How Long is the Long Path for Developed India?

India, coming out of centuries of colonial rule seventy-five years ago, opted not only for a democratic form of governance but also for Science and Technology for development. Though India has been able to build considerable S&T strengths during these decades and has addressed many of its problems, the economy of the country continues to remain that of a developing economy. In contrast, China has been able to lift itself into the comity of developed nations in a short span of two decades. We argue that this has been made possible by China’s increasing investments in higher education, research and development and technology-driven entrepreneurship.  India’s investments in these have been sub-critical as compared to not only developed countries but also to China. India needs to augment these and as the Chinese experience has shown, the payback on these investments is quite fast.

About the Speaker:
Dinesh Kumar Srivastava (b. 1952) is Honorary Visiting Professor and INSA Senior Scientist at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru. He joined the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre in 1971, after graduating from Training School, from where he retired as Distinguished Scientist and Director. After 3 years there as DAE Raja Ramanna Fellow, he held the position of Homi Bhabha Chair Professor, at NIAS for 3 years. He is a Fellow of National Academy of Sciences, India, and Indian National Science Academy. 

He has held visiting positions at universities in USA, Germany, Canada, and South Africa and is known for his work on electromagnetic probes of quark gluon plasma, propagation of charm quarks in quark gluon plasma, break-up of light projectiles in Coulomb and nuclear field of nuclei and medium modification of nuclear interactions. His books on ‘Climate Change and Energy Options’ and ‘Art and Science of Managing Public Risks’, and 3 books of stories for children to explain concepts of science have been well received.