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Indian
science focuses on innovation, accessibility
Monday January 03, 2011 09:03:41 PM ,
IANS
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Chennai: India should
develop technologies that are both innovative and affordable,
harness the young talent pool, encourage participation in research
and increase industry-academia interaction -- these were the
unanimous views of a panel at the 98th Indian Science Congress
here Monday.
Kickstarting a panel discussion, Planning Commission member K.
Kasturirangan said: "India is transforming from a poor economy to
a stable middle economy. By 2025, the GDP is expected to be $10
trillion and the per capita GDP $7,000."
He said the 12th and 13th five year plan periods were important in
this context.
"There should be a linkage between academia, research institutes
and industry. The research activities should be of societal
relevance," he said.
Kasturirangan wondered whether defence research should be confined
only to government institutes or could the private sector be asked
to participate.
According to him the, Rs.15,000 crore domestic medical equipment
sector offered a great opportunity for India as the country
imports nearly 95 percent of its requirement.
Speaking about the Rs.5,000 crore Indian instrumentation sector,
M.S. Valiathan of Manipal University said the R&D activities in
Indian space, nuclear and defence sectors had not acted as an
engine of growth for the sector.
"The opposite happened with the American space agency NASA," he
said. He said Indian manufacturers produce only 15 percent of the
total value of domestic market.
According to him, there should be a system for encouraging
development of medical instrumentation in the country wherein
academia, industry and research institutes join hands.
Stating that Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) spent around 24
percent of its turnover in R&D in the last three years, the
company's chairman and managing director B. Prasada Rao said: "We
also commercialise the products that come out of the lab. We
earned Rs.3,000 crore out of such products, and this year it is
expected to go up to Rs.8,000 crore."
Stating that a strong manufacturing sector was a must for India to
have inclusive growth, Rao urged the necessity to draw long term,
sector specific technology vision plans and connecting the
scientific community to the industry.
According to P. Rama Rao of International Advanced Research Centre
for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), by 2050 India will
have one of the world's largest youth population and could be the
single largest producer of Ph.D degree holders.
However, the current situation in higher technical education in
India was worrisome as sectors like geology, mining and metallurgy
were not attracting enough students, he said.
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Stories |
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 98th
Indian Science Congress
Think
big, work with diaspora: PM urges scientists
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday
urged Indian scientists to "think big" and "out of the box" for
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India
should lead world again in science, says Stalin
2011 to
be observed as Year of Chemistry
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Picture of the Day |
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Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with
the Scientists at the inauguration of the 98th Indian Science
Congress, in Chennai on January 03, 2011.
Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Science &
Technology, Earth Sciences and Communications and Information
Technology Kapil Sibal and Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Dr.
M.K. Stalin are also seen.
(Photo: B M Meena |
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