Ease of Doing Science’ gets coined in India

‘India has data, demography, demand, democracy to achieve world-class scientific solutions,’ PM modi said in his inaugural address at the India International Science Festival-2020

Ancient India has immensely contributed to the knowledge in various branches of Science. The science of astronomy, called Khagolshastra, was in fact well advanced in ancient India. Contributions of popular ancient scientists & discoverers like Kanad, Varahamihira, Nagarjuna, Charak, Sushruta, Aryabhatta, and others, are a proof of India’s rich legacy in science, technology and innovation.

Many of world’s most remarkable and game-changing discoveries were made here long before they got cracked by the western world. The only drawback, however, had been on the promotional front as ancient India missed out on proper pedestalling of the discoveries and a shout out to the world. The new India, which is on a roundabout of taking science to newer heights, is but taking care of both showcasing India’s scientific prowess to the world and promoting science enthusiasm within the country, through even funding and other facilitations now.

Government of India coined a new term i.e. ‘Ease of Doing Science’ in the country today. Union Minister of Science and technology Dr. Jitendra Singh released the new guidelines for ‘Ease of Doing Science: Towards less government, more governance’ on the foundation day of the Department of Biotechnology. This step has been taken to reduce the compliance burden and switching from research administration to research facilitation. Under the initiative, the central government has relaxed compliance guidelines for scientists, therefore making it easier for them to access grants and rope in associates for research and development projects.

It is pertinent to mention that the reforms include single-step approval for administration issues including Budget re-appropriation within the recurring head and change of principle investigatory. The guidelines also stated that to ease the burden of research personnel engaged in research & development projects, salaries for the first two years will be released during the first year as ‘grant-in-aid’ in the project. With the view to promote scientific research in India, the Centre also planned to develop “Ease of Doing Scientific Index” that would ensure effective use of both disbursed funds and the time to weed out sub-standard research work.

Budget 2022-2023 allotted the Ministry of Science & Technology a sum of Rs 14,217, of which Rs 6,000 crore went to DST , Rs 5,636 crore to DSIR and Rs 2,581 crore to DBT. This allocation to DST and DSIR in 2022-2023 has increased by 15% and 6% respectively, as compared to last year allotment. The budget of the Department of Science & Technology (DST) also saw a miniscule jump of Rs 67 crore, whereas the allocation under R&D in DST saw an increase of Rs 11 crore. As the spectrums of innovation, startups, technology, indegeneity and science converge rapidly with changing times in the country, it would be rather interesting to see what all solutions India comes up with before the world in the coming years.

Atmanirbhar Rural Sector


Atmanirbhar Bharat is developing into a mass movement as well as the anchor for policy framework. Focus on rural development seems to be a key step in this direction. Knowing fully well that rural sector demand traditionally remains robust, though the effect is visible due to pandemic which has also caused supply constraints due to supply-chain disruptions, it has been one focus area towards this goal. Knowing fully well that rural sector demand traditionally remains robust, yet as the effect of pandemic is visible, increasing demand has been one focus area. Pandemic has also caused supply constraints due to supply-chain disruptions, hence attending to this aspect too has been vital for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

For productivity enhancement of agri-sector, credit availability has been the main concern in past, esp. that of small farmers, who constitute 80 per cent of the farmer community. ₹ 1,80,000Cr have been provided to more than 11Cr farmer families under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, providing necessary investment for transformation. Further, the new changes in the crop insurance scheme has allowed more than ₹1,00,000Cr as compensation to about 8Cr farmers.

46% of Indian economy is in the rural area which supports 70% of the population. Only 14% is from agriculture, so non-farm rural sector accounts for over 30% of GDP. Increase in Productivity is the operative part for leap in New India’s growth story.

Construction of roads, resources and infrastructure in rural areas has opened up possibilities for the country which have been neglected for decades. With a rate of more than 100km/day, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana has been instrumental in the construction of 36,500 km of roads in rural areas in 2020–21, connecting thousands of habitations with all-weather roads. Under the Svamitva scheme, more than 40 lakh property cards have been issued in 27,000 villages, where these property cards are not only preventing disputes but are also assisting the rural populations in accessing credit through formal banking setup.

More than 2Cr pucca houses have been provided to the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the last few years. Under Jal Jeevan Mission around 6Cr rural households have been provided tap water connection despite the constraints imposed by the pandemic, bringing huge relief to women in particular. Support to rural women central Self-Help Groups, partnering as ‘Banking Sakhi’, resourcing them with Ujjawala Yojana, entrepreneurship promotion through ‘Mudra’ scheme, educating them through ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, have made tremendous changes in the status, outlook and capabilities. Resultant contribution to the growth and development of the rural economy, thereby to national GDP, is going to be many fold.

