Science For The People, And People For The Science

The heart and soul of Science and Technology pertains to the elucidation of unknown phenomena, and to the creation of new knowledge through the discovery of novel principles, and then utilization of that knowledge to boost the prosperity of human lives and to prove fruitful to the humankind.

National Science Day is celebrated as one of the main science festival in India every year with a suitable theme. The theme of the year 2019 is “Science for the People, and People for the Science”. It is universally accepted that scientific research is the finest outcome of human intellect and fundamental for the progress of society and understanding of nature, universe, matter and whatever constitutes these.  Science itself cannot distinguish between good and bad; it is he who use it for the welfare of society or misuse it unwisely for destruction of life.

National Science Day’ is celebrated every year on 28th February and on this day, all Indians show their diginity and respect to the famous Indian Physicst- sir C.V. Raman (Chandra Shekhar Venkata Raman) to mark the discovery of “Raman Effect”. Raman scattering (or the Raman effect) was discovered in 1928 by C.V.Raman and in 1930, for the first time in its history, an Indian Scholar, educated entirely in India has recieved the highest honour in Science, the Noble Prize in Physics. In 1949, he established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, served as its director and remained active there until his death on 21 november, 1970, at the age of eighty two. Raman was honoured with the highest award, the Bharat Ratna by the Government of India.

Raman effect expounds, when light is scattered from a molecule or crystal, most photons are elastically scattered. The scattered photons have the same energy (frequency) and, therefore, wevelength, as the incident photons. However, a small fraction of light (approximately 1 in 107 photons) is scattered at optical frequencies diferent from, and usually lower than, the frequency of incident photons. The process leading to this inelastic scatter is termed the Raman effect. Raman scattering can occur with a change in vibrational, rotational or electronic energy of a molecule. If the scattering is elastic, the process is called Rayleigh scattering. If it’s not elastic, the process is called Raman Scattering.

By celebrating National Science Day, we come to know that, teaching science needs motivation, innovation and commitment rather doing a routine job. As the world has entered in the era of biotechnology and nano-technology, so we need to introduce courses like biotechnology, bioinformatics, nano-technology, etc at preliminary levels. There are various flaws in teaching methodology of science subjects and urgent need is to take some concrete steps to improve the quality of education in science subjects. Younger generation should be aware about the genuine fact that our quality of life, strength of our economy and the very future of our society depends upon the innovations and discoveries made by the scientists and above all, development of novel techniques is sine qua non, so it’s the time to explore something new, something novel which may prove fruitful to the mankind. One of the best ways to improve our performance in research is to develop research oriented curricula in science. We have to focus on cultivating the habit of independent and critical  thinking among undergraduate and postgraduate students. Such a focus on analytical thinking and problem solving is extremely important in a country like India which is riddled with socio-economic and development challanges. A nation with a week corps of PhD Scientists, ill-equipped laboratories and limited ICT will struggle to address its challanges. We must also consider the importance of science literacy in the wider society. If people don’t understand the basic science of germs, they will be less likely to wash their hands. If the community doesn’t understand the cause and impact of climate change, its people will be less likely to take remedial action.

Because of the social nature of the science, the dissemination of scientific information is crucial to its progress. Some scientists present their findings and theories in papers that are delivered at meetings or published in scientific journals. These papers enable scientists to inform others about their work, to expose their ideas to criticism by other scientists, and, of course, to stay abreast of scientific developments around the world. The advancement of information science and the development of information technologies shorten the time between discovery and application.

It is universally accepted that the nineteenth century was marked by the transportation revolution. This was followed by remarkable changes in space technologies and computer science, which together ushered in communication revolution. In the 20th Century, the world witnessed several desirable developments driven by Science and Technology research. Science and Technology have become the determinants of economic growth and developments. To achieve a position among the developed countries of the world, Government of India 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 factor that should be taken care of on priority. Success in science and scientific work came not through the provision of unlimited or big resources, but in the wise and careful selection of problems and objectives. A scientific mind is an adventurous mind and is not afraid to speak truth even if it may not be consonant with established thoughts, beliefs and superstitions. Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru the first Prime Minster after Independence was of the view that a strong scientific base and a scientific temper are the most powerful catalysts of both economic performance and social progress. If India wants to transform itself into a developed nation, for that it requires a major boost to science and technology, particularly, in frontier areas. This is because of the fact that science and technology profoundly influence human kind and society and also the progress for the future. About fifty years ago, both houses of parliament passed a far-sighted science resolution underscoring the importance of Science and Technology in the developing countries like ours. The resolution envisages. “The key to national prosperity, apart from the spirit of the people lies in the effective combination of three factors: technology, raw material and capital investment. A lot of things have been achieved since the adoption of this resolution. The present Government in general and the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi in particular, have committed to upgrade the Indian Universities to global standards. In one of these efforts, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, started the Indian sytem of Ranking educational under National Institute of Ranking Frame Work (NIRF) in 2015-16. The annual budget of top ten universities abroad is more than $ 1 billion per year for research and development which has ~ 50 per cent share from federal funding. On the same line, UK government has also boosted its research fueling in 2.5 billion per year. Our analysis suggest that Indian Universities will have to shoot up their efforts on research if they want to be among the top world class universities like Harvard, Stanford or Oxford etc. Bureaucrats, academicians and policy planners involving people and all stakeholders have to collectively work to achieve its target of sustainable future.

Here, it can be safetly concluded that  reading text out of the context is not the solution but the solution is to explore nature with the aid of science and Technology and prove fruitful to the mankind. You know, mankind is passing through a phase of introspection and transition wherein the dominant view of the world may metamorphose into redefining the very idea of development to include both ethical values and spiritualism. Yet, till date, the proponents of development are wary of believing and accepting the non-material side of life which, too, needs to be realised if development were to result into happiness!.  

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