India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week named Prithviraj Chavan as his new science minister, after spring elections returned Singh's party to power (see Nature 459, 311; 2009).
Chavan, who has a master's degree in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, takes charge of the ministries of science and technology and of Earth sciences. But he will continue as minister of state in the prime minister's office, a role he has held since 2004, and which involves interactions with the space and atomic-energy agencies.
"I am personally happy that we have a science minister who is also ideally positioned in the prime minister's office," says Thirumalachari Ramasami, secretary for the department of science and technology. With former science minister Kapil Sibal placed in charge of the human-resource development (education) ministry, Ramasami says the combination "signifies a very bright future for Indian science as a whole".
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Changes at the top for Indian science. Nature 459, 627 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/459627e
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/459627e
