Kolkata, Jan 3 (IBNS) President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday urged the scientific community to promote a culture of science in the nation and turn the nation into a knowledge power.
In the inaugural address of the 100th Session of Indian Science Congress at Kolkata, Mukherjee called upon the scientific community to work for the promotion of a scientific culture for shaping India's future in which prosperity and peace, excellence and equity, oriental values and occidental methods of science converge and co-exist.
He said India is expected to emerge as a major economic power by 2035.
"India should also emerge as a major knowledge power with high human and societal values," he said.
He mentioned that it has been 83 long years since CV Raman won the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Another Nobel Prize in the sciences is long overdue for India, he said.
He called upon scientific fraternity gathered at the Congress to rise up to the challenge and work towards this goal in a time bound manner.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday unveiled here the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STI) 2013, aiming to make India a scientific power by 2020.
He presented its first copy to the President of India Pranab Mukerjee at the inaugural session of the Centenary session of the Indian Science Congress here.