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Bhubaneswar, August 8: Scientists belonging to various disciplines, students and researchers are going to take out a march to demand freedom in doing science. The scientific community across the country has come together in organising India March for Science, a rally to be conducted August 9, 2017. In the city, the march for science begins at Sainik School and ends at Science Planetarium. The march will be organised by Breakthrough Science Society and Bigyana Chetana Manch, Orissa. In this rally, a community of scientists from the state including researchers, science professors and students of Utkal University, Ravenshaw University, IIT Bhubaneswar, NISER and others will participate and demand encouragement towards science and scientific development in the state. Siddharth Varadwaj, Professor, Department of Chemistry, Ravenshaw University said that “the science march will be organised in more than 30 cities in the country including Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bhubaneswar. The rationale behind this is to demand more investment into scientific projects and research works from both the state and Central governments. S Varadwaj added: “Indian scientists have played a commendable role in the discovery of gravitational waves and of Higgs Boson, in the interplanetary mission through Mangalyaan thereby reducing foreign dependence through the development of indigenous satellite launching capability. However, science in India is facing the danger of being eclipsed by a rising wave of unscientific beliefs and religious bigotry. Scientific research is also severely suffering due to dwindling governmental support”. In a similar rally organised April 22 this year, more than a million people participated in the March for Science in 600 cities across the globe, demanding not only robust funding for science but also advocating the necessity of a good science policy. S Varadwaj also said, “In order to complement and supplement this global effort, we are organising it in India at a very relevant political juncture”.
Karmadev Maharana of Utkal University said, “Financial support to even premier institutions like IITs, NITs, and IISERs has been slashed. Universities are facing shortage of funds to support scientific research. Research funding agencies like DST, DBT and CSIR are reportedly impacted by reduced governmental support. While we can justly be inspired by the great achievements in science and technology in ancient India, we see that non-scientific ideas lacking evidence are being propagated as science by persons in high positions, fuelling a confrontational chauvinism in lieu of true patriotism that we cherish. Promoting a scientific bent of mind can certainly help improve the social health of our country where incidents of honour killing and mob lynching are reported regularly.” K Maharana added, “We feel that the situation demands the members of the scientific community to stand in defence of science like scientists and science enthusiasts across the world earlier. We appeal to scientists, researchers, teachers, students, as well as all concerned citizens to organise ‘India March for Science’ events throughout the country, with demands like allocation of at least 3 per cent of GDP to scientific and technological research and 10 per cent towards scientific education. It is vital to stop propagation of unscientific and obscurantist ideas leading to religious intolerance. To develop scientific temper, human values and spirit of inquiry in conformity with Article 51A of the Constitution, policies should be enacted on the basis of scientific evidence.”
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