Bhubaneswar: India’s scientific and research community have made significant contribution towards effective management of COVID 19 pandemic in the country, said Renu Swarup, Union Secretary of Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology here Thursday.
The official was attending a webinar on COVID-19 Management through science and technology, jointly organised by Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar and National Academy of Sciences.
Swarup complemented the efforts of Indian Scientists in testing efforts as well as various research initiatives on diagnostics, therapeutics, genome sequencing, vaccine development and creation of facilities and resources for promoting further research and developments in finding lasting solutions for COVID-19.
She commended the academic and industry partnerships in making effective use of resources and making India self-sufficient in manufacture of diagnostic kits, PPEs and vaccines among others in record time. All these efforts will go a long way in our preparedness in addressing COVID-19 effectively as well as any future challenges, she said.
Manju Sharma, Former Secretary, Department of Biotechnology mentioned that the scientific community has a major role to play in communicating the science based factual details for the benefit of the public. G. Padmanaban, President, NASI, opined that the untiring efforts of the scientific community have made possible for us reach to development and delivery of vaccines in a record time.
Ajay Parida, Director, Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar highlighted the research and development initiatives of the institute in response to COVID-19 diagnostic, genome surveillance and creation of platforms for drug and vaccine testing.
PNN
