vibrant Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked teachers to groom students as future scientists. The Nobel Laureates series would be held in the country for the next five years to create a pool of young scientists.

Acknowledging the role of science and technology in the development of the country, the PM said, “Globally, science & technology has emerged as one of the major drivers of socio-economic development. In the fast-growing Indian economy, there are increasing expectations for scientific interventions.”

Leaving his imprint on time, Modi left his hand impression along with nine Nobel Laureates at the venue – the Science City. 

Besides Modi, Nobel prize winner from Israel scientist Ada Yonath also left her imprint on the board.

Though Modi reached the venue about 1 hour 20 minutes late, he won the hearts of all the Nobel prize winners by extending a warm welcome.

“Earlier, there have been occasions when one, two or three Nobel Laureates have visited India and had interactions with students and scientists in a limited manner. But, today, we are making history by having a galaxy of Nobel Laureates in Gujarat,” the Prime Minister said.

While outlining his vision for the development of science and technology, the PM said, “My government has a clear vision of where we want India to be in the next 15 years. Science and technology are the pivot on which that vision will translate into strategy and action.”

“Our vision in science and technology is to make sure that opportunity is available to all our youth and training and future preparedness should make our youth employable in the best places. India should be a great science destination,” he said, adding that we should take major inspirational challenges such as deep sea exploration and cyber systems.

For PM’s welcome, the Army Band of Jammu & Kashmir Rifles, which was led by Subedar Shaqil Ahmad, waited for over 3 hours and played over eight tunes, including deshon ka sartaj Bharat, Sare jahan se achha, kadam se kadam badaye ja, etc.

Stressing on keeping a track of students passionate about science, PM asked institutions to follow the students and stimulate entrepreneurship locally among them as the youth have a great entrepreneurial zeal.

The Nobel laureates present on the occasion included Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Richard Roberts, Harold Varmus, Randy Schekman, David Gross, Ada Yonath, Serge Haroche and William E Moerner.