By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Sept. 18: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that the world would defeat COVID-19 soon by using science and technology.
Addressing the 9th Science Day event virtually, the Prime Minister, who is also handling the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, said the government had a plan to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the investment in scientific research and its promotion.

He further said that the government was dedicated to scientific development of the nation by meeting the national target of investment and entrepreneurship in the science and technology fields.
Prime Minister Deuba added that many developing nations transformed themselves from the use and development of ICT and robotics and asked all the stakeholders to concentrate on such technologies to make the nation prosperous.

Science can play a great role in maintaining technological governance in every sector, so every sector must respect science, PM Deuba said.
Addressing the function, Shankar Das Bairagi, chief secretary, said that connecting academic knowledge of science and technology with real life could help transform human life.

Ram Prasad Thapaliya, secretary at the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, said that the Ministry had been promoting science and technology in school education as well as at university level.
He further said that the Ministry had been focusing on drawing the attention of youths towards technical stream education.
Dr. Sunil Babu Shrestha, vice-chancellor of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, said it was very challenging to divert youth towards entrepreneurship from their thought of only being employed in the sector of science and technology.

The government has been celebrating Science Day every year for nine years now to expand the use of science and technology, encourage new professionals in scientific investigation and research. The government is also rewarding the best talents in the field of scientific investigation and research.
The theme of this year’s National Science Day was "Advanced Development of Science and Technology: Easy Exit from Outbreaks and Epidemics".

On the occasion, journalist Mani Dahal was awarded with Science Journalism Award, Professor Uday Raj Khanal with Space Technology Award, Professor Prakash Ghimire with Biological Technology Award and Dr. Pradip Gyawali with Disaster Mitigation Technology Award and Abhash Maskey with Emerging Technology Award. Each prize carries a purse of Rs. 25,000 and a certificate.

Likewise, Sambhu Acharya,Mahesh Shrestha, Gita Basyal, Bed Bahadur Bhandari, Dinesh Kumar Jha and Mukul Pradhan were honoured with certificate for their contribution to the field of science and Technology. Mechanical Aero Space Department of Pulchowk Engineering Campus and Central Department of Bio Technology of Tribhuvan University were also honoured on the occasion.