GOA UNIVERSITY NEWS BULLETIN Goa University News Bulletin Indian Talent (IT) forms the basis of India's future Dr. R. A. Mashelkar hirty years down the line, India is going to emerge an economically prosper ous and globally powerful nation and IT (Indian Talent) will play a major role Tin this transformation, said Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, former Director General of Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), at a public lecture on “Shaping India's Future Through Indian Talent” as part of the Silver Jubilee Lecture Series of Goa University. v Stating that the quality of the Indian mind was absolutely undisputable, Dr. Mashelkar stressed upon the urgent need to nurture this large pool of talent to meet the aspira- Quarterly News Bulletin tions of the nation in the years ahead. Pointing at the dramatic transition that is taking of place in the Indian economy, he stated that India was already on a high growth trajec- Goa University tory with the economy growing at a sustained growth in excess of 7-8%. At this growth rate India is likely to account for 1/6th of the world economy by 2040. There v is, therefore, a heightened expectation about India in the world today. However, for India to achieve a dominant position in the world economy, it is essential that India Vol. II - No. 1 transforms itself into the manufacturing hub of the world rather than remain the January-March 2010 back office. In this context, the role of innovation needs to be clearly appreciated, he said. v (Contd. on page 2) 1 GOA UNIVERSITY NEWS BULLETIN While Research & Development converts money into that the atmosphere of competition encourages the spirit knowledge, innovation converts knowledge into money. of innovation. India has to now progress from being a The challenge before India is to make innovation a way skill-deficit nation to the skills capital of the world. To of life. Innovation is all about doing achieve this objective, the quality of In- things differently and making difference dian education needs a quantum leap, to the quality of our life. What India g he said, and drew attention to the ex- needs is a national innovation ecosys- pansion plan that had been drawn by tem that will propel India as a global the government. Though this ambitious leader in research and innovation rather What India needs process has been initiated with the es- than a minor follower in R&D. India tablishment of new Central Universi- needs to be an aggressive innovator is a national ties, IITs, IIMs, IIITs, IISERs, etc., the rather than an incremental innovators; innovation ecosys- sheer magnitude of the expansion re- from protective intellectual property quired in the next 30 years is a real chal- practitioners India should be a com- tem that will lenge before the government, Dr. petitive and aggressive practitioner, he Mashelkar said, cautioning that the is- said. propel India as a sue at stake was not just expansion of state-of-the-art educational institutions, According to Mashelkar, the primary global leader in but also that of inclusion and uncom- objective of our educational institutions promising excellence. should be to harness the abundant tal- research and ent that exists in India and lift the qual- Speaking about the state of education ity of our youth. Indian talent will es- innovation rather in India, Dr. Mashelkar stated that from sentially drive the Indian economy, copiers of best practices in education hence there is the urgent need to over- than a minor and research, we need to progress to creation of next practices in this field. hauling Indian education system with a follower in R&D. view to promote the culture of inno- India will need to build at least 100 vation. Skills required in the new world class universities and strong pri- economy demand new levels of talent g vately managed non-profit educational and unless new talent is harnessed, In- institutions to meet the burgeoning edu- dia will not retain its competitive edge, cational needs of a emerging economic Dr. Mashelkar said. giant. The immediate challenge is not to create new ideas but to escape old ideas, he said, and emphasized that to- Pointing out at the kind of transformation that has oc- day we require innovation in education as much as we do curred in India since liberalization, Dr. Mashelkar stated education in innovation. v Of Ideas & Opportunities Drawing a parallel between India and US, Dr. R. A. Mashelkar stated that while India was the land of Ideas, USA was the land of opportunities. The culture of free enterprise and innova- tion that existed in the US promoted excellence. This is why thousands of Indians who mi- grated to the US with their ‘Ideas’ have reached exalted positions in USA in their domains. The challenge before India is, how do we make our country the land of opportunities? Ac- cording to Dr. Mashelkar, change is already taking place. After