Udupi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah laid the foundation stone for the Advanced Science Research Centre of Mangaluru University at Belapu near Kaup here, on Monday, May 4.
The programme began with a Nadageethe. K Byrappa, Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University, welcomed the gathering and said that the centre would be developed on the lines of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, and the Tsukuba Science City, a planned city in Japan located about 50 km from Tokyo.
Vinay Kumar Sorake, District Minister In-charge and MLA of Kaup Constituency, said that the state government had announced plans to establish this centre in its 2014-15 budget, using funds from the Rashtriya Uchchatara Shikshana Abhiyana (RUSA). Of the 100 acres sought by the university for setting up the centre at Belapu, government has sanctioned 24.86 acres, of which 20 acres has been handed over to the university. The State Cabinet has approved Rs 15 crore to the centre as the first installment for 2015-16, he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that children today need quality education. “Education means not only learning to read and write; it should contribute to the overall personality of an individual. Apart from basic education, skill development based education system is very much necessary. Quality education should be available for everyone. Education should be the basis of religion and moral values should be developed through it. There is a need for developing and adopting human moral values to be responsible citizens. Our government is always ready to take stringent action against those who disturb peace and communal harmony in the coastal districts.”
He further said that the research would focus on the analysis of Western Ghats’ species of plants under threat and their conservation; research and development of plant extracts for identified diseases; developing medicine for communicable diseases and using nano-technology to develop devices for various treatments.
State Water Resource Minister M B Patil; Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes; MLA Pramod Madhwaraj; MLA Moidhin Bava; MLC Ivan D’Souza; DC Dr R Vishal; SP Annamalai; Belapu GP president Vimala Anchan; former GP president Dr Deviprasad Shetty and others were present.
