Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Tourism Ajay Bhatt called upon the scientific community to make advancements in technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), to ensure that the nation is prepared to deal with future threats.
He was addressing an event on the occasion of National Technology Day organized by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in New Delhi on Wednesday.
“The government is making all efforts to meet the defence requirements through domestic procurement exhorting all sectors of the defence ecosystem to work together to achieve excellence in cutting edge technologies,” said Bhatt.
The minister lauded the efforts of DRDO in establishing a self-reliant Research and Development (R&D) ecosystem that provides the armed forces with state-of-the-art equipment, in line with Prime minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
“DRDO has proved itself through design, development and production of highly-sophisticated weapon platforms/systems. It has enhanced the involvement of the private sector. Due to these efforts, India is now among the top 25 nations exporting defence equipment,” he said.
National Technology Day is observed on May 11 every year to commemorate the nuclear tests conducted in Pokhran in 1998. The theme this year is ‘Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future’.
Ajay Bhatt said that the theme underlines the importance of all-round development of science and technology for the progress of a nation.
During the event, the minister distributed DRDO awards for the year of 2019 to the scientific fraternity for displaying outstanding acumen in realising the technological dreams of the Nation.
The category of awards included awards for Life-Time Achievement, Technology leadership, Senior Scientists Awards, Academy Excellence, Techno-Managerial, Self-Reliance and Performance Awards.
Shri Ajay Bhatt also released two monographs – ‘Endeavours in Self-reliance Defence Research (1983-2018)’ authored by former Director DRDO Dr KG Narayanan and ‘Concepts and Practices for Cyber Security by former Director General at DRDO Dr G Athithan.
A Defence Technology Spectrum was also released on the occasion. The event also witnessed three orations from DRDO scientists on advanced technologies.