liberalization, Indian talent is actually getting an expression within India. v 2 GOA UNIVERSITY NEWS BULLETIN Harness Solar and Nuclear Energy to meet energy needs Dr. Anil Kakodkar peaking at the Silver Jubilee Lecture organized by GWe by 2050, which is roughly three times the present Goa University, former chairman of Atomic En energy production capacity. This deficit could be met only Sergy Commission, Dr. Anil Kakodkar called for a through massive import of coal, oil and gas which would concerted plan to harness solar and nuclear energy to meet not only choke India’s ports and railway transportation the burgeoning demand for energy in India by 2050. The networks but would have a more severe impact on prices energy issue goes beyond mere program implementation of world energy, Dr. Kakodkar said. and we need to keep a careful eye on long term future to ensure that we are not caught unawares in our quest to In such a scenario, only two energy sources could ease meet the energy requirements, he cautioned. India’s impending energy crisis – solar energy and tho- rium. Though India possessed a geographic location con- Taking stock of the energy scenario beyond 2050, Dr. ducive to harnessing of solar energy, mass harnessing of Kakodkar forecast a tremendous growth in the energy solar energy is a technological challenge and needs to be requirements as India embarks upon the path of sustained taken to a commercially viable level. Harnessing nuclear high growth and requires vast energy for domestic, in- energy from Thorium posed another technological chal- dustrial, transportation, electricity, etc. He emphasized the lenge, but would largely hold the key to future clean en- need to draw long term plans to minimize the gap be- ergy, Dr. Kakodkar said. tween energy requirement and energy availability. The notion that India is a land of abundant resources is mis- Talking about strategies for long term energy security and placed and India could face a potential crisis if she fails to India’s ambitious civil nuclear energy programme, Dr. secure its energy requirements in the decades ahead, Dr. Kakodkar pointed out that the three stage nuclear energy Kakodkar said. programme was already in place with the help of indig- enous technology developed by Indian scientists. Stage I A review of current Indian energy resources and the rate comprises development of Heavy Water Reactors of consumption revealed that coal would last for another (PHWRs), Stage II Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs), while 12 years, while domestically available hydrocarbons and Stage III comprised development of Thorium based re- uranium would last hardly for 4 years – insignificant in the actors. Drawing attention to the important attributes of context of future energy requirements. The energy gener- Thorium and why he considered that Thorium would pro- ated through programmes conducted by different sec- tors put together would still leave a gaping deficit of 412 (Contd. on page 5) 3 GOA UNIVERSITY NEWS BULLETIN India's Foreign Policy in a Phase of Dynamism says Lalit Mansingh, former Foreign Secretary Shri Lalit Mansingh delivers a Distingushed Public Lecture on "India's Foreign Policy in the 21st century" aving entered a phase of dynamism, Indian for policy – the Kautilyan model that espoused creation of a eign policy is quietly pursuing India’s national in militarily strong state to protect its interests in the region, Hterests, said Shri Lalit Mansingh, IFS (Retd.) and the Ashokan model that prescribed ‘the middle path’ former Foreign Secretary and former Ambassador to recommended by the Buddhist Dhamma. Nehru opted USA. Shri Mansingh delivered a distinguished public lec- for the Ashokan model and under his carefully crafted ture on “India’s Foreign Policy in the 21st Century”. The foreign policy, India emerged as a peacemaker and peace- Lecture was organized by Centre for Latin American Stud- keeper to the world. The middle path and the policy of ies and Nehru Study Centre at Goa University, in collabo- idealism found expression in the non-alignment policy that ration with Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of India espoused vigorously and established India’s global External Affairs, Govt. of India. position without economic or military strength. Nehru’s policy of idealism received a fatal blow in 1962 when Speaking eloquently on the broad changes that have char- Chinese aggression pointed to the reality that the policy acterized India’s foreign policy since Independence, Shri of playing the good international cop could not be sus- Mansingh presented an overview of the contours of India’s tained without economic and military strength. foreign policy in three phases – the first phase from Inde- pendence to 1967, the second phase from 1968 to 1997, Lalit Mansingh describes the next phase in India’s foreign and the third phase from 1998 till the present.