The cumulative production of fertilizers since April-November 1999 is tentatively estimated as 72.69 lakh tonnes of nitrogen and 22.09 lakh tonnes of phosphate as against the target of 71.76 lakh tonnes and 21.84 lakh tonnes, respectively. The cumulative production in the corresponding period last year was 68.46 lakh tonnes of nitrogen and 20.29 lakh tonnes of phosphate.

    Capacity utilization in November 1999 was 110.7% for nitrogen and 108% for phosphate.

    The availability of urea during November 1999 has been satisfactory throughout the country. 18.02 lakh tonnes of urea was despatched to the States during the month against the target of 16.50 lakh tonnes. This constitutes 46% of the estimated requirement of 114.59 lakh tonnes for the season. The availability of urea during the corresponding period of previous year was 57.11 lakh tonnes.

    The cumulative availability of DAP by the end of November 1999 has been 26.23 lakh tonnes which is 41% higher if compared to the availability (18.56 lakh tonnes) during the corresponding period of previous year. Against this, the sales upto 15.11.1999 have been 12.06 lakh tonnes. These are 31% higher if compared to the sales of the corresponding period in the previous year.

    The cumulative availability of MOP during November 1999 was 7.34 lakh tonnes. The sales have been 2.89 lakh tonnes upto 15.11.1999. These are lower if compared with sales of 3.11 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period of last year.

    During the month under review, 0.24 lakh tonnes of imported urea arrived in the country. With this, cumulative arrivals were 5.33 lakh tonnes for the current year.

    During the month under review, about 2.48 lakh tonnes of imported DAP and 3.85 lakh tonnes of MOP have been delivered. The cumulative arrivals for the current year of DAP and MOP in the country have been 29.99 lakh tonnes and 22.20 lakh tonnes, respectively.

    The average daily loading of fertilizers by rail during November 1999 was 4,533 equivalent BG wagons per day as against 4,195 BG wagons per day in the corresponding period of last year.

    Outlining his vision of "Developed Indian Science for India's Accelerated and All-Round Development", the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee called for hike in investments in R&D, improving the standard of science education in India and strengthening our Science & Technology (S&T) institutions through competent and inspiring leadership.

    Inaugurating the 87^th Indian Science Congress at Pune today, Shri Vajpayee stressed the need to promote India's considerable wealth of traditional knowledge by bringing it into the mainstream of our national S&T establishment. The Prime Minister emphasised the urgency to fully benefit from the new Intellectual Property Rights regime and to spread a culture of Venture Capital and other forms of support for the knowledge-driven enterprises in India.

    The Prime Minister called for increased collaboration between our universities, industry and R&D institutions including defence R&D. Expressing concern over inadequate and sub-critical investments in R&D, Shri Vajpayee said he would like to see a hike in investments in R&D from the present 0.86 per cent of the GDP to 1 per cent this year, to be further increased to 2 per cent over the next 5 years. Apart from increasing financial investments, we should increase the synergy among our existing institutions and assets, he added.

    The Prime Minister observed that he would like to see "far greater and far more result-oriented deployment of science and technology in areas where they are most needed — primary healthcare, sanitation, agriculture, water and soil management, energy conservation, and efficient services that make the life of the common man comfortable. The country needs your valuable inputs especially in those sectors of the economy, such as small industries, agri-processing, handicrafts and artisanry, which are essential for achieving our triple national objectives: employment generation, equitable wealth creation, and social justice. We must not forget that most of our craftsmen and artisans belong to Scheduled Castes, Tribes, and other disadvantaged groups". "Disaster management, including early forecasting and prevention of natural disasters, is another area that needs increased attention of our scientists", the Prime Minister said.

    Following is the text of the Prime Minister's speech on the occasion :

    "Let me begin by extending hearty greetings for the New Year and the New Century to all of you. I warmly welcome all foreign scientists who are present in our midst.

