Indian PM: country needs creativity to address poverty

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said the country needs creativity and innovation in order to address problems in areas like poverty mitigation and health. "We have made innovations in areas such as space technology, atomic energy and automobiles. But innovation in our country has focused mostly on the needs of the rich and not adequately on solving problems of the poor. We wish to change this state of affairs," the prime minister said. Singh, who released a report of the Innovation Council of India in the national capital, added, "The country needs models for innovation to address problems in areas such as poverty alleviation, health, rural communications, agriculture, animal husbandry, green energy and so on." "The set of challenges that we as a nation face is not only diverse, but also unique. It is only through creativity and innovation, by coming up with novel solutions appropriate to Indian context, that we can meet these challenges effectively," he said.