Sibal inducted into honorary senate of Nobel laureates

New Delhi, June 29 : Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal has been inducted into the honorary senate of the prestigious Lindau Foundation, that holds annual Nobel laureates' meet, a ministry statement said Monday.

Twenty-three Nobel Prize winners and 580 young researchers from 67 countries have gathered at Lindau, Germany, for the 59th meeting of Nobel laureates. The 2009 Lindau meeting will be dedicated to chemistry and India is a focus country in the meet. Sibal is in Germany for the event.

Sibal and European Commission president José Manuel Barroso have been honoured for their commitment to science and international understanding by inducting them to the honorary senate.

The statement said the foundation described Sibal 'as an ardent advocate for technology interventions, especially in the field of education and health'.

The citation also said that 'he holds that technology can provide affordable solutions to the problems of the common man'.

In his acceptance speech, the minister underlined the issue of equity vis-Ã -vis science and technology.

'Science and technology hasbrought prosperity to the world, but it has not been uniform in its impact. The scourge of poverty persists. Our movement forward needs a course correction,' Sibal said.

'I believe in the adage that 'poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere'.'

'In the 21st century, we need to abate and not exacerbate existing disparities. We need to demolish existing boundaries through fresh scientific thinking and new technology interventions. The solutions, however, must be both accessible and affordable,' the statement quoted the minister as saying.

--IANS