    Today’s event has a special significance for me. It is the first major public function in which I am participating after the dawn of the new century. And what better way to do so than to be associated with the first session of the Indian Science Congress in the 21^st century? And what better place than Pune, which is a renowned hub of both Vidnyaan — that is, the knowledge of science, and Dnyaan — the higher knowledge of life?

    The sun has just set on the 20^th century, and we are still in the early morning hours of the new century. It is difficult not to be conscious of the weight of history at this moment. So much of what we have seen and lived through now belongs to the past. The future, in the form of the 21^st century, which seemed so distant until recently, has already become the present. Our aspirations for tomorrow are crying out to be the agenda of action today.

    What has happened is not a routine chronological phenomenon, notwithstanding the fact that, this year, it necessitated the novelty of making our computers Y2K OK. Today there is a question in every thinking mind on this planet: Our computers are ready for the new century, but are we? Will the old world order, with all its well-known problems and deficiencies, continue into the new century? How can we build a new world order that is better and happier for everybody?

    These questions await answers not only from leaders of governments, politicians, and intellectuals, but also from scientists. After all, science and technology were one of the most powerful forces that shaped the content and the course of the 20^th century. The honour of being chosen as "The Person of the Century", by a reputed international magazine, has indeed gone to a scientist — Albert Einstein. The imprint of your profession on the 21^st century is going to be even more sharp and deep.

    Humanity, therefore, is making a pressing demand on science and technology. The world is not merely looking for new knowledge and new products in the new century. It is especially looking for such knowledge and such products that will reduce human misery, remove hunger and want from our planet, improve the living conditions for all the people in all the countries — and do all this while protecting the environment, our precious planetary inheritance.

    In the century that has just ended, science gained the knowledge of the dance of galaxies in outer space, as also the dance of micro-particles in the womb of the atom. While continuing with this search for the mysteries of the material world, science should simultaneously redouble its quest for those as-yet-unknown ways leading to human happiness for all in the new century.

    Achievement of this lofty objective calls for a greater integration of scientists and technologists in formulating policies, as well as in their implementation, both nationally and internationally. So far, science and technology have reached the people indirectly through the intermediation of the industry and the market forces. They now have to be made critical inputs in decision making in society, economy, and governance.

    The new century, thus, needs a new mindset. These days there is a lot of excitement about the revolutionary phenomenon of technological convergence — namely, the coming together of computers, telecom, television, and electronics on a common digital principle. It seems to me that the world equally needs convergence of a different kind — the convergence of minds and objectives.

    No longer can market forces be driven by objectives that are different from the demands made by the people from the governments they have elected. No longer can governments deliver the goods without using science and technology intelligently. Similarly, no longer can scientists and technologists pursue their objectives without harmonising them with the needs of the market and the people.

    It is this growing interdependence between science, technology, industry, business, society, government, and the environment that seems to me to be the hallmark of the new century.

    Superimposed on this is the other prominent trend of our times — namely, the growing interdependence among nations. Greater interdependence calls for greater cooperation. The new century will make far greater demand for global cooperation in science and technology than has been achieved in the past century. Unlike in previous centuries, no country, however developed, can ensure further progress of science and technology on the strength of its own human and financial resources. Indeed, experience of the past few decades has shown that cooperation itself has become one of the most valuable resources in the progress of science.

    Distinguished scientists, I dream to see an India that is a contributor and a beneficiary in equal measure, in this new interdependent and cooperative phase of human history. It is a dream to see India as a highly developed nation in the early decades of the new century — developed socially, economically, culturally, and also in science and technology. It is a dream shared by all Indians — young or old, rich or poor, urban or rural.

    I urge the Indian Science Congress to pledge itself to mobilise the full strength of our scientific and technological community for the realisation of this dream.

    I would like to see a far greater and far more result-oriented deployment of science and technology in areas where they are most needed — primary healthcare, sanitation, agriculture, water and soil management, energy conservation, and efficient services that make the life of the common man comfortable. The country needs your valuable inputs especially in those sectors of the economy, such as small industries, agri-processing, handicrafts and artisanry, which are essential for achieving our triple national objectives: employment generation, equitable wealth creation, and social justice. We must not forget that most of our craftsmen and artisans belong to Scheduled Castes, Tribes, and other disadvantaged groups.

