 for the procession. Let it continue. We welcome the dignitaries on the dais. Thank you so much. Please take your seats. The greatest scientific mind Albert Einstein said, I quote, we owe a lot to the Indians who taught us how to count without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made, unquote. Today we the Indians are celebrating our colossus legacy of sharing, showcasing and delineating the future way forward of scientific endeavors. We are celebrating the great Indian science carnival, this 106th season of the Indian Science Congress. We welcome the dignitaries and the honorable Prime Minister of India, Srinoreen Modiji. To mark the beginning of the inaugural session of the 106th Indian Science Congress, I request the Chancellor, Lovely Professional University, Sheshok Mittalji for invocation, please. Sheshok Mittalji. Today 20,000 scientists and researchers have gathered from over 60 countries at India's largest auditorium in India's largest campus university, Lovely Professional University. Amongst us are three Nobel laureates, a very technocratic governor and union minister. And of course, most importantly, we have the head of the largest democracy of the world, our beloved Prime Minister, Srinoreen Modiji. This week, thousands of scientific papers, posters and innovations will be presented and over 50,000 school and college students will witness it all. All of this makes this gathering the world's largest assembly of academicians, perhaps in the history of mankind. But no science gathering is complete without remembering the illustrious Indian scientists who have left us with a rich and proud legacy. The Nobel laureates of Indian Norwegian, Sri Siviraman, Sri S. Chandrasekhar, Sri SN Bose, the father of Indian Atomic Energy Program, Sri Homi Bhava, the father of Indian Space Program, Sri Vikram Sarabhai, the missile man of India, Sri APJ Abdul Kalam. Under their leadership, in just seven tier of independence and against all odds, we have been able to get to space, the moon and even the planet of Mars and that too at the very low cost effective way and inspired by their struggle and success. I invoke the Indian Science Congress to pledge to reclaim the prestige that India once held during the time of Takshila and Alanda as a world leader in science and technology. Thank you. Jai Bharat. Thank you, sir. To commence the proceedings of the day, may I take this opportunity to invite the general president of the Indian Science Congress Association, Dr. Manoj Chakraborty, to welcome the esteemed gathering by his welcome address please, Dr. Manoj Chakraborty. Honourable Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi ji, Honourable Governor of Punjab, His Excellency Sri Singh Badnurji, Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Harshavadhan ji, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Honourable Sri Bijay Sampla, Minister of Honourable Minister of Industries, Government of Punjab, Sri Shamsundar Arora, Honourable Chancellor, Lovely Professional University, Sri Ashok Mittalji, Respected Nobel Laureates, ISCA awardees, distinguished scientists from India and abroad, scientists from sister organizations, executive and council member of ISCA, secretaries and chairmen of different departments of Government of India, delegates, media personnel, students, ladies and gentlemen. It is my proud privilege to express a warm and hearty welcome to the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Sri Narendra Modi ji at the inaugural program of 106 sessions of Indian Science Congress at this beautiful and vibrant campus of Lovely Professional University. I also take this opportunity to extend a very warm welcome to His Excellency, the Governor of Punjab, Sri Vipi Singh Badnurji, Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Harshavadhan ji, Honourable Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Sri Bijay Sampla ji, Honourable Minister, Sri Shamsundar ji, our esteemed Chancellor of Lovely Professional University, distinguished scientists and other dignitaries assembled here at this university. I welcome you all at this August gathering. The focal theme of this year is Future India, Colon, Science and Technology. We understand that since independence, the Indian scientists have contributed significantly in various fields towards the growth and prosperity of our nation. Agricultural scientists made invaluable progress in crop production, which ultimately led to the green evolution. Today, even with the hopping population of 1.34 billion, India is not only self-sufficient in her food supplies but also is a significant exporter of food grain. Other sectors have also progressed rapidly to improve lives. As a scientist, I am proud to listen to the deliberation of our Honourable Prime Minister, Sri Narendra Modi ji, at the 29th edition of Man Ki Baat, where the Honourable Prime Minister congratulated ISRO scientists for their record-breaking launch of 104 satellites using the Indian Rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV. Moreover, in 2014, India launched the Mars Orbiter Mission successfully with a budget 10 times lower than that of comparable US project. Indian scientists have also shown their competence in nuclear