Russia\'s Putin pledges $1.5bn for basic science research

Russia will spend about $1.5 billion on developing fundamental science in the next three years, President Vladimir Putin announced Friday. The money would be invested under the aegis of the recently created Russian Science Foundation, Putin told a presidential council and science and education. Putin also promised additional funding for the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Russian Foundation for Humanities, saying financial support for them would be tripled by 2020, RIA Novosti reported. "Expenditures on science as part of federal target programs should focus on support of applied research, on creation of specific scientific developments," Putin told the council.