    Disaster management, including early forecasting and prevention of natural disasters, is another area that needs increased attention of our scientists. The devastation and human misery caused by the recent supercyclone in Orissa has once again sharply highlighted this need.

    At the same time, our scientists should also aim to quickly achieve global excellence in frontier areas of science and hi-tech. We now know that advanced technologies can make useful contributions to solving people’s basic problems, as is evident, for example, from the amazing applications of space research. However, what determines the destiny of a nation like ours is technological plurality – an appropriate mix of traditional, conventional, and modern technologies, each contributing maximally to the increase in national productivity.

    India, of all the developing countries, is well placed to design such an indigenous technological mix. We have a long and strong scientific tradition dating back to ancient and medieval times. After independence, we have vastly enhanced our strength in many areas of science and technology. The country is proud of you for your contributions in agriculture, medicine, metallurgy, space, and nuclear sciences, to name a few areas. We have a new and promising crop of young scientists, including those who are working abroad. All this gives me confidence that Indian science and technology have the potential for a big leap forward in the new century.

    All of us know that the propellers for this big leap forward are information technology, bio-technology, and other knowledge-based sectors of S&T. While continuing to strengthen our indigenous industrial base, we must be fully in step with the paradigm shift being caused by IT in the economic activity of the human race.

    In the early stages of human civilization, what made some nations rich and others poor was the ready availability or non-availability of natural resources. After the industrial revolution, the driving force of development was the capacity to convert natural resources into material wealth through large scale manufacturing facilities. In the latter half of the last century, finance became the critical form of capital to drive development.

    We have now entered a new era of knowledge capital where generation, dissemination, and use of knowledge has become the key determinant of wealth creation. Knowledge capital is what will increasingly drive the wheels of the national and global economy and eventually determine the prestige and position of any country in the comity of nations. India is determined not only to be a participant in the IT Revolution, but also to be in its vanguard.

    India’s successes in IT are already well known. We now must aim to replicate them in all areas of science, technology, and enterprise. The Government would welcome your ideas on how we can create world-class facilities and conditions in India for world-class achievements.

    The Government has taken some steps in this direction, and I assure you that we shall take many more. We are committed to removing restrictive bureaucratic hurdles. We are committed to strengthening the cooperative network between research laboratories, academic institutions, industry, NGOs, and governmental agencies at the Central, State, and local levels.

    We have recently appointed a Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India of Cabinet rank to promote this objective. We would like to further increase the involvement of distinguished scientists like you in the accomplishment of well-targeted national tasks.

    A number of important measures are needed to translate the vast potential of Indian science into winning performance. As we embark on a new voyage for Indian science in the new century, the broad vision I commend to all of you is: "Developed Indian Science for India’s Accelerated and All-Round Development." This vision mandates that we together pledge to accomplish some urgent tasks:

• Let us pledge to further improve the standard of science education at all levels. Let us especially turn our attention to our children and facilitate their natural creative energies to develop into top-class capabilities when they grow up. While sustained public funding for primary and secondary education is a necessity — indeed, it is an obligation — we need to open new avenues for private sector support for higher and technical education.
• Let us pledge to increase collaboration between our universities, industry and R&D institutions, including defence R&D. By world standards, India’s investments in R&D are wholly inadequate and sub-critical. I would like to see a hike in investments in R&D from the present 0.86 % of the GDP to 1% this year, and to be further increased to 2% over the next five years. Apart from increasing financial investments, we should increase the synergy among our existing institutions and assets, with an aim to make India a global R&D platform.

• Let us pledge to strengthen our S&T institutions through competent and inspiring leadership — both scientific and administrative. We are proud of what we have built in the past fifty years. We now need to increase their capabilities to meet the challenges from the new national and global realities.

