‘Country facing crisis in science and engineering research'

‘Country facing crisis in science and engineering research'

Special Correspondent

 
Scientist and president of the Global Research Alliance Raghunath Mashelkar delivering a lecture on ‘Making impossible, possible' in Panaji on Saturday

PANAJI: Raghunath Mashelkar, renowned scientist said here on Saturday that his dream was to see “India becoming the happiest country in the world by 2035”, when research, technology and innovation will be exploited within the country to achieve an all-inclusive high growth.

Dr. Mashelkar was delivering the first lecture on the topic “Making impossible possible” on the first day of the five-day D.D. Kosambi festival of Ideas which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat.

The former Scientific Advisor to Prime Minister of India expressed concern about country's future and said, “We have crisis in research in engineering and science. We are not doing well in these areas. We are producing 3.5 lakh engineers and not have even 1,000 Ph.Ds.”

“It is not only important that great ideas are born here but equally important that they are exploited to generate wealth here and not abroad,” said Dr. Mashelkar.

He also said that the need is to use research, technology and innovation not only for some Indians to do well but to benefit all those who have remained excluded and deprived even from basic necessities of life. Dr. Mashelkar began by paying tribute to D. D. Kosambi, polymath, by describing him as an intellectual giant, genius whose vast intellectual canvass was unmatched.

He called him a great Goan, great Indian and above all a great global citizen who through his intellect transcended all boundaries.

He said the concept of ‘impossible possible', needs the virtues of positive attitude, open mindset, dreaming and focusing one's energies to achieve anything in the world.

“The beauty of human imagination is there is no limit to it except the limit you put on yourself. What is important is how you remove these limits and the moment you remove these self-imposed limits, you get the freedom,” said the scientist giving examples of three great freedoms the country has achieved which looked impossible.

He spoke of Mahatma Gandhi's freedom struggle which brought India the political freedom in 1947, and went on to hail the second freedom declared by Dr. Manmohan Singh on July 24,1991 when as Finance Minister when he declared the freedom to compete by opening up the Indian economy which made India potentially the third most powerful country today.

The third freedom, he said, was achieved in 2008 when India signed the nuclear deal which was meant to usher in freedom of technology to change the situation where India was a story of missed buses owing to lack of access to technology.

For making impossible possible, Dr. Mashelkar said, “As a society we need to have open mindedness and ability to view things from other's perspective to resolve conflicts." Speaking of his dream to see India the happiest country in the world by 2035, he said it was crucial to have an ability to dream. “It is only when you dream that the dreams come true,” said Dr. Mashelkar and added that only when our actions are ethical, moral and spiritual, and we try to be one with nature by doing development without destruction that real happiness will be achieved by the country as a whole