The heart and soul of Science and Technology pertains to theelucidation of unknown phenomena, and to the creation of new knowledge throughthe discovery of novel principles, and then utilization of that knowledge toboost the prosperity of human lives and to prove fruitful to the humankind.
National Science Day is celebrated as one of the mainscience festival in India every year with a suitable theme. The theme of theyear 2019 is “Science for the People, and People for the Science”. It isuniversally accepted that scientific research is the finest outcome of humanintellect and fundamental for the progress of society and understanding ofnature, universe, matter and whatever constitutes these. Science itself cannot distinguish betweengood and bad; it is he who use it for the welfare of society or misuse itunwisely for destruction of life.
By celebrating National Science Day, we come to know that,teaching science needs motivation, innovation and commitment rather doing aroutine job. As the world has entered in the era of biotechnology andnano-technology, so we need to introduce courses like biotechnology,bioinformatics, nano-technology, etc at preliminary levels. There are variousflaws in teaching methodology of science subjects and urgent need is to takesome concrete steps to improve the quality of education in science subjects.Younger generation should be aware about the genuine fact that our quality oflife, strength of our economy and the very future of our society depends uponthe innovations and discoveries made by the scientists and above all,development of novel techniques is sine qua non, so it’s the time to exploresomething new, something novel which may prove fruitful to the mankind. One ofthe best ways to improve our performance in research is to develop researchoriented curricula in science. We have to focus on cultivating the habit ofindependent and critical thinking amongundergraduate and postgraduate students. Such a focus on analytical thinkingand problem solving is extremely important in a country like India which isriddled with socio-economic and development challanges. A nation with a weekcorps of PhD Scientists, ill-equipped laboratories and limited ICT willstruggle to address its challenges. We must also consider the importance ofscience literacy in the wider society. If people don’t understand the basicscience of germs, they will be less likely to wash their hands. If thecommunity doesn’t understand the cause and impact of climate change, its peoplewill be less likely to take remedial action.
Because of the social nature of the science, thedissemination of scientific information is crucial to its progress. Somescientists present their findings and theories in papers that are delivered atmeetings or published in scientific journals. These papers enable scientists toinform others about their work, to expose their ideas to criticism by otherscientists, and, of course, to stay abreast of scientific developments aroundthe world. The advancement of information science and the development ofinformation technologies shorten the time between discovery and application.
It is universally accepted that the nineteenth century wasmarked by the transportation revolution. This was followed by remarkablechanges in space technologies and computer science, which together ushered incommunication revolution. In the 20th Century, the world witnessed severaldesirable developments driven by Science and Technology research. Science andTechnology have become the determinants of economic growth and developments. Toachieve a position among the developed countries of the world, Government ofIndia has taken right step to make a quantum increase in the infrastructure.But it is not sufficient as the quality of education is very important factorthat should be taken care of on priority. Success in science and scientificwork came not through the provision of unlimited or big resources, but in thewise and careful selection of problems and objectives. A scientific mind is anadventurous mind and is not afraid to speak truth even if it may not be consonantwith established thoughts, beliefs and superstitions. Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru thefirst Prime Minster after Independence was of the view that a strong scientificbase and a scientific temper are the most powerful catalysts of both economicperformance and social progress. If India wants to transform itself into adeveloped nation, for that it requires a major boost to science and technology,particularly, in frontier areas. This is because of the fact that science andtechnology profoundly influence human kind and society and also the progressfor the future. About fifty years ago, both houses of parliament passed afar-sighted science resolution underscoring the importance of Science andTechnology in the developing countries like ours. The resolution envisages.”The key to national prosperity, apart from the spirit of the people lies inthe effective combination of three factors: technology, raw material andcapital investment. A lot of things have been achieved since the adoption ofthis resolution. The present Government in general and the Hon’ble PrimeMinister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi in particular, have committed to upgradethe Indian Universities to global standards. In one of these efforts, theMinistry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, started the Indiansytem of Ranking educational under National Institute of Ranking Frame Work(NIRF) in 2015-16. The annual budget of top ten universities abroad is morethan $ 1 billion per year for research and development which has ~ 50 per centshare from federal funding. On the same line, UK government has also boostedits research fueling in 2.5 billion per year. Our analysis suggest that IndianUniversities will have to shoot up their efforts on research if they want to beamong the top world class universities like Harvard, Stanford or Oxford etc.Bureaucrats, academicians and policy planners involving people and allstakeholders have to collectively work to achieve its target of sustainablefuture.
Here, it can be concluded that reading text out of the context is not thesolution but the solution is to explore nature with the aid of science andTechnology and prove fruitful to the mankind. You know, mankind is passingthrough a phase of introspection and transition wherein the dominant view ofthe world may metamorphose into redefining the very idea of development toinclude both ethical values and spiritualism. Yet, till date, the proponents ofdevelopment are wary of believing and accepting the non-material side of lifewhich, too, needs to be realised if development were to result into happiness!.
Dr. Arshed Iqbal Dar is Assistant Professor, Govt. DegreeCollege Sumbal Sonawari, Jammu and Kashmir
drarshediqbal@gmail.com
Dr. Arshed Iqbal