When the World War II ended in 1945, Germany, Italy and Japan lost and France was badly shaken. Even Britain had suffered tremendous losses and its economy was almost ruined. Thus, the colonial powers which had ruled the world and spread poverty, hunger and disease everywhere, were in no position to suppress people anywhere any more. The constant struggle for freedom in the colonial countries had also reached a high pitch. The result was that, one after another, more than a hundred countries of Asia, Africa and South America became free.
The countries which had become newly independent had the tremendous problem of reconstructing their economy so that tolerable conditions of living could first be created for all their people. The old ruling countries, on the other hand, had to think of ways and means of continuing to drain the wealth of their erstwhile colonies.
Science and technology had to be deliberately employed by both sets of countries. The only difference was that the developing countries had to make a start from scratch-with hardly any institutions or people who could engage in competitive science and technology, whereas the advanced or developed countries now had a stronger base of science and technology than ever before.
The Indian freedom movement had been conscious that political independence was only a stepping stone to economic independence. Our leaders had realised that our decisions about industry and trade would have to be taken by us alone without compulsion of foreign governments or their business counterparts. And that our economic development would have to serve the people and meet the minimum needs of their food, health, shelter, education, culture etc.
The role of science and technology was crucial for this endeavour and this was clearly expressed in the "Scientific Policy Resolution" adopted by the Parliament in 1958. This resolution was drafted and piloted through the Parliament by our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In the words of this Resolution:
The funds allocated to research have also vastly increased over what they used to be 65 years ago. But in the modern world, it is not enough to be in the forefront of creative science or innovative technology. Out of the total world expenditure on research, excluding the socialist countries, 98% is spent by the developed countries, the old imperial powers. Only 2% is spent by all the developing countries taken together. In this, India's share may be half a per cent. New discoveries and new inventions, therefore, still come from the advanced or developed countries.
Surely, this is neither a happy situation nor a stable one. The power of science has reached such a pitch that international relations have to be readjusted, and national effort has to be recast so as to bring about the benefits of science to the lives of common people.
-Hanmanthu and Pranitha
The countries which had become newly independent had the tremendous problem of reconstructing their economy so that tolerable conditions of living could first be created for all their people. The old ruling countries, on the other hand, had to think of ways and means of continuing to drain the wealth of their erstwhile colonies.
Science and technology had to be deliberately employed by both sets of countries. The only difference was that the developing countries had to make a start from scratch-with hardly any institutions or people who could engage in competitive science and technology, whereas the advanced or developed countries now had a stronger base of science and technology than ever before.
The Indian freedom movement had been conscious that political independence was only a stepping stone to economic independence. Our leaders had realised that our decisions about industry and trade would have to be taken by us alone without compulsion of foreign governments or their business counterparts. And that our economic development would have to serve the people and meet the minimum needs of their food, health, shelter, education, culture etc.
The role of science and technology was crucial for this endeavour and this was clearly expressed in the "Scientific Policy Resolution" adopted by the Parliament in 1958. This resolution was drafted and piloted through the Parliament by our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In the words of this Resolution:
Since Independence, and particularly after the passage of the Resolution, a great expansion of science and technology in both education and research has taken place. The situation today is far different from what it was in 1947. We have now about 290 state public universities, 42 central universities, 50 deemed universities, 17 Indian Institutes of Technology, over 2000 engineering colleges and 150 medical colleges, a few hundred scientific research laboratories under the Central and State governments, as also R&D units in private industry. Research is king done in almost all areas of modern science. The conspicuous success of our scientists in atomic energy, space research and agriculture is well known.The key to national prosperity, apart from the spirit of the people, lies, in the modern age, in the effective combination of three factors, technology, raw materials and capital, of which the first is, perhaps, the most important, since the creation and adoption of new scientific techniques can, in fact, make up for a deficiency in natural resources, and reduce the demands on capital. But technology can only grow out of the study of science and its applications.
The funds allocated to research have also vastly increased over what they used to be 65 years ago. But in the modern world, it is not enough to be in the forefront of creative science or innovative technology. Out of the total world expenditure on research, excluding the socialist countries, 98% is spent by the developed countries, the old imperial powers. Only 2% is spent by all the developing countries taken together. In this, India's share may be half a per cent. New discoveries and new inventions, therefore, still come from the advanced or developed countries.
Surely, this is neither a happy situation nor a stable one. The power of science has reached such a pitch that international relations have to be readjusted, and national effort has to be recast so as to bring about the benefits of science to the lives of common people.
-Hanmanthu and Pranitha
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