 Various mythologies are being presented as science and the exercise of science and scientific research seems to be exploring the correctness of the mythologies. So we have the cow science which now, IIT Delhi has become the nodal point which will a priori accept that cow's milk is different from all kinds of milk. So the species as the bovine species the number of members of the species milk is same for all of them cows urine which of course if it is not infected should be sterile cannot have any other property. Each of these are being presented not in terms of whether it is valid or not but to find the usage of these things. So we are only to see that it is correct that has to be proved by science examination of the validity of beliefs is not the purpose of research. This seems to be now what is being done budgets are being created for this purpose. There are all kinds of budgets in for instance in Madhya Pradesh the yoga funding will also can be for vastu shastra and for purpose of treating patients. So instead of sending people to hospital we are now supposed to send them to yoga stands and the government is going to fund them. So what it is essentially doing is to also move away from the public commitment it has to health, developing science, developing education and instead of that substituting it with essentially superstition and mythology. Fundamental research actual development of knowledge is being ignored and if you see the institutions today what we had in the 60s we at least had 6-8 institutions in science which are the cutting edge of technology and science in the world. Today we really the kind of budgets required for science for building the IITs bring them up to a certain standard which will be global in terms of research is just not there. What we see in the press today is the scientist cannot speak about science or the scientist is not in a place to adjudicate on matter scientific. All kinds of other constituencies which have little to do with science are given as much space as scientists are and I think this is particularly scary because science is not just very is a very specialist activity. I mean although it is done in very private spaces it is public activity while acknowledging that to ensure good science I mean one has to follow the norms of validation of science itself and this requires a particular kind of expert knowledge. And I think that entire regulatory system of science is being undermined whether it comes to evaluating proposals or whether it comes to evaluation of the work of scientists. The March for Science is a global movement. There is a larger onslaught on science everywhere whether it is Canada. The Scientific Workers Association two years back in England had to come together to basically oppose the fact that you were not allowed to make the findings of scientific research published by I mean sponsored by government organizations. You were not allowed to make them public. Under neoliberalism funding for science overall is declining everywhere. The old enlightenment idea you know Libre Ponce meaning to think freely. Those kinds of restrictions are now being placed on the scientific community by shifting priorities more and more towards economically beneficial and profitable science. Look at the statements made by other groups of scientists from different countries in this March for Science. This is the point they are making that please don't come down on the autonomy of science. Don't reduce budgets of science because if we are really moving towards a knowledge society and then well you can't undermine the knowledge production system. The research system in India was not built by the colonizers. It came out of 40 years of struggle between 1870 and 1905. There seems to be a perception in the present government as to where funds could be spent usefully in research. Basic science research has been pushed way to the back. It's not considered important at all but even if one looks at what is known as applied research or research in the engineering disciplines. That has also receded to the back with neoliberalism comes the idea. This has been with us for several years now close to a decade and a half but has intensified under the present dispensation. And that is why spend money on research when you can buy the technology from abroad. So more and more even in a critical area like defense which this government takes great pride in as being at the forefront of doing. You're not spending money in defense research. You're not directing that research in directions. You have more or less now committed yourself to acquiring technologies and hardware from abroad. Almost 200 billion dollars worth of imports are now in line. And if you do all these imports for the next 15 years there is no scope for any domestic research or development in any of these areas. The Niti Aayog has come out with a three year ten year and a 15 year program which also highlights priority areas for scientific research. And I was amazed when I read that because it highlights things like rainwater harvesting, rainfed crop research. Many areas of this kind which you would not consider research at all which are activities which would spin off from laboratories as extension activities based on knowledge that you already have. The march for science in different cities in the country depending on our strength, depending on time that different organizations have. But almost certainly all the major capital cities of the states they are big marches planned and we will be participating in them along with other organizations. In some states we will be going much beyond the state capitals and going into district towns and headquarters. In any science forum when the issues and theories come then you can question it but there is no scope to question it. What they're placing in the name of science actually there's meddling mythology with science in the ministers also talking in this way which is very much unscientific. They're saying that cow excels oxygen like these types of things are coming. Plains were invented some 7500 years ago which can move not only forward but also backward which can move from one planet to another. And these type of things actually now are propagating and in the name of science what the students will learn, what the ministers are preaching and some yoga have come. Yoga we are not against yoga but all is curable by yoga. These type of things are coming in the name of science that's not true also. So the voice must be raised. You are instructing the institutes that you arrange 30% funds from your students. How can it be possible? Already the people from the common people or the lower middle class people they are out of the higher education and if they will impose it what will be the situation. So the people will join in the marches and the question already they have got the answer. More than 30 cities they will march. They will march in Bengal, Kolkata, in Siliguri, in Guwahati, in Jorhat of Assam, Agartala of Tripura, Elabad and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Meenagar of Uttarakhand, Chandigarh in Delhi, in Gopal, in Pilani of Rajasthan, Rachi of Jharkhand, Patna and Bhagalpur of Bihar and in Chhattisgarh in Durga. In Mumbai there will be marches in Pune and in Mumbai in Maharashtra and Hyderabad and in 8-9 cities of Bangalore till so far we got the news. And many cities of Kerala including Tiruvannapuram and Mysore and Bangalore also will be there. And Chennai and Madurai of Tamil Nadu they will also hold this science march. The students will join and they will be present in this rally in Delhi also. The students from IIT, students from JNU, students from Delhi University and the science organization doctors from AIMS and professors, research scholars, scientists from CSIR from IGIV like that they will come and join and we hope that there will be a big rally. The rally will start by 4pm from Mandi House and it will culminate to Jantar Mantar where it will be converted into a meeting where our scientists who have addressed here they will address there also and we expect that a large number of their colleagues they will come also and speak for the science. The march that is taking place in Delhi on 9th August for this one and a half week earlier we formed a committee India March for Science Organising Committee Delhi in which we also had some people from breakthroughs Delhi Science Forum and some general scientists. We formed a committee together and this is a call from the committee on 9th August in which all the places from IIT, CSIR, lab, JNU, DU from all the places will participate. This is one thing. Second, this is a solidarity with the world community, scientific community. Because this march happened on 22nd April. We were not able to do anything because of some organizational problems. But along with that we also want to express that the problems that developed countries are facing, we are facing the same problem in India as well. So, Indian scientific community are facing the same problem and we are in the solidarity with those people. We are holding the India March for Science Delhi on 9th August. So, already our four demands that we have presented in the leaflet also that allocate at least 3% of the GDP of scientific and technological research and 10% towards education. And the second is stop propagation of unscientific, obscurantist, religious intolerance, develop scientific temper, human values and a spirit of inquiry in confirmation with article 51 A of the Constitution. Ensure that education system imparts only ideas that are supported by scientific evidence. Inact policy based evidence based science.