Dr Jitendra Singh, minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Space and Atomic Energy, said that the Government is giving a special thrust to Science and Technology and therefore one can easily describe the present time as the best time for the progress of Science in India. The Minister was inaugurating the 17th Annual Conference of Indian Society of Neuroradiology (INSR).

Dr Jitendra Singh said that during the last four months of the present Government, several new strides have been made in the field of S&T and several new initiatives are being tried. These, he elaborated, include the decision to send scientists to take classes in schools and colleges, a special scheme called "KIRAN" for women to overcome a mid-career break, launch of commercial satellites in Space, launch of first indigenously constructed research ship "Sindhu Sadhana" in the ocean, sending school and college students abroad for interaction with nobel laurete scientists and setting up science parks as well as hi-tech science equipment in peripheral states like Jammu and Kashmir.

An attempt has been made to reach out to the peripheral areas of the country, said Dr Jitendra Singh and in this respect, he cited the example of district Kathua located on the southern end of Jammu and Kashmir which has received the first ever bio-tech park of the state and is in the process of hosting a series of science exhibitions with social and economic dividends.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has abundant resource material to offer medical researchers and MD or DM scholars doing their thesis and as an example, referred to some new areas like stem cell and gene research for which this department offers the best infrastructure.

Referring to Neuroradiology as an upcoming new super-specialty, Dr Jitendra Singh said that a lot of morbidity and mortality occurring due to brain strokes earlier has now been overcome by new technologies but while we promote these new streams and new modalities of specialized treatment, it is important not to lose sight of the economic implications because in order to ensure that the benefits of the new technologies reach the lower strata of society, cost effectiveness will have to be ensured. Any new modality of medical management can achieve its avowed objective only when it has the capacity to benefit the poorest of the poor, he added.