Country's tech progress due to Nehru's initiatives: Expert

Chennai, Feb 15 (UNI) Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education Member Secretary S Bhaskaran today said the technological advancements made by India were due to the infusion of scientific spirit in the society by first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Inaugurating a national conference on 'Advanced Functional Materials' NCAFM-2008, organised by the Department of Physics, SRM University, at its campus in suburban Kattankulathur, he said the far-sighted Pandit Nehru was the reason behind India's present technological advancements in various spheres.

''We are now reaping the harvest of the seeds sown by Pandit Nehru,'' he said and recalled the importance given by him to basic science and encouraging research by bringing in scholars from across the world and by infusing scientific spirit in the society.

To sustain this technological advancements, Dr Bhaskaran called for strengthening basic sciences as envisaged by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

He said the discovery and development of new application- oriented materials represented a national core competency that was essential for scientific progress and long term economic growth.

''Fostering links between academic researchers, industrial scientists and governmental agencies through collaborative and joint research scheme should be the key factor to reduce the barrier that divide academia, government institutions and the industry,'' he observed.

University Pro Vice-Chancellor T P Ganesan released the conference proceedings.

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