Speaking at the inaugural of the one-day symposium on Laser Technology and Photonics held at the TMA Pai Planetarium, he said science of photonics is going to be important in the future. “The Central government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore in the present plan period under ‘National Photonic Initiative,’ which is beginning to take shape in the institutions of the country; Manipal University is one of them,” he added.
Former head of Spectroscopy Division of BARC and founder of Centre for Laser Spectroscopy Dr V B Kartha (now called Centre for Atomic and Molecular Physics (CAMP)), who was the chief guest of the occasion, impressed upon the students, working in any area of scientific research, not to think they were alone in the area they were working. Professor Dr M S Valiathan in his presidential address said that the country has a long way to go and has a great deal of work to do. “Despite 60 years of independence and all talk of becoming economic and technological power by 2020, we still import 95 per cent of the high tech instruments in the country today, and at a high cost, ” he added. Centre for Atomic and Molecular Physics at Manipal University head Dr C Santosh, and Dr Ajoy Ghatak of IIT, Delhi, were present.