Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has urged the scientific community to find innovative measures to uplift the life of common man. He said this while giving away the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prize to 21 young scientists for their exceptional contribution in the field of Science at a ceremony in New Delhi on Wednesday. Dr. Singh said that innovation is a key to solving the critical challenges the country faces in providing food, water and energy security for the countrymen. Calling for the overhaul of the present systems and methods to sustain the tempo of high growth rate of 9 to 10 per cent per annum, the Prime Minister observed that if poverty, ignorance, disease and hunger have to be done away with, then innovation is the key word. Exhorting the young scientists to take the mantle of leadership, the Prime Minister observed, Dr. Singh said that the government has set up a National Innovation Council to help evolve a road map for the future. The council will develop an Indian model of innovations that will go beyond Research and Development based systems.The Minister of State (Independent charge) for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan in his address noted that the awards are literally an investment in future as these annual awards recognize young talent and encourage them to forge ahead with their innovative ideas.For the year 2009, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Biological Sciences has been awarded to Dr Amitabh Joshi of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. The award in Biological Sciences was also awarded to Dr. Bhaskar Saha of the National Centre for Cell Science, Pune. Ten other scientists also received awards in various categories.For the year 2010, awards were given to nine scientists. Among other awards given today was also the CSIR Award for S & T Innovations for Rural Development. The 2009 award was accorded to Indian Oil Corporation R &D Centre, Faridabad for developing environment friendly, non-toxic, biodegradable ‘Servo Agro spray Oil’ for pest control in diverse agricultural crops.