A science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister will be constituted soon to advise on strategies, policies and programmes for the utilization of science and technology in our developmental process. The Council will be headed by a very distinguished scientist. Announcing this after conferring the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards here today, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh reiterated the Government’s commitment to basic science, applied science and the promotion of excellence. He said that all efforts would be made to rebuild the science base in the universities by creating synergy between new initiatives in S&T and our university system. The Prime Minister regretted that due to the deteriorating health of our universities in the past two decades, our scientific research base has not grown fast enough. "While a few good scientific institutions have come up in recent years, they cannot be substitute for the spread, vitality and vibrancy of the university system. Reconstruction of our university system must be a top priority and the issue has to be addressed comprehensively, not in a piecemeal fashion", he said.

Referring the debate whether the country should give priority to basic science or applied science, Dr. Singh said, we need both. "We need to have both basic and applied knowledge, and the ability to utilize them to the best advantage of our national effort. It will be our endeavour to promote good science, and useful applications will emerge from it", the Prime Minister said.

Dr. Manmohan Singh congratulated the Indian scientists for the recent inaugural flight of the indigenously designed and built civilian aircraft, SARAS and the discovery of a new molecule which holds promise for treatment of tuberculosis.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for Science & Technology and Ocean Development, Shri Kapil Sibal congratulated the Chairman of Tata Motors, Shri Ratan Tata for giving the country world class passenger cars – Indica and Indigo. He called upon the Tata Group of Industry to carve out a niche civilian aircraft and put India in world map of aviation industry.

The Prime Minister gave away the CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award – 2003 to Shri Ratan Tata for the successful indigenous design, development, manufacturing and commercialization of passenger cars, Indica and Indigo.

The Prime Minister also gave away the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards to 10 scientists. The Award winners were:

1. Chemical Sciences - Santanu Bhatacharya of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and V. Chandrasekhar, IIT, Kanpur.
2. Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean & Planetary Sciences – G.V.R. Prasad, Jammu University, Jammu and Kanchan Pandey, IIT Mumbai.
3. Mathematical Sciences – Manindra Agarwal, IIT, Kanpur
4. Physical Sciences – G.R. Kumar, TIFR, Mumbai and B. Mukhopadhyaya, HRI, Allahabad.
5. Medical Sciences – Chinoy Sankar Dey, NIPER, Mohali and Anil Kumar Mandal, LVPEI, Hyderabad.
6. Biological Sciences – Satyajit Mayor, NCBS, Bangalore.

Three other winners were not present to receive the awards.