and defence research. Today, Indians are dictating terms in global IT industry. Another achievement that stands out is the reduction of death threat. Its infant mortality has gone down almost half of what it was earlier. India was declared polio-free after vaccinating 172 million children twice a year. This outstanding achievement resulted from the labour of millions of dedicated health professionals. In addition to this, health professionals are working to translate the vision of our Honourable Prime Minister, Sri Narendra Modi ji, to eradicate TB from India by 2025. But we should not feel saturated with our science and technological achievements. In spite of all these success stories, we are at the doorstep of several formidable challenges, such as emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, lifestyle-dependent non-communicable diseases, where yoga is playing a great vital role in prevention, increasing crop production to feed millions of people in coming years, shortage of energy, water, shelter, etc. Only innovative and better translational scientific research can rescue us from the current obstacles. Studies have reported that by 2030, India's demand for food gains would be around 300 million tons, which is an increase of about 27% since 2010. Initiatives such as the one undertaken by the Government of India through the Digital India Programme, which aims at creation of the world's largest rural network by connecting 2.5 lakhs gram ponchar through high-speed optical fibre are uplifting the current state of farming. However, significant breakthroughs in the field of biotechnology and agricultural sciences are still required to achieve India's full potential. New avenues of agriculture through the innovative use of genetically modified organisms or efficient irrigation must be explored for a better future of our nation. Most importantly, more innovative and out-of-the-box measures have to be undertaken to come up with smaller, smarter and cheaper technology that will be able to reach every Indian. At the 106th session of Indian Science Congress, scientists and technologists from India and abroad will discuss different issues related to the growth and progress of future India. With this, I must conclude that time is ripe to step up, invent and innovate. I once again extend my cordial welcome to one and all. Thank you. Thank you, sir, for extending warm welcome to the August gathering. Spearheading the science and technology agenda of the country with its profound interest, being a clinician himself, may I request the Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan to enlighten the audience with his words of wisdom. Dr. Harsh Vardhanji, please. Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narayan Modi Ji, Honourable Governor of Punjab, Shri Vipi Singh Ji, my colleague in Indian Government, Shri Vijay Saapla Ji, Senior Minister of Punjab, Shri Sundar Shyam Arola Ji, Chancellor of Lovely Professional University, Shri Ashok Mittal Ji. All the distinguished scientific scholars present in this August audience, our young researchers, students, media friends, distinguished guests. Well, it's a very, very privileged occasion for all of us, like always. We have the presence of our Honourable Prime Minister in this function once again. And before I say something, let me pay my obeisance to those great scientists who have been born on this pious land of Punjab and who have contributed significantly in the last hundred years to scale up the scientific achievements of this country in a big way. Friends, I am referring to the likes of Shri Birbal Sahani, Shri Hargovin Khurana, Ms. Kalpana Chawla, and many others. Friends, this edition of the Indian Science Congress with Manoj Ji as its President is the last one of the present tenure of this present Government. And when I talk to you here, I feel happy and satisfied that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has made very significant progress in the field of science and technology. We are so happy, but even after five years and having worked in this ministry, I still have a very passion for working with science and technology for the welfare of the people which the Prime Minister has taught us from the very first day. All my life I worked in health, but now I enjoy the company of scientists very much and I feel that probably my DNA has also changed from that of a doctor to that of a scientist and it's always a privilege to be in your company. Friends, we all know that the whole world has always acknowledged the thriving traditions of Indian science and technology and its great ancient wisdom in all the fields whether it was mathematics, medicine, astronomy or any other field metallurgy, mining, anything that we think of, calculus or textiles. In every field, India has contributed significantly to the progress of civilization and improving the knowledge of this whole world. And today, after so many years, we feel so happy that we have probably been able to dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji who has always inspired us not to achieve but to over-achieve whether it was to compare or to keep pace with the global rise in physical systems or in internet of things or in