I am often asked: if an innovation does not scale, is it any good? Such questions are a product of a mindset that does not recognize the legitimacy of niche specific needs. Let us take the case of District Dhimaji, Assam ( where ULFA was born) where iron content in water is very high. The…
Celebrating soliloquy amid endless chattering Today in the age of endless conversations, chatter, social media exchange; how do we celebrate dialogue with oneself? I m asking this question because I see that not many people are able to handle success which comes through efforts of many; some are not able to handle responsibility bestowed upon…
Twenty-five years of web and the Honey Bee Network: The cross-cultural exchange of knowledge before the invention of world wide web by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 took place slowly but perhaps more attentively. The surfing culture of television channels and social media had not emerged. The learners not only read books but also wrote letters,…
Will new budget support creative communities and young inventors? The entrepreneurship and people’s knowledge are two themes, which recur repeatedly in the manifesto of the ruling party. And yet, there has not been any declaration in this regard so far. May be, a considered view is being taken to tap the enormous creative and innovative…
Remembering Lal Bahadur Shastri: Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan Few people remember that October 2 is birth day of Shastri apart from Bapu. It is not surprising that our text books have not done justice to such role models of honesty, simplicity, frugality and devotion to public causes. When series of railway accidents took…
MOM to Mars: will mangalayan make life of ‘mangli’ girl better? The entire country celebrated the unique achievement of Indian space scientists when in the first attempt, the Mangalayan reached the orbit of Mars. Naturally, the celebration was much deserved. However, every time our public sector scientists achieve extraordinary results without any extra bonus, monetary…
How to attract talented scholars to science There is a widespread feeling in the country that we are not able to attract the best students to science and if some of them are mobilised, then we work hard not to retain them. There are several ways in which brain drain and brain drift take…
BRICS by brick: An emerging new pole in the world Recent agreement, among BRICS nations [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] to develop a new development finance institution is a highly welcome step. A unipolar world needed very badly a new pole. India has the opportunity as the head of the new institution to…
there are several problems with these policies: a) unless we decide to invest in student ideas when they are still students, that is, they r in their colleges and not when they join incubators, we will miss a lot of good ideas, b) in situ incubation is the future, off site residential incubator framework is…
BRICS by brick: An emerging new pole in the world Recent agreement, among BRICS nations [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] to develop a new development finance institution is a highly welcome step. A unipolar world needed very badly a new pole. India has the opportunity as the head of the new institution to…