The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu, on Monday called upon scientists to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to address the challenges faced by mankind, ranging from from climate change, agriculture to health and medicine.

Addressing scientists and students at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) in Bengaluru, the Vice President urged scientists to strive for achieving excellence and to innovate for improving the lives of the people.

"The purpose of science is to make people's lives happy, healthy and comfortable," he said. He lauded the JNCASR for having generated over 300 patents and for promoting the establishment of a few startups based on indigenous inventions.

Naidu advised the scientists and researchers to undertake research in the emerging fields like synthetic biology, computational biology, high-performance engineering materials and artificial intelligence.

Lauding JNCASR for having made an excellent impact on the international arena by positioning itself among the top institutions in its areas of expertise, he said that it can contribute immensely towards fostering scientific temper in the country and in improving research outcomes.

Referring to the National Education Policy 2020, Naidu said, "It will ensure that students have access to new teaching and learning strategies across all segments." The Vice President also told the students to leave no stone unturned to achieve their goals. "Please remember that there is no substitute to hard work. You must always strive to push the boundaries and never remain content or complacent with the status quo," he said.

Mentioning that Bengaluru is blessed with a large number of water bodies, Naidu noted with concern that many of these water bodies are getting degraded because of people's neglect or illegal encroachments.(IANS/PP)