 

Atmanirbhar GDP Growth Rate


“To reflect an improving investment outlook with private investment, particularly manufacturing, benefiting from the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, and increases in infrastructure investment”, it has upgraded India’s growth numbers to 8.7% in FY 2022-23 and 6.8% in FY 2023-24- says the World Bank.

Back in November 2021 itself, a Finance Ministry report had said that, “India is on its way to becoming the fastest-growing major economy in the world … Armed with the necessary macro and micro growth drivers, the stage is set to kickstart India’s investment cycle and catalyze its recovery towards becoming the fastest growing economy in the world”. The survey had said that growth will be supported by a supply-side push from reforms and easing of regulations, emphasis on infrastructural investment, boost to manufacturing sector through production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, recovery in demand, rise in discretionary consumption after the rollout of vaccines and pick-up in the credit given adequate liquidity and low-interest rates. All these are resulting in less demand-supply mismatch and more job opportunities.

PLI schemes are proving to be a very strong pillar of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, clearly breaking the deadlock of jobless growth as was forecasted by experts. Now, not only India is expected to grow faster, it is more inclusive as job creation is at core of these positive developments. According to BNP Paribas Asset Management “the success of PLI is expected to add 1.7 percent to the country’s GDP by 2027”. The direct impact of these schemes is likely to be larger on labour (an estimated 2.8 million new jobs) than on capital spending (estimated at $28 billion). There is likely to be significant upstream activity as a result, driving further gains in jobs and spending.

Inclusive nature of Aatmanirbhar Bharat is evident across traditional to cutting edge tech sectors. For example, in spite of COVID-hit situation, the Tourism sector is becoming an important contributor to the country’s economy and is expected to grow at 7.1 per annum to reach Rs 12.67 lakh crore by 2028. Further, the employment in tourism industry is expected to grow at 2.1 per annum and account for 33,195,000 jobs by 2028.

Government initiatives like ‘Indigenous 5G Test Bed Project’ at a cost of Rs 224 crore and allocation of spectrum for 5G testing to Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and MTNL to meet future technology needs in the telecom sector with ethos of Atmanirbhar Bharat, have shown positive results even for a utility sector like telecom, which is predicted to contribute 8% of India’s GDP in 2022, up from current 6.5%. Of all cutting edge technologies that drive socio-economic impact, artificial intelligence is well on its way to becoming the strongest contender to drive future growth. While still in its nascent stage, AI is projected to add $ 500 billion to India’s GDP by 2025.

 

Harnessing the Sun in India

Importance of Sun cannot be emphasised enough in ancient India and unlike many other lost traditions & beliefs, practices related to Sun continue to exist till modern times. Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s call to declare international Yoga Day and its wider acceptance across the globe has enhanced India’s soft power manifold. Surya Namaskar is the unifying yogic posture system for good health and has now been adopted globally. Ayush Ministry is targeting 75 lakh simultaneous participants globally in Surya Nmaskar practice on 14th January, Makar Sankranti.

There are many lost treasures of ancient India. The non-rusting iron pillars as old as 2500 years ago to architecture Marvels of Ajanta, Ellora, Konark to the massive amount of wealth looted and universities, in-situ independent villages and Panchayat system etc destroyed by invaders. Konark Sun Temple is perhaps the most important of all Sun worship places in the country. The destruction of the main temple has many theories starting from the Mogul destroyers to the Portuguese removing big magnet from the top to perhaps an earthquake causing the shift in the course of nearby river – whatever may be the cause but the remains do tell the magnificent history of this land.

The importance of chanting of Gayatri mantra for mental well-being is well documented by modern science too. Lab tests have revealed that the narration of the Gayatri Mantra generates a frequency of 1,10,000 Hz. Chanting the mantra aids in increasing blood supply to the brain cells and has a profound positive impact on spatial and verbal memory. Chanting it with precision and in the right diction emanates a vibration that affects the heart and ensues into its better functioning and also develop balanced breathing.

The solar alliance as proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and speed at which it is becoming popular showcases India’s revered ownership of responsibilities towards sustainable development. Not long ago, in November 2021, US had become the 101st member to have signed the framework agreement of the ISA. Just yesterday the governments of Antigua and Barbuda joined India-led alliance. In December 2021, the United Nations accorded ‘Observer’ status to the grouping. This in turn will further the cause of bringing equitable energy solutions to the entire world and is a shining example of India taking the leadership role on the ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ and Sun is going to be the source of the shared global development and growth.