New Delhi, Oct 30 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that the “Science Express”, an exhibition which is the result of a partnership in science and technology between India and Germany, will build new bridges of understanding and goodwill between India and Germany.

Flagging off the “Science Express”, a special exhibition mounted on a train at Safdarjung Railway Station today, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Singh said: “It will symbolise the exciting partnership between our scientists that befits the 21st century. It will symbolise and showcase our cooperation in the popularisation of science and its importance to our relationship.”

Singh said that the “Science Express” will take the wonders of modern science to remote corners of the country and contribute to the propagation of the scientific temper among our youth.

Recalling India’s partnership with Germany in setting up the Rourkela Steel Plant and Indian Institute of Technology at Chennai, he said, “Our collaboration with Germany in science and technology goes back several decades.”

Singh also thanked the Max Planck Society in Germany, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Indian Railways and the Department of Science and Technology for making this project possible.

Felicitating the scientists and engineers involved in the project, Dr. Merkel, herself a researcher, said, “This train will create a strong movement in the talented youth of India towards research in science.”

After visiting some of the coaches, both the Chancellor and the PM waved green flags and the Science Express rolled off a gaily-decorated station to the cheering of the invitees.

The Science Express will travel through 57 cities across the country for over seven months and will display important challenges in science, the future of research and reach different target groups especially students and young researchers.
 
Many organisations from Germany and India are associated with the exhibition on train which would be available for counselling and guidance of interested youth at each halt.

It has large screen displays for audio-visual experience, interactive computers and many other attractions in each of the coaches.

The exhibition seeks to address issues from micro-cosmos to macro-cosmos through twelve stories. (ANI)