• Let us pledge to promote India’s considerable wealth of traditional knowledge by bringing it into the mainstream of our national S&T establishment. For example, there is an immense value hidden in the knowledge of medicinal plants and herbs that our common people, especially tribal people, possess. The initiative taken by the CSIR in networking some of their laboratories with institutions specializing in traditional knowledge can indeed give India global leadership in medicine.
• Let us pledge to fully benefit from the new Intellectual Property Rights regime that is now evolving worldwide. The Government has taken several steps recently to bring in a strong IPR system in line with the global scene. I am told that a persistent campaign to create awareness about IPR has resulted in an increased number of patents being awarded to Indian scientists. I applaud this effort.
• Let us pledge to spread the culture of Venture Capital and other forms of support for the new knowledge-driven enterprises in India. It is especially necessary to ensure that, besides businessmen, scientists who develop new ideas and products also benefit as these enterprises begin to grow in India.
• Let us pledge to nurture an atmosphere of innovation, adventure, high ambition, and high achievement in every area of Indian science.

    As we enter the new century, I recall to you the stirring words of the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who said: "Scientists are a minority in league with the future." Our countrymen look to you with high expectations to make India a great power in science and technology in the near future.

    This is essential for the realization of a higher goal we have set for ourselves: To make the 21^st Century India’s Century — Ikkeesvin Shatabdi, Bharat ki Shatabdi. It is also essential for the realization of an even higher goal: To achieve peace, progress, and happiness for the entire humanity in the new century.

    With these words, I am pleased to inaugurate the 87^th Indian Science Congress and wish it a great success.

Thank you, Jai Hind".

    Shri Jagmohan, Minister of Urban Development , exhorted the youth of India to bring in the country, in the new Millennium, a new culture and climate of creativity, courage, construction, compassion and contemplation. He was speaking to an Assembly of about 2000 youths of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanagathan, National Service Scheme, National Cadet Corps and Bharat Scouts and Guides, who had assembled at the Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate, at the stroke of midnight and took a pledge to safeguard India's sovereignty and territorial integrity and make India strong in the new Millennium.

    Shri Jagmohan emphasised that it was for young men and women to come forward to shoulder their responsibilities and infuse new life into the social order and make our institutions just and service oriented. He said: "You have divinity, a spark of truth, within you. Develop that divinity, activise that spark. Make continuous efforts to acquire more and more inner power, reach higher and higher levels of truth and become a more and more perfect embodiment of "Satyam", "Shivam" and "Sundaram", that is, of truth, power and beauty". "You must understand that a great social and moral order can be built on the shoulders of great individuals alone. If there is no purity, fairness, and justice in your heart, these qualities will not be in your home; if they are not in your home, they will not be in your society; and if they are not in your society they will not be in your state".

    "While operating as a group, you must show the combined strength of divinities by way of complete cohesion and team spirit. Lack of unity, organisation and discipline, as our history warns us in ample measure, has been our fatal flaw. You must remove that flaw." "In raising the level of individual divinity and also of the larger divinities in society and the state, let the great heritage of the ancient times be your guide. A great future for India could be built only on the spiritual greatness of her past." "Lest you should get an erroneous impression that reliance has to be placed only on the greatness of the ancient times, let me make it clear that the message of eternal India is not of static but of dynamic reality. Everything around us is changing. Not only the matter perceived but also the perceiver is changing. The entire universe is in a continuous flux. You have, therefore, to recognise the need for change and advancement. With improved insight, a truer view of reality would be available to you. You must comprehend fully that there is no real incompatibility between concepts of science and those of our spirituality. All that you have to ensure is that the balance is not lost."

    "Life is a song, sing it; life is a journey, complete it; life is a mystery, unfold it; life is an opportunity, utilise it; and life is a dream, realise it. Follow this proclamation as practical Vedantists and rise up with the humility of a saint and ferocity of lion and fulfil your mission - the mission of serving Mother India and taking it to the glory and greatness that is due to it.