Don’t be ashamed of history, Harsh Vardhan tells scientists

Hyderabad, January 8: Defending a paper presented at the Indian Science Congress which claimed existence of aeroplanes in India thousands of years ago, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday asked the Indian scientific community not to be ashamed of the country’s ancient history.

Addressing a news conference here, the minister rejected the criticism that the Science Congress only focused on the country’s ancient science history. Claiming that India had vast knowledge in all fields, he said even intertiol documents mentioned about it. He said India was the most superior power in the world not only in science, but even in medicine, art, culture, commerce and anything that one can think of.

“So if a paper shares the experiences of the past and integrate them with what is happening today and what is our future goal, I think we should not mind that,” Harsh Vardhan said. The paper presented at the 102nd Indian Science Congress, which concluded in Mumbai on Wednesday, claimed existence of interplanetary aircraft and airplanes in India 7,000 years ago.

The paper was presented by Captain And Bodas, a retired principal of a pilot training institute, and Ameya Jadhav, a college teacher. It sparked a row and the organizers also refused to share the paper with a section of media. Harsh Vardhan said that India also has set its eye on modern science and technology by taking part in the thirty metre telescope project in Mau Kea in Hawaii in US at a cost of Rs.1,299.8 crore. He enlisted tiol Supercomputing Mission, Tsumi early warning system, cyclone prediction, torpedo recovering technology, sub surfaced ocean moored observatory in the Arctic, Inspire programme for students, decoding of wheat genome, Indigenous Rotavirus vaccine as some of the milestones of the department. (IANS)