 "Invest more in research for success of Make in India: Prof David Gross")
For the success of Make in India initiative, the government will have to increase investment in basic research as products manufactured in the country have to competitive, said Prof David Gross, a Noble prize winner in Physics, during the Indian Science Congress in Mysore on January 5, 2016.
He explained as to how fundamental research in quantum physics had led to applications in the field of electronics, medicine, with further prospects for quantum computers in years to come. “Transistors did not come from entertainment companies. Nuclear technology was not discovered by oil companies with large budgets seeking alternate sources of energy, but by men like Einstein,” Prof David Gross pointed out. He emphasised that science should also be pursued for sheer curiosity and said that a nation which did not encourage its youth to pursue basic science would lose brilliant minds to other nations where they were encouraged.
According to Prof David Gross, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India slogan requires Invent in India for newer technologies, and for one has to discover in India. “For Make in India, its products will have to be competitive as there are already superior and cheaper goods being manufactured in Korea and other countries. India has enormous potential and can do better by investing more in basic sciences and research and development,” he pointed out.
The Nobel Laureate said that China has overtaken the US in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year and India is projected to do so by 2045. “In 2000, both India and China invested 0.8 per cent of their GDP in science and research. By 2010, China’s investment had risen to close to two percent, while India’s was still at 0.8. Now, India has moved up to 0.9 while China’s investment is 2.8 per cent. Similarly, Brazil, another emerging economy invests over 2 per cent of GDP in science and research, South Korea 3.7. Most European countries too invest around 3.7 percent,” informed Prof David Gross.
He felt that the Indian scientific and research apparatus was bureaucratic, rigid and ineffective and not up to standards of a country that would like to increase its investments. “Lots have to change in how you manage science. I understand politicians; they are not sure how the money allocated will be spent. It is up to you (scientific community) now to change how those funds will be used,” he asserted. Prof Gross said that he would like to witness India progressing well in years to come.
Prof David Gross, an American particle physicist and string theorist, was awarded Nobel Prize in 2004 in Physics along with Frank Wilczekand and David Politzer, for their discovery of asymptotic freedom.
He explained as to how fundamental research in quantum physics had led to applications in the field of electronics, medicine, with further prospects for quantum computers in years to come. “Transistors did not come from entertainment companies. Nuclear technology was not discovered by oil companies with large budgets seeking alternate sources of energy, but by men like Einstein,” Prof David Gross pointed out. He emphasised that science should also be pursued for sheer curiosity and said that a nation which did not encourage its youth to pursue basic science would lose brilliant minds to other nations where they were encouraged.
According to Prof David Gross, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India slogan requires Invent in India for newer technologies, and for one has to discover in India. “For Make in India, its products will have to be competitive as there are already superior and cheaper goods being manufactured in Korea and other countries. India has enormous potential and can do better by investing more in basic sciences and research and development,” he pointed out.
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He felt that the Indian scientific and research apparatus was bureaucratic, rigid and ineffective and not up to standards of a country that would like to increase its investments. “Lots have to change in how you manage science. I understand politicians; they are not sure how the money allocated will be spent. It is up to you (scientific community) now to change how those funds will be used,” he asserted. Prof Gross said that he would like to witness India progressing well in years to come.
Prof David Gross, an American particle physicist and string theorist, was awarded Nobel Prize in 2004 in Physics along with Frank Wilczekand and David Politzer, for their discovery of asymptotic freedom.