Mentioning that literature and science have been combined in different sessions of Dhaka Lit Fest, young scientist Senjuti Saha said: “Science does not exist without literature, literature does not exist without science.”
She made the remarks while speaking with State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak on the second day of Dhaka Lit Fest at Bangla Academy's Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad auditorium on Friday.
“When I was thinking about innovation while I was studying in Canada, my project was to develop an Act Nobel Antimicrobial. We all know that bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics day by day. We were using this virus to destroy bacteria. I had four committee members who were guiding me in this work,” she said.
Senjuti added: “Innovation to me means – new things that benefit people. When I lived in Canada, I thought, how can I take what I learned to the people of Bangladesh where I grew up?”
“As a result, when I came back to Bangladesh, I thought of doing something new. That was to reduce the 10/90 gap,” she said.
The 10/90 gap is the term adopted by the Global Forum for Health Research in 1990 to highlight the finding by the Commission for Development on Health Research that less than 10% of global resources are devoted to health research in developing countries while more than 90% of all preventable deaths occur worldwide.
Senjuti Saha said: “It happened that where 90% of the resources were used, only 10% of the children died. I don't like this gap so I came home with the purpose to reduce this gap.”
State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak said: “I want to tell a story of Digital Bangladesh in this innovative talk. When Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced Digital Bangladesh, we were celebrating the golden jubilee of our independence.”
“Then she aimed to create technology-based employment for the youth. The aim was to ensure high-speed internet services for all citizens, to make all government services available online and to reach services to people's doorsteps,” he added.