Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) society. He was given an overview of the work done by CSIR in addressing national challenges, and its recognition as a major Indian innovator. CSIR members stressed the importance of converting lab research to commercial applications. <br/><br/>They highlighted before the Prime Minister that medical device manufacturing, energy, and waste management were some of the areas mentioned where CSIR could play a key role. The Prime Minister called for laying down parameters to assess the performance of CSIR labs; and a mechanism whereby there could be internal competition among various labs. <br/><br/>He called upon the scientific community at CSIR to list at least one hundred problems being faced by people in various parts of India, and take up the challenge of solving them technologically within a specified time period. Mentioning key areas where CSIR could take the lead in providing breakthroughs, the Prime Minister spoke of sickle cell anemia among the tribal people, defence equipment manufacturing, life-saving equipment for the jawans, innovations related to solar energy, and innovations related to the agriculture sector. Mr Modi emphasized that he would like to see CSIR oriented towards making the life of the common man better, and providing technological solutions to the problems of the poor and downtrodden sections of society.