artificial intelligence or in digital manufacturing or anything robotics, etc., etc. I think we have very successfully kept the pace. Friends, I must share with you that our Prime Minister has extraordinary qualities and one of the greatest qualities that he has is his strength of having a great amount of human compassion and he believes that we must ensure that we fulfill the aspiration of each and every person even the common man on the street with the help of science. And because of this compassion, he wants to transform the life of the poorest of the poor of having a very strong India which can help its people, which can care for its people and that is why today we see that the human development today in India is basically it's basically driven by the scientific pursuits in virtually all fields. You think of the technologies for rural India. You think of how we have to save each and every drop of water. You think of the water pollution, water scarcity. You think of what we do in Punjab for Parali where the science is also trying to help the cause of Parali burning. You think of having the use of science for having innovations in clean energy and for their efficient use for healthcare where under Prime Minister's leadership we have had new vaccines, new medical devices, new drugs at subsidized rates protecting biodiversity, helping cause, helping the cause of environment and virtually anything that you can think of providing adequate housing and sanitation for the poor people of India in almost every field there is the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi trying to motivate the scientific community of this country trying to motivate the lab people, everyone to see that all these burning issues of India for which the people have been suffering for last 70 years the people's sufferings are alleviated and these issues are taken care of by the scientific community and that is why we see that in almost every program that the Prime Minister thought of his heart weeps for the poor of this country his heart weeps for all the lurking problems of this country and for solving those problems he has devised a program there are so many missions that have been launched under him these missions are also supported by the scientific community and at the end of five years we can see that for every mission that has been launched by him which is not only launched by him but is being monitored very very meticulously by him all the time he has not hundreds or thousands or lakhs of people who are the beneficiaries of those missions for every mission there are crores of Indians who have been beneficiaries and I think I would use this occasion to thank the scientific community of India your achievements have been fabulous you have helped him day in and day out and this is because of the power of science and the sincerity and your acumen and your commitment that the Prime Minister promises so many things to the country and delivers them so fast your record for the last five years has been fantastic in almost every field we have been into the first ten positions in the whole world and the whole scientific community of India deserves to be congratulated innovation which is at the heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time in the whole world we can see that the whole world feels that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi we are leading from the front and when people used to talk about countries like Israel for innovation now people all over the world talk very proudly about the mission innovation and the start up and the stand up activity under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that is why for quite some time now because of the great disruptive technologies and the frugal innovations that have been cultivated in this country under Prime Minister's leadership I have started saying because of his leadership that when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Pokhran added Jai Vigyan to the already existing Jai Javan and Jai Kisan Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership has added Jai Anu Sandhan to it and the whole country not only the scientists in the laboratories but even the tribal people the commoners they are now into this innovation thing they are doing their research in their own way friends there are a lot of things that I can talk of but time doesn't permit we are already running short of time because of the fog we lost a significant amount of time the Prime Minister has to go for another function finally I have to say that there is good news coming for all of us from abroad scientific community all across the world and specially the Indians they are I think coming back to India there is a beeline for them coming back to India and now very proudly we can say and we have started saying and it is happening that people no longer talk of brain drain now under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership we are now talking about brain gain and I think that's a great sign for all of us finally friends as environment minister also I would like to appraise this audience that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji we have provided the best leadership not only to India but to the whole world and our leadership of the Prime Minister has been acknowledged and respected and recognized by the United Nations itself when the United Nations Secretary General he came to India and felicitated Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the highest international award that is the earth care award and I would like to use this occasion to appeal to the scientific community that apart from so many things that you do in science for helping solve the problems of the country please focus yourself also to ensure that we are able to use our scientific acumen for handling issues related to global warming and climate change for which under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji's leadership the whole world is recognizing that India is probably the most sincere country in the whole world where we have been able to ensure that we are reducing our greenhouse gases emissions much before the desired target and I think it's all because of the leadership that he has provided and it is all because of the monitoring that he does and it is all because of the support of all our countrymen with these few words I once again thank you for all your love and affection for the last five years and wish you all a happy new year and hope 2019 will be another fine year for the scientific community of India Thank you. Namaskar. Jai Hind. Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Thank you sir. Thank you so very much. We the scientific community sitting here assure you that the Jai Anusandhan, mission, vision and dream of honourable Prime Minister would be duly supported and scaffolded Thank you so very much sir. Thank you so very much. Thank you so very much. I am happy to inaugurate the 106th session of the Indian Institute of Science and Technology for the new year. I am happy to inaugurate the 106th session of the Indian Institute of Science and Technology for the new year. I am happy to inaugurate the 106th session of the Indian Science Congress. It is a pleasure to be in the company of eminent scientists, scholars and students. I am happy to inaugurate the 106th session of the Indian Institute of Science and Technology for the new year. I am happy to inaugurate the 106th session of the Indian Institute of Science and Technology for the new year. I believe that India's greatness is in our knowledge and science. But the real purpose of this greatness is to connect our science, technology and innovation with the society. Friends, the Indian Science Congress has a rich legacy. Some of India's finest minds, including Acharyaj, J.C. Bose, C.B. Raman, Meghna Saha and S.N. Bose have been associated with it. At the time of the maximum struggle in the minimum resources, they served people with their thoughts and desires. Even today, we are learning from their commitment and creativity. In 1917, Acharya Jagdishchandra Bose established India's first dedicated scientific research centre, the Bose Institute at Kolkata. His inaugural speech was a reflection of his holistic views of science. He said, and I quote, I dedicate today this institute not merely a laboratory but a temple to the nation. The life and works of hundreds of Indian scientists are a compelling testament of integration of deep fundamental insights with technology development and nation building. It is through our modern temples of science that India is transforming its presence and working to secure its future. Friends, our former prime minister, Lal Badur Shastriji gave us the slogan, Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan. Twenty years ago, in a historic address at Pokhran, our great prime minister, Raktalji, had recognized the contributions of science and technology for India. He added, Jai Vigyan, Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan. I believe it is now time to take one more step forward. I wish to add, Jai Anusandhan. Therefore, the slogan now becomes Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan. Indeed, the pursuit of Vigyan is fulfilled through achievement of two objectives. The first is generation of profound or disruptive knowledge. The second is consumption of that knowledge for socio-economic good. To boost our discovery science ecosystem, we must also focus on innovation and startups. Our government had launched the Atal Innovation Mission to promote innovation among our scientists. Our technology business incubators have been established in the last four years than in the 40 years before that. Industry must now contribute by providing timely direction, vision, mentorship and partnership to the startups. Scientists must commit themselves to addressing problems of affordable healthcare, housing, clean air, water and energy, agriculture, productivity and food processing. While science is universal, technology must be local for providing solutions relevant to the local needs and conditions. Friends, today we have the National Research Laboratories and Scientific Organizations to deal with the issues of social and economic challenges. I will give you some examples. In our country, there are too many farmers who have only two hectares of land. They need the most technology for the development of the industry. We have developed a lot of science in our country. We have also developed a lot of technology for the development of the industry. But in order to fulfill the needs of the new India, we need to do a lot of things. Be it data analysis, artificial intelligence, blockchain and communication, we need to focus on how to use the technology at a low price. Now, today's demand is to make sensor technology, drone, satellite imaging and artificial intelligence a package to help our farmers. Through this help, our farmers will be able to take all the money related to their crops, grain, fertilizers, transport and pesticides. Friends, the way we are moving ahead in the ease of doing business, similarly, we will have to work fast on the ease of living of 1,500 crore Indians. What is the direction of this? In order to fulfill the needs of the new India, we need to do a lot of things. Can we work on drought management in areas of low rain? Can we improve the future of cyclones and other areas of the world? Will there be any benefit from this? We will be able to save many lives. Can we find a better technological solution to solve the problem of malnutrition? Can we find a solution to solve the problem of malnutrition? Can we find a solution to solve the problem of malnutrition? Can we make energy out of waste? And can we develop a more effective technology that can help us to solve the problem of drinking water? Can we develop a new technology related to recycling and conservation? Can we build a system that can help us to save the lives of our citizens? Can we create a solution for the use of 100% energy? Can we find solutions to solve the problem of malnutrition? Can we find solutions to solve the problem of malnutrition? Can we find solutions to solve the problem of malnutrition? Can we find solutions to solve the problem of malnutrition? Can we find solutions to solve the problem of malnutrition? 2018 was a good year for Indian science. Among our achievements, this year is the production of aviation-grade biofuels. This year is the production of aviation-grade biofuels. This year is the production of aviation-grade biofuels. This year is the production of aviation-grade biofuels. This year is the production of aviation-grade biofuels. strong pathway to commercialization that leverage our research and development achievements through industrial products. The future is about convergence and connected technologies. We should catalyze, harness and manage change for the nation's prosperity. Scopus data wise indicates that India is position among the top five nations of the world in terms of the number of scientific publications. This is no mean achievement and deserve whole hearted appreciation. This is the strong foundation to build unnath Bharat, adhunig Bharat, bagyanig Bharat. Sathis, unnath Bharat banane ke liye, aaj Bharat ke vijyana ko, vijyana ko, mahatva ka akshi banara hoga. Hame sirp pratish parada nahi karni, hame sreshtrata dikhani ho bhi. Hame sirp research karne ke liye research nahi karni hai. Balki apni finding ko us tarpe lejana hai, jisse duniya uske pise chalna suru kare. Ye mukam hasil karne ke liye hame research ka vistrut ecosystem banana hoga. Aaj aise tantra ki aavasakta sabse jada hai. Chahe climate change ki baat ho yaafir artificial intelligence ki, population dynamics ki ho yaafir biotechnology aur digital marketplace ki. Aaj isi ecosystem ke jarye hame apne desh ke talent pool ke potential ka fayda utha sakpe hain. Agar hame, aane wale samai me, knowledge society ke world leader ki katar me khdha ho na hai, to desh ko apni research samta bhajane ke liye, her sambhav kaam karna hoga. Hame laxar akkar interdisciplinary research karne hoge. Satyam, kisi bhi desh ki intellectual creativity aur identity uske itihas, kala, bhasha aur sanskriti se banti hai. Aise me hame vidhaon ke bandhan se mukta ho kaad, shod karna hoga. Ab aise research ki jarut hain, jis me arts aur humanities, social science, science aur technology ki innovation ka fusion ho. Yahi humare desh ki pahchaan ko, sasakta aur gauromai banasakta hain. Satyam, hame hamesh ayaad rakh na chahiye ki humara prachin gyaan, shod par hi aadharit raha hain. Bhartiya Vidvano ne vijyaan se gani tak, kala se sahite tak, bhasha vijyaan se tarka sastra aur chikit saa se lekar, darshan tak duniya ko prajvalit kiya hain. Ab samay aagaya hain ki bharat duniya me usi sthaan ko haasil kare. Yah tabi sambhav hain. Jab duniya ki teen sabse bari arthi bhawasta mein ek bankar hum apni research and innovation ke jariye duniya ko disha hain. Friends, our strengths in research and development are built on the backbone of our national labs, central universities, IIT, IISR, TIFR and ISER. However, over 95 percent of our students go to state universities and colleges where research is still limited. A strong research ecosystem must be developed in these universities and colleges. I call upon the Prime Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Council to discuss these issues in detail and formulate an action plan in consultation with the Ministry of Human Resource Development to boost research in our colleges and state universities. Friends, in the Tirupati session of Indian Science Congress, I had spoken about the global rise of cyber-physical