Students, teachers and researchers marched from August Kranti Maidan to Girgaum Chowpatty on Wednesday to demand proper funding and focus for scientific research. Their demands included raising the percentage of GDP allotted to research from 0.8% to 3%, and an increase in funding for education as a whole to reach 10% of GDP. Armed with posters that bore slogans like “Science not Silence”, “People it’s time to react”, and “Defend Science, Don’t De-fund Science, the protesters gathered at Kranti Maidan at 4pm on Wednesday amidst fleeting showers. This highlights a flaw in our education system which needs to teach citizens how to consume and process information”. Modi also spoke about how outsourcing funding for research to the private sector is not a viable option: “We need support from the government for unbiased research.

Source: Hindustan Times August 09, 2017 18:45 UTC