This is one of the most objective and informative articles I have read, even better than the sundry columns in some of our mainstream newspapers. It really helps to put things in perspective as to where we really stand. If you look at the Nobel Prizes over many years, initially it was Europeans who were at the forefront of scientific discovery. In the US itself, there are alarm bells ringing that the majority of those who go on to do Phds and win Nobels in science are those who are foreign-born. Maybe America's success and leadership in the globe are due to the fact that it welcomes foreign immigrants and everyone gets a fair chance to realise his/her potential. We need to encourage creative thinking in our children from an early age and our educational system and general thinking needs a lot of changes. Looking forward to the succeeeding parts. Keep up the good work, rediff!
The article is indeed thought provoking. While Innovation holds the key to success in the world market, we as Indians would do well to minimise the widening gap between the affluent and the underpriveleged and eliminate hunger/poverty from this glorious land.
I agree with the views of Dr.Mashelkar that India made a long stride in innovative technology but to make this long-sustaining we must review the overall scenario of present R& D network.This requires a retrospection of the waste of skills and innovative ideas due to brain drain to other countries because of arbitrary and unfair recruitment procedure in our universities and R&D institutions.
It is certainly a matter of pride that India has made a name in the world of innovations. A remarkable feat achieved with due diligence and intelligence. But the point I want to make is that in spite of all these India still lags in the number of patents that our people have got. In US, ideas mean dollars but in India encashing an idea would mean running door-to-door to have it implemented. Many ideas leading to patents in US have long existed in our country in a primitive form but nobody thought of bringing it forward. Moreover, the so-called corporate giants of India hype the cause but none puts a substantial amount of their profit into R&D. They call themselves the service providers who can never be innovators. Every year thousands of engineers(so called brains!!!) join the industry but how many of them are put into innovative development ? They are wooed by the hefty pay-package and the glamour of the industry and are not attracted towards our research organizations. Only if innovation is patronised and appreciated with monetary compensation, it can achieve greater heights. Otherwise, the trend is likely to go downwards.
This article is an eye opener for many thinking Indians who have been cynical that all innovations have come from the west while India is only harping on pseudo spiritualism. The article gives amazing information and brings great deal of hope and confidence about India in the minds of Indians themselves. It is unfortunate that this information does not come either in the daily press or in any journals. It points to the fact that India needs a dedicated journal to highlight its own innovations. A journal like Forbes is needed in India. Perhaps, some of the financial and economic journals or in fact India Today could do this service. Congrats and thanks to the writer.
whenever people talk about innovations they talk about the frontier innovations.but the vast literature on innovations in developing countries show that the innovations are in the form of cumulative and incremental process.So more than the frontier innovations its the incremental innovations that determines the long term growth and development.innovations are an evolutionary process
Joby Bastian and I, in the Kerala Agricultural University, innovated a novel Coconut Husking Tool in 1995. It is a simple tool, which has made domestic-level husking of coconuts simpler and easier for even women and children. It is fast becoming a domestic tool in most parts of the coconut-growing regions in India, particularly Kerala. It is a tool having great potential for being adopted even in rest of the countries, which grow coconuts for food purposes. A scientist from the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, Kerala, an institute under the Indian Council of Agril. Research (ICAR), had visited a house in a remote Indonesian village recently. He found this tool there. Upon enquiry, the owner told that it was from a place called Kerala in India. This scientist later told a friend of mine that he was very proud to hear those words from a man in a remote Indonesian village, about an Indian innovation. Though it is only a very simple tool, it could find a use in a country outside India. But, still we have not been able to derive the full benefits from it. The article by Dr. Arindam Banerji is more appropriate in this context.
Though we applied in 1995 itself for patenting it, it is still pending. Meantime, the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Govt. of India, awarded us its Republic Day (1999) Award for Meritorious Inventions. I would appreciate receiving from Dr. Banerji his suggestions for taking full advantage of this small Indian innovation.
Be proud of India. India can do still better. The main problem as I can see is that we lack appreciation for fellow researchers. The society has to develop a lot before any great claim is to be made internationally.
RE:Innovations_Indian Science & Technology
by arindam banerji on Aug 16, 2004 12:37 PM
Actually, I have a very high regard for the capabilities of Indian researchers in India, US, Europe and elsewhere and as I've spent a better part of my life working with them, I understand exactly how good they are and what they are capable of.
The issue is not the capability of Indian researchers - but, the degree of institutional support that we can provide them - how can we improve the odds for their success - thats the question, I've asked and tried to answer.