systems. This has the potential to pose an unprecedented challenge to our demographic dividend. We can turn it into the huge opportunity by research, training and scaling in robotics, artificial intelligence, big data analytics. The government has approved a national mission on interdisciplinary cyber-physical systems with an investment of over 3,600 crore. The mission will cover in a seamless way R&D, technology development, human resource and skills, innovation, startup ecosystem and strong industry and international collaborations. Data is the engine that drives artificial intelligence. Our scientists working with relevant ministries should evolve effective data policy and practices that holistically cover the ground from data generation to data flow, to data protection, to data sharing, to data usage. In science and technology, we have come to the conclusion that we have found our common, our crucial space mission in the hall. In the hall, we have launched a series of satellite summits, navigation, communication and hyper-spectral imaging. We have launched 30 more satellites. By 2022, three Indians are ready to send their science and technology to the sky. For this, we have also done a demonstration of a special technology crew escape system. I am sure that our science and technology dream will come true in time. We are in a field where scientific and technological interventions can bring change in the lives of the human beings. Can we continuously operate and repress with the power of technology? With this, we can get high-resolution geospatial digital data quickly. With this, we will be able to get the best data available to our scientists, scientists and people involved in planning. We will be able to make more impact on planning, monitoring, management and its implementation. In the last session, when the Indian Science Congress was held in Imphal, I made an appeal to all the scientists that the scientists are looking for a way to solve the problem of a free, effective solution for a low-field field. Friends, India needs a new futuristic roadmap for science and technology and innovation. With these objectives, we have recently made the Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council. This Council will help formulate appropriate science and technology interventions, catalyze collaborations across stakeholders, ministries and implement multi-stakeholder policy initiatives. Government is in the process of improving the quality of education with particular focus on higher education sector. We have liberalized the higher education sector. UGC has brought out graded autonomy regulations to give functional and financial autonomy to well-performing universities and colleges. We are in the process of setting up institutions of eminence that can compete with the best in the world. These efforts will infuse competition, bring private investment and improve quality of higher education institutions. We have launched the Prime Minister Research Fellows, the schemes under which a thousand bright minds from the best institutions in the country will be offered direct admission in Ph.D. program in IITs and IISC. The scheme will catalyze quality research and address shortage of faculty in the premier educational institutions. Friends, I wish to recall a quote of our late President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. With vivid imagination and consistent effort, the forces of the universe can be made to work for an inspired mind. How do we fire up the minds of Indian youth who are the foundation for cutting-edge research and assure in renaissance in Indian science? India is teeming with a new generation of creative, energetic and confident minds. The government is committed to provide them an enabling environment. Let us work for building a new India through science. An India that is fully ready to meet the challenges and opportunities of the present and the future. An India that is bubbling with ideas, knowledge, wisdom and action. An India that is stronger, confident, prosperous and healthier. An India that is compassionate and inclusive. I wish you all a creative and rewarding New Year, 2019. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you so very much, sir. Thank you so very much. Give a huge round of applause, please. A standing ovation is very much designed for his thoughts. A grand round of applause, sir. A grand round of applause. Kindly keep standing, please. Sir, today, the main mantra you have given us is to use less value and work. We, all the scientists who have gathered here today, will try our best to make this mission a success. I would like to give a simple thank you to the Indian Science Congress Association and to the lovely professional university that you have shown us the way. You have given us time, you have given us a direction. I would like to give a thank you to the Prime Minister. Give a grand round of applause to the Prime Minister, please. Kindly take your seats, please. Kindly take your seats. Kindly take your seats. We are proceeding with the Indian Science Congress Association Awards. Kindly take your seats, please. Please do not leave. Kindly take your seats and the officials from the Indian Science Congress.