AMN / NEW DELHI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the future will be shaped by societies that invest in science and innovation.
He said, but, this cannot be done in a short-sighted manner.
Therefore, one has to invest in science and innovation well in advance to reap benefits at the right time.
Delivering the virtual keynote address at the inaugural function of Grand Challenges Annual Meeting (GCAM) 2020 Monday, the Prime Minister said, the journey to these innovations must be shaped by collaboration and public participation.
He said, science will never prosper in silos and the Grand Challenges Programme has understood this ethos well.
Mr Modi said, in India, we have a strong and vibrant scientific community and there is also good scientific institutions which have been India’s greatest assets, specially during the last few months, while fighting COVID-19.
He said, from containment to capacity building, they have achieved wonders.
Mentioning about the gains regarding fighting the COVID pandemic, the Prime Minister said, today, India is witnessing a decline in the number of COVID- 19 cases per day and it has achieved one of the highest recovery rates of 88 per cent.
He said, this was happened as India was one of the first countries to adopt a lockdown and to encourage the usage of masks.
He said, India actively began to work on effective contact-tracing and deploy the rapid antigen tests.
The Prime Minister said, sanitation, improved cleanliness, more toilet coverage have helped the poor and under-privileged and also lead to a reduction in diseases.
Mr Modi said, India is now at the forefront of vaccine development of COVID.
He said, government is setting up more medical colleges especially in rural areas.
He added that it will ensure more opportunities for the youth and will bring better health care to the villages.
The Prime Minister said, Government of India is running the world’s largest health insurance scheme and ensuring access to everyone.
Wishing for fruitful and productive discussions over the next three days, Mr Modi hoped to see many exciting and encouraging new solutions coming out of this grand challenging platform.
The three-day brainstorming programme will feature leaders talks, panel discussions and virtual informal conversations on various topics.
These topics will range from scientific interventions for fighting the pandemic, managing the pandemic and accelerating the development and implementation of global solutions to combat present pandemic and